severe muscle tension

[jr978]

Hi, Thanks for reading my question.
About 2 months ago I had sex outside of my relationship.  I was worried about being exposed to an STD specifically HIV.  I basically freaked out and couldnt stand worring so my partner brought me to the ER and they admitted me to a psych ward for anxiety/panic attack etc.  I told my partner at the time at the ER what I had done.  He was supportive but upset.  So over the next few weeks I had all kinds of test done hiv etc....all negative...I also have spent a lot of time on the web searching for answers to the symptoms that I am having.  These symptoms are....for the past 6 weeks I have extream muscle pain/soreness/tingling/twitching/burning that is constant.  It effects all extremities....and also I have had a lot of groin cramps....I went to see my md again and he checked for a UTI and hernias and negative again....Could this all be due to severe stress?  The groin cramps started after I started worrying about going lymph nodes!  I read that lymph nodes are found in the crease at the groin and maybe they could be swollen if I had a STD ...so I believe just checking them a lot maybe made my groin cramp up?? what do you think??
Anyway this is very painful situation...have you heard of this?  When will it stop?  Could it be something else?  How can it be treated??  I am seeing an anxiety specialist tomorrow.....Thanks for any help you can give me.  JR

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

there is no question that being afraid of having hiv can cause extreme anxiety and almost any symptom you can imagine.

[frnkbates]

Hi-I know exactly what you feel like. I too had sex outside of a relationship, with a CSW and i immediately regretted it and started to obsess about the possibility of introducing an STD into the relationship with my wife. I went and got myself checked but hadn't waited long enough for HIV Syph etc so i had to wait for 3 months. By the time 3 months had come my stress and anxiety levels were at such a high, that in my mind i was having "Symptoms" when the tests were done and returned negative i didnt believe them.....I was having syptoms (symptoms)!!! i had 3 sets of tests for Everything before i started to believe that i hadn't picked anything up. I guess what i am trying to say is that anxiety and stress can create the symptoms that you will be looking for, after all we all read up on the symptoms first!!!.... bad mistake :O(

Don't forget what Dr HHH Said...That all HIV infected people will turn positive by 6 weeks with modern tests and that is plenty of time for Gonn/Chlam to be positive so if you have tested at week 6 don't worry and try to consign this moment of madness into the past which in my case is where it belonged. I have learnt from it and...NEVER AGAIN  it doesnt matter who it is they aint worth the stress!!! - Good luck

[littlemonster]

your extreme guilt has given you a subconscious desire to punish yourself.... perhaps on some level you feel you DESERVE an STD and wish it on yourself.  but all of your symptoms are PANIC related.  with my bout of post traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks, i've experienced every single one....and then some.  i believe the trauma you've experienced (trauma from betraying someone can be equally damaging to the betrayer...it isn't just the betrayee that is betrayed!) has triggered a post traumatic stress reaction and that's what's happening.  you need to start unpacking your motives for cheating and what is going on in your life.  worry less about your physical symptoms.  focus on your heart/soul/mind.  work through it and the symptoms will subside.

[jr978]

thank you all for your advice.  I am seeing a axniety specialist and have been on paxil for a month.  I still have all the symptoms but am working on them.  thanks again.

[jr978]

Does anyone think that the drug paxil could be causing these muscle symptoms?  I read somewhere about "interdose" reaction from paxil, causing these muscle tensions.  They are pretty severe I must say.

[karazy]

I was on paxil for 11 years and yes yes yes , your muscle pain and tightness is part stress, exacerbated by getting used to the paxil.....It will go away...The muscle tension and pain in my face and neck were so bad my ears constantly popped and hissed, my jaw would move involuntarily and it was so tight in that area my mouth constantly watered and it was difficult to swallow. My eyes felt like they were bugging out of my head....you cant imagine how many diseases I conjured up with all these symptoms...tingling and numbness in my hands and feet and around my mouth...joint pains all over...all extremities freezing cold , then my face and neck would become so hot it looked  and felt like I had sunburn. Anxiety is a ***** and paxil will help it alot....many people feel worse before they get better.

[FredsChic]

I wonder if Zoloft gives you these symtoms?  The tension is awful sometimes ... and I grit my teeth in my sleep (so says my dentist).  Side effect??  Hmmm.

Good luck & hope you feel better.

[Prozac Is Poison]

                  PSYCHIATRY IS NOT SAFE    


  The FDA  does not carry out any independent studies of drugs before approving them. These drug studies are constructed,supervised and funded by drug companies who use doctors and research teams of their own choosing,often people who have long established relationships with the company.

The FDA allowed Eli Lilly to use “placebo washout” to test for the efficacy of prozac.After an initial 1-2 weeks ,people responding positively to a placebo were withdrawn from the trail.This purposely  creates an unnatural pool of patients and makes the drug perform better statistically.It is unscientific.

A requirement for FDA drug approval is that the drug company produces 2 or more research  protocols  each according to a strict and specific set of rules.Despite this,in the case of prozac,1 protocol included 10 different studies, under different leadership and at different sites.Numbers of individual studies varied from 1-10 for prozac protocols.However Eli Lilly still entered all of this into 1 pool of data for statistical purposes as if it  were 1 trail based on clinical conditions although patients were given the drug under a variety of different conditions.Again this is unscientific.


