Poor circulation or something worse

For the pat week now, I have been experiencing sharp, sudden pains in what I believe to be my blood vessels, primarily in my legs and along the right side of my neck.  I have felt this before, but it has always went away in a day or so. My fear is that I have a clot or perhaps several clots, or some other blockage(s) obstructing the flow of blood. I am 30 years old, in relatively good health, but my lifestyle is rather one of inactivity lately. I sit while at work most days, and get very little exercise, although I am frequently mobile, up and down stairs, short distant walks, that sort of thing. At the end of the workday, usually a 10 to 16 hour day, I am dead tired, and have little energy to exercise, although I know I should. My work is highly stressful, and when I get home, its usually just to vegatate on the sofa or go to bed. When not working, I sleep a lot, although I never slept well much. All in all, I would say that I am either sitting or laying down for a good half of the total day, if not more. Besides sleeping, I do get up and walk around to get the circulation flowing while at work, but lately I have noticed that I am more prone to limbs "falling asleep", and I can actually feel my pulse throbbing in my extremities at a stand still position even without vigorous movement, just sitting still. It throbs even at rest, often in what seems to be sudden bursts as if pressure had built up behind a blockage and finally broken through. This is most common in my legs and hands. I started to take aspirin to see if I could " thin the blood" a little. it seems to help some temporarily. I dont eat much, but my diet is admittedly pretty poor at the moment. I am nearing the end of this phase of my job and look forward to being able to becoming more active again as I used to be. I used to ride bike, hike, swim, climb trees, run with the dogs, and do martial arts. By all outward appearances I am average size, not overweight at all, and relatively healthy looking, but I have always been somewhat lethargic and slow paced throughout my life, with quick bursts of energy and stamina. I dont smoke cigarettes or drink much, nor do drugs beyond an occasional toke off of a joint now and again. I am adopted and do not know my biological family medical history, as the records are sealed. Do these symptoms simply suggest poor circulation, the beginings of heart disease, or something else entirely? DVT maybe? Is it even possible to feel pain in blood vessels themselves or is it something else that is throbbing and hurting, perhaps muscles cramping up or spasming? Its starting to really worry me. I honestly never really saw myself living to 80 or 90, but I dont want to have a heart attack or stroke at 30 and die, or worse yet, become severely crippled and handicapped due to a temporary lull of mobility. The last three years have been pretty much like this in terms of my activity level, although I was somewhat more active just a year or so ago. This last year has been especially rough as it has been focussed on bringing to a close many long term project goals. My work is my life at the moment, and a labor of true love. I have always required more sleep than most, since I rarely ever sleep through the night. On a normal day, I will lay in bed for 10 hours or so, then get up, shower, and spend most of the rest of the day at work. Its a lonely existence at the moment, but the payoffs are huge and after the projects are done, I will be free to tackle new endeavors, which I promised myself would allow for much more physical activity time and personal interaction, i.e. a social life again. Literally, two or three more months of this and then 8 years of labor will come to a satisfying close and I can finally begin to relax and start focusing on my health and sanity again.

[Smiley2000]

Hi there.  I think you should see your GP about this and get a bloodtest done to check out your Electrolytes, iron levels and do a full blood count.  That would be the starting point to figure out what is causing your symptoms.

Good luck and let me know how you are doing :)