heavy, achy legs; where to go from here

[anon314159]

I’m in my early thirties. For three years I was a semi-regular user of legal psychedelics:  Robitussin, nitrous oxide, and salvia divinorum. I was also very physically active, involved in rock climbing and martial arts.

On a Saturday almost two years ago, the evening after a morning spent in a hard karate workout, I took DXM and was unusually active. Monday, I went to full-contact karate and got kicked in the back fairly hard. The only real pain I felt, though, was a horrible headache that had been present since I'd woken up Sunday morning. By Tuesday, the headache had mostly dissipated; I went outside and played Frisbee. The Frisbee went into a shrub (stinging nettle?). I reached in the shrub to get it and noticed a spider. I felt a *****, and the skin on my hand started bubbling and boiling. That night, my legs felt shaky, though not terrible.

The next day, my legs were very sore and achy in a way with which I was not accustomed. I thought that I just needed to stretch them out, so I went climbing. After about five or ten minutes my legs became very stiff and heavy. The shaking and heaviness continued for three to four days. It finally resolved itself, sort of. Every time I walk or stand for very long, the heaviness and aching comes back and lasts for days.  Anxiety leads to shaky legs (though the actual SHAKING has diminished in frequency and severity); it also leads to pain and heaviness. Fasciculations are not terribly uncommon. Light exercise always leads to exaggerated soreness and heaviness in the calves. I'm a little better, but there's still something wrong, and no one knows what it is; I've seen a neurologist, a rheumatologist, and an orthopedic specialist. Even an EMG revealed nothing.  An MRI turned up a small lumbar syrinx which a neurosurgeon dismissed and a protruding cervical disc. Occasionally there is burning pain; usually the pain is – as I’ve described – characterized by achiness and heaviness.
I don't know where to go from here.

[anon314159]

Dr. Ghosh,

Is it possible for you to give my question a second look, in light of what I said about not having touched anything but wine in two years and not being able to be active at all, and another answer? I know you can't diagnose me, but I don't even know where else to go.

Thanks,

Shannon

[Abhijeet Ghosh]

Dear Friend,
You are a real active fellow as you do all physical activities.
But the point of concern is that all your reports are normal.
So , the only thing i can co-relate is that you are having the problem due to the medications you are on.
I would suggest you to just slowly taper off on your "legal psychedelics" because, it looks like purely the side effects of these medicines.

Please discuss, if you need more clarifications.
Regards..

[anon314159]

Also, slowly taper off of recreational drugs? I was never an addict! I just experimented. When I say regular, I mean once every few weeks or months.

[anon314159]

I believe you misread what I wrote.

- I'm not active at all anymore. I was, and then I was suddenly unable to be. Any attempts to live a normal life (tourism, going to rock shows, hiking, etc.) cripple me for a few days. This happened suddenly.

- I don't do any chemicals at all except for the occasional red wine, as I noted. Haven't since this began. The only pill I take is Nexium.

[Abhijeet Ghosh]

Dear Friend,
You are a real active fellow as you do all physical activities.
But the point of concern is that all your reports are normal.
So , the only thing i can co-relate is that you are having the problem due to the medications you are on.
I would suggest you to just slowly taper off on your "legal psychedelics" because, it looks like purely the side effects of these medicines.

Please discuss, if you need more clarifications.
Regards..

[anon314159]

also:

-the only substance in which i indulge these days is alcohol; i probably have 3-4 drinks a week, and it makes me feel better when i do drink, though i don't know how positively affects my muscle recovery.

-i have some possibly unrelated issues: chronic pelvic pain, tendonitis in my hands and arms, chronically dry skin on my hands, and GERD.

-the starred-out word is "p*ick", haha.