Abdominal muscles and body muscles in general are constantly tense.
Dear Sir or Madam,
I have an appointment with a chiropractor and orthopedist soon, but due to a somewhat peculiar condition that is bothering me, I would like to seek an expert opinion beforehand. I have a general problem with constant muscle tension, my general practitioner once referred to it as "muscle tension disorder" - which was more of a suspicion than a confirmed diagnosis, as there has been no thorough examination so far. My main issue (literally) is my neck and back. About a year ago, during a spinal examination using an MRI, it was casually mentioned that my back muscles seemed somewhat atrophied.
The fact is, I currently have about 35 kilograms of excess weight that I have not been able to lose despite intensive efforts due to taking Cymbalta for diffuse pain and mild depression. I have the biggest problems, for example, when walking uphill - even slight inclines cause tension quite quickly. However, climbing stairs is not a problem. Particularly peculiar is the fact that when I do slightly bent-over tasks, such as tying shoes or vacuuming, I sweat quite quickly.
However, when I walk on a straight path with my dogs (even in high outside temperatures), I do not sweat.
A new symptom that has appeared about 5 days ago is a severe pulling sensation in my abdomen - I do not feel like it is coming from the stomach or intestines, but rather from the entire abdominal muscles. When I sit, my stomach is relatively soft, even when lying on my back. As soon as I stand up, everything is rock hard, tense. As if my abdominal muscles were shortened and constantly trying to contract. I experience the same with my shoulder-neck muscles.
Stretching exercises or leaning on a windowsill with the elbows (as if casually looking out the window) provide temporary relief - probably because I am relieving the muscles? I spend a lot of time at the computer (work-related), but I take hourly breaks for stretches and walks with the dogs (I work from home). These tensions sometimes have annoying consequences: difficulty swallowing, food doesn't go down properly, sometimes heartburn when bending over (and only when I bend over, as if the pressure causes acid to shoot up). Heat: Does not help. I have even dislocated two thoracic vertebrae several times.
When I exert myself greatly (lifting heavy loads), this pulling sensation momentarily disappears - maybe because the muscles had some work to do? The problem is, I don't know what sport or exercises to do. No matter what I have tried so far: it initially feels better, but one to two days later it is even worse than before - which then restricts me from doing sports or exercising. Strangely enough, the muscle pain or pulling is strongly dependent on the weather - if it is wet and cold: worse. If it is rather warmer and dry: better. However, direct heat application (e.g. infrared light) only makes it worse.
Is it possible to have distorted the abdominal muscles in such a way, or through prolonged sitting, that the entire area is almost constantly tense and one feels the sensation of stomach and intestinal pain? This is new to me... I exclude stomach and intestines themselves, because why does it immediately disappear when sitting or lying down? It feels a bit like constantly wanting to suck in the stomach - just without active effort.
What should I pay attention to during an examination, what can I possibly do?
