Tongue Cramps

[ok28]

Hi All,

I am a male, 28, and aside from the issues below am in reasonably good health.

I will start with a bit of a back story then lead into present.

For several years (symptoms start in 2003) I have been symptomatic with IBS D as well as urgency for frequent urination.  Seeing how they both started around the same time as a major life change, during the examinations and tests from my Doctor he concluded both were brought on by stress leading towards the beginning of a compulsive disorder.  I have tried several medications over the years I have not found anything suitable or that I enjoyed taking.  I also around this time did enjoy drinking and this did for the most part help alleviate some of my symptoms.  The morning of course would be the worst part of my day but after that it was pretty much smooth sailing.

Of course not the best or wisest of choices but the decisions I have made are done and now I am looking for resolution.  I am also aware that I possibly have done more damage than good with my method of handling my problems.

I have been a moderate to heavy drinker for almost the past ten years as well as a heavy smoker.  

Two years ago Christmas I quit smoking cold turkey.  I just woke up one day and said "I don't want to feel like s&#t anymore"  I gave all of my cigarettes away to known smokers in the area and that was that.  I had withdraw symptoms for almost four months before I no longer noticed any symptoms.  But all of the symptoms were tolerable and there was no possibility that smoking was masking anything more serious.

Almost two months ago I quit drinking cold turkey.  The last month of my drinking consisted of; I would start between 10:30am - 12 noon and continue until about 6 pm, I would then continue again from about 10:30pm to 11:30pm.  Yep, a lot of drinking.  I could tell it was getting a little out of control and around that time a friend of mine in another state was having similar issues.  We decided to stop drinking together :)  We did.  He faired a little better than I, or so he says, but I am having terrible withdraw symptoms, occurring literally 1 month after my last drink.

I used to be a very active person, from the time I woke to the time I went to bed I would be on the move; I had made a career change about two months ago that led me to an almost sedentary lifestyle.  I am not sure if this would have anything to do with any of my symptoms either.

The point of this is to know if these are possibly not withdraw symptoms but an underlying condition that I can suggest to my GP or be tested for.  

Here is a short list of my symptoms (I have many but I will try to keep it to most relevant and disturbing to myself) most of course pertaining to the tongue, which is why this post was chosen.

First symptom started day one of alcohol abstinence.  

1. Tongue feels distended and sometimes swollen but I had no troubles with speaking or swallowing. I showed signs of teeth marks (scalloped edges) as well as a puffy smoothness and a light or pale pink color.  (Very scary, I would kind of gag or feel like I was choking on my own tongue.  The distended feeling subsides after a bowel movement)
2. General anxiety, (chest pains, nervousness, panic)
3. Agoraphobic behaviors (it was very difficult for me to leave the house without my symptoms becoming worse.)
4. Instant unexplained sweats.
5. While sitting random parts of my body will become numb (leg, hand…. I sit at a computer most of the day).

I saw my GP after about a month of symptoms and he recommended a multivitamin and prescribed me a B1 vitamin as well as Sarax for the anxiety and withdraw symptoms.  The next two - four days were awesome.  My wife and I went out together on little dates and I was generally just more pleasant to be around..... Until...

Additional symptoms and circumstance started within past week, possibly coincidental possibly not?  I am seeing the GP tomorrow but I would like secondary advice.  I can already see him casually and discretely taking a step away from me as I describe the following symptoms.

1.  Bowel movement contained blood and mucus, very soft/loose but I would not call it diarrhea.  Stool also seemed to contain blood clots. Urge to have a bowel movement would persist throughout the day.  ( from sedentary lifestyle, one day took a hard fast run around the block to relieve some stress, also same day I ate an unlabeled strange meat out of the freezer :) symptoms  were strongest following day but have subsided by the fifth.
2.  I have a splotchy slightly raised itchy rash in various parts of my skin showing, (Possibly poison ivy from geocaching with my wife? Possibly dry skin?)
3.  My Tongue feels like it is cramping.  It will get very tight in the middle and start to curl from the tip around to the sides. Also I will feel it down my throat, my tongue will become very very dry while at the same time be producing excessive saliva.  I will also feel my lower lip protrude and curl outward.  This will also be accompanied with an urgency to have a bowel movement.  (Very terrifying, the reason I am posting this post).  I can live with most other symptoms but this one has me terrified for some reason.  When I am in this state I just want to whimper and cry.  I tried putting some salt on it to see if it was something similar to a normal cramp but my tongue just tightened up more.  These episodes have lasted from ten minutes to an hour.

From the first visit with my Doctor I have been on a daily regimen of:
B Complex Vitamin
Quality Men’s Multivitamin
Serax (usually only a quarter tablet as needed)

I have also incorporated more fruits and vegetables into my diet as well daily drinking orange juice and consuming 2 – 3 cloves of raw garlic.

It has been extremely hot here the past two – three weeks and it is possible that I have not been consuming enough water.  Could this be a possible cause to any of this?

I have not exercised in the past few days since the episode with the blood and mucus bowel moment.

If anyone has any insight to any of the following I would be very grateful.  It would also be nice to know that I am not alone with these weird symptoms.  I tried to provide as much detail as possible so that readers can leave informed comments but if there is any information that was not provided that you may need to know feel free to ask.  I will reply as soon as possible.

I intend on posting a follow-up but it would be awesome to see some constructive responses in the mean time. :)  I would love any type of remedy or anecdotal response.  Hopefully this will be a post that will help others looking for similar answers in the future.

I have been doing a lot of googling (not recommended but very difficult not to do) so I am prepared for the worst, but I have found no post that describes anything like what I am feeling.

Thanks

[gknee5]

i too have the same problems, i recently have had alot of back pain and my jaw starts to stiffen up and then my tongue. I also have cramping of the tongue and i agree it is one of the most disheartening symptoms i have ever experienced. i have it right now actually and i am going to a physiotherapist tomorrow to see if my jaw can be fixed as i have TMJ and it only gets worse with back problems. I do however find that relaxing as much as possible does help very little however. Good luck with your health and i sure do hope we can be cured of this awful ailment.

[ok28]

Hi All,

Just got back from the Doctors office,  he said the rash was poison ivy, the bleeding, mucus stool could possibly be a rip or tear in the lining of my colon.  We are running some blood work and testing some stool samples over the next few days.  I will post results from that after they are received.  As for the tongue cramping he had suggested Tonic Water (gargle and drink).  He said that the quinine in the tonic water helps prevent and ease muscle cramps.  So far so good on that. :-)

Thanks,