Physical or Psychological pain? PAIN IN THE NECK!!!

[cnote]

This seems to be ongoing.

I'm 32 male. Not a stranger here, but luckily not on here as much as I used to in the past years.

About a month ago, I was having issues with neck and head tension. My head felt like it was in a vise 24/7.
Thankfully that left!!

I've been pain free from that for about 2 weeks maybe?

Now the past week my neck has been hurting AGAIN. But this time JUST my neck and shoulders area.

My neck muscles feel as if they are took weak to hold up my head. That's what it feels like, and also I feel that the muscles on the base of my skull/neck are TIGHT.

When I turn my head left and right slowly, I can hear a sound that I can only describe like "grains of sand" or "muscle fiber noises".

Is this just tension?? It's causing daily headaches too.

Aleve, ibuprofen etc. does not touch it. :(

I'm starting to get anxiety over this, but I KNOW DEEP DOWN IT'S NOTHING SERIOUS.

I just don't feel anxious though, that's the thing.

With my history though of Generalized Anxiety, can it really be anxiety without feeling anxious??

Will this eventually go away on its own?? I believe it will. I just need to take it easy I guess.

It's just starting to depress me, b/c I feel like I've been dealing with this for TOO LONG.

My brother is a massage therapist and worked on me a few days ago, and it felt wonderful, but didnt cure it. I know it can take a few sessions. Also, I have started working out again the past 2 days hoping it will help build muscles back up and help anxiety or depression if THAT's what this is.

Thanks.

(32 male, no medication for 4 years)

[cnote]

Thanks for the advice. I stopped going so hard on my knots in my traps and romboids with the tennis ball. I think I was actually pissing the knots off and making them more sore. haha.

After I've laid off a bit and just gently roll the tennis ball on them, it feels better. I think sometimes they dont' need crazy pressure to become loose.

I worked out at the gym yesterday. Trying to make these muscles stronger so it's harder to strain them in the future.

As for opiates, I agree, whole other ball game. Yes, withdrawal is different from benzos or AD's, but it's brutal still, just in another way. And yes you can die. Some opiates are like synthetic heroine. I watched my brother cold turkey Oxycontin, it was his only option. It was awful... but he did it, then checked himself into a mens ranch for 1 year. He's been clean ever sense and has 2 businesses. A very successful man. Love him. :)

[Paxiled]

Ugh.  You can't believe the number of hours each day I spend doing physical therapy and rolling on those tennis balls (you might try a lacrosse ball -- you can get in deeper with it, which is sometimes better, sometimes not).  

[Paxiled]

I'm not certain that quitting opiates is harder than quitting antidepressants, and is definitely not as dangerous as quitting benzos.  There's a tragic recent story about a guy with mental illness who was put in prison, lost a ton of weight in a short amount of time, and died.  It was well reported he was a user of illegal opiates, but he died most likely from seizures caused by the jail not giving him his benzos -- they can cause seizures if stopped abruptly.  The fact is, antidepressants and benzos are completely artificial drugs whereas opiates at least are recognized by the brain as natural, as there are natural opiate-like substances in the brain (as well as natural marijuana-like chemicals in the brain).  All drugs that affect the brain need to be taken seriously and stopped in a safe fashion.

[cnote]

Yes, I had anxiety before pills, like bad anxiety. But, I am better off of medication. Again, I will take an OCCASIONAL xanax when in absolute need, which is like once ever 3-6 months. That's nothing. :) The rest of the anxiety episodes, I just ride the way, function the best I can, still go to work, until it passes.

For me, with or without pills, the anxiety always eventually passes. So why take brain altering drugs every day if I'm going to have anxiety episodes even while on the drugs, just in hopes that it helps the anxiety leave faster? That's just me though.

Other's need them if it's deliberating and stopping from doing ANYTHING. I can agree with that.

To each their own, and there is no judging.

Opiates on the other hand are a whole other ball game. I've never taken an opiate or pain killer in my life (minus tylenol and ibuprofen). I've seen the damage those can do to people. They are extremely addicting.

[VICourageous]

Hi Again.
Yep, I figured you hit that by accident. You & Paxiled have been going back & forth with some great info..Ha!

