asking other places! - potential cervical instability?
Post Content
This was my post, not sure why reddit took it down: Hi! I made an account to talk about my recent struggles and I was wondering if you thought I had this condition. The last month has genuinely been so disastrous and debilitating for me. At first, on the 10th last month, this started with me leaning my back and neck forward too much and experiencing something scary; I had a feeling I couldn’t talk, and that my throat was paralyzed or too tight. I also felt a pit of fear shoot through my stomach and my head was tingly afterwards. I’ve had that about 3-4 times after, usually triggered by chewing or moving too much. Obviously though, I panicked. I‘m a chronic anxiety-haver, and I’ve never had symptoms like that and the others I’m about to explain so I can’t believe the doctors or my family when they say it’s “all in my head” or I’m “”just anxious.”” I had a brain MRI, bloodwork, and an x-ray recently; all is normal. It’s freaking me out, one because I have no idea what’s exactly wrong with me and two because it makes me look more like a hysterical woman.. which my doctor said I‘m “too young for any spinal issues” (almost 17 F) Anyways here are my other symptoms, sorry for the long rant: \- In the earlier days I had more headaches than anything, usually one sided and localized. they alternated sides a lot. These aches would radiate to my ears and other parts of my body. \- Tons of pins and needles. Tons. Sometimes I get shooting, burning/shock sensations on the most random parts of my body. One minute its on my arm/wrist, the next it’s in my leg or foot. \- Muscle spasms, primarily in my legs,, that’s where they happen the most \- Recently theres been WAY more neck pain and struggles. Sometimes I feel terrible pain or like something in my collarbone is pulling on my neck, and sometimes I feel a light pulse. The pain is sometimes on my left, and sometimes on my right. It makes the back of my head feel extremely heavy which leads me to my next point- \- So much neck issues and stiffness. When it starts hurting I can barely turn my neck in many directions. The back of my head especially hurts when I look too far down or too far upwards, which is why I keep my phone at eye level now. When I turn my neck sometimes I feel “crinkling“ or like fluid is moving where my spine meets my skull. Or theres cracking in my spine,, like when I breathe in I feel a “pop” or a “crack” in that area. My head feels like it’s too heavy to carry from time to time \- Sometimes I have involuntary twitches in my hands, my thumbs mainly. When I’m having a really bad flare up, I find that moving my thumbs or fingers worsens it? I sometimes feel like my arms feel super funny, but I can still functionally use them. \- The pain radiates to my shoulders, collarbone, down my arms, and I feel chest pain sometimes. \- I have brain fog from time to time. \- I’m actually getting a cramping pain in my underarm as I type this lol.. but my next point is that whenever I get up and start walking or I quickly sit down, my head starts POUNDING. I can feel my heartbeat in my head more than my chest. Sometimes I get so dizzy when I try to walk around that I just slowly lose my ability to be emotionally calm. \- I’m having jaw problems too. My jaw pops so much that once it popped loudly and began crinkling for about an hour when I tried to use it again via eating. I’m also having very mild difficulty swallowing- nothing that’s interfering but it’s notable; sometimes my food feels like it gets stuck in my throat, which water fixes, or it’s excessively more difficult to swallow my saliva. My whole neck area in general just feels tighter. \- My joints are cracking a lot for some reason, like if I move my arms or my legs I can hear a cracking sound each time I do so now. I don’t have an explanation for this one, incase it’s useful. I just feel lost and hopeless that no tests are revealing what’s going on with me. I KNOW very well what anxiety does to my body, and it’s nothing like what I’ve been experiencing for the past month. I’m sure I had some warning signs in the past for years, like intermittent chest pain and brain fog, but now it just feels like it’s rapidly worsening. I can’t see an actual neurologist until March 3, and I believe the chiropractor my guardian forced me to go to made my back problems worse (i DID NOT let him near my neck.) I researched on this condition and every single thing I’m experiencing lines up with it. It’s just a terrifying thing to deal with, especially when everyone thinks you’re just being hysterical and isn’t taking your complications seriously at all. Do you believe this is a possibility? Please let me know. I’m scared of doing things like chewing or moving my neck a ton because it makes the issue flare up more. It’s scary how my x ray is “normal” though my face is turned slightly off-center and my left shoulder is dropping. I’m getting pins and needles in the back of my neck right now. I hope to find some company that’ll fully get what I’m going through, because while my friends are supportive they can’t (thankfully) understand what my body’s doing. :’) An additional thing since I can’t add multiple flairs, I’d love to know any tips you guys have for managing these symptoms and that’s not just trying to maintain a better posture \^\^, the doctor gave me muscle relaxants though I’m hesitant to take them incase this is what I have. I don’t trust any of them anymore after now dismissive and belitting they have been about this overall case honestly. Thank you for reading if you sat through all of this!
Details
- Subreddit
- r/AskDocs
- Author
- u/Alternative_Flan2228
- Posted
- Feb 12, 2026 at 3:49 AM UTC
AI Analysis
- Medication
- muscle relaxants
- Condition
- cervical instability (suspected), neck pain/cervical spine issues, paresthesia, muscle spasms, headache, dysphagia/odynophagia, TMJ/jaw dysfunction, dizziness/orthostatic symptoms
- Barrier
- pcp wait
- Geography
- us likely