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Pain twitching neck shoulder arm

Hi,
I am a 37 year old female.
3 weeks ago I started having severe pain and stiffness in my neck and upper back , 9 days ago it changed and I now still have a sore neck but the biggest problem is the severe pain in my shoulder and shoulder blade area, under arm and arm all the way to my wrist(all right side).
I also have major twitching all day long, cramping, tingling, heavy pain feeling and a dull constant ache with some sharp pains as well.
This pain is constant however at night is always worse.
Its much worse if I am lying down making it hard to sleep.
Two nights ago i woke up with legs twitching and within minutes my entire body was shaking/twitching severely.
I think this last symptom may have been adrenaline? perhaps I was scared of the pain...not sure...
12 years ag i  injured myself in the ocean while body surfing as the top of my head crashed down on the ground and 2.5 years ago was my first episode of this sever pain in my neck/back which even made me black out.
My appointments with doctors have been useless as he wanted to just drug me up with pain killers and Lyrica, I did not take anything other than anti inflammatories for a week.
I have a neuro appointment tomorrow, I will ask for  a CT.
Any advice?
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Avatar universal
Thank you very much for your response, I appreciate the info.
As for the caffeine/stress anxiety scenario I fully understand what you are saying but it is not the case here.My twitching is not the usual stress/tired related ones like eyes etc...
I have twitching in large muscle groups like my lats, pecs deltoids and throughout my right arm.The twitching I can live with actually its the pain that it is hard.
twitching, cramping,throbbing, sharp shooting pains .
I have pain on my entire right side, deltoid, pecs, neck,lats, axila all the way to my finger tips.In my arm my elbow and wrist are severe.Pain is constant(level changes throughout the day from a 3 all the way to severe 10)Seems worse in the evening/night and definitely extreme when trying to sleep as lying down has become a chore, It is keeping me up at night as its so painful.
I have had another tremor/shaking episode like the first one where I wake up in sever pain then start to feel the shaking starting form the chest then throughout the entire body, even my teeth chatter and I am cold.

I went to the Neuro, after examining me he thinks it sounds disc related..there is a difference now visually between my left and right lats( muscle loss I guess) almost 4 weeks of pain now. He is sending me for an EMG , Mar 24th.
I also did some blood tests today to be safe.
On another note I saw bright red in my stool yesterday so I was sent to undergo an occult stool test.

i guess what is most frustrating is n one seems to know what to test for???

Thanks again for your input ,

Linda
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Avatar universal
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with a doctor.

Without the ability to examine and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

It must be emphasized that most cases of muscle twitches are benign meaning that they are of no consequence and are not resulting from a serious cause. In such cases, the twitches may be related to anxiety/stress, caffeine, and often occur after recent strenuous activity or muscle over-use. It is important in such cases to reduce stress/anxiety levels and to reduce caffeine intake. Tremors of the hands can be physiological that is exacerbated by stress/anxiety and caffeine.

Benign fasciculation syndrome (BFS) is a condition in which there are involuntary twitches of various muscle groups, most commonly the legs but also the face, arms, eyes, and tongue. If the diagnosis is confirmed and other causes are excluded, it can be safely said that the likelihood of progression or occurrence of a serious neurologic condition is low.

When BFS is present but not particularly bothersome or disabling, treatment is not necessary. If severe and it requires treatment, there are a few medication options though this condition is not very common, and the research that has been done on its treatment is limited. Minimizing caffeine and stress, and treating anxiety if it is present, will improve your symptoms.

However in general (and please understand I am not trying to imply I feel this is the case in you), when fasciculations occur in the setting of associated symptoms such as progressive loss of sensation, tingling or numbness, weakness, trouble swallowing and other symptoms, the cause may be due to a peripheral nervous system problem. In general the symptoms would not be episodic and triggered by certain things but would be more constant/frequent without consistent triggers. The location of the problem could be the anterior horn cells, the area where the nerves that supply motor innervation to our body come from. These are the cells that give off the nerves that allow us to voluntarily contract our muscles. The diseases that might affect the anterior horn cells include ALS (also called Lou Gherig's disease), a condition called spinal muscular atrophy, polio-like viruses, west nile virus, and other infections.

Another nervous system problem, neuropathy, may also lead to fasciculations. There will again be associated weakness or sensory changes.

Often these symptoms may reflect emotional/psychiatric problems related to stress (what is called somatization disorder). The latter is a true medical condition whereby instead of a patient experiencing depression or anxiety, they experience physical symptoms, and once the stress is addressed, the symptoms resolve. Fibromyalagia is another medical condition that leads to whole body pains, and is best treated with medications such as lyrica and neurontin, exercise, and physical therapy.

I see that you were to follow up with a neurologist. How did the appointment go? Any further recommendations?

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.

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