The candidates for trail were cherry –picked , to give a positive impression of prozacs efficacy,instead of being chosen as required in accordance with the American Psychiatric Associations “diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders”.A strict criteria is laid down for trailing of drugs on depressed people. Atleast  5 out of a list of 9 factors have to apply to each patient but this requirement was not met.

People are under the false impression that prozac was trailed on serverely depressed people however prozac studies were deliberately designed to exclude such people and in particular people with tendencies or thoughts towards suicide.No study of any hospitalised psychiatric patient was put forward in those used to approve the drug.

In the 1991 publication “everything you need to know about prozac” a deliberately misleading quote is

   “some of the reassurance comes from the data on over 11,000 patients who took the drug in clinical trails”

This figure was taken from a letter in august 1990 written by Eli Lilly to physicians to counteract concerns that prozac caused suicidal tendencies.The letter states –

“more than 11,000 individuals participated in clinical trails for prozac,including over 6000 treated with  prozac”

However the drug label as reprinted  in the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) states that there were only “5,600 prozac-exposed”  individuals in the premarketing period of evaluation.
   Elsewhere in the Physicians Desk Reference its stated that  only 4000 people received prozac in “US premarketting clinical trails”The only studies which are considered scientifically valid for the purposes of testing the efficacy of a drug are placebo –controlled studies but this is not how these 4000 patients were trailed.
A table of adverse reactions in the Physicians Desk Reference reviews a yet lesser 1,730 patients who were involved in “ placebo- controlled clinical trails”

Despite all the protocols being manipulated in favour of making prozac appear to work successfully only 3 were considered  favourable and able to  be submitted to allow the drug to be approved.

The FDA `s  “summary of basis approval”,October 1988, states that out of 14 protocols involving controlled trails of prozac that were submitted for approval –
4  compared prozac  to placebo  and  out of the other 10, 8 protocols showed prozac had no positive effect at all.Overall there were more reported negative effects from prozac and this was by Eli Lillys own selected research teams and under biased trail conditions so just what would have a proper scientific clinical trail have concluded?


It doesn’t matter  how many instances a drug is proven to fail in its clinical trails.As long as eventually with as much alterating ,exclusion and misrepresentation as required ,2 or more trails show the drug to do statistically better than placebo, the FDA can approve it.

The details relating to these 3 favourable protocols that has been obtained through the freedom of information act, shows that the number of people who actually completed the 4-6 week long trails that were used by the FDA to approve prozac was only
286 PATIENTS.


One of the protocols known as protocol 27, stated “fluoxetine was not shown to be consistently different than placebo” but  it was still used to approve prozac.Criticisms of this study were made by Walter Sloboda a scientific investigation psychologist in an in-house FDA memo .The antidepressant Tofranil had been given in addition to prozac in the trail without this being recorded yet it was still put forward as a reliable measure of prozacs efficacy.He also reported that several cases of laboratory findings were ignored,entailing risk to patients.

One such  serious health concern  from protocol 27,that was ignored, was the hospitalisation of a woman immediately after starting the trail.No follow-up information on this was recorded.The trail methods of this protocol were again criticised in a letter from the FDA `s director of the division of scientific investigation in august 1984 stating it “ had several departures from Food and Drug Administration regulations or commonly accepted drug investigational practices”

In another trail by  Jay B. Cohn M.D. psychiatrist from university of California,it came to light that he failed to declare a history of alcoholism in 3 patients ,1 of whom had cirrhosis of the liver . It was also found out that Cohn had failed to obtain written informed consent and then “backdated the consent form.”
Hardly an ethical or reliable source of drug research.Despite being heavily criticised by the FDA for this it was still published in the `journal of clinical psychiatry` as part of an Eli Lilly sponsored symposium as proof of the efficacy of prozac

In other trails yet more flaws exist in that patients were taking a range of psychiatric medications in addition to prozac.For example trails led by James D Bremner MD,a psychiatrist in Olympia Washington, about a third of his patients were taking tranquilizers or sedatives which can only have clouded the real effects caused by prozac.

The FDA`s November 1984 “in-house meeting on fluoxetine” brought together a “flaw in the experimental design and execution of fluoxetine studies.”It was discussed how patients who had not been responding well initially in the drug trail were being switched from what they had been given up until then.This was a total breach of  proper practice.Again hardly a proper basis on which to approve a drug.

