jhays79
12-27-2013, 03:02 PM
Hello all! I guess I'll start with a introduction. I'm a 35 year old male, I've had anxiety issues for as long as I can remember. A few years ago my wife got diagnosed with breast cancer, and that sent my anxiety into overdrive, as could be expected. She had her lump removed, some chemotherapy, and our Dr. has said he thinks she will be fine (knock on wood) This was all three years ago. In between though, she has to get checkups every 3 months, so my anxiety and worry about her comes screaming back during that time period. When she gets the all clear, I calm down for a while, until the next checkup comes around. It's tough to go through, but I know they're just keeping a close on eye on her. Anyway, since this all happened I've been seeing a therapist to try to relieve some of my anxiety and get past this scary period of my life that I can't seem to let go of. I'm also taking Zoloft, and more recently small amount of Klonopin.
Recently though, right before Thanksgiving, I had helped my in-laws move a very heavy piece of furniture. A few days later I started to get it into my head that I gave myself a hernia. I couldn't stop thinking about it and the pain in my abdomen started to get worse each day. This also happened to coincide with one of my wife's check-ups, and it was 3 years prior almost to the week that she got diagnosed. I'm not sure if this is coincidence or not. Anyway, the week after Thanksgiving, after feeling a lot of abdominal discomfort, I decided to go to my Dr and get checked out, fearing he would find a hernia and I would need surgery. I told him everything, and he checked me for a hernia, finding nothing wrong. So I go home and my pain is still no better a couple days later. I tell my wife I know I have a hernia, he must of missed it. So I schedule another appointment to go back to the Dr. I explain to him the pain is still there, so he checks me again, and again he finds nothing. He says I should get a CAT scan to see what's going on. Immediately I get panicky. I was able to schedule a CAT Scan the same day, so I go to the radiology place, the entire time I'm freaking out. I was scared to death they were going to find stomach cancer or pancreatic cancer. While getting the CAT scan I nearly pass out from the panic. Thankfully my Dr had put in a stat order so I wouldn't have to wait that long for the results. After the test I went back to my doctor where the results had just been faxed over. Everything looked fine. I was relieved but still frustrated because I didn't know what was wrong with me. The next day I get up and I start to realize how tense my stomach muscles were. I had unknowingly been straining my ab muscles pretty much every waking hour. That day I made a conscious effort to try and relax my muscles and the pain in my abdomen subsided. The next day however, I had been on my feet all day, and my legs were really achy, and later that evening I noticed my feet were a bit tingling and my hands where prickly. I began obsessing about these sensations, getting myself worked up and downright panicky that something was seriously wrong with me. One day I went from thinking I might have Lyme disease, and I felt like the side of my face was going numb. All day I was wiggling my mouth around or touching my cheek to see if I could feel it. I finally realized my face wasn't going numb. I made the mistake of googling symptoms and scaring myself more. I was scared I had leukemia, or was getting MS. I never felt these leg aches or tingling sensations before, it was right after my abdominal pain went away and I felt relief from the CAT scan results. I'm thinking I just moved on to the next thing to be anxious about. Last week I finally went to another MD that specializes in psychology and anxiety drugs. I explained everything to him, my fear of having MS and other diseases, these sensations I get, and the anxiety and scary thoughts I've been having about my health. He quickly checked my reflexes and eyes to see if I really did have any signs of MS, and he assured me he didn't think i did. He put me on a mild dose of Klonopin twice a day to help with the anxiety. I felt relieved after I left his office, but within a day or two later I start doubting him, thinking he might have missed something. My legs shoulders and arms are achy and I feel jittery in the mornings. I try to tell myself it's from weeks of tensing up my muscles, but I just can't wrap my head around it. I still get fears that I have some bad disease the doctors have missed. I still catch myself tensed up, my shoulders all up and tight, and everyday my thoughts are very consumed about how my body feels. Sorry for the long winded intro, but i'm just trying to assure myself that I'm not alone. Thanks for reading
Recently though, right before Thanksgiving, I had helped my in-laws move a very heavy piece of furniture. A few days later I started to get it into my head that I gave myself a hernia. I couldn't stop thinking about it and the pain in my abdomen started to get worse each day. This also happened to coincide with one of my wife's check-ups, and it was 3 years prior almost to the week that she got diagnosed. I'm not sure if this is coincidence or not. Anyway, the week after Thanksgiving, after feeling a lot of abdominal discomfort, I decided to go to my Dr and get checked out, fearing he would find a hernia and I would need surgery. I told him everything, and he checked me for a hernia, finding nothing wrong. So I go home and my pain is still no better a couple days later. I tell my wife I know I have a hernia, he must of missed it. So I schedule another appointment to go back to the Dr. I explain to him the pain is still there, so he checks me again, and again he finds nothing. He says I should get a CAT scan to see what's going on. Immediately I get panicky. I was able to schedule a CAT Scan the same day, so I go to the radiology place, the entire time I'm freaking out. I was scared to death they were going to find stomach cancer or pancreatic cancer. While getting the CAT scan I nearly pass out from the panic. Thankfully my Dr had put in a stat order so I wouldn't have to wait that long for the results. After the test I went back to my doctor where the results had just been faxed over. Everything looked fine. I was relieved but still frustrated because I didn't know what was wrong with me. The next day I get up and I start to realize how tense my stomach muscles were. I had unknowingly been straining my ab muscles pretty much every waking hour. That day I made a conscious effort to try and relax my muscles and the pain in my abdomen subsided. The next day however, I had been on my feet all day, and my legs were really achy, and later that evening I noticed my feet were a bit tingling and my hands where prickly. I began obsessing about these sensations, getting myself worked up and downright panicky that something was seriously wrong with me. One day I went from thinking I might have Lyme disease, and I felt like the side of my face was going numb. All day I was wiggling my mouth around or touching my cheek to see if I could feel it. I finally realized my face wasn't going numb. I made the mistake of googling symptoms and scaring myself more. I was scared I had leukemia, or was getting MS. I never felt these leg aches or tingling sensations before, it was right after my abdominal pain went away and I felt relief from the CAT scan results. I'm thinking I just moved on to the next thing to be anxious about. Last week I finally went to another MD that specializes in psychology and anxiety drugs. I explained everything to him, my fear of having MS and other diseases, these sensations I get, and the anxiety and scary thoughts I've been having about my health. He quickly checked my reflexes and eyes to see if I really did have any signs of MS, and he assured me he didn't think i did. He put me on a mild dose of Klonopin twice a day to help with the anxiety. I felt relieved after I left his office, but within a day or two later I start doubting him, thinking he might have missed something. My legs shoulders and arms are achy and I feel jittery in the mornings