Pain in one leg

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redtulip98

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Hi everyone,

I'm 31 female and I've been suffering with acid reflux, digestion issues, and anxiety for the past 3 years. Lately I've had more symptoms to add to my bad health. I'm experiencing pain in my lower right leg and I'm wondering if it's related to fibromyalgia. I haven't been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and I'm waiting until I receive my health insurance to go see a doctor. About a week ago I started having cramping pain in my front thigh on one leg and then 2 days later it moved to my calf and I've had the pain ever since. The pain came out of nowhere. Sometimes the pain moves to the side of the calf or almost to my ankle. As someone prone to bad health anxiety, I'm getting very worried that it might be something serious like a blood clot (after searching google for leg pain!) but I have no swelling, warm skin, or risks of blood clots. Plus, sometimes I get stinging pain in my arms and the other leg, as well as tightness in my wrists and ankles on both sides but it's not constant like in my calf. I experienced the tightness in my wrists before and numbness in my hands (about a year ago) but not right now. For those with fibromyalgia, I'm wondering if predominant pain in one leg could be fibromyalgia? 2 years ago I went to several doctors with my stomach issues and I had to cope on my own because they kind of gave up on diagnosing me or giving me the treatment that would make me feel better. Hence why I am ambivalent to see any doctor now. I feel like once I tell a doctor that I have anxiety they don't take my symptoms seriously anymore. Last month I got married, moved to a new place, and started a new job, and while I am generally happy, perhaps all these changes and the stress that comes along with them are causing these symptoms. Wish I had some relief because when my digestion pain subsides some other kind of pain seems to come along!
Thanks for any input you might have! I'm getting weary of bothering my friends with all my health problems.
 
While any kind of symptom that is included in the fibromyalgia spectrum could be related to fibro, I want to caution you very strongly against thinking that having pain in some part of your body is likely to be fibromyalgia. FM is a whole large set of symptoms, not just one thing or one kind of thing.

The diagnosis of FM is only achieved by eliminating all of the many other things that could be causing the symptoms. This can only be accomplished through tests with various doctors. If you want to find out what is going on you will have to go to doctors. I fully understand your reluctance to do this.....I have the same reluctance. But if you don't go, you will not know what it is. It could be something very treatable, and it also could be something that, if not treated, will get worse. You owe it to yourself to find out.

Your anxiety is not likely to be actually causing any of this pain. But it is absolutely guaranteed to be making it worse. Your worrying is never going to do anything but make things worse, so do your very best to stop doing that to yourself. It's really hurting you, and what you need is to do things that will help you and take care of you. Worry is always only about the unknown. Since it is unknown, it has not happened yet. Stay in the here and now and deal effectively with what is happening today.

You need to find ways that you can release and reduce some of that anxiety (without using drugs). Check out the post at the very top of the General forum here for a lot of tips on things you can do to help reduce stress and anxiety in your life, and how you can make healthy lifestyle changes that will increase your overall health. While you are going through the tests with doctors, you will need to do your very best to keep the anxiety at the lowest possible point. If you are not asked by the doctors a direct question about whether or not you have anxiety, just don't mention it if you think it might make them dismiss you. When I go to a doctor I never mention anxiety or depression unless they ask me a direct question.

Don't waste your time being fearful of all the things this could be. Instead, use that energy to learn to relax and reduce anxiety and to gather the courage needed to go through all the tests to find out what is wrong. It's really hard, but you can do it. We are all here to help you and will be supportive of you in this process.
 
Hi redtulip98,

Sunkacola gives great advice above - and I'd agree that it's tricky to say if your pain could be a sign of fibromyalgia. Stress can also cause all sorts of issues, and make it more complicated to assess how we're feeling. Seeing a doctor is the best thing to do when unexplained symptoms appear, so I hope your insurance comes through soon, and you can get the peace of mind you need!

I will just add in that - while only a doctor can confirm the source of your leg pain - that kind of pain that travels around your leg could very well be rooted in a little inflammation in your spine. When the tissue around our sciatic nerve is irritated, it can cause pain at any point of that nerve - which extends from the spine in our lower back all the way down to our toes! I often have sciatic pain in one leg from an old back injury (it travels exactly as you describe) but this kind of pain doesn't necessarily mean you have something to worry about. It could simply be that you twinged your lower back when you were moving boxes, or irritated it sitting on a bad chair for too long. That kind of thing can be slow to heal, but there's a good chance it'll clear up with time. If not, do go get it checked out, and perhaps ask them if your leg pain could be from your back if they can't find another obvious cause. I hope you get to the bottom of everything, and that your stress levels ease now that you've got all of that change out of the way! Be extra kind to yourself as you unwind from it all.

Acid reflux is horrid, and a common companion to anxiety. I hope your doctor can help you with that too 🌷
 
That's definitely something to consider and bring up with the doctor when I see him. Thank you!
 
Hi redtulip98 - in case you come back - Adding to the good advice above:
Have you praps tried working on your anxiety?
Have you tried looking for triggers of your stomach problems?
I'd say docs are there to make sure it's nothing they can "see" and then, yes, we are on our own, we need to pinpoint, analyze & track our symptoms and their triggers to alleviate & prevent, because no one else can do this for us.
As far as stomach problems are concerned, nutritionists may give us a bit of starting help, and as far as the musculoskeletal system is concerned, good physiotherapists (osteopaths, chiropractors, acupressurists...) may help us more than most docs.
 
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