[dbhans]

This is in response to the severe muscle pain. My brief history: I was on Celexa for about 3 years, with little to no side effects. Only one was very sleepy and lethargic for the first couple of weeks. I went off of it because of no insurance anymore. After about one year and a half I started having anxiety attacks so Doc put me on Lexapro--saying there are LESS side effects but is the same as Celexa. That was the end of August. I felt a little better, but not completely. I still had and have negative thoughts and beginnings of panic attacks. I started having severe muscle tension in my neck and shoulders,after about a month, then it would radiate to my mid and lower back. I have tried nutritionals, chiropractic and acupuncture, which all helped in the past, now nothing is working. I lowered the dose to half(which is only 5 mg)and the headaches lessened, but neck strain is still present. I thought SSRI's helped with pain? The celexa did. I know that everyone's brain chemistry is unique, and that what works for one, may not work for another. But reading these articles may help people realize that they are not alone. I am now worried that something is physically wrong with me that the Doc overlooked and am afraid to go off the Lex as I don't want the panic attacks to come back. I know that it is all related to stress. Exercise makes me feel better (most of the time)but sometimes I can't do that because of the severe pain. I used a magnetic bracelet and sometimes a necklace for the past 4 years, and it helped trememdously. But since the Lex, magnets stopped working also. I stopped everything alternative that I was doing, and pain and high blood pressure are still present. Maybe the doc will realize that maybe it is the Lexapro causing this. I am going to start using the magnets again, as I have found that your body builds a resistance to anything, including drugs, and hopefully the magnetic bracelet will work again, on the pain and stiffness. Anyone having similar side effects?

[EHolloway]

Hello,

I think the stiffness/tingling in my legs and feet is due to anxiety too.  At times, when I go to bed or sit for along time, i am sure I won't be able to get up.  It is really a terrible and relentless feeling.

I am so afraid to go to the doctor though--terrified of hearing that I have a dreadful illness.

Anyone else have extreme anxiety that sounds like this?

[MsBe]

Hi I experience tingling/tenseness in my legs and left forearm plus my head and face. I have had several tests for rare cancers and conditions..all negative. Neurologist says he feels there is no nerve damage or relation, doesn't think its MS but wants an MRI to "rule that out". I feel it is anxiety/stress and am sorry that others have this feeling and receive no real help regarding treatment. I have found that docs are happy to push drugs that can help but not really and then have other side effects that compound the origional problem.
I've been this way since June 2005 and look for releif everyday. I just tried a one month dose of Xanax xr wich made the symptoms less intense, however, they still presented. Now the withdrawl from Xanax has had me out of work for the last three days with a sick stomach, dizziness and increased anxiety.
I wish you all the best in finding relief. Please share with us if you do find help.

[EHolloway]

Hello, thanks for your feedback/support/advice. I hope your withdrawal symptoms have passed by now.

I did go to the doctor today.  She was very good--took blood/urine and also did an EKG--which was the only thing I got back right away.  It was fine.  She also did a basc neuro test, said that it seemed good.  She said thati t is unlikely I would have "passed" if I was having an MS episode.  She did say if i wanted I could go to a neurologist but advised me to wait until I got the blood work back and said there were other tests she would like to do before sending me to a neurologist if the symptoms persisted.  I go back to the psychiatrist tomorrow.  Hopefully, we can work out a medication schedule that might help get me past this time.  I don't know how you all feel, but I have to say waking up in the morning is becoming such a nightmare..a whole day of symptoms/anxiety and medication fogginess is tough...

Hope you're all having some relief.

E

[doctrified]

I am 32 yrs old. For the last three years I have experienced severe muscle weakness and tension in my back and neck. The tension goes all the way down to my legs and also through my groin area. I have been to nuerologists, MD's, and just about every other type of modern doctor there is. I have been blindly diagnosed with MS,Lupis, and toxicity though none have been proved. I have been very educated this year and have learned alot. Let me share..... Stress!!!! This emotion causes havoc on our nervous system. I did not think I was under any stress but I was wrong. Stress--Environmental, Emotional, Mental. Stress can come from unresolved situations from our past, from people around us and the very life we live. How we deal with it depends on our ability to move on and heal. When we are under stress, chemical are formed in our brains and in our adrenal glands. These chemicals are cause blood to rush to our extremities, faster pulse, etc; well imagine being under the fight or flight effects of stress all the time (chronic stress). Eventually the body begins to break down. I recommend doing some research on chronic stress you will find how dangerous, yet curable it is. It has been proved through research that this type of stress(on going) is to blame for many diseases, heart conditions and immune disorders. When I could find no help from my Md I turned to Chiropractic and Massage therapy. I was in a wheelchair for four months and it was the combination of this therapy that helped me to walk again. The muscles in our bodies get tight and pull our spine out of alignment; which causes vertabrae to curve and pinch nerves and cause circulation problems. Every nerve in our spine is directly sent to each organ and muscle in our bodies. When there is numbness and tingling in arms, hands,and upper body most likely the problem is the vertabrae between shoulder's all the way up to the neck. I am not saying this will work for everyone. I know that pain killers, steroids, and other inflammatory med's did nothing for me. I changed my diet to eating as many organic foods as possible, taking magnesium (natural calm); which is a very important mineral to help nervous system work properly, dealing with stress and past hurts, and taking care of myself and practicing stress managment. This is an every day assignment for myself. To be healthy and live fully I have to do these things. The chiropractic and massage (trigger point therapy); at first I did it 3 days a week now I am down to 3 times a month. Good luck to all of you.

                        Sarah