MAYBE IF WE SHARE OUR SYMPTOMS AND MEDICAL TESTS WE WOULD ALL FEEL BETTER? Not sure if it is allowed or not...so delete if you have to...but I know that I have a hard time believing anxiety can cause these symptoms...
Over the past five months I have dealt with the following:
-body pains
-sore elbows
-tight calf muscles
-burning skin...arms, legs, feet
-acid reflux
-hunger pains
-nausea
-vomitting
-can't eat...lost 30 pounds
-pins and needles
-sore back and neck
-cold feet
-numbness and tingling in feet
-blurred vision
-insomnia
-constipation
-diarrhea
-gagging
-post nasal drip
-muscle twitching
-body zaps
-panic attacks
-senses heightened
-jumpy
-hypersensitive skin-hurts to lie down at times
-heart palpitations
-weakness in limbs
I know there are more...
I have had the following tests:
-EKGs
-EMGs
-extensive bloodwork
-ultrasounds
-xrays
-MRI of brain and spine
-been to so many doctors and emergency rooms...
Would anyone like to share? Please...
Written by
Harzee
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64 Replies
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anxiety can cause any symptom you can think of short of dying. If you've had all of these tests and nothing is wrong you just have to trust and believe that nothing is wrong, no matter how much that bad feeling is telling you youre going to die/pass out/have a heart attack. Listing your symptoms wont help. I know its harsh but this is a mistake I made for YEARS, just look at my profile. As soon as i stopped constantly obsessing over and listing my symptoms on forums etc. I really started to improve. (: are you seeing a therapist or on any medication?? you shouldnt have to feel like this all the time
I agree with someone5673. Until I made the decision to be ok with what’s going on it never went away. I don’t mean this to sound like I’m condoning it but I literally have to tell myself if you’re going to kill me do it. That’s when I find perspective and peace. We are all worried we are going to have x,y,z. You need to be comfortable accepting that in fact that might happen. It’s not likely at all but if it does oh well. That’s whats helped me find my way through. Otherwise you are just going to cycle your fears and doubts over and over.
I had all of those and more. Went to the ER probably 50 plus times. Sometimes 3 times a week. I convinced myself something was terribly wrong. In time and with lots of practice I learned how to tell myself to be ok with whatever. I’m not cured. I will never be cured, but I understand what’s happening, and work through it when I have to.
Harzee, it's good to know other people have the same symptoms as you, it confirms it's 'only' anxiety and not something physical and sinister. But you will never recover from anxiety disorder by concentrating on your symptoms. They are fake symptoms, not for real symptoms, they are caused by glitches in your nervous system.
If you want to recover from anxiety disorder, you must address the cause of all these fake symptoms, which is to say Anxiety itself. If you can sucessfully deal with anxiety, its cause and its continuation, then all these symptoms that you're obsessing and stressing about will disappear like the morning mist.
Which begs the question: how do you successfully deal with your anxiety?
Anxiety is caused by a long period of worry, stress, overwork, disappointment, toxic relationships, you name it. After a while your nervous system reacts by becoming over sensitised and in this state it starts firing off all the fake symptoms we know so well.
You react to these with fear, you start pumping out the fear hormone which maintains your nerves in a sensitised state.
First thing to do: neutralise those things that have made you ill. Change your job, end that toxic relationship, share that burden. Be ruthless, it's your life at stake. So far so good, but your nerves are still sensitised, you're still in a vicious circle of fear causing symptoms causing fear causing symptoms and on and on.
To break the vicious circle and recover you must do the opposite of what you've been doing until now. Up to now you've been fighting the symptoms. It hasn't cured you, has it? So stop fighting. Fighting only causes more stress and strain on your nervous system. Stop fighting and surrender completely to your symptoms. Agree to accept them for the time being: frame your mind to coexist with the fake symptoms. Accept them utterly and completely - calmly and without fear. Of course they're not nice but they're fake, why be terrorised by something that doesn't really exist?
Ever seen an MRI or a CT scan that shows your fake symptoms? Ever seen them show up on an x-ray? Of course you haven't, you can't create an image of something that doesn't really exist!
So I say again, accept all the symptoms for the moment, let them come but this time don't fight them, accept them instead. And carry on with your day, occupation is good for anxiety.
