u/moon_walker3003

Hi everyone! I'm F20, and for the past two months I've been dealing with different kinds of pain on my left upper arm Sometimes it's a stabbing pain, other times it's a dull ache in the muscle, and occasionally I'll get a sudden shooting pain that radiates through my body while I'm doing something. The best way I can describe it is like fireworks or a sudden wave of goosebumps because it comes out of nowhere and catches me off guard. It makes me really anxious.

I saw a neurologist and had an X-ray done, which showed straightening of my cervical spine due to muscle spasm. Prior to this, my neck (left side) also has been hurting for 1 month but now it's gone. I've been doing PT but so far nothing has really helped relieve the pain. One thing that bothers me is putting on clothes, particularly tight T-shirts. My left arm becomes extremely sensitive, followed by a burning sensation that feels similar to the sting you get after scraping your skin when you trip. Has anyone experienced something similar? If so, what helped reduce the pain or make it more manageable? Also are there bone pain that you experience? I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

Hi everyone! I'm F20, and for the past two months I've been dealing with different kinds of pain. Sometimes it's a stabbing pain, other times it's a dull ache in the muscle, and occasionally I'll get a sudden shooting pain that radiates through my body while I'm doing something. The best way I can describe it is like fireworks or a sudden wave of goosebumps because it comes out of nowhere and catches me off guard. It makes me really anxious.

I saw a neurologist and had an X-ray done, which showed straightening of my cervical spine due to muscle spasm. Prior to this, my neck (left side) also has been hurting for 1 month but now it's gone. I've been doing PT but so far nothing has really helped relieve the pain. One thing that bothers me is putting on clothes, particularly tight T-shirts. My left arm becomes extremely sensitive, followed by a burning sensation that feels similar to the sting you get after scraping your skin when you trip. Has anyone experienced something similar? If so, what helped reduce the pain or make it more manageable? Also are there bone pain that you experience? I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

Hi everyone F20 here and thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this.

I've been struggling with health anxiety for the past few months, to the point where I had to delete my social media accounts because I kept looking up symptoms and convincing myself I had the worst possible illness.

It all started around mid-March while I was riding a bus. My neck suddenly became painful, and for a few minutes it was difficult to move it back into a normal position. It improved, but later that night while doing chores, the pain returned. This time it was bad enough that I felt weak and had to lie down and rest.

A few days later, the pain came back. Out of fear, I started searching my symptoms online. One search led me to lymphoma, and from that point on I became terrified that I would develop swollen, tender lymph nodes in my neck.

I went to my university clinic and was told the pain was likely related to stress. I also had blood work done because my lymphocyte count was slightly elevated, but the doctor reassured me that it was still within a normal range.

The neck pain persisted, so I saw another doctor—this time an oncologist. They performed a physical examination and said they couldn't feel any abnormal lumps. To be thorough, they requested several tests and imaging studies. My chest X-ray came back clear. I also had thyroid tests, urinalysis, lipid profile, fasting blood sugar, uric acid, creatinine, and an ECG, all of which were normal.

After about a month, the neck pain finally went away.

Unfortunately, shortly after that, I started experiencing a new symptom: tingling sensations and sharp, shooting pain in my left arm. I could still sleep at night, but during the day it became difficult to ignore and started affecting my daily life.

After dealing with it for about 10 days, I saw an orthopedic surgeon. They performed physical tests and took X-rays of both shoulders. Everything came back normal. That was frustrating because I was experiencing real pain, yet all the tests were saying nothing was wrong. I was prescribed paracetamol and a muscle relaxant, but I didn't notice much improvement. I also consulted an internal medicine doctor who felt it was muscular in nature.

Fast forward almost two months, and I'm still dealing with symptoms. Recently I've started feeling a dull internal ache in my left arm, along with strange vibration-like sensations throughout my body. It's difficult to describe, but it's honestly terrifying.

I recently saw a neurologist who ordered a cervical spine X-ray. The report showed straightening of the normal cervical curvature, possibly due to muscle spasm, but otherwise my neck and spine appeared normal. The neurologist believes the pain may be coming from nerves affected by issues in the neck.

I've started doing neck exercises, and interestingly they seem to have helped reduce the tingling and sharp sensations in my upper arm. However, I'm still worried about the persistent deep ache shoulder down to my upper arm My health anxiety keeps telling me it could be something serious, like osteosarcoma, even though my doctors don't seem concerned and believe it's nerve-related.

What makes it difficult is that my neck no longer hurts. The pain is mostly in my arm now, which makes me question whether we're looking in the right place. Part of me wants to push for an MRI for reassurance, but it's expensive and not easy for me to afford. For now, I'm still taking muscle relaxants, paracetamol, and NSAIDs as prescribed.

Has anyone else experienced something similar—where symptoms seemed to move from the neck to the arm, or where anxiety made it difficult to trust reassuring test results? I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences.