Upper back pain and pins and needles

[ee849]

Hi all
Ive a couple of health issues that i know about, however i don't believe they are to blame to whats happening with my back.
I have hypoparathyroidism, which leads to low calcium and low vit d. My calcium levels are fine now with prescribed medication.
Anyway, the problem i am posting about! I have pins and needles in my upper back. I used to have an altered sensation there and gradually i got the tingles, then full blown pins and needles. Some positions ease it off to it being barely noticable and others fire it right up. It is mainly in one area on my left shoulder blade, but when its very bad it goes just past the centre of my back onto the right side and across to the top my arm and goes lower down my back.
I also have had pins and needles, altered sensation and tight feeling on my left side at the bottom of my ribs at the front and slightly at the back. Its very uncomfortable. I've had pins and needles on my lower right abdomen and same on the left but this is less often than the other areas.  I get pins and needles in my left hand worse than my right and sometimes shooting pains going down my arms and to my fingertips.  Its getting a little much now.
Ive had a brain and lumbar mri and nothing showed. I was under a neuro and he said theres nothing wrong with me...ha! Whatever.
Other symptoms ive experienced (lots of altered sensations) total around 60. Some of them possibly related to the post are:
Chill feelings-but my skin is warm to touch. This can be everywhere at times. Today is a bad day for it.
Feelings of things crawling on me, water dripping down my back, worms squirming on my skin.
Pins and needles, tightness, pain and lessened sensation my areas of my face (told it was calcium related but my calcium is 2.41 at the moment so its nott that).
Extremely weird headaches at the back of my head not involving the neck usually and headaches on top and at the sides of my head.I have had neck pain with headaches.
Slight weakness in my arms, left always more so.

Drs are baffled and i dont think they believe me. My osteo would like me to have a scan of my neck and upper back but drs shrug that off. Ive been to the drs so many times and i am sure they have me down as a hyperchondriac now. The thing is, i went about 30 times with bits of me going numb, tingles in face, mouth, throat, lips, hands and feet and got told it was stress and go away. I wasnt stressed til these symtpoms started. They turned ot to be the hypoparathyroidism, so i was right and there was something wrong. So why not listen to me now? I have better things to do than constantly visit the gps but i want to be well so i can enjoy my children.

Has anyone had any of the symptoms ive been experiencing? I wonder if an upper back scan is the way forward?  
I forgot to say i had a back and neck x ray last year in about aug/sept? It was all fine.
Im guessing this is all nerve related but i don't know what to do next?

Thanks for reading!

Emma

[Nikkiturpin]

Emma- I have the EXACT same problem. I never thought I’d find someone who had the same issues as me. I wish we could communicate more. The pins and needles feeling is just awful. You are not alone but I also have no idea what it is and spend more time at the doctors than not and they are clueless.

[Jordanholland757]

I'm a 27 year old male. Very active with a very physical job. And I have the same issues.. it will go away for a few hours but comes back. It is a constant sharp pain. Pins and needles and tingling sensation.. almost like you're constantly getting poked. I went to the dr about a year ago. They diagnosed me with scoliosis. Which runs in my family. You can also look in the mirror and see where your stomach/spine curves in.. I never even noticed it until I went to the dr. And my curves in atleast 2-3inches.

I went to the chiropractor for about a month or 2. They had me going about 2 or 3 times a week for 3 weeks then once a week.. it helped but not much but at 25$ a visit its a lot!!! I've found stretching to help some and ice packs and heating pad.. also a muscle stimulator helps.. but I've yet to find anything to help for more than a few hours!! I've seen some say over the counter meds but most of them contain NSADS which cause ulcers.. and I've had a lot of problems with them over the last 2 years.

I hope this was able to help you.. and let me know what you find out or if you find anything more helpful to take the pain away!!

[JAR45]

I have the same symptoms, recently started getting pins and needles in my back. I have a degenerative disc in my neck C5-C6.  

[Mnk2]

I have the same symptoms as in the original post and followups including the sudden chills. Pretty healthy otherwise. Any more insights from anyone?

[shaaz0000]

I feel a sharp needle pain in my upper back and in my neck....it's starting to scare me now....I have hypothyroidism and I ve been taking medicines for a year now...sometimes I feel weak and get headaches...... I don't know what to do.....Dr says I have no spine problem......I am in need of help.....

[Kjoseph]

OMG, I googled this and couldn't believe the exactness of the symptoms that I am having too. I went to the ER 3 days ago and they screened me for possible heart/blood issues because I felt like I was going to pass out. They took blood and did a CT Scan and everything was normal. I go back to Dr. tomorrow but will most likely be referred to a specialist. I consider myself a pretty healthy person (I run 15+ miles a week) and have never had any issues, so this has come on pretty quickly and so far nothing I have taken has eased this, it just comes and goes, but I get the prickles mainly in my back, neck and shoulders and then intermittantly in random places all over my skin. The pain (dull, like an ache) migrates but mostly is in my left shoulder blade, then moves to the center of my back between my shoulder blades.

[ee849]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I've had recent blood tests and vit d checked too (i have this done every 3 months for the hypoparathyroidism) and my vit d has recently has a slight increase but my endocrinologist gave me an extra vit d supplement anyway, on top of the alfacalcidol, just to see if things improve. I'm currently taking only paracetamol, ibuprofen or naproxen for the pain, depending on how bad it is, and i don't think any of those have caused this.
I see my neurologist in may now,so am hoping he can explain things or at least point me in the right direction.

Emma

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hey Emma!

Well, without a clinical evaluation it would be difficult to determine the cause of your symptoms. Possibilities that may need to be considered include neuro-muscular issues, inflammations, micronutrient deficiencies, medication/ drug side effect, hormonal/ endocrine imbalances etc. Vitamin D deficiency itself alone could present similarly. It would be best to have this evaluated by an internist initially and depending on the cause diagnosed/ suspected, it can be managed accordingly or specialist care may be sought.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!