Hey guys, hope all is well.

For the past 2 weeks, off and on I've been experiencing weird sensations on both my legs from the knee down. It's like my leg muscles feel tight and heavy and I fell like there's thing crawling on the inside and I feel as if I have to constantly stretch them. When I stretch them, the muscles crack and they start to twitch.

What also scares me is when I'm walking/standing I feel as if my legs are like jelly and it also freaks me out.

Plus on top of that, I also have muscle tension on both my arms, shoulders, neck, and upper chest. When I stretch these muscles they also crack and twitch as well.

I'm really scared guys. I haven't really been doing any type of exercise to cause these pains. I mean the only thing I can think of causing the tension on my shoulders, and chest is that I have a messenger bag(No, I'm not a girl) and I carry my laptop as well as books and maybe that causes the upper muscle tension.

But what about my legs? I'm scared it's a blood clot or some spinal disease. I really am terrified. Even when I'm sitting still I can't stop shaking my legs because I'm so nervous. I'm not diabetic cuz I had a blood test and Urine test only about 2 months ago and all was well. I'm not a girl so I don't get periods or I'm not going through menopause. I'm sorry to bring this all up but I tried looking for similar threads and I only see that women suffer from this.

Please is there anyone who feels like this. Can muscle tension be this bad? I'm really terrified it's a heart problem, neurological disease, or even something bad like chronic fatigue syndrome.  :'(

RLR,

I don't know if you remember, I'm 21, weight is 145lbs, I'm slim and slender, and blood pressure is 110-120/70-80

Hi Mark.

RLR doesn't seem to be around at the moment, but please keep checking back for his reply. I think he is a retired neurologist so he would certainly be able to help.

I'm not a doctor, just a sufferer from pvc's (palpitations). However, I do read other heart forums and I am pretty sure from what I've read that what you have described is not a symptom of heart problems.

At your age I would think the most likely cause of the back and chest pain is cramping of wall muscles in the chest, due to carrying stuff around or even due to anxiety. I used to get terrible shoulder pain - I only carried a lightweight handbag so didn't think it was that. But the pain went within days of stopping using the handbag. It wasn't the weight - it was how I was tensing my shoulder as I carried it that caused the pain.

The symptoms of a blood clot in the legs are not really what you describe. They usually appear in the calf - which becomes red and warm, or show as a firmish lump behind the knee. I am pretty sure it would be obvious by now if you had a blood clot.

You need to check with your own doctor, but it sounds more muscular than anything. At your age I would be surprised if it is anything serious but seeing your doctor would put your mind at rest.

Okay, I'm uncertain whether I answered this by private message but for the sake of the open forum will make a response here.

Muscles don't "crack" and what you're hearing is merely free CO2 gas being expelled from the joint spaces by compression as you flex or contract your legs.

The sensations you describe which feel as though something is crawling on your skin is known as formication and it is entirely consistent with somatoform associated with anxiety, or in other words, physiological manifestations that result from anxiety and stress. Disorders such as those mentioned are purely a sign of irrational fears and speculation.

At your age young fellow, you need to be taking on the world full of adventure rather than being mired in the bleakness of worry that something is wrong with you. You have to understand that stress and anxiety can produce exertion on the nervous system and cause a great deal of misinterpretation to take place with your senses.

Musculoskeletal tension can cause a great deal of discomfort as well, producing twitching because of muscle fatigue. These observations in their entirety are not associated with any type of disease or disorder.

Take a breath and relax. At my age, I was in practice as a physician more than twice as long as you've been alive. I've evaluated and treated just about everything that can go wrong with a human being and I see nothing of your entire description to even make me pause to consider whether it's anything serious.

Go have some fun with your life. You're a healthy young fellow and you've got a long, long way yet to go. Don't waste even a second of it worrying.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

Well now we're reaching beyond the scope and ability of the forum. I very naturally cannot diagnose you over the internet and contrary to what many people believe, it's entirely impractical to try and assess physical aches or pains in the absence of direct evaluation and access to diagnostic testing.

You do seem to be experiencing a great deal of muscle tension and I would focus your efforts upon trying to relax. You also need to stop searching out symptoms over the internet. Medical evaluation and accurate diagnosis is extremely complex and people alternatively believe that they can somehow match up their symptoms to something they search out over the internet. This is not only illogical, it's highly inaccurate at the very least and should make you pause to consider that such a premise has to capacity to frighten you so. Simply because you read something on the internet doesn't even begin to demonstrate any merit that you actually suffer from it. You have to remind yourself that you're not a medical doctor and that information on the internet does not possess any diagnostic value at all. None.

If your symptoms persist more than another 7 to 10 days, then you should consider simply contacting your primary care doctor to be evaluated. Again, you need to calm down concerning your health. I see nothing in any of your postings to suggest that you have anything serious at all, other than a tendency toward reckless presumptions.

You're going to be okay. Simply treat the pain and discomfort with over-the-counter preparations and see your doctor if symptoms persist past the timeframe mentioned.

Best regards and Good Health