Starve your nerves of the fear hormone, because you can't accept and fear at the same time. Let your nervous system rest, take a break from from fighting. And slowly your nerves calm and recover and you feel once more like you did before the nightmare began.
The answer to your question, Harzee, is that I am one of those people who have inherited anxiety, it runs in the family for generations, so it reoccurs with me. But when it does I know how to control and recover from it and so I don't get it bad.
Otherwise the answer to your question about how long the symptoms take to go away after you have accepted them is: it could be weeks it could be months. This is not a quick fix because there are no quick fixes.
The Acceptance method for recovery from anxiety disorder was set out by Doctor Claire Weekes many, many years ago in her first book 'Self help for your nerves' (UK title) also titled in the U.S. 'Hope and help for your nerves. Both versions available from Amazon new or used.
The book brings understanding, reassurance and a 4 point plan for recovery. Tens of thousands of people have recovered using the method explained in her short first book.
The 4th point in her method is 'Let time pass' and that is the real answer to your question. When you reach the necessary degree of Acceptance it should no longer bother you too much whether you have the symptoms today or not. You know that you can get on with your day regardless.
When you achieve this state of acceptance your nerves begin to recover and lose their over sensitivity and the symptoms begin to fade to nothing.
If you check the Amazon reader reviews for all Doctor Weekes' books on both amazon.co.uk and amazon.com you will find that in the last few years there have been nearly 1,600 reviews and that 90% awarded her books Very Good or Excellent. Not bad for a book first published over 50 years ago.
What won't happen is that you read the book, practice some level of acceptance and expect the symptoms to go away by mid afternoon the following day.
I understand even most meds take up to 4 weeks to kick in (other than diazepam which is immediate but can only be used continuously for a limited period.
Wow...you are so knowledgeable and I thank you for taking the time to write to me...I really appreciate it. I am just wondering what physical symptoms you experienced?
Starting in 1974 I had dearealisation/depersonalisation, visual disturbances including scintilating scotomata, stomach ache, nausea, breathlessness, right side abdominal pain, dizziness, lump in the throat (globus hystericus), exaggerating problems out of all proportion, sensitivity to light (photophobia), periods of missed heart beats and secondary depression (getting depressed about having anxiety).
Fortunately I read Claire Weekes' book 'Self help for your nerves' in 1974, it was on my mother's bookshelf, so I understood from the start what was happening to me and that they were fake symptoms caused by nervous sensitisation but I always went to a doctor to make 100% sure and for reassurance.
Have you known anyone who has painful skin sensations...like sometimes it is hard to sit or lie down...like sandpaper skin? I have been to so many doctors and I would say the majority of them say anxiety...I only got these symptoms after my anxiety was through the roof...
I have never heard of that, Harzee, except my wife has occasionally come out in a red rash on her chest when very anxious. But anxiety's ways are infinite, every part of our body is served by our nervous system except our hair and toe and finger nails. So every part of our body can be affected by nerves that are misfiring.
Accept the symptoms for the time being, address the cause: anxiety caused by over sensitive nerves and the what worries got you into this state.
Read the book and you will have the knowledge to cure yourself in the fullness of time as you will understand everything. Claire Weekes was Australian too.
Here is my story...the past five months have been awful to say the least...
I will start from the beginning. In July, my right arm hurt and I realized I had a mole there...so I had it removed and all was well. However, I started googling symptoms. By October, it felt like something was touching my arm every once in a while...by December my arm hurt again...I went to the doctor and they thought it was muscle pain, then nerve pain...then the pain went away. I had an ultrasound on my arm. I thought I was having a heart attack. The pain migrated to my shoulder, then my lower abdomen...I went to the doctor again, and they sent me for a pelvic ultrasound. They sent me for a uterine biopsy, and this is what pushed me over the edge...My Mom died of uterine cancer three years ago, and I had to wait three weeks for my results...I was absolutely sick with worry. While I waited, my calf muscles got tight...I started googling symptoms, sometimes hours at a time...I thought I had MS, ALS, Autoimmune diseases..I went from doctor to doctor to doctor. All said it was anxiety...My biopsy results came back negative and I thought I would feel better, but I didn't because I started having crazy symptoms. Constipation, diarrhea, acid reflux, hunger pangs, burning skin sensations, numbness, tingling, couldn't eat, muscle aches and twitches...I have been to so many doctors, emergency rooms, specialists...I have been checked over extensively...I have had crazy amounts of blood work done, EKGs, EEGs, an EMG for nerves, and I just paid for a private MRI on my brain and spine. All clear...
