does anyone have gait problems/squeezing muscles
 

When running my legs "lock up". It is a very odd sensation. It's usually around mile 5 depending on how hard I'm pushing it. It almost feels as if they are going to curl completely under my body. I try to ignore it and keep going, but it takes a few minutes for me to feel in control. This is not just "perceived" my gait actually becomes very mechanical. I also have a squeezing sensation in my upper chest. I think it's muscle spasms around my chest. It hurts all the way up to my lower jaw. These dang muscles!

The amitriptyline is helping with the burning feeling, but it isn't helping with muscle tightness and spasms. I have been drinking tonic water for the quinine. I also take supplements for everything vit d, calcium, magnesium, b12, etc. I eat lots of salt. I drink lots of water.

I hate listing all of these like I'm whining, but I am interested in knowing how common this is and what others are doing for this.

I have to warn you.... women have different cardiac symptoms for heart attacks than men.

Pain in the jaw is one of them.
Your symptoms coming on when they do at 5miles? could be cardiac definitely.

Use of amitriptyline --which prolongs QT is also a risk.

I'd list these symptoms to your doctor, asap.

I had this before the amitriptyline. I really think it is sfn. I told my neuro about squeezing sensation in chest. It happens mostly when I am bending over. I also get muscle spasms in my face when I bend over....beautiful sight to see. My muscles are just neurotic:)

I have had similar issues in recent years and been checked for them with my Cardiologist. And i mean...extensively! 3 Trips to the ER will do that. Definitely check with a cardiologist for a full work up, just for the peace of mind. I was completely clear after stress tests, carotid dopplers, ekg's, etc. And i get rechecked at least once a year. it is scary regardless. At the same time, don't panic. :(

My cardiologist chalked mine up to a stomach spasm or possible cartilage tearing in the pectoral area. I also have mild Hashimoto's thyroiditis which can cause this type of pain. It can also be genetic. Ask your parents if possible if they have experienced it.

But, now that i have developed the SFN, I wonder if that could play into it in some way.

I have also heard that magnesium deficiency (among other vitamins) can cause a lot of these types of symptoms. I added cocoa powder to my diet in my protein shakes to get some more magnesium in my diet.

I do have hypothyroidism. So it could be connected to that. I really hate bringing it up to my doc. My pcp keeps trying to shove me into an MS diagnosis and I have zero clinical signs of this. She will want to attribute this to MS also. This has been occurring since the onset of symptoms. I am not really scared of it. But it is uncomfortable and I was wondering how common it is with others who have SFN.

It is not a sensation of a heart pain. It is a tightening of the muscles around my chest, like around the outside of my ribs. I have zero signs of any heart problems. My cholesterol levels are great. My blood pressure is low.

I think the one thing that would make me want to get it checked out is the fact that the pain goes into your Jaw. Have you been to a cardiologist? Stress test and EKG are something that should be considered even with what you are experiencing. Especially a stress test based on when you said you were experiencing your symptoms during activity.

Honestly, I never thought about it being heart related until I posted here. I will tell my neuro when I call back about my prescription. But as everyone here knows, SFN has about a billion various weird sensations. So I honestly just thought this was part of it. During my first few months, my mouth would burn for days at a time like I had eaten hot peppers.

I just think with anything like that it would mean a trip to the cardiologist. They will do an EKG at least which is painless. It could be part of the whole SFN universe yea, but preventing a heart issue is preferable to treating one.

Some new information about running being cardioprotective:

http://americannutritionassociation....ers-heart-risk