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Strange Feeling in Limbs, Neck and Upper/Lower Back

Hello,

Preface: I'm a 22 year old male. 6'1" and 135lbs. Naturally skinny. I have no known hereditary illnesses or current illnesses, allergies or the like.

This all started around my Junior year of high school in 2008. I began feeling a strange and nearly indescribable sensation down my Ulna and Sciatic nerves, between ring and pinky fingers and toes; tracing up to my spine(primarily in back of hip next to coccyx, front of hip, 5L-3L, 6T-2T, 7C-1C, along and below the top ridge of the scapula, back of jaw below earlobe, temple at top of ear, behind eye just above tear duct; all mainly on the left side, although the side sometimes changes).

The feeling is close to the tingling one would get after their leg falls asleep only it's not the numbness or the pins/needles. It's almost like an electric tickle. It comes and goes, coming mainly when I'm either at home doing nothing or at work walking, sitting and standing as a delivery driver or when I think of it, going only after not thinking about it for a while. I have come to the assumption that the feeling is always there but flairs up during previously mentioned times or when I think about it.

I pop nearly every joint in my body: spine, fingers, toes, ankles, wrists, elbows, knees and hips. This sensation causes me to feel the need to pop joints and I suspect that I've had since far before I ever noticed it(Speculation: The feeling may have caused me to feel the need to pop more and more joints as time went on). Although popping joints only temporarily relieves it, sometimes for seconds or minutes, mostly it relieves nothing at all. Constant movement kind of relieves it but I can still feel it lingering and when I stop moving it comes back full force.

I have seen chiropractors who say they have no idea what it is, even after x-rays. I have also seen a general practitioner who referred me to a neurologist who set me up with a full spinal MRI. The neurologist said that nothing was wrong that he could see in the MRI.

The feeling sometimes keeps me up at night, distracts me from work and my social life and generally interrupts my overall comfort.

I hope to find someone who can help me find the cause of this issue or at least someone who feels the same.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

-Morgan
2 Responses
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338416 tn?1420045702
Hey, Morgan - I don't think this is in your head.

Take a look at the symptoms of restless limb syndrome. Sufferers of RLS have a weird ticklish feeling in their limbs, and motion relieves that sensation. It builds up again after the motion, rather like a sneeze. Sometimes the motion can be involuntary.
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987762 tn?1671273328
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi Morgan and welcome,

Have you considered if there is no physical explanation for this sensation, that there may actually be a psychological and an additional habitual-behavioural explanation? I would suggest you seriously consider discussing the impact this is having on your working and social life with a psychologist, as regardless of the causation you need to learn some alternative coping and behavioural skills, and I think cognitive behavioural therapy may really help you in the long term.

Cheers....JJ  
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