Shooting Pain in Leg and Finger Tip on Left Side

I have a new symptom, and no idea what to make of it. I don't want to consult Dr Google and get riled up over what's probably a passing thing. I'll go to the doctor if it lasts, oh I suppose, a couple more weeks? A month? Two? Ugh, doctors.

I keep getting a shooting pain down the front of my left leg. Sometimes from my knee to my shin, and it makes me cry out. Other times, down my shin to my ankle, and it just aches horribly for a few moments.

And I'm also getting it along my left thumb occasionally, and my third finger of that hand, but not too painful, more peculiar.

My ribcage and the centre of my back keep getting madly itchy, but I don't have any bites or a rash. I don't know what THAT'S about, either.

Anyone had anything like this? I had nerve pain in my left thigh when I was pregnant, but that was a constant burning, not a shooting. My guess is nerve pain. Something tweaked weird.

 

I'd suggest getting a medical opinion.

It may be 'harmless', an indication of an imbalance or deficiency, but with new symptoms it's usually best to go see a doctor and at least try and get a ballpark idea of what's causing them.

 

In had the shooting pains all over my body. I still get it sometimes but it is much more superficial now and hurts less.

Itching sometimes drove me mad.

Does the itching come after the shooting?

 

Oh no, all over your body? Excruciating. I'm so glad it's not as bad now for you.

Do you still get itching?

The itching is constant, but the shooting pain is random. So I can't detect a connection.

My friend checked me over closely and there's no hint of any insect bites. And I haven't changed shower gel. I'm on the same bottle. Same hypoallergenic moisturiser. Same clothes detergent.

I don't know what kicked either of them off.

 

new allergies can occur at any time even with products we have used for years some manufacturers change ingredients without telling anyone and of course are bodies immune systems can get excited about nothing . I hope the crazy itching passes soon been there didn't enjoy it one bit .

 

Sometimes but it is not so bad anymore and very local.

 

@alktipping Bloody bodies!

Sometimes I wish I was just a head, floating in a jar...

 

That's great.

Right now, it's just my left shoulder blade. Grrrrr.

WTF. Stop IT!

Could be worse. Could be somewhere embarrassing to scratch.

 

Don't scratch.

 

So sorry to hear this, @Squeezy and @lansbergen

I also get shooting pains all over. Location is unpredictable - could be a finger or toe or heel or elbow or ??? - but the pain seems to be at a single point, not spread over a broad area.

I've had these pains ever since my illness onset (1990). They aren't disabling, but they are quite distracting and very annoying.

I think these pains would be less annoying if I had some idea what caused them. I'm not even sure whether the pain is nerve pain, muscle pain, or what. They are sharp pains that seem bone deep. They come and go in and don't seem like muscle pain.

The pains come on so suddenly that I get startled. It's like someone has just stuck a pin in me, or pinched me.

Because I'm startled I often make a small sound or gasp. It's embarrassing when it happens in public. I REALLY don't want to have to reassure strangers in the grocery store that I'm fine. With my brain fog I already have trouble making basic sentences. This just makes it worse.

I mentioned this symptom to doctors during those first few years after onset when I was still trying to get a diagnosis. But no doctor had any clue what it meant. So I gave up and focused on the bigger symptoms.

Now that I try to keep my doctor appointments down to the bare minimum, this symptom is just one of the many that are background.

Sorry that I have no suggestions for what do to! Just lots of sympathy. Hope I didn't ramble on too long.

Sending hugs

 

You describe it well.

Mine go from the inside to the outside. Can not be an insectbite.

With overall improvement it gradually became less severe.

Did you notice sometime after the shooting it starts itching?

 

Nope I don't get any itching. Just the shooting pains.

Nothing visible, just pain that feels bone deep. It's not surface pain (no skin pain, no bruising, doesn't hurt to touch it or push on it).

The pain seems to be from something inside - nerve pain, circulation (veins?), muscle, bone, joint or something like that.

 

I've recently started to have startling new shooting pains in my shins and thighs and a couple of times in my arms.

The legs I assume are my fibro hot spots -central sensitization.

I tend to do more than one or two leg muscle exercise reps. I just don't think and then I pay for it. Over and over. Same with lifting with arms, shoulders, trapezius. Or it's PEM plus the above.

I really don't know why these are occurring. Nothing is different in my meds, though perhaps I drank too much wine which interfered with my liver's metabolizing some drugs, such as methadone.

From time to time my feet and ankles have tingling(annoying, but mild) that I associated with high blood sugars, but my recently tests for Type II diabetes were near normal.

If it continues, or is annoying, I will have to pay more attention to them. However, I have so many odd physical sensations that I usually say, 'oh well.'

Could there be anything new in your life that could contribute?

 

YES!!!

This is what my knee and shin shooting pain is like. I have had to be in public a lot recently as my son is ill, and I exclaim loudly, then say, "Bad knee, sorry, sorry..."

It's calmed down now, thankfully. I guess just a delightful random ME/fibro delight. But now my finger pads all feel achey and strange - tingly and odd. It came on after I washed my hair 2 days ago, and the sensation went halfway down my fingers and thumbs. Now it's the pads only.

Flipping nerves doing weird things, I think.

 

Couldbe either or all. I stopped wondering.

 

Our lives in a nutshell!

I'm so sorry you've got these new pains to deal with. Having the pain in one knee was aggravating enough.

I got given a fibro diagnosis a few years ago based on having all 18 tender spots, but as I was already taking two medications for other conditions that are also given to treat pain, (Venlafaxine, an SNRI for depression, and topiramax - Topomax - an anticonvulsant, for migraine prevention), I never had serious fibro pain.

I'm wondering, from your post, if after taking these medications for over a decade, their effectiveness in nerve pain control is lessening and that's why I'm getting nerve pain now.

Oh lord, I hope not!!!

I think it's definitely worth thinking about alcohol's effect on your pain. I'm sorry to say that I've read that people with fibro and/or ME find it makes their symptoms worse. I can't manage more than a quarter of a glass of 5% almost-lemonade wine before my joints feel as fizzy as the drink.

It's quite pleasant, but if I have more, it's not so nice anymore...

I don't do muscle exercises like you do. Maybe I should very gently specifically condition... But not overdo reps like you do - I'm afraid of overdoing it too!

I would have a firm number in my head, and written on a piece of paper, in big red marker in front of me. *TWO ONLY!*

And a reward planned for not being a fool to myself. Usually a nice cup of tea and a biscuit. Because I'm madly English and there's nothing, absolutely nothing better.

 

This is a bit of a digression, but you know how sometimes your mind realizes something a day or two later?

It occurs to me that maybe the phrase "shooting pain" is not the right description for my pain. I think "shooting pains" are supposed to be pains that move from one part of the body toward another? Or is that radiated pain / referred pain??

Anyway, when I get pain it is always in a very specific spot, a place I can point to. These sharp pains happen in different places, and at seemingly random times, but when pain comes it doesn't move.

Sigh, it's not easy to find the right words to describe pain(s) - very difficult!

I feel a bit embarrassed that I was thinking of the sharpness and suddenness of the pain and didn't think about "shooting pain" meaning that the pain moves.

 

I get these too. I think they are related.

After many years observing I think I know the sequence.

First the not moving pain ( can be at several places ), then the shooting from the inside to the outside, then something expelled through the skin, then the itching without redness.