Confused about muscle tightness?

With severe muscle tightness and pain I`m confused as to whether the healing will be due to the muscles learning to relax again without the benzo?  Or the muscles have GABA receptors and these need to upregulate?

 

I would really appreciate it if anyone knows the answer to this.  I can`t find an answer on google or anywhere.

 

To my knowledge, the muscle tightness is a result of the anxiety that many of us feel during withdrawal.  The mental and withdrawal anxieties cause a fight or flight condition.  Muscles get ready to act, but then we don't do anything.  This persists for hours/days/weeks.  Muscles get tired of staying in that fight/flight mode and tighten up.  Tense is another word for anxious and it sums up the muscle state very well. 

 

A little activity will give those tense muscles something to do, but the tightness will probably continue as long as there is much anxiety present.  Relaxation meditation can help if you're into that stuff.  Warm, relaxing baths can help.  Basically anything that promotes calm.

Healing,

 

I have same issue with severe muscle tightness. Benzos have muscle relaxant properties. I think Dr. Ashton mentioned rebound tightness when they are removed. I also wonder about Gaba receptors. They seem to be everywhere in body!

Healing,

 

I have same issue with severe muscle tightness. Benzos have muscle relaxant properties. I think Dr. Ashton mentioned rebound tightness when they are removed. I also wonder about Gaba receptors. They seem to be everywhere in body!

 

 

Can it take more than two years to heal from muscles tightness??  I heard that it is the last symptoms to leave

I have severe muscle tightness and it is definitely not anxiety related.

I was on Benzos for muscle problems.

Withdrawal has caused much more severe degeneration in my whole spine - it shows on scans over the last 3 years been trying to get off.

So for me the muscle tightness and pain is from actual structural damage caused by withdrawal.

The Benzos were also covering up problems I had developed in the 2 decades I was on them.

 

I hope if receptors can upregulate and myopathy goes away that will be able to strengthen them and that will help a bit but it is very hard to know how will live with this as now can’t even take basic pain meds.

To my knowledge, the muscle tightness is a result of the anxiety that many of us feel during withdrawal.  The mental and withdrawal anxieties cause a fight or flight condition.  Muscles get ready to act, but then we don't do anything.  This persists for hours/days/weeks.  Muscles get tired of staying in that fight/flight mode and tighten up.  Tense is another word for anxious and it sums up the muscle state very well. 

 

A little activity will give those tense muscles something to do, but the tightness will probably continue as long as there is much anxiety present.  Relaxation meditation can help if you're into that stuff.  Warm, relaxing baths can help.  Basically anything that promotes calm.

Muscle spasticity is independent of the emotional state. This is a motor disorder resulting from damage to motor neurons in the brain. Unfortunately, no amount of meditation or bathing will solve the  problem

There are many publications linking anxiety with muscle stiffness/pain.  Granted, there are other causes.  I had a decent amount of muscle soreness and stiffness during my withdrawal.  It completely resolved and on a timeline similar to other withdrawal symptoms (including withdrawal-related anxiety).

 

Both anxiety and psychosocial stress should be considered in the assessment and treatment of patients with musculoskeletal pain and depression.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677657/

 

Mood disorders, especially depression and anxiety, play an important role in the exacerbation of pain perception in all clinical settings.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4590059/

 

Characteristic Symptoms Pathological Anxiety

 

Cognitive symptoms: fear of losing control; fear of physical injury or death; fear of "going crazy"; fear of negative evaluation by others; frightening thoughts, mental images, or memories; perception of unreality or detachment; poor concentration, confusion, distractible; narrowing of attention, hypervigilance for threat; poor memory; and difficulty speaking.

 

Physiological symptoms: increased heart rate, palpitations; shortness of breath, rapid breathing; chest pain or pressure; choking sensation; dizzy, light-headed; sweaty, hot flashes, chills; nausea, upset stomach, diarrhea; trembling, shaking; tingling or numbness in arms and legs; weakness, unsteadiness, faintness; tense muscles, rigidity; and dry mouth.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470361/

I read a medical article: "People suffering from anxiety tend to experience more severe and long-lasting pain than other people. Tense muscles, rigidity and muscle tightness. The overlap of anxiety, depression and pain is particularly evident in chronic and sometimes disabling pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, low back pain, headaches and nerve pain".

 

I was misdiagnosed with chronic pain. But exercises and getting rid of anxiety made my problems go away. This is of course very individual, and there are so many reasons. With all due respect. But my recovery is another problem. 

 

 

 

Healinghopefully, You are not alone with this symptom. My spasticity and twisting affects my entire body, including my neck and face. What muscles are spasmodic?

I'm definitely in the category of having muscle stiffness even when I'm super calm now...ligaments tight too. I find I need to stretch multiple times a day now - I never had the need to consciously stretch before in my life. Mornings are def the worst. As I get going it does improve.

 

If you can tolerate heat this seems to help loosen me up.

To my knowledge, the muscle tightness is a result of the anxiety that many of us feel during withdrawal.  The mental and withdrawal anxieties cause a fight or flight condition.  Muscles get ready to act, but then we don't do anything.  This persists for hours/days/weeks.  Muscles get tired of staying in that fight/flight mode and tighten up.  Tense is another word for anxious and it sums up the muscle state very well. 

 

A little activity will give those tense muscles something to do, but the tightness will probably continue as long as there is much anxiety present.  Relaxation meditation can help if you're into that stuff.  Warm, relaxing baths can help.  Basically anything that promotes calm.

 

I question that. I suffer from severe anxiety since quitting these drugs, but I have had some significantly reduced periods of anxiety where it has got down to a low level, and yet the chronic muscle pain/spam persists.

 

I suppose it depends on whether you think we are suffering from a psychological condition, or a physiological condition.

 

You you believe we have a pathological psychological condition - then obviously you will believe that the pain/spams are the result of anxiety causing muscular tension.

 

If you believe this is a physiological condition - then what ever pathological neurochemical condition we suffer from that is causing mental symptoms is equally likely to cause the physical bodily symptoms we suffer from.  After all, evolution strongly conserves these neurochemical systems - they aren't just used in the brain.

 

For instance - GABA is used in the musculoskeletal system to regulate muscle tone.  Any pathology that impacts the gabaergic systems in the brain could equally likely impact these systems in the muscles and the peripheral nervous system.

 

So what's your opinion badsocref? Psychological or Physiological?

 

 

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So what's your opinion badsocref? Psychological or Physiological?

 

I'd say both and how much of each varies.  There's probably not much a person can do to relieve chemically-induced tension, although I would think that muscle tone would benefit from some activity and light stretching.  The warm baths did help me (I have a hot tub out back).  I continue to champion the idea that people can affect at least some of the psychological stuff that is probably adding to their overall discomfort. 

I agree that it's both. I think it's probably more accurate to view them as two sides of the same coin. Anxiety causes muscle tension and muscle tension causes anxiety. It's the same thing. We can and do carry anxiety without being consciously aware of it. In general, we tend to try too hard to view mind and body as separate and distinct when it's not a useful way to look at it. The most effective treatments take a more holistic view about the mind influencing the body and vice versa.