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1651508 tn?1322141280

Weird "Clicking" In back of neck causing my symptoms? Or just Anxiety?

In the back of my neck when I put my head down and turn it left to right, I can hear and also feel a loud clicking noise, as if something is jammed or obstructing the clear path for my head to travel left to right smoothly. It feels lime a bump, but there is no visible problem from outside looking at my neck. Over the past year, Ive had a range of different symptoms such as:

Numbness across my chest
Headaches (Relieved by Massaging the back of my neck)
Tension in the back of my neck (Relieved by Massaging the back of my neck)
Heart Palpitations
Dizziness
Fatigue
Loss of balance
Pressure feelings in various parts of my head
Numbness in one side of my head/face (comes and goes)
Rapid heart beat (Occasionally)
Sense of impending doom
Feeling of adrenaline rush
Panic and Anxiety.

I went to a neurologist last year who performed an MRI of my brain and said that everything came back normal, She then diagnosed me with Anxiety. The symptoms used to be a lot worse, and then they got better, and now they are starting to get worse again.

Could this be something like a tumor at the back of my neck or something or could it just be my anxiety, and if so, what could explain the weird clicking in the back of my neck?

If it helps, I am a 17 year old male, weighing 127 Pounds (9.1 Stones) and I am 5ft 4 inches tall.
7 Responses
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1448936 tn?1363206346
Lyme disease is transmitted by blacklegged ticks. So unless there was exposure to that typical tick it probably isn't lyme disease.
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Avatar universal
You haven't mentioned high blood pressure but something your doctor could rule out would be a pheochromocytoma.

Rare adrenal tumor, but they are screening for it more now (at least in the United States). It can be ruled out with a simple blood test that is extremely accurate.

Most likely that's not it, but you never know.
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Avatar universal
And while I am not a doctor, your symptoms do not look like a tumor.

Believe me, I was so persistent that I was scanned head to toe with MRIs and CT scans.

If it's one of the conditions I mentioned, depending on the day/week/month of the scan, an MRI could show abnormalities of the white matter of the brain, but most likely not a tumor (unless you were born with a non-malignant one).
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Avatar universal
By the way, I had every symptom you had minus the numbness across the chest.

I used to have a symptom list that covered the front and back of a piece of binder paper.
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Avatar universal
"Numbness in one side of my head/face (comes and goes)"

Sounds like it could be Bell's Palsy cranial nerve VII.

I used to get this. Gone with antibiotics. The cause was Lyme disease.

To me, your symptoms look more like something infectious such as Lyme disease and/or co-infections or ME/CFS. Both these illnesses can be the root cause of extremely severe anxiety. I saw about 20-30 doctors and specialists and never gave up until the cause was found. Many would dismiss me. Doctors would "rule things out" and give me "peace of mind", but the whole time they were just running the wrong tests.

Doctors confuse these conditions with depression/anxiety since depression or anxiety can be a major symptom. Because of the NHS and because many doctors are unaware of or disregard these diseases, it is hard to get a proper diagnosis and help in the UK.
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370181 tn?1595629445

I get a very similar feeling in my neck at times, which has been diagnosed as severe tension because I apparently "carry" most of my stress in the neck and shoulder area. My arthritis also plays a part in the stiffness, as it causes inflamation which can result in the swelling of tendons, muscles and ligaments and these can produce a sort of clicking or snapping sound when rotating your neck. (Hurts like hell, doesn't it?)
You say you have headaches, which are relieved by massage, as is the tension. This just lends more credence to the stress theory. Massage will NOT ease the pain of a brain tumor. I do NOT want you to Google "brain tumors!" (The monkey's will be watching!)
I'm just a little unsure if you had the MRI when all of these symptoms were present. If they were, you can certainly rule out the brain tumor. That would have stuck out like a sore thumb when the picture was "read."
Virtually every symptom you described can be attributed to anxiety/panic, which you said you WERE diagnosed with. What tests did your doctor run to rule out organic reasons for these symptoms? If she ruled out everything and anxiety/panic was the only thing left on the table, what course of treatment did she put you on? Did you get into therapy to help you find the root cause of your panic? Medication is great for the nasty symptoms of anxiety, but it only masks those symptoms, it doesn't do anything to help you find the cause which will lead to recovery.
If it's been a year since you last saw your doctor and you've been suffering with this arrary of symptoms, I'd say it's time to go back and have a thorough follow up exam and a long heart to heart about your anxiety. I hope you also talk with her about seeing a therapist.
Anxiety and panic are horrible conditions to try and live with, but there is so much help out there, nobody has to suffer in silence any longer.
Please get some help. You're too young to have THIS monkey on your back.
Peace
Greenlydia
Helpful - 0
1669548 tn?1318788734
Well, it certainly could be anxiety- Going with the axiom that you should think of horses and not zebras when you hear hoofbeats.
      If you're not too burned out on going to the doctor, I might suggest going again, mentioning the earlier diagnosis of anxiety, and ask your doctor to rule out any neck and spinal problems for you own sense of well-being.
     I tend to get strong tension headaches, myself, and these are often accompanied by soreness in my neck- it's very possible to actually get some swelling and inflammation around the tendons in your neck and around the periphery of the trapezius muscle where it joins the bone of your skull- the occipital bone. So long as there's no physical issues with your spine and bone structure, the potential for relief through pain management and anxiety management is very good.
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