Numb, Twitching, Weakness

[RescuePastille]

Hey guys , Just a quick message, my first one to be exact.

Im a 24 year old male that has a extreme fear of health related problems.

For the past week I have been having some of the worst anxiety I think I have ever experienced. My arms, legs and other muscles have been visually twitching and numb/ weak, even typing this message is hard because my arms feel like jelly. Im incredibly worried because people around my family have had to deal with neurological problems and usually it basically either ruins life or makes it extremely hard. Because it's consistent I am worried I may have something drastic wrong. I have never experienced these symptoms before and it's actually getting in the way of basic movement. I have been to the doctor and they gave me pills to calm me down for a week to see if the twitching and weakness is to do with my anxiety. I think it's called sertraline or something. The tablets are not helping very much just because im getting consistent symptoms and it's sky rocketing my anxiety. Does anyone else get these kind of symptoms from anxiety. Is it extremely hard for them to move arms and legs? Sorry for the long message,

Thanks.

[Titan4757]

Hey RescueP. Yes, I have had similar symptoms with anxiety. Numb brain, weak shaky legs, sore shoulder, wrists and back. It's improved a lot over months and was worse when I started to experience panic attacks a year ago. Doctors don't find anything wrong with me. At 24 you should be in great health. Don't fear mental health ruining your life. Just because other family members may have those problems doesn't mean you do or will. One thing that has helped those weak areas is light weight training. Start with light dumbbells and work your way up. Some exercise and use of those muscles will improve your feeling.

[Calm_mama]

Hi RescueP!

Listen to Titan- he knows his stuff

Yes I've had these symptoms too. Anxiety can create some doozy symptoms for sure. Check out this list: anxietycentre.com/anxiety-s...

And it isn't complete IMO!

I have some excellent info on my profile if you are interested in learning about what is causing all of this, how common and normal it all is, and how to recover. Specific to your questions, start with this to understand the physiology of anxiety:

jonabram.web.unc.edu/files/...

then, I'd suggest listening to/reading Dr. Claire Weekes. She was a genius, completely figured out anxiety, and has audio, books which have helped so, so many people recover.

Sertraline is an antidepressant. Antidepressants are often effective with helping to treat both anxiety and depression. It takes 4-8 weeks to really "kick in".

Recovery comes more assuredly with therapy. Therapy from the resources I recommend are one way that people recover (there are other good therapeutic resources out there- read others' posts) but often people need therapy with a therapist. If you're open to it, I highly recommend it. In studies, the combination of a med like Sertraline plus therapy is a very potent treatment plan.

Keep us posted?