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muscle rigidity

My 15 year old daughter has been experiencing rigid muscles.  She can sense when it is going to happen because she gets a tingling sensation throughout her body.  It has happened about 3 or 4 times in the last 2 years.  She also has problems with her stomach.  She thinks she is hungry but can only eat a little, then her stomach is upset.  Can anybody give me an idea of what we are dealing with?
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Well the first step is to seeing her doctor to get an initial set of tests done, and possibly get some referrals to specialists. This really could be related to a lot of things, so it's hard to tell you what's going on without knowing test results. What I would say is it could be related to a neurological problem, as tingling and muscle ridgidity often is. The upset stomache may be of seperate concern, or may be related. It also reminds me of a possible type of seizure disorder, since it's only happened so few times, and since she has a type of aura, or feeling of awareness, before the ridgidity occurs. But again, right now the symptoms are pretty widespread, so a guess at a diagnosis is hard to do. But what I do know is in cases like this, it's best to get started with a doctor earlier better than later, so you can find out what's going on now. Try and have a timeline prepared for the doctor of symptom occurrences and possible related issues if you can. Be specific and most importantly, an advocate for your daughter, as often times doctors can struggle with such broad symptoms and therefore shrug it off as nothing. Definitely know this website is here as a resource, and keep us updated if you'd like. You can even invite your daughter to join. I wish you both good luck and send best wishes, and hope your daughter gets care and treatment soon!

Sara RN
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MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi there. Muscle rigidity is an alteration of muscle tone where muscles are in continuous tension.  It could be due to basal ganglia disease or certain drugs. it could be associated with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, guillain barre syndrome, osteomalacia, polio, contractures, lou gehrig’s disease, etc. a thorough evaluation by a physician is indicated for muscle rigidity. The doctor should check reflexes, sensation and muscle tone. Diagnostic tests like CT scan, MRI, nerve conduction studies or electromyography and certain blood tests as necessary are done. Treatment will depend on the underlying cause and severity. Do keep us posted and take care.


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Avatar universal
Wrote a long response and lost it because I was not signed in as a member, oh well.  I am a pediatric physical therapist with a 17 year old daughter who had a severe case of conversion disorder that began with the same symptoms you listed, although her stomach problems were not as bad as you describe. In addition her lower spine was very sensitive. She had it in 2008 and fully recovered,as far as we can tell,after 3 months.  Just want you to know that if they do a full work-up on your daughter and are unable to find anything physically wrong, she might have aCD. It has been considered psychogenic,but there are newer studies that show on neuro-imaging that some brain structures are being affected, perhaps by those initial psychogenic precipitators.  Over time I believe that they will learn much more about this, and if your child is eventually diagnosed with it, I would be willing to
Talk to you about it, further  But,for now, I hope you are given inner strength,peace and hope for the future. I signed up as ptmomvalkel - let me know how things go for you.
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Avatar universal
What your daughter is experiencing is similar to what my daughter (15 years old) has endured over the past 4-5 years. She started out complaining of her stomach hurting after only a few bites of food (diagnosed after two years as Gastroparesis). She has went on to have many more health problems relating to her digestive system that is either caused by gastroparesis or vice versa. Just recently she was admitted into the hospital for abnormal body movements pertaining to her muscles. After the 4th day in the hospital she informs us that she has been having some small episodes of these movements for a while now. She also states that she can tell when it is fixing to happen because she feels a "pulling" feeling right before it does.

The chances of your daughters health problems being the same as mine are very low but since they are similar in nature I would like to share her diagnosis(s):

(In order of when they happened)

Gastroparesis
Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth
Fructose Malabsorption
Motor Tics
Gallbladder Sludge
Metabolic Acidosis
'Seizure like activity' (Dyskinensia movements, Myoclonic movements)
1.8cm lesion on her Occipital Lobe (per MRI)

The best advice I could give you would be to use your motherly instincts. If you think something is out of the ordinary then push until someone finds the answers (it took ALOT of pushing to find out what was wrong with my daughter and we still don't know all of the answers yet)... I truly hope for the best for your daughter!

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