Completely side blinded

[Jonathon101]

Hi,
I am 23 years old. I have been suffering from what I believe is chronic anxiety for over a year. Last february I noticed that my hands were shaking, I spoke to the Dr. and he told me it was side effects of the steroids i was on for a lung infection. I went back to see the same Dr. 5 months later still with these shakes and he said 'oh no it must be something more serious, parkinsons, aids.' This of course blind sided me, I have since had numerous blood tests and cat scans until someone said that it may be anxiety. The tests all came back fine including an ecg. It's taken me a long time to think that what I've been feeling is anxiety, because of the enormity of the symptoms I've experienced. i'm not sure which was first, the anxiety or the shakes. I will lie in bed and I can feel my whole body shaking, if I'm lying on my side my ear flutters against the pillow. Tremors. It is seriously disconcerting when you feel you're not anxious yet still have these effects.
I am now working on my anxiety and the things that stress me out but every now and again I am reminded of what my body is doing. Has anyone ever suffered these kind of symptoms?

Thanks for any response,

[pluperfecthell]

Yuuup! At one point my tremors were so bad that I'd be lying in bed and it felt as if my chest and back were vibrating. I'd get it in my legs and neck sometimes too. My legs would shake while I was just standing. I was CONVINCED something was wrong with me b/c of the tremors I felt in my chest area but I had 2 normal EKGs and both my regular doctor and the ER doctor said it was just stress. It was really scary, but it eventually went away once my anxiety and stress levels weren't so high. Now only my hands shake when I'm doing something which still concerns me, but my doctor doesn't seem too worried about it and I think it's gotten better. As soon as I find a distraction, something that keeps my mind completely occupied, most of my symptoms disappear. I know it seems crazy that anxiety can cause all of these physical symptoms, but I'm learning to accept it.

[Jonathon101]

Thank you for responding, it has really helped me. Something as small as another person experiencing similar things can really help you look at the bigger picture. Were you able to correct your behaviour on your own or did you have help?

[pluperfecthell]

I saw a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with my generalized anxiety disorder/panic disorder and explained my symptoms were from anxiety/stress and lack of sleep. He also prescribed me Zoloft, which I never took because I'm too scared of possible side effects even though I was having 3 panic attacks a day that were so bad that I experienced depersonalization. I get why the shaking scares you, because it terrified me (especially being a hypochondriac) that my whole body would feel like it's shaking from the core while I'm lying in bed.

I think I mostly corrected my behavior by myself - I removed myself from the situation that was causing me so much stress and started to volunteer to keep myself busy. Volunteering with kids makes me so tired that it made my sleeping schedule go back to normal. Whenever I caught myself thinking about the shaking, I'd switch my train of thought and distract myself. Eventually, I got to the point where I only suffer from minimal anxiety in the morning and the internal tremors subsided.