Health anxiety or something sinister???

[Sugarplum1811]

Hi there,

I just wanted to share my story of the range of symptoms I’ve been experiencing for the past few months and please bear with me as this post will be a long one!

Although I haven’t been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, I have been suffering with some really debilitating anxiety since December of last year. I’ve always been quite an anxious person since a kid but it’s never really quite affected me as much as it does now.

In December, I noticed my right eye felt funny and vision blurry, along with severe headaches. I had no idea what was going on and made an appointment with my opticians and when they said nothing was wrong, I didn’t believe them and made my parents drive 15 miles to the nearest minor eye emergency service, they did lots of tests which all came back normal but I still wasn’t convinced. I googled so much to the point where I wouldn’t sleep as I thought i’d go blind overnight and I would keep checking my eyesight. This happened until the point I experienced the feelings of depersonalisation/derealisation, it was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. Nothing felt real nor looked real and the only feelings I felt were sadness and fear. Thankfully these feelings lasted around 2 weeks and it seems that after that experience my eyesight did not seem weird anymore.

Fast forward to February, I was still experiencing these constant headaches everyday and I went to the GP where they said it was chronic tension headaches. They gave me some amytriptlyine which did not help and a week after starting those I started feeling VERY DIZZY to the point where I fell over! I immediately stopped taking the tablets. I also noticed my memory was not as sharp and I would find words like consistency hard to pronounce!

Start of March, I went back to the GP who said it was stress but I demanded blood tests (FBC, glucose, iron, kidney, thyroid, liver, vitamin D etc) which all came back normal except I am vitamin D deficient and my white blood cell count was borderline and my liver enzyme level was a bit high but did a repeat and was fine. I then started experiencing joint pain (fingers, wrists, ankles, knees, hips) I called my mum and she said these are symptoms of vitamin D deficiency but I wasn’t so convinced as I’ve probably been vitamin D deficient for a long time yet have never experienced these symptoms before but they went away after a few days.

Now April, I started experiencing some neck pain which initially I thought was some neck strain, but as I felt my neck I felt a lump which was not on my right side, I also started experiencing on and off left shoulder/arm pain and now it has moved to all over my back and pelvic area and legs. I also get weird tingling/burning sensation all over my upper body (especially the left arm/shoulder) chest discomfort and I am so worried as I keep googling everything!

I keep thinking I might have all these different horrible diseases like a brain tumour, head and neck cancer, lung cancer, bone cancer! All my symptoms have made it impossible for me to focus on anything else and I feel so exhausted and trapped! I’m crying everyday as I am so scared of dying and death (to the point where I was scared to sleep cause I thought i’d die in my sleep) I’m only 19 and I don’t know what to do! I’ve lost my appetite completely and have managed to lose 2kg+ in a week as I’ve only been eating around 200-500 calories a day.

I keep going back and forth with the GPs who keep saying it’s anxiety causing my symptoms and to see a physio or chiropractor and have given me leaflets on counselling. I’ve managed to get an ultrasound on my neck lump although the GP said they weren’t too concerned.

I feel like I am dying mentally/emotionally and physically and I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve never been this bad with my anxiety and I’m making all my loved ones around me crazy! If anyone has any advice or has been through similar, I would be very grateful for a response.

Sim xx

[foxglove_pnw]

Hi Sim !

I am so sorry you are feeling like that !

I have really bad health anxiety so I can relate ! I have had so many weird symptoms and doctors could not figure out what was going on . I had dizziness, blurry vision and off balance symptoms for 4 months .

If your tests all came back fine . A good next step would be a psychiatrist and also a psychologist for therapy .

If you live in the USA, google NAMI and they have amazing support groups.

Wishing you better days.

[AmbieBambie]

Hi, a lot of your fears I have felt. Have you talked to a therapist or a psychiatrist? I see a psychiatrist for my anxiety. Medicine is not best for everyone, but maybe you can try one a psychiatrist recommends for you after going over all your feelings.

Have you expressed all these fears with your GP? Maybe ask for a heart monitor and a head ct scan/ mri. So that would cover if there was anything wrong with your heart or head so then you can feel at ease getting results and hopefully the results come back normal.

I know once you start googling symptoms it’s like a dark hole, I’m guilty of it, and stress myself out too much. I have found reading people’s experiences on this forum helps me to be calm, to know other people have the same fears and health ticks going on.

Try to relax and breathe, my go to thing to relax is watching crime shows & a heated blanket, & tune everything else out

Hope you feel better

[Jklassen42]

I've been through all of this I still have these pains and sensations even worse with the eyes I have snow vision floaters flashes blurry.. Tension headaches and dizzyness but I know for a fact they subside I've been in high anxiety and out now trying to get out for a third time, deep breathing saved my ass on both those times anxiety we forget to breathe or shallow breaths.. Look at some guided meditation or wim hof method

[borahae]

Hi, I hope you will get better soon, health anxiety is honestly so debilitating. I'm like you, 19 years old, and I get physical symptoms which convince me that I am dying.

However, I'm SLOWLY getting better after accepting that it is anxiety. Of course I still get some bad days (like today, I couldn't sleep last night because I was so afraid).

It's good that all your results have turned out to be fine (I'm still waiting for more results and I'm doing a sleep study soon).

Perhaps try to seek mental health professionals (I'm in the process of finding one too)

Hope all will be well, remember that you are not alone!

[Timmypliskin]

Stop Google checking...

It's the worst thing you can do.

Take things one day at a time.

Take little steps every day...

Trust your doctors..

Therapy helps alot...

[Hidden]

Well, because I don’t trust anyone. And dr misdiagnosed people. I am very paranoid. However. When you are at the point when you checked everything. You find out that it’s anxiety. And , try to find out what’s bothering your mind. Or bugging you. I notice when I stop thinking about what ever is negative or whatever I was thinking about, that triggers my anxiety I can control or prevent panic attack. However, I am realizing I always have anxiety. I guess that’s why they call it general anxiety.

When I tell people I have anxiety it is annoying because they always assume I have some phobia or something. I’m just rambling to respond to your post. You’re not alone.

After reading many posts I realized for the first time in my whole life. I’m not alone. I never new anyone who experienced what I was feeling. I’m now 35. That’s a long ass time.

I hope you have someone to talk to. Or can attend counselling or something. Exercise is helpful. However, I hate leaving the house. Lol.

[kborge]

I have some similarities to your story and just judging what you wrote - you are completely stressed out and your nervous system is in over drive because you are always on edge. My symptoms have been with me for about 7 months now, but wow has it got better in the past 2 months or so. I've had tests galore and you have to accept it is anxiety - check out Claire Weekes.

[Lisasums]

Hi Sim!

Oh I am with you! I feel just about everything you have been experiencing. I have been scared out of my mind. It’s the unknown that worries me the most. These symptoms are so powerful you feel like there is something seriously wrong with you. I completely understand that. The last couple of months I have been feeling such weird sensations in my face, head and neck. My neck gets sooo tight that it affects my face around my eye to the point where I feel dizzy. After it happens I get really sleepy and fatigued. I have had some blood test that came back normal and I just went back to get some more blood tests to check my thyroid. It’s always good to rule everything out. Please read self help for your nerves by dr Claire weeks its very helpful.

[Hidden]

I feel exactly the same as you I’m legit crying on the couch right now! Reading this makes me feel less alone but still so sad