My doctor says it's just anxiety, but I'm not so sure?

Hi there,
I've had anxiety for about 6 years and I consider myself pretty good at control my fears and attacks. However, since last September, I've been having these weird symptoms. Sometimes, my legs will go numb and have strong pins and needles. Other times, one or both of my legs will be in terrible pain. It kind of feels like a headache in my legs. Other times, the muscles in my legs will spasm and jerk around. These attacks will come out of nowhere and last a few hours to a day. I also get this weird feeling like an electric shock going down my spine when I bend my head forward a certain way. My short term memory has rapidly gotten worse. I went to my doctor to get it checked out and he told me it was just symptoms of my anxiety and increased my medication (Effexor) which I've also been on for years. I'm a little skeptical because my anxiety levels aren't any higher than usual and I've never experienced anything like this before. I was wondering if anyone else has had to deal with something like this and if it's anxiety related. I trust my doctor but for some reason I feel unsure about this.

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Originally Posted by Ardin

Hi there,
I've had anxiety for about 6 years and I consider myself pretty good at control my fears and attacks. However, since last September, I've been having these weird symptoms. Sometimes, my legs will go numb and have strong pins and needles. Other times, one or both of my legs will be in terrible pain. It kind of feels like a headache in my legs. Other times, the muscles in my legs will spasm and jerk around. These attacks will come out of nowhere and last a few hours to a day. I also get this weird feeling like an electric shock going down my spine when I bend my head forward a certain way. My short term memory has rapidly gotten worse. I went to my doctor to get it checked out and he told me it was just symptoms of my anxiety and increased my medication (Effexor) which I've also been on for years. I'm a little skeptical because my anxiety levels aren't any higher than usual and I've never experienced anything like this before. I was wondering if anyone else has had to deal with something like this and if it's anxiety related. I trust my doctor but for some reason I feel unsure about this.

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Are you doing any serious leg exercises lately or no exercise at all? Sometimes getting back in shape can help lots of problems. Do these symptoms get better with walks or exercise?

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Originally Posted by PanicCured

Are you doing any serious leg exercises lately or no exercise at all? Sometimes getting back in shape can help lots of problems. Do these symptoms get better with walks or exercise?

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I have been doing more cardio recently because I thought it might help, but I haven't seen any improvements yet. But I haven't been very active before this problem caused me to take action. Do you think it will help?

Fibromyalgia? The shooting pain makes me think you could look into this.

Sciatica? I had very painful legs last year and saw a physiotherapist about it. He said it's muscle tension/sciatica and told me to go for walks every day. That has helped so much! You wouldn't think of something so simple but inactivity can cause a lot of problems in the legs/lower back.

Ok so you began cardio because you were doing this? How about doing some lower body workouts like squat based ones? You can start with just your body weight. Really activate those quads like walking uphill, squat below parallel and then up, lunges, stuff like this. Look on youtube for lower body bodyweight workouts and pound them. Get the blood seriously pumping in your legs. You can add weights when you're ready. Of course good form is crucial. I need to do intense workouts or I start feeling crappy. My legs especially feel almost antsy if I don't use them.

Is it also possible you are being ultra sensitive to bodily feelings that others may ignore?

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Originally Posted by justexhale

Fibromyalgia? The shooting pain makes me think you could look into this.

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Thanks for the suggestion! I hadn't considered that.

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Originally Posted by PanicCured

Ok so you began cardio because you were doing this? How about doing some lower body workouts like squat based ones? You can start with just your body weight. Really activate those quads like walking uphill, squat below parallel and then up, lunges, stuff like this. Look on youtube for lower body bodyweight workouts and pound them. Get the blood seriously pumping in your legs. You can add weights when you're ready. Of course good form is crucial. I need to do intense workouts or I start feeling crappy. My legs especially feel almost antsy if I don't use them.

Is it also possible you are being ultra sensitive to bodily feelings that others may ignore?

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Thank you for the advice! I may be ultra sensitive, but getting this exercise definitely can't hurt things if I do it right!

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Originally Posted by gypsylee

Sciatica? I had very painful legs last year and saw a physiotherapist about it. He said it's muscle tension/sciatica and told me to go for walks every day. That has helped so much! You wouldn't think of something so simple but inactivity can cause a lot of problems in the legs/lower back.

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That makes sense! Thank you for the advice!

Oh and stretching, make sure you stretch your calves and quads after doing exercise :)