Muscle twitches, et al. Doctor conundrum
Hi all, i am really sorry for this long post
Thankyou to all who take the time to read this, i know this post looks daunting but if you know about muscle twitching and pain then i would appreciate your advice if you have the time.
I have read some threads about muscle twitches which have assured me greatly and i thought i would ask you in the know if it is worth going to the docs about it with all my symptoms.
I am an anxious person and my health anxiety, which i came to the conclusion i suffer from to a degree after reading this site started in the summer when i had an abnormal liver function test (subsequent retest was fine).
Quick background:
25 years old, doesn't smoke, drinks irregularly and diagnosed with IBS recently following abdomen pains.
Chest pains:
About 9 weeks ago i started having chest pains which were either on the upper left hand corner, by my heart or in a symetrical side to the heart on the right. When i enquired about it to a doc during an unrelated visit my heart sounded fine so i was told to just keep an eye on it.
It is a throbbing pain which primarily is by the upper left corner near my armpit but went to the other places too.
I went to the A and E 3 weeks ago with throbbing pains directly on my heart all day. I was extremely worried as there was no ignoring where it was. My ECG was fine which allayed my fears and i was then deeply patronised by a doctor saying it was all in my head as the instruments showed nothing. I was satisfied enough about my heart (though angry with doc as the pain is there)and put up with the unnerving pain until it disappeared and moved elsewhere.
The doctor said it was not muscular as it didn't hurt to touch my pecs which it didn't but i read somewhere you can pull the muscles between your ribs. Also the muscles/tendons did feel strained on both corners of my chest sometimes (but not usually). I wasn't sure but i made sure for weeks that i kept my left arm was always by my side rather than stretched out and that seemed to help.
I also started getting rib pain, especially on the left side of my ribcage. It was like one of the muscles inflamed randomly, it would start to hurt and when i pressed it it would hurt more and then 20 (give or take) minutes later it would disappear and if pressed it would not hurt at all. That happened on and off for random lengths but nowhere near as much as the chest pains.
The chest pains and rib pains have virtually disappeared or are at a minimum right now (from about 10 days ago) but they were always bugging me for about 2 months.
Muscle spasms:
Last tuesday i got an artritic pain in my right elbow but went within a day.
Last wednesday when i was on my laptop the lower tendon on my right bicep muscle started going mad. It moved rapidly on it's own about 4-5 times a second for about 20 seconds. It happened again the next day as well so i started stretching it and noticed that when my arm is out it doesn't happen but when it is bent it is more likely to happen.
That rapid tendon movement went after that day but since then my muscles have been twitching all over my body.
Places i have been twitching are
Right bicep (often), right lower arm (occasionally), left leg lower muscle (often), left leg knee and other leg areas (sometimes) and also sometimes on my right leg areas. Right chest (rarely) left arm (sometimes).
My elbows feel like they are bubbling occasionally (what??)
After the initial tendon flip out certain muscles around my body, especially in my right arm started to feel sore. This made sense as the flip out may have have made them sore but then muscles that weren't twitching were sore.
That was last week and the soreness has gone but the twitching is still here and is very frequent when i am relaxed and especially when i am thinking about it like now (i see this as a positive sign). When i am moving around or am concentrating on something i still get the twitches but nowhere near as much.
When i am relaxed and not concentrating on anything or thinking about my health the my body twitches maybe 3-10 times a minute at worst or every couple of minutes or so at best, all in random sequence in my arms or legs.
Recently (last couple of days) the majority of twitches have been in my leg and i am getting that bubbling feeling in my elbow more which goes when i stretch out straight (mild cracking/popping sound too).
If i am active (phsically or mentally) or if i stretch an area after a spasm that does helps. I still do get spasms if i am not feeling anxious and being active but not as much.
Headaches:
I have been getting pressure on my temples (no pain) alot within the last week and random pains by my eyes. Twice i have had horrible throbbing headaches at night in my left temple.
I have also had back pain in my lower back but this could be my bed as it is uncomfortable.
I did the usual stupid thing of googling all these symptoms before i first came on here (a few days ago) and all the usual horrific things it tells you about muscle problems came into my mind. Those who frequent other muscle threads know what i mean.
I went to the opticians today and my eyes are fine, they did all the tests and all is well with my eyes. Whatever that means in relation to my symptoms i don't know but it is good nevertheless.
I know that many of my symptoms are very common with health anxiety and i took solace in that, especially as one symptom seemed to pop up as soon as one went down. I keep telling myself it is anxiety and it does help, i can reason with myself and i have been relatively calm but i still cannot get things out of my mind because my twitches have got more frequent (less muscle pain except back) and now my elbows are doing this bubbling thing. The frequency of spasms is my primary worry.
Thankyou again for reading this far (if you have), what i am wondering is in the context of all the symptoms above should i go to the doctor about it? or should i consider it anxiety and just try and see it out and await it to all end.
I have felt really unwell recently and whilst i acknowledge i am an anxious person and probably do suffer from health anxiety all these symptoms (past and present) have concerned me but i don't want to go to the doctors and be patronised like the A and E guy or get a bad rep with my docs (they have a reputation for their lack of patience anyway).
What do you fellow muscle twitch (problem) sufferers on NMP think to my case?
Should i worry or not?
Thankyou
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