Cramps Vs. Regular Pain

[elly2978]

I've been having some pain in my legs, and I'm not sure how to describe it- does anyone know what the difference between muscle cramps and just general pain (shooting pain, aching pain, etc) is? I want to make sure that I describe it accurately to the doctor, in case it makes a difference.
Thanks!

[shygirl26]

Cramps are usually sharp and intense - it may be hard to use the affected area after a cramp, when after a 'regular' pain, use may occur with no pain afterwards. Sometimes with cramps too, you can feel a knot or a lump where the muscle is inflamed. A cramp is prolonged and painful. If it's in your leg, it will hurt to walk - an aching pain or a sharp pain would probably hurt momentarily but would feel better after rest or after a short period of time, whereas a muscle cramp in the leg can cause pain when walking for several days.

[elly2978]

Oh, ok. So cramps are really intense all the time? For some reason, I thought that the achy feeling that I get after exercising too much was a muscle cramp- is that something else then? Thanks :)

[shygirl26]

The achiness after the workout is usually just from the muscles being overworked. You will KNOW if you're having a cramp - cramps are some of the most painful things our bodies do to us. They will have you doubled over in pain. I used to wake up in the middle of the night with sudden leg cramps, and I would roll out of bed screaming because it hurt so bad. Cramps hurt for DAYS afterwards.

I'm rambling a bit -- I guess what I'm trying to say is, the ache you get after exercising is different than a cramp. That ache is usually dull and you can move the limb/area without much pain. After a cramp, you do everything possible to avoid using it at all, lol.

[elly2978]

Cool beans  I was freaking out because I thought I had muscle cramps, which is a symptom of some nasty diseases. Guess I don't. Thanks!

[elly2978]

I went for a walk today to try to make my legs feel better. My right leg got really stiff, and both of them ended up with sharp pains in them. I could still keep walking though. Does this sound like anything to you guys? They've been hurting like this for almost 4 weeks now...

[jthami03]

hello again!
so walking didn't go so well?
i have to admit, mine do ache while walking, and i've gotten that tight, stiff feeling you mention.
it takes time, but eventually the LIGHT exercise should help.

also, take solace in the fact that if it was anything to worry about, 4 weeks Would've been plenty of time for it to get tremendously worse. :)

[elly2978]

Unfortunately, walking did not go well at all. I'm glad that you've gotten the stiff feeling too! I'm worried about ALS, which lists "muscle cramping" and "muscle stiffness" as symptoms, and is scary as HELL. Does the pain that you have feel like cramps to you? I don't know if my pain is cramps or what.

I'm also super stressed out about grad school and my relationship with my boyfriend, which for some reason makes my health anxiety even stronger (instead of taking my mind off it)

[shygirl26]

I get leg stiffness and achiness while exercising and walking. The thing with cramping is, once it happens, you definitely won't be able to walk on it. It will be hard to flex the muscle and you would basically be hopping along. Did you say you have an appointment with your doctor soon? I hope talking to him/her will help ease your worries, but this doesn't sound like cramping to me.

[elly2978]

I had an appointment with my doctor awhile ago- she gave me X-ray, which were clean, and an EMG which showed some slight abnormalities. She didn't say what that meant- she just left a phone message saying there were slight abnormalities that weren't clear enough for a diagnosis at this time (which scared the heck out of me!) and is sending me to physical therapy. I'm calling her back tomorrow to ask her for more details.

I was trying to go to sleep, but my legs REALLY hurt- there are like these pulsing twinges of pain. I can still walk though, if I want to, motion doesn't affect the pain. I've never had a muscle cramp, or any other kind of pain like this, so I'm not really sure what it is... I'm hoping it's just a pinched nerve or something (which would mess up an EMG). Are you sure this doesn't sound like cramps?

[shygirl26]

Doesn't sound like cramps to me -- if you were having cramps in your legs, you for sure wouldn't be able to walk or put any weight on the leg without being in A LOT of pain. Like you said, call the doc tomorrow. Try to relax, you are ok, try to take a pain reliever. Do you have anything to use as a warm compress for your legs? If you WERE having leg cramps, the heat would definitely help. And if it is a muscle issue, the warmth from the compress will help relax the pain away and hopefully help you to sleep. If you don't have anything to use, throw some rice into a sock and put it in the microwave for 2-3 minutes...my go-to for muscle pain :) I sincerely hope you start feeling better soon. I have been worried about pain in my legs for a few weeks now and I know how scary it can be.

[elly2978]

Aw, thanks shygirl :) The pain got a lot better once I let myself relax, and I don't feel it yet this morning- just leftover aches from the sharp pain last night. I will definitely be calling the doctor today!

[elly2978]

The doctor called me back during work, and I missed it I called her back, but she didnt call me back. Maybe tomorrow?

Also, jthami, I went for another walk today, and it did make my legs feel better. So maybe frequent light exercise is the way to go. Further experimentation is necessary. I'm still worried about ALS, but am trying not to freak out too much...

