Pain in legs caused by mental distress?

[Michellero]

My son is screaming with pain from his legs. He can't move and we are having to carry him. We've taken him to the doctor who says it is in his head. He's 12, any advice gratefully recieved.

Thanks

How long has this been going on?

I would push for him to have a scan of his legs at the very least.

It started yesterday morning. In the afternoon we saw the GP who could find nothing wrong. By the evening the pain had got worse so we saw the out of hrs GP, who again could find nothing. By the early hours of the morning he was screaming with pain so we went to A&E. The doctor there said the pain he described was inconsistent with medical knowledge and suggested it was in his head. She did some blood tests which were all clear but didn't want to subject him to unnecessary radiation by having an X-ray.

Well unless it settles.in a day or two I would go back and push for a scan

My sisters used to cry from the pain in their legs at about that age. My parents called it growing pains and would rub their legs for them. I didn't get it as a child. However, if I'm stressed as an adult I must subconsciously clench my thighs and I get what we call in our house 'stressy legs' and sitting rubbing them helps.

I realise this thread is almost a month old, but I just wanted to add my experience, because something similar happened to me when I was 13/14. I had been unhappy for a while (my parents had separated, my mother had left and then been diagnosed with cancer and my father was abroad) and one day I became hugely distressed over something... Suddenly my legs hurt, and then became totally paralysed - I literally could not move them. Our family doctor had me admitted to hospital for a batch of tests - for neurological problems, tropical diseases, etc. - which were all found to be normal. Towards the end of the day, one of the hospital doctors was just kind to me - nothing special, just gentle and friendly - and suddenly my legs could move again.

Now I am in my 40s, and have never had a repeat of anything like this. I do not have much of a history of mental illness, other than a bit of depression. I am one of the sanest people I know!

Various docs have since said that strange things like this 'just happen sometimes' in adolescence. I hope your son is OK now, and that this was also just one of these random odd experiences...

Just saw this! Could he be hyper mobile? My Dd is and when she's had an over active day can wake up screaming in agony with leg pain. Her gastroenterologist picked it up and we had it diagnosed by Sue Maliard (physio specialising in hyper mobility) at GOSH. Lots of physio's & gp's are unaware and very quick to brush off leg pain as growing pains. Worth a check maybe?

I was just about to suggest hypermobility too. Over the years dd has complained of leg and foot pain, only to be told by the GP it was growing pains or faked to avoid school. She was dx recently, aged 15, with hypermobility which explains why these pains happened.

Don't be fobbed off, keep pushing.