As we speak, my elbows hurt and my skin hurts to even sit down or lay down...skin still burns, sometimes if feels like a sunburn...or carpet burn, or a whisker rub...sometimes I get sensations like cold wet patches...the thing is, it is always symmetrical or bilateral...My health and these symptoms are all I can think of 24/7.
Harzee, you don't need to ask me if I seriously think all your symptoms are anxiety. You know they are all anxiety. You have used up the medical resources equivalent to a South American state and nothing organic was found. Retake all those tests and they still won't find anything. You know this. But it makes no difference, you will go on looking for cures for organic illnesses you don't have. You suspect the doctors have got it wrong. They went to medical school for 5 years and see dozens of patients every week. How long did you say you went to medical school, Harzee?
Don't worry, you're not the only one. We've all done it: going on looking for organic causes when the cause is nervous.
But enough is enough. By obsessing about your fake symptoms 24/7 you are subjecting your sensitive nervous system to a continuous flow of fear and stress hormones. These are keeping your nervous system in its oversensitised state. So they send out more symptoms which send out more fear hormones which send out more symptoms in a vicious circle that will last until Christmas 2028 at least.
1. Be glad that physically you have passed all the tests. Anxiety symptoms are so much easier to overcome than cancer or heart disease.
2. Stop fighting, stressing and obsessing about the symptoms.
3. Accept utterly the symptoms as tricks your nerves are playing on you. They may be uncomfortable but they are NOT life threatening.
4. Accept there is no instant cure, there most certainly is a cure but it takes time.
Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it. My problem is that I have no faith in the health care system since my Mom died...do you think that is what caused all these crazy symptoms...waiting for the results of the endometrial biopsy and being worried that I would die like my Mom? Can these symptoms persist for months? I have them even when I don't feel anxious...one test that I wanted was a sweat test or skin biopsy to check for small fiber neuropathy...but I can't get in for a year...I am in Canada...also a few doctors have mentioned Fibromyalgia...but I don't have all of the symptoms of that. .I hate being in pain...also, I was googling like a crazy person...
The death of your mum and the circumstances could well have triggered this, grieving can take a long time and express itself in many ways. As is explained fully in that book.
i used to have all of those symptoms,but then i kinda give up to worry ,and was thinking-if i gona die-so it be...GOOD NEWS after 2 years i am still here ...you can read my article here xsinor.com/anxietydepersona...
I like your article, but a lot of people have been helped by antidepressants and to say that ad's cause brain damage is a little concerning. This site has numerous people struggling with anxiety and just starting ad's to get some relief and to read that just causes more anxiety to those trying to adjust to medication and those that have used them in the past. You made a lot of good points though.
Hi Harzee, I was responding to xsinor's link. I read his/her article which I thought was very good, but there was a sentence within the body of the article that I was referring to. I'm sorry if I incorrectly replied to your post.
boy, I sure do. I have had double vision, my neck gets so tense, I can barely move it. tingling, twitching, difficulty breathing. These all started when I got laid off from my job and became a stay at home father. I took care of my daughter and my father who had alzheimers and really didn't notice a lot of symptoms till my dad passed and then my daughter started school. Things quieted down in the house, but my nervous system didn't. My nervous system must have got fried and has been over sensitized.
I am sorry about your father. My mother passed away too and I took care of my dad...I just started getting all of these symptoms about five months ago. What symptoms do you have now?
I still get the twitching, difficulty breathing and stiff neck. I also get like a weird fullness in my ears. All these come and go. Check out anxietycentre.com, lots of good info there on anxiety symptoms and sorry about your mom.
wow, that's great, I came close to using one also, but I do have someone that I see here in person. One thing that I saw was a couple of the counselors had vision problems with their anxiety, so I wanted to talk to them about mine. Which one are you seeing? Let me know if you like them. You can talk in pm or do it here.
Yes, I have seen his bio. The one thing I like about all those counselors is that they have all struggled with anxiety in the past. I've watched some you tube videos of the president describing his struggles also. I looked last week and saw that all the counselors have been booked up. I guess you have to make an appointment with them or be put on a waiting list. It must be reassuring speaking to them and knowing they have come out on the other side of this.
