Muscle aches/pain confusion.
 

Hey there, I was at the hospital today for my routine 8 week progress.. thing. Anyway, recently, within the last week or two, I've been suffering from constant muscle pain and aching all over my body but mostly in my limbs, and also my knees and shoulders...
I'm not sure what has caused this, but it can be debilitating, the hospital said it wasn't related to my injury but I think it could be otherwise.. and was curious if anyone else suffered from this. My only recent illnesses are my mTBI and a cold a couple of weeks ago!

Any Advice would be awesome, or a link to the thread where this may have been posted before.. Thanks :)

I wonder if you have developed fibromyalgia?
You might read about it and see if symptoms relate or not, if they do it might give you a starting point for more discussion w/ drs.

our fibro forum
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum12.html

Some of it sounds incredibly like my symptoms, I'm not sure what would have caused it though. Stress has been suggested - It's be a very busy time for me lately, I think I'll just wait a few weeks in the hope that it disappears as suddenly as it started.. If not, back to the dreaded doctors.. I swear they think I'm a hypochondriac! Thanks :)

I have suffered from myalgia (not fibromyalgia) since my mTBI 36 years ago. There is very little information on this, medical or anectdotal.

Kenjhee's theory is that myalgia is a broad symptom of the immune response. Basically your (and my) brain has been tricked into thinking we're fighting off an infection. One of the IS's defense mechanisms is stimulating pain in the general musculature. Organism's in pain tend to move less, and rest more, which aids recovery.

I have a further sub-theory (or hypothesis, really) that the pain is not actually in the muscles. The defect is in the brain; the pain thresshold has been artificially lowered. Our brain interprets normal feelings from the muscles as pain.

Do you have other symptoms consistent with an immune response? E.g. Extreme fatigue, intestinal cramping, sore thoats, fevers, irritability or other emotional lability? Do you interchange letters when you're "typign"? It could be Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which is often triggered by head trauma.

Hoping you the best.
Kenjhee

I had serious muscle aches/pain in my back and leg that started shortly after my concussion. I think part of it had to do with getting deconditioned while I was resting after the concussion. When I had bloodwork done at the Nedley clinic, I also showed elevated inflammatory markers.

If you haven't already, you might consult a physiatrist (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Specialist). Physical therapy helped relieve some of my issues, specifically trigger point therapy to relieve myofascial pain.

Other than that, the thing that helped me most was switching to a plant-based (vegan) diet, doing hot and cold water treatments, and getting regular exercise. I also take algal DHA/EPA to reduce inflammation. After getting started on this program in the Nedley clinic and continuing it at home, my back and leg pain is now pretty much completely gone.

I am 3 months since my tbi and I too am getting pain in my joints and muscles, esp in my legs at night. Stabbing pains and sensitive to cold air from the fan and touch. Wierd pain thing last weekend was the pain in my usual right wrist and knee from hypermobility wear and tear switch to the left side for 3 days!

The time to worry if it's CFS myalgia is if the muscle and/or joint pain is all over. The brain is processing all inbound somatic signals as "pain", again as a misguided immune response. If the pain is more specific or localized, it's probably a true somatic defect, and needs to be addressed specifically.

I take 30mg doses of Oxycodone every two hours during waking hours. I cannot function long without it, not with this much pain. I can fight the pain mentally, but that doesn't leave much for productive work.

How would you know if it's CFS? I don't think that is what I am suffering from, I'm led to believe that it starts quite suddenly, which I don't think mine has, and is more constant, whereas mine is mildly better in the morning... Is it likely myalgia could/would be develop into CFS? I do suffer from fatigue.. I would say it was moderate to extreme, depending on how much I've done, intestinal cramping and am emotional liability.. and do occasionally interchange and fail to finish sentences when typing... (and talking) without noticing.

I'm seeing a psychologist at the moment, I saw her... yesterday.. or the day before (the days are such a blur), I did ask about this and she said it wasn't related to my PCS at all.. and that I should visit my doctor if I'm worried about it. I'm rather confused about what to do! Maybe I should attempt to get referred?

Me, too, to all of you
 

Before I forget, if you haven't tried to get to a neurologist, or better yet a neuropsychiatrist. I have not yet been successful. I think I waited too long to act. I wish I had acted earlier.

I can relate to most all of the symptoms on this thread, so I think it is all caused by the concussion if we have intermixing symptoms.

All good questions, and I'm afraid no-one has all the answers, not even me. I don't know that you have CFS, but you do mention several signature symptoms. There is a standard diagnostic protocol for CFS; I think it is fairly useless. I would take anyone's opinion with a grain of salt, even a professional. There is just too much unknown about CFS and brain injuries. I come from a different school than the doctors. 36 years of dealing with it.

I will add your name to the prayer list tonight!