I did catch on here that You soak in a Hot Tub?
I have been picking up some great info on here and in the other areas about them AD meds. I am going to try to recommend that some people come over in these areas, even if they are going through a Detox. We all have the Anxiety when we go through this and lost of People want to know about them AD meds. OR maybe some of you, that do know about these issues can come on over and chime in about this too. We do get many post about them AD meds and which one work the best and so forth.
Even if you all share some natural tips on Anxiety too. I guess we need some more expert advise on all of this over there too..Ha!
I usually tell them Time & Patience and to have them let their Brain Chems balance back after the removal of these types of opiates. But again, some have a issues with depression & anxiety way before the pills.

Anyway, It has been nice talking with you and I Pray all gets better.
Bless
Vickie

[cnote]

Thanks for writing. I think I accidentally hit your response as "best answer". lol. But you know what, your advise is a great answer. :) haha.

Read my comment above, it's hilarious.

I have muscle knots and that's it. I work at a computer all day, even though I've been doing that for 10+ years now, it's probably just starting to catch up to me. I've corrected my posture, and that should help down the road. I'm also working out again, but lightly. I hear that muscle knots/trigger points, keep the muscles from getting stronger, so I must take it easy on those Traps until I can get these knots to release.

I'm also a camera operator, so that also puts a lot of stress on the trap muscles.

And having generalized anxiety disorder, and going through a very stressful event 3 months ago doesnt help with all that tension.

My body just needs some extra TLC, and I'm working on it.

I know this will get better. :) Hot baths, icy hot, trigger point therapy, and the heating pad is helping.

Thanks for writing.

[cnote]

You are correct sir. lol. I have muscle KNOTS. Painful knots. I got a tennis ball out again last night and did some "at home" trigger point therapy. I just stayed on that painful not as long as I could, hoping it would release. While it did not release, it does feel better day by day, so I'm going to keep that up. I also did some extension exercises last night and that felt good too. Oh, and I put a heating pad on last night while in bed, slept GREAT after 20 minutes of a heating pad on my Traps. :)

A HILARIOUS story really quickly: Yesterday evening, I was having dinner at my sisters house. My aunt Cheryl happened to be there, she has fibromyalgia. She's had it for years, but chooses not to take ANYTHING for it. She has just gotten used to the peaks and valleys of it.

While we were eating dinner, I looked over at her, reached over and just touched her back... almost kind of poking it. lol.

She turned and looked at me and went "OW! What are you doing!?"

I started LAUGHING, and apologized, and I said "I definitely don't have fibromyalgia."

She said she hurts to the touch ALL OVER her body, not just trigger points.

I thought I'd share that story. :) haha.

[Paxiled]

You don't have fibro -- that I can tell you.  They think I have something like it, though, that they call something or other but boils down to a confused nervous system that thinks minor problems are major problems -- something with the central nervous system.  I don't think you have that, either, though.  If you had fibro, you'd be exhausted all the time and nearly disabled  it's a pretty devastating set of symptoms.  You don't have it.

[cnote]

The thought of having fibromyalgia keeps popping up in my head, and i keep googling... I HATE Dr. Google.

[anxiety860]

I've now been off Prozac for 2 months. However I still take klonopin when needed. I'm leaning towards going med free. Maybe have klonopin for when I have major episodes? I'm not sure... I know meds for sure can help people but I just wonder how much they actually help me

[cnote]

Totally agree with you. Yes, I'm my own worst enemy. Lol. When you have anxiety, it makes pain 10x worse. We are more sensitive than most people.

I got some trigger point therapy in tonight from my brother. It was SO painful, yet he said he could feel knots hard as a rock then the next minute melt away like butter. However not all have released yet. But well get there.

Thanks for always being awesome Paxiled.

I'm like you when it comes to meds. I believe we've had this discussion before.

I came off ativan over 3+ years ago. That was hell.

I also tried remeron off and on a few years ago. It was a wonder drug for a while. I could take it for a few weeks and come off easy.

But one time I took it for a few weeks and had a horrendous withdrawal. Almost as bad as ativan withdrawal.

Now these days I cope with other natural outlets. Mostly spiritual and mindfulness. Its a lot of work,  and I know ill suffer from anxiety for the rest of my life probably,  but I'm okay with that.

