Hello everyone, I am fairly new to 3FC. I have never had any medical problems in the past, my doctor has always claimed I am very healthy for a fat person who smokes. I am very active and have NEVER had a problem with mobility.

Anyway, the past two days, my legs have been in horrible pain when I try to walk. I am down 31 lbs now and suddenly I am having problems with my legs?? It is in my calves that it hurts the most, when I try to walk they feel broken. I know I have not overdone it on exercise, nothing has changed in my routine.

I did think it could be my muscles, but I took muscle relaxers last night (I have them for dealing with neck problems from a car accident a year ago) and they did not help at all.

Does anyone have any idea what is going on with me??

Hi Tiffany! Welcome to 3FC! I have NO idea what your problem is..have you changed your diet? Could it be cramps from low potassium? I had muscle cramps in my legs before I was diagnosed with extremely high blood glucose levels and diabetes. I think you should see your doctor and get it checked out. Even if it is nothing, it is better to be safe than sorry. Sudden pain that has not been there before could be something serious.

My guess is a lack of some vitamin or mineral. I don't know what diet you're following and what kinds of foods you're eating, but it could be a deficit of some mineral like potassium. I know if I'm a little low on potassium, I get terrible leg cramps. But you have to be careful not to take a supplement with too much potassium because it can harm your heart. Milk and bananas are very good sources of potassium.

If at all possible, you should probably stop smoking this very second...It will improve your blood flow overall. Smoking constricts the blood vessels. Regardless, you should probably see your MD right away to make sure that there is nothing wrong with your circulation, if you're sure you didn't just pull some muscles exercising. If you're pretty young, this is probably pretty unlikely to be the issue, and usually I think circulation problems come up more slowly, but you should definitely see you doctor to check it out.

Some problems are just unexplainable, at least in my eyes. I had a couple of problems after losing a lot of weight and not ONE doctor found anything wrong with me. I started passing out every so often for no reason. Went to the ER the first time it happened and they did TONS of tests...nothing wrong. Saw my family doctor a couple of times about it too and I'm normal.
Then, my left leg, from the knee down was completely numb on the outside part. Sometimes, I had "drop-foot". I would get pins and needles and the skin was totally numb to the touch...it was SO weird to shave. I went to my family doctor about it AND I saw a neurologist. I even had the test where they stick needles in the affected area and shock you with electricity to follow the path of your nerves (I forget what the test is called). I had x-rays done, everything. The only thing they were able to tell me is that it MIGHT be my sciatic nerve. Now, 3 months later, numbness just went away.
I think that it may just be your body adjusting to your new way of life.

I agree with the others that you should call your doctor. Esp. if you are taking oral birth control (I don't know if you are or not, but it was the first thing I thought of), which, combined with smoking would put you at a higher risk for blood clots in your legs. I wouldn't really expect blood clots to manifest this way (very quickly and only causing pain when you walk), but I'm also far from being an expert and it's a serious issue, so it's worth a call to your doctor.

- Barbara

I am not on any sort of birth control. My body doesn't handle it well.

I am getting plenty of postassium and all other vitamins. My diet covers most of them anything I am missing I take a supplement for. Vitamins are important to me.

I am also getting at least 65 grams of protein a day.

This is why I am stumped. I will be 30 in a couple weeks, too young to have other health problems develop, especially by losing weight. I could see it if I was gaining, but not losing and my diet and eating habits are better than they have ever been in my life.

I am going to stick it out until Monday, if it doesn't get better, I will go see the doc. I have 3 kids and my husband is deployed with the Air Force so actually attending a doctor appointment is not an easy task.

Thanks for your imput, let me know if you have any other ideas or comments.

I just had a similar problem a few days ago, how strange! I woke up one morning and when I stood up, the back of my calves were in horrible pain. They were fine when I was sitting, but whenever I walked I was in excruciating pain. I hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, and I'm a young, healthy person. It felt like I had done something to my muscles but I knew that I hadn't overexerted myself at the gym or anything. I just took it easy for a few days (three to be exact) and I'm fine now. I still have no clue what was wrong - perhaps, as another poster suggested, a vitamin/mineral deficiency or maybe even simple dehydration as it is summertime. By all means though, see a doctor if you can. Good luck, and I hope you feel better soon!!

Hannah,

That sound like exactly what is happening to me. I am fine when I am sitting, standing and walking is when I have the problem. Like I said before, if it doesn't go away by Monday, I will go to the doc.

Thanks for your imput, it is always good to hear from someone else this has happened to.

Tiff,

When will you be 30? I turn 30 August 2nd!

Go to see your doc! Hopefully u can figure out whats wrong.

Are you stretching well? When I was running for exercise, my calves were very tight and I had to stretch them many times throughout the day. Hope it clears up soon!

My birthday is on the 8th!!

I agree with the others.. if you feel something is wrong, best to get to the doc and they can just check you out. Best to be safe rather than sorry.

here are my guesses based on my reading and experiences (but as I said doc knows best):

if you are experience the pain WHILE you are walking but it stops when you stop moving, it's either your muscles, or your circulation, or both. When I started walking on the treadmill after not walking for a long time, I experienced pain but only in my left bottom leg, and it would stop when I stopped moving. Lasted about 3 months but I just kept walking and it went away eventually.

If it's behind your knee, like in the part where the tendons are, it could be from over use, and it is tendonitis. I sometimes get tendonitis in my hip area, but it feels like it's at the top of my leg. It has that 'it's broken' feeling like I can't move it.

if you have any unusual pain while not moving, moving or if you have any redness or swelling.. best get in there reaaally soon, it could be a clot. Sometimes you can have a clot without seeing swelling, so it's always best to get it checked.

Let us know how it turns out and hopefully it was just 'one of those things'.

~ Angie

Oh yeah and a big HAPPY upcoming birthday!!

ChunkyHannah

WHOA are you gonna get those boots??? !!! They are cool, and crazy!!