Doctors,
Firstly I would like to thank you for all the information you share regarding training and health. I have learned much from you.
My info: male, 26 years old, about 5’6" 145 lbs. Never smoked, light alcohol consumption, exercise regularly. Nothing really remarkable in my health history… experienced GERD-like symptoms a few months back and I donated bone marrow several years ago via PBSCT to an anonymous recipient in case that’s relevant.
My issues started last Wednesday morning lying in bed. I noticed my lower legs (mid calf area to foot) were feeling a chilly sensation despite feeling warm to the touch. This had occurred a few other times in the past months but never lasted long. Overall it was just an odd feeling and felt different than “just cold”. Maybe I should rather refer to it as a strange sensation. Of course googling this experience did nothing good for my anxiety as I was convinced I have nerve damage or peripheral neuropathy. I tried to go on with my day and the sensation was less prevalent after getting out of bed but perhaps a little chilly. I didn’t have much appetite through the day which I attributed to anxiety. That night the feeling returned, seeming more intense and I had significant trouble getting to sleep as it was driving me crazy. It’s also notable that I sometimes felt like I had fever-like chills despite being quite sure I had no fever.
Concerned, I scheduled an appointment the next morning at my university health center and saw a NP. I discussed my symptoms with her and also a few other issues that I thought could be relevant.
- I first noticed this lump on the back of my lower cervical spine area about 4-5 years ago. No idea how long it had been there but it seems to have not changed much since then. For awhile I have occasionally felt mild pains in the area (it’s not sensitive to touch) and also pain sometimes “shoots” between that area and my fingers/hands. She checked it out and other than “yeah it seems like a lipoma” and feeling it, she didn’t seem very concerned. Oddly, I also have what seems to be a horizontal scar on it (she asked if I had surgery there) and I have no clue why it would be there.
This makes finding a comfortable bar position in the squat annoying sometimes…
- I have been eating a diet devoid of animal products for nearly 3 years so the concern of B12 deficiency and nerve damage entered my mind, despite taking a supplement pretty regularly and consuming products fortified with B12.
In summary, she told me to try to stop overthinking (definitely true, very anxious) and wait for test results. A CBC, metabolic panel, thyroid hormones, iron, folate, and B12 tests were done.
Also I had no fever when measured there. Results:
This morning I got a message from her through patient portal. Paraphrasing: “your labs seem normal (bilirubin slightly high but conjugated is normal so not concerned), let me know if you have any questions”.
Note: I haven’t noticed any weakness, noticeable numbness, or balance issues.
Since last Friday I have generally felt better – the chilly leg and fever-like sensations are gone – but over the weekend and today I’ve had more consistent mild pains and prickly sensations in my hands, sometimes isolated and sometimes going between there and the area where the lipoma is – and occasionally still felt in feet. Previous reading had informed me that serum B12 alone may not be a reliable measurement of B12 status (Biomarkers and Algorithms for the Diagnosis of Vitamin B12 Deficiency - PMC), with probing methylmalonic acid being a more reliable marker. I replied to her and asked her opinion on the topic since I have had relevant symptoms and may be in a high-risk group.
Today I felt okay early but generally unwell later after going to class on campus. Maybe this was due to being more active and going up/down several flights of stairs after being relatively sedentary for several days. This hasn’t made me feel great about returning to training. Basically I haven’t felt like this before and it’s freaked me out trying to find what is wrong, with lab results not helping. I thought maybe a low-grade infection could have made me feel feverish and unwell, like getting influenza but a low immune response due to vaccination, but without a measurable fever and non-elevated WBCs, is that even reasonable? I don’t think that would explain nerve-like symptoms anyways.
Additionally, I will admit my sleep habits the last few weeks have been abysmal and my circadian rhythm is likely wacked out. I had been going to bed late (my fault) and waking up early to take my wife to work by 8 am, then lying back in bed and returning to sleep later to end up waking again around 1-2 pm (winter break laziness). I haven’t been getting hungry until late in the day and thus my meals have been pushed back, and subsequently I have also been eating less. I have been feeling very fatigued in the ~6 to 7 pm time.
By now this probably seems like a mess of issues but I hope my post has been adequately clear. My quality of life hasn’t been good the last week. 
I greatly appreciate any feedback and let me know if clarification would benefit.
- Michael