I will allow myself an occasional xanax. And when I mean occasional, I mean OCCASIONAL. Like ONE every few months. I hate benzos. Lol. And I've learned the damage they can do when taken for even weeks at a time. I was on ativan pretty steady for 4 years. Those drugs bite you in the butt and you don't know it, bc the symptoms are anxiety x100 and the dr.s don't believe in benzo tolerance w/d etc. At least not the ones in my small town.

Glad to be med free. :)

[Paxiled]

I started seeing a sports chiropractor recently to see if he can put me back together again.  Unlike you, I do have disc problems and plantar fasciitis and all kinds of problems, but they really were made bad by my bad medicine experience and trying to exercise my way out of it on too little sleep.  I don't think you have arthritis and I think you're doing all the right things.  My only concern is you tend to freak out every time something goes wrong with your body, and as you age this is going to keep happening, so it's not doing you any good.  You do the right things, but you make yourself miserable anyway.  Exercise isn't really good for everything -- it's good for the organs but very hard on the joints and the discs and connective tissue.  People who live the longest healthiest lives tend to live in societies where they don't do all this odd exercise but who are very active in their daily lives, including walking a lot to get where they're going.  I love to do athletic stuff and it didn't catch up to me until my fifties, but it does catch up to you.  That's why I say you need to take care of your body maintenance now and learn to move properly so you don't end up injured when you're older.  That's the part that I don't think is an anxiety issue.  It's a life issue that affects everyone.  

[Paxiled]

My experience is so rare that it's not something that really corresponds to what most people are going through, but I also spent a lot of time on medication before Paxil withdrawal pretty much ended my useful life.  It just never stopped, and that doesn't happen often and only really happens if you have a quack for a psychiatrist like I had.  But my view of medication is this:  you should only take it if you absolutely need it, not just because it's the easiest way out or the only one your doctor knows how to do.  But if therapy and relaxation techniques and milder medicine don't work and your life is miserable, that's when medication becomes the best thing we know how to do to keep going.  That's how you determine if you're a candidate for going off meds -- have you worked on your problem in therapy and feel you've made enough progress to stop?  Did you need them in the first place, or did you have the kind of doctors who just dole out meds to get you out of their hair?  And do you have the patience to take the time necessary to safely stop taking the meds?  A good book to read on this is the Anti-Depressant Solution, which talks about when it's time to stop your meds and how to do it safely.  

[cnote]

My chiropractor is a good friend of mine. He's a sports chiropractor.  So he also does massage, training and other things for injured athletes or just regular people. Sports medicine pretty much.

While my doctor nor my chiropractor did an xray, I do believe my chiro when he says he doesn't believe its arthritis. There are key factors with arthritis,  and mine didn't match up.

What we have finally found out is, is that I have a TON of trigger points, they hurt to the touch. Nasty buggers.

They are sending referred pain to my neck sometimes and other areas. You can feel the pain pathway when these are pressed on.

I'm still working on them with exercises, massage therapy,  posture correction,  and some old fashioned at home trigger point therapy with a tennis ball.

Yes anxiety makes this worse. Because I am dwelling.

My anxiety is getting better now that I know the cause and that these knots/trigger points are treatable. :)

[anxiety860]

Hey paxiled. Do you mind me asking how long you were on medication?... I'm assuming you were on Paxil.... I ask because I'm in mid 20s.. Debating about getting off medication all together. You don't need to answer. Just curious.

[Paxiled]

Oh, and I also believe if you don't feel anxious you're not anxious.  But C, you're clearly feeling anxious or you wouldn't be obsessing over this very common pain that happens to active people.  You're obviously feeling very anxious over it.  Me, I'm just angry as all get out at the level of pain I have after being active all my life.  But I'm in my sixties, and it hit me in my fifties because medication destroyed my brain's ability to deal.  I don't think you have anything other than a little wear and tear that needs, and is getting, tending.  

[Paxiled]

Just for any general reader out there, chiropractors have no way of knowing if you have arthritis or not.  They say a lot of thing they're not qualified to say.  I have been seeing chiropractors for years off and on, and one has to take them with a grain of salt.  One example is the supplements many of them recommend and sell, but none of them have really studied this stuff in the detail required to truly know how to do it properly. It's just a way to make more money off you.  The only thing chiropractors are qualified to do is make adjustments and some have learned some massage techniques and hopefully this mitigates pain.  Some really have gone a long way further to learn more and more about how to mitigate pain.  But the only way to tell if you have arthritis or not is to get tests for it.  That being said, I don't think it makes much difference if you have it or not -- what you want to do is just keep the pain at bay that comes from life.  Anxiety is often blamed for everything, but it doesn't cause everything, it just makes whatever you have feel worse.  This is especially true if you're on medication for it or have been on medication for it, because these medications interfere with the absorption of magnesium, essential for relaxing the muscles and nerves.  Not disagreeing with C and his self-diagnosis, because I have no clue what's going on with him, just giving general information here.  Peace all.

