Weird tingles

[MeatLips]

So story time: Last September I experienced the weirdest tingling sensation and lightheadedness while jogging at a moderate 4.3 mph on my treadmill. I had been jogging for an hour a day, five days a week, and this happened at minute 38 of my hour run.

Suffice to say, I completely freaked out. I took myself to the ER immediately. After being poked and prodded and xrayed for 6 hours, they found no indication of any heart attack. I followed up with my PCP and he had me do a stress test which came back completely normal. 

Thus I continued to run. No more issues and I felt reassured. Then we come to last Tuesday, 9 days ago. Minute 52. I experienced that tingling and lightheadedness. It actually felt a little more intense. Like an electric jolt. I stopped immediately running and felt like I was going to faint. The sensation disappeared and was replaced with severe anxiety which in turn triggered a flare-up of my IBS.

Another trip to the ER and another 6 hours. No indication of any heart attack. I followed up with my pcp again and he seemed to think I might have pinched a nerve in my chest. I got an appointment with a cardiologist in March just to follow this rabbit hole to the end, but I think I might make another appointment with the hospital cardiologist since he might be able to see me sooner.

At any rate, I didn't run at all since last Tuesday as I've become terrified of having this happen again. But I got my nerve up yesterday and today (Thursday). I walked for about 15 minutes with no issues yesterday. Today I jogged for 20 minutes at a lesser speed than I normally do. Felt fine until 19:32. Then I started getting that tingling/dizziness sensation again. This time I slowed down to a walk and now I feel completely normal again. Aside from a mild anxious feeling, I feel completely fine even now as I type this. But I'm really aggravated. When I don't run, I feel like the weight is creeping back up. Doing my normal run I usually feel pretty good during the day and I feel accomplished.

I feel frustrated and concerned. I'm going the cardiologist route just to make sure I don't have any underlying issues, but I'm feeling more and more convinced that this is not heart related. Has anyone had something like this happen to them and how did they deal with it?

[Colinm39]

@MeatLips  I'm starting to get age related issues like that and my medical people of put it down to narrowness in my lower and upper spine causing the tingles etc..

Tingles in the hands while asleep, from the neck, and, what I thought was lactic acid build up while walking. WE have solved the hands issue with some physio help freeing up the top of my spine.. clicky ring fingers on both hands was part of the symptoms..  All other fingers are OK.. No arthritis

Today I was told the feeling in my calf's is coming from the nerve connections in the lower of the spine and the tingle/pain in my thighs is from the next level of my lower spine.. Feeling it equally in both legs..

I have to walk, stop etc and document when the pain moves up the legs and what my HR was at the time.

Then I have to use walking poles, which will put the effort upper body and measure the same reactions..  Reporting back in a week.

I have always had lower back issues from sport injuries.. They don't affect my movement...

[emili]

@MeatLips the tingles can be explained several different ways. I sometimes get a weird not tingle not numbness, something in between in the arm I wear my fitbit on and I check to make sure it isn't too tight during running. Sometimes I feel the need to flex my fingers during walking although I can't really explain why it just feels necessary to alleviate a stiffness or something. However... the light headiness feeling you also have- leads me to believe it is a good idea to go the cardio-gist route or your breathing is all screwy because you are anticipating something to happen and it is causing the light headed pukey thing that happens during cardio when the breath is all out of wack. for right now- as hard as it will be- focus on your food intake to combat weight gain and let your health get sorted... 

[MeatLips]

Lately it seems I've been suffering motion sickness on the treadmill. At least this is the conclusion I came to last week. I've been trying to get back up to form but a combination of being unable to get out of my head and loss of confidence has been making it hard.

Last week I was walking daily, hoping to ultimately get back to jogging. This week I've been doing some alternating between jogging and running. Yesterday I walked for five minutes and jogged for two. Did this twice. Didn't notice anything out of sorts like dizziness or anything. Today I walked for ten and attempted to jog for three minutes. Did the first interval and felt ok. Walked for another five and then jogged again for three minutes. Still no issues. On the third interval I got to minute two and started to feel nauseous, so I slowed back down to a walk. Meanwhile I haven't been out of breath or had any chest discomfort, so it makes me believe that it might be related to loss of conditioning.

It's all been frustrating as hell and I feel like my confidence is shot. I see a cardiologist on the 17th so I'm hoping to get some definitive answers here, but after two ER visits that were fueled by heavy anxiety and them finding nothing wrong, I feel like I may be walking instead of running for the foreseeable future.

Whatever is going on with me, I don't feel like it's my heart. Maybe something with my inner ear, maybe just anxiety. I don't even know anymore. I just really miss being able to jog for an hour every morning without fear that something is going to happen.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @MeatLips I totally understand how you feel about this experience. I got some breathing problems after having Bronchitis and it is really difficult for me to run as I used to do it before. I also felt sad and worried because every time I wanted to run my mind started to bomb me with a lot thoughts, since I have to carry with me an asthma inhaler to control asthma symptoms. Too bad right!

Allow me to tell you that you did the right thing, going to the doctor and getting medical help it's the best in these cases.

If they say you can run, you can do it freely! Think positive, since this will help you to determine if you need to do anything else to improve your health. Don't stop doing what you love, just take your precautions and everything will be okay. 🙂

[MeatLips]

Yeah, it's definitely a confidence issue as well as anxiety. My PCP doesn't think it's my heart either, but he hasn't had any real ideas as to what could be going on. I've never had motion sickness be an issue before. He referred me to the cardiologist for my own peace of mind. 

I think if I can get something definitive from the cardiologist that completely eliminates my heart as being the issue, I will feel a whole lot better. But the whole motion sickness thing still concerns me. I also don't want to lose any more conditioning since I rather enjoyed having a high endurance. In my fatter days, I would walk across the room and be a bit out of breath. When I was running regularly for an hour a day, I could walk up three flights of stairs before becoming even remotely winded. I really miss just starting my run and watching Netflix for an hour on my phone. I'd feel accomplished and pretty good all day.

[YojanaFitbit]

You have a good point there! I remember having a similar reaction for anxiety as well some years ago. I used to have a tingle in my pinky finger since I was under a lot of stress but I didn't realize it was stress. 😰

I read that when our brain senses danger (real or perceived, incoming attacker or loudly honking car), the amygdala sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus, which then releases a cascade of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to prepare the rest of our body for action. Physiologists have termed this the “fight or flight response,” since it primed our earliest ancestors to either fight against the incoming danger, or run the hell away from it. I'm not saying this is your case, but it happens.

Stress and anxiety can produce both physical and psychological symptoms. People experience stress and anxiety differently. Common physical symptoms include: 🤔

• stomachache
• muscle tension
• headache
• rapid breathing
• fast heartbeat
• sweating
• shaking
• dizziness
• frequent urination
• change in appetite
• trouble sleeping
• diarrhea
• fatigue

I think that you just need to adapt to a new routine. This can be a new opportunity to make some changes in your life. I hope you can find out what is happening in your body and you get excellent results with your cardiologist. 😉👍