Thanks for your time to read it..ad are tricky...of course some people they will help,some not...and all those side effects..and when you want to stop-withdrawal effects start and anxiety returns because of them..its free choise to everyone.About brain damage-its not like if u use ad then straight away you will get some damage,but if some person use them for years then they have bigger chance ,in their 60ties and 70ties to get all those BAD conditions.Its my personal opinion and of course it can be wrong.Keep a good mood and good luck
Well when the panic/anxiety takes hold my mind can and will latch onto ANYTHING. Over analyze, over contemplate, over think. I have OCD so I have several compulsive habits I have to steer clear of. But this leaves me with the on going continued fear/anxiety because I am denying myself the ability to do something that gives me relief and the feeling of control. So I have to wait it out for a good 48 to 72 hours. If I do give in to the compulsion I can find myself repeating the whole process again and again.
I started to suffer from depression a few years ago, it came and went after counselling but then in the coming years the depression started to become more often along with anxiety which turned into panic attacks. I went to counselling, acupuncture all sorts but it wasn't going away, I kept going to the doctors because I knew something was wrong but they kept saying anxiety..I then had my thyroid and vitamins checked and found out they were all low, it's not always the reason but I don't think anxiety happens for no reason I think there is either a slight deficency of something somewhere or a psychological reaction to something that has happened in your environment.
Always ensure you see your results from your doctor, you have a right to! Sometimes vitamins just being a little low (not optimal) can cause symptoms!
I think vitamin D, B12 are very important.
I also found this book really helpful in understanding why your body reacts the way it does to situations: amazon.co.uk/Rewire-Your-An...
You cannot underestimate the power of the Mind, I lost 50 pounds from the lack of eating, headaches, memory issues and sometimes I feel paralyzed. Everone has different symptoms. First see a doctor to get diagnosed. And believe me these symptoms are REAL
WOW Harzee, thats a long list, and I'm pretty sure it's possible? Everyone is different. That also scares me don't want to be chronically I'll on top of the anxiety. So IAM fighting it.
It varies day to day? Some days I literally feel like I'm going to die. Some days I feel like I'm paralyzed. Most days a knot in my stomach. I've been a week without anxiety, but I feel weak and hurting alot cause I have spent about 90% if the last year and a half in bed, so my muscles are weak, not use to using them. So recovering takes several days or weeks. I believe I have chronic fatigue syndrome. What are yours?
Right now I have burning skin...hypersensitive skin...elbow pain...numb big toes...I have had every test under the sun...read my story under Jeff of how it all started....
I believe I heard from Jeff also, we all experience different symptoms.
I have to be careful though cuz I have diabetes and if I don't eat enough I experience shakiness due to low blood sugar levels it can affect that also, so beware? For me when I get bad anxiety I have problems eating food, I had lost 50 pounds. But man when my anxiety is gone I eat like there was no tomorrow.
I've had symptoms going on 9 months now that include the body zaps, tingling hands and feet, muscle twitches, neck pain, weakness, chest pain, sweating, eye pain headaches almost daily, diziness, stomach issues. I too have had ct scans, brain mri, pelvic ultrasound, stress test. heart monitor, numerous blood tests. All came back normal. I do feel like the more I concentrate and obsess about a symptom the more I feel it. I too have been to er numerous times doctor visits over and over everytime dreading the news and preparing myself for the worst. Every time thankfully has been normal for me as far as testing is concerned but that doesn't stop me from feeling like they missed something or I went to soon or they made a mistake. It's a vicious cycle and I cant seem to get better. I have panic attacks all the time. I constantly have to talk myself out of running to emergency room for things I know are anxiety. I try not to google anymore because that makes it so much worse. My dr has told me everytime I'm anxious and need to stop worrying. Its definitely not easy though.
Yes my doctor has told me it was anxiety. I have been on that website to look at symptoms and I didn't know that these symptoms could be caused by anxiety alone. I too thought what if it was Ms or als after I've looked up symptoms but I did start working out a few months ago and I'm getting stronger able to lift more and have no symptoms when I work out which helps me out in knowing its anxiety because otherwise physically I probably wouldn't be able to do all that I'm able to do.
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Any odd symptoms you all have with anxiety ? Let's share & give advice ? 
Does anyone experience these symptoms?
Feeling ill 24/7