[cnote]

Thanks for writing anxiety860.

I think I have FINALLY accepted this as ANXIETY. FINALLY. It has taken me a while.

My Dr. scared me when he said it could be "arthritis". That made anxiety worse. I dwelled on the word arthritis and started using Dr. Google. etc. That is ANXIETY.

My chiropractor is awesome, and told me that I do NOT have arthritis b/c the way my muscle pain moves around. He said arthritis pain is pretty localized and I would know it.

However, my chiropractor said to me "all you have is myofascial pain". As in "nothing serious at all". He found some knots and stuff and worked on me.

I then got back to my office, and used Dr. Google once again (I know, dumb idea) and I googled Myofascial Pain, and when I hit Enter, every search result came up as "Mayofascial Pain SYNDROME".

I read up on it, and freaked out ONCE AGAIN. I immediately called my chiropractor and asked if that's what he meant that he thought I had.

He responded "OF COURSE NOT. Myofacial pain is just a term, nothing else. It means muscle pain. Also just b/c something is a syndrome doesnt mean it's forever."

At this point, my anxiety was so bad, I broke down CRYING. I was ruminating SO MUCH over these muscle aches and pains.

That's when I KNEW "this has all got to be anxiety... all of it."

We CAN indeed have physical symptoms of anxiety without necessarily feeling anxious!!!

[anxiety860]

Hey there. My anxiety has caused muscle pain/spasms/knots/ for years now I almost forget they are there until I finally relax and can feel the pain/how tense I am. Muscle pain is so common for me it actually causes me no anxiety. Which is very weird for me being how I have health anxiety. I have a feeling you truly know this is anxiety related, but he even when we KNOW it's anxiety a lot of time we can't help but think the worst of the worst.

[cnote]

So, and update.

I think this is ALL anxiety. Ugh...

I'm having periods of feeling fine, with just some upper back and neck pain, but also now I'm having random feelings of feeling "not right" visually. Can't explain it in writing, but it's obviously anxiety!

Feels like a ghost coming over me, everything looks and feels odd, but then it leaves.

I also have not been sleeping well the past couple of weeks, always having weird dreams, tossing and turning, CONSTANTLY thinking about my back and neck.

I'm CONSTANTLY ruminating about my muscle aches and pains...

THAT RIGHT THERE PROVES to me that this is all anxiety.

Especially that the muscle spasms seem to move around. But they are still pretty constant. =/

[cnote]

You are so right! My chiro said that "grainy sand" type sound I was having was from tight muscles and crepitus, which is a common wear and tear sound.

He doesnt think it's arthritis either, but like YOU said, normal wear and tear, and I'm sure that anxiety over the years has not helped, from being tensed up and stressed.

I think he'll help me out. I slept better last night. Taking ibuprofen every 6 hours, and REALLY working on my posture.

Once I'm feeling better, it's time to hit the gym again, but I will be careful on how much weight I'm lifting.

My chiro is very sensitive with me and my anxiety, he really helps give me a peace of mind about it "not being a forever pain", and he can help it for the time being.

I know that having anxiety can make symptoms worse than what they are.

Have a blessed day buddy! I know good days are ahead!! I should count my blessings, as I am able to still LIVE, WORK, etc. :)

[Paxiled]

I didn't say it was arthritis, C.  But I know that sound you say your neck makes.  I ignored it for years.  Not everything is anxiety, but anxiety does cause muscle tightness and sometimes makes sleep not very sound, and it sure messed me up good.  Hope it all goes away, but I stick by my opinion that this is just normal wear and tear and it's a good time to learn how to prevent it from getting worse.  Wish I had.  Peace, C.

[cnote]

Well, I went to my buddy who's a chiropractor today. He helped my lower back pain pretty much disappear a few months ago. Amen! He thinks my pain is from tension and posture. He said he can treat me ans feeling good in a few visits. :)