Chronic Leg Pain. Unexplained. Please Help.?
I am a 16 year old former high school athlete and I have had to drop off of my school Track and Cross Country team due to a persistent leg condition that I have been suffering from. This problem arose during the Fall/Winter of 2009, during my sophomore year. One day while performing a quadricep excercise called "Wall Sits", I experienced an abnormally large amount of pain, followed by violent shaking of the legs until eventually I collapsed on the floor. I informed my coach of the incident and was instructed go for a short run afterwards (about 1/4 mile). I remember barely being able to even jog the distance due to a severe fatigued feeling in my legs. I tried to attend a few more practices, but upon seeing my poor performance, and hearing my constant complaints, my coach told me to take a break. Adults all around me, including him, said that they were likely nothing more than growing pains. At the time, the idea didn’t seem so absurd, so I went for weeks even months before I really pushed my mother to take me to my doctor, all the time having to deal with this "limitation." My legs (quadriceps and calves) began to feel fatigued extremely rapidly compared to even most average people. I was a rather skinny teenager at that time, and frequently ran upwards of 6 miles a day in Cross Country practice, but my legs seemed to be in even worse condition than before I had begun to run Track. Keep in mind that throughout my life I have always been active, involved in many sports and have never had problems with my legs. I eventually saw my doctor, who suggested that I take anti-inflammatory medication. After this failed, a whole fiasco of referrals and tests unraveled. I was given blood work, to test for any chemical imbalances in my body, the results came back just fine. I was sent out to an orthopedist who gave me x-rays and a bone density scan. He ultimately ruled out any structural defects and declared that there were no problems with my bones or joints. I was recommended to a neurologist, who tested my blood while I was at rest, then instructed me to perform "wall sits" and took my blood once more after I felt the pain. Her results did not indicate any problems. I was recommended to a vascular doctor, who did not say much to me directly, but i did over hear him tell his assistant that I lost my "AT pulse" when I flexed my calf muscle. He gave me a referral for a CT scan, which showed no problems. I was also given a sonogram of my legs, once while I was resting, and another time immediately after being asked to perform "wall sits." I was also strapped with a series of inflatable cuffs hooked up to a machine (similar to those used to guage blood pressure), which I believe were supposed to monitor bloodflow through my legs. Both were inconclusive. I am open to suggestions. I did try refraining from all intense physical activity for almost a month at one point, but as I have grown more and more hopeless about curing this "limitation" I have grown accustom to accepting the "limitation" as part of my daily life. I do play sports and continue to be active on a slight to moderate level, but after sustained continous activity, my legs will begin to pain me, and eventually if I am playing a game such as basketball, i must take slight breaks from constant running throughout the game. When I do stop what I am doing the pain quickly vanishes and I don’t even notice much wrong with my legs. I know that if I am going to a party, in which I will be dancing all night, or taking a paintballing trip, I should not plan to not do any strenous actviity during the days preceeding it. The pain and fatigued feeling will quickly emerge with any heavy activity (leg excercises, running, sports, etc.) that make use of my calfs and quadriceps or even prolonged minor activites (jogging, standing on one leg, etc. ) targetting my legs, however it seems to appear more rapidly and dramatically, if I was doing making heavy use of my legs prior to that activity. As I mentioned, it quickly reduces as soon as I quit the activity, however after very strenuous activity, I might find standing or other even basic activities slightly uncomfortable. Keep in mind that the things that I consider strenous might not be considered very strenous for the average healthy human being, especially a male teenager. I still continue to excercise my upper body with weights, and am rather healthy. I have a family history of bone and joint problems descending from one side, but on the other, it appears that my family has had some leg problems. My cousin who is a year older than me, claims to have the same symptoms, and my father was diagnosed with Venous Reflux Disease. I have tried to search all over for answers to this problem, but if you have had similar experiences or have any sort of knowledge that might help me, it would be absolutely appreciated. If you have any further questions about my
Tagged with: anti inflammatory medication • blood work • bone density • calves • chemical imbalances • cross country team • doctor who • fall winter • fiasco • growing pains • joints • orthopedist • poor performance • quadricep • quadriceps • school athlete • skinny teenager • sophomore year • x rays • year one
Filed under: blood pressure treatment
I am a lot older than you, but I have a similar problem. Anytime I try to walk at a brisk pace, a fairly long distance or even up a gradual grade or incline, I have severe pain in the calves of my legs, usually confined to the calves, but sometimes radiating up the back of my legs. Even walking across a parking lot can cause the pain. Like you, whenever I stop, the pain subsides. Also like you, I had all kinds of tests, and physical therapy. Nothing helped. Nobody could find anything wrong. Eventually my symptoms got worse, and I was referred to a neurologist. He did a nerve conduction test, and an EMG test. Turns out I have compressed nerves in my ankles. I am NOT saying that you have anything of the kind, but the tests might be worth looking into, since you have tried everything else.