[shygirl26]

Aw, sorry to hear that you missed the doc. Hopefully tomorrow. Glad to hear that light walks are helping - keep it up if you can. Anything that makes your pain better is definitely a good thing. Try to relax, don't worry about ALS...I know, easier said than done. But my philosophy that I try to stick by is 'I will NOT worry about something until it is time to.' That saying, don't worry about having ALS until your doctor says "(name), I am diagnosing you with ALS." Which, by the way, will not happen because I'm almost certain that you don't have it!

[elly2978]

Thanks shygirl :) I guess if it was ALS, the EMG would have been worse? I don't know how early of a symptom leg cramps are. And, these aren't really leg cramps because I can still walk, so I guess they're not even a problem. Seriously, thanks for reassuring me. I know I get pretty repetitive when I am stressed out. I will try to live in the moment, but I'm having a lot of stress from other parts of my life, which I think always makes the health anxiety worse. Hopefully the doctor will call tomorrow and that will make me feel better (although I feel silly saying "This isn't ALS, is it? :O )

[shygirl26]

Oh, Elly, just out of curiosity, have you had any bloodwork done recently? If not, I bet your doctor will send you for some. My doc recently told me I have a vitamin D deficiency, which causes a lot of aches and pains and is probably one of the main causes of my leg pains. She gave me a very strong vitamin D supplement to take every week for 3 months which should take care of the pain. It is not uncommon so maybe your doctor will check into this? Just something to think about...something as simple as not having enough of a vitamin is enough to cause all of these scary (at least, in our minds!) symptoms :) Let me know how things go tomorrow!

[elly2978]

I did have some, but I think that was only to check for a specific enzyme that might have been leaked into my bloodstream if there was something wrong with my muscles- if I had strained one too much, or if it was deteriorating because of disease or something. That's a good point, maybe I will ask her about that, thanks :)

[jthami03]

elly-

glad to hear the walk helped =D
i dont know jack about ALS cause i'm not afraid of any illness unless it can cause sudden, instant death, but i'm fairly certain that relief by walking is a safe indication that its nothin serious.

its like saying "my stomach hurts....pushing on it makes it better....it must be an ulcer!"
....wait what? lol

ok maybe that example kinda sucks but i think you get what i mean.

Oh and to update about my leg pains....
yesterday i spent about 4 hours writing and recording a song.
i had 0, zero, nada anxiety from when i started throughout this morning.

so unless music heals, i think all my symptoms are nothing to worry about =D

[shygirl26]

elly, have you heard from your doc lately? just curious :)

i experienced the same thing jthami has -- my mind was occupied for several hours and I had zero leg pains. shows the power of our minds, for sure.

[elly2978]

no, she hasn't called me back yet I called her 3 times too, and then stopped, because I don't want to be "that patient" (if I'm not already). It's been a week though... I'm pretty disappointed. I am going to physical therapy on Monday though, I will let you know what I hear back from that :)

My legs have now gone from painful to stiff- especially in my right leg. I don't know if this is an improvement or not. Maybe it's an after effect of all the stress- or maybe it's muscle spasticity? Another term that I don't know the exact definition of... do you? 

[elly2978]

And now I'm having similar pain in the little finger of my right hand! I hope it's not spreading... maybe I screwed something up typing. I will try to calm down and see if its still there in the morning... it hurts though. I don't know why it would be spreading? That doesn't seem like ALS... or MS, really. Or anything else I've heard of. Weird.

[elly2978]

The EXCITING CONCLUSION!
(ok, not really that exciting)

I went to the physical therapist yesterday. I was very impressed with him- he was an actual medical doctor, and he was very patient with me- he went through all the diagnostic tests, and explained to me what each one ruled out. He gave me strength tests, had me walk on my toes and heels, and had me lift my legs in different ways. He told me that he thinks that the nerve in the front of my right leg is the problem, and that the main problem is actually in my back- something's compressing it there or something. I'm not really sure about this, since sometime the pain is only in the bottom half of my leg, and sometimes not in the path he described, but I guess he should know what he's doing.

The things that made me feel better were:
1) My reflexes are symmetrical, and my strength is symmetrical, and pretty normal for my age/size, which rules out upper neuron damage (ALS, MS, etc) as likely possibilities.
2) He said that in 80% of neck/back pain cases, the cause is undetermined, and stays undetermined. So my abnormal EMG is not an issue- it just means that the pain in one specific nerve is not so bad that it's obvious.
3) I've noticed that it gets a lot better when I take my mind off of it

So hopefully this fixes the problem :) I actually hurt worse today, but maybe its from stretching and stuff yesterday. That seems like a common thing to happen.

[jthami03]

good to hear! I know you had mentioned a fear of clots...
well im sure you've already figured it out, but clots dont go this long without becoming PAINFULLY obvious.

so the good news is, its nothing dangerous :D

[elly2978]

:)
I started out afraid of clots, and then went to MS and then ALS.... that's how my mind works, whenever the symptoms don't fit, I look for something that does- or something that's scary enough that I don't care if they fit or not : / I hope everything will get better now though :)

[jthami03]

i'm certain it will!

mine did =D