Sign-in to Ask A Doctor - 24x7
OR
Sign in with Google
Experiencing Low Back Pain, Nausea And Sweating. Had Genital Herpes. Had Tests From Thyroid To Kidney To Cortisol, All Normal. Guide?
Question: I am experiencing lower back pain, which just came out of the blue a few days ago, and now, when I woke up this morning I have left shoulder pain too, and am experiencing some nausea and sweating even more than the hot flashes that accompany menopause. I have been under a lot of stress lately, and therefore I had a genital herpes outbreak, that's twice this year, when I was actually to the point where I almost would forget I had herpes, I had outbreaks so infrequently. I appreciate any advice you can give, oh, and I recently had bloodwork done, the whole gammet of tests from thyroid to kidney to cortisol, everything, all was normal, and now a couple of weeks later, I feel like this. I am a Cytology lab tech, so I do have some medical knowledge, therefore, I appreciate speaking with a medical specialist.
Hello,
thanks for the query
Stress presents with a wide range of symptoms including emotional, behavioral and physical symptoms. Physical symptoms include muscle aches, nausea, dizziness, frequent colds etc. Stress could well explain the sensation of pains which you feel on your lower back and that of the shoulder. Pain related to stress does not response to pain killers rather to a calm mind.
On the other hand, the pains you feel could be due to simple muscle strain in your day to day activity; lower back pain may be due to repeated lifting of objects, frequent or sudden rapid or violent bending of the back etc that could strain back muscles or spinal ligaments. The shoulder pain you talk off most likely resulted from a compression or pressure probably when you were asleep or due to pressure you must have applied to push or lift an object in a previous day.
The fact that your results have come back negative is a point that favors the two possibilities above should it be that you did an erythrocyte sedimentation rate and it was negative. ESR indicates an on going inflammatory process such as osteoarthrtis, infections etc which could also be responsible for the pains.
At menopause, bone density decreases and this is a risk factor for fractures in females. However, this is not the case with you.
In a nut shell, there are two likely conditions;
-stress or
-muscle or ligament strain.
With regards to the stress, you might consider talking with a friend or any other person for a bit of relief, make yourself more or less busy such as with work, visit friends when you are idle and you might as well consider meeting a doctor to help you through.
For muscle stain, rest, mild physical exercise and some pain killers such as acetaminophen/ paracetamol would greatly help you.
Hope this answers your query. If you do have further query, i will be glad to help.
Best regards
thanks for the query
Stress presents with a wide range of symptoms including emotional, behavioral and physical symptoms. Physical symptoms include muscle aches, nausea, dizziness, frequent colds etc. Stress could well explain the sensation of pains which you feel on your lower back and that of the shoulder. Pain related to stress does not response to pain killers rather to a calm mind.
On the other hand, the pains you feel could be due to simple muscle strain in your day to day activity; lower back pain may be due to repeated lifting of objects, frequent or sudden rapid or violent bending of the back etc that could strain back muscles or spinal ligaments. The shoulder pain you talk off most likely resulted from a compression or pressure probably when you were asleep or due to pressure you must have applied to push or lift an object in a previous day.
The fact that your results have come back negative is a point that favors the two possibilities above should it be that you did an erythrocyte sedimentation rate and it was negative. ESR indicates an on going inflammatory process such as osteoarthrtis, infections etc which could also be responsible for the pains.
At menopause, bone density decreases and this is a risk factor for fractures in females. However, this is not the case with you.
In a nut shell, there are two likely conditions;
-stress or
-muscle or ligament strain.
With regards to the stress, you might consider talking with a friend or any other person for a bit of relief, make yourself more or less busy such as with work, visit friends when you are idle and you might as well consider meeting a doctor to help you through.
For muscle stain, rest, mild physical exercise and some pain killers such as acetaminophen/ paracetamol would greatly help you.
Hope this answers your query. If you do have further query, i will be glad to help.
Best regards
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
Get personalised answers from verified doctor in minutes across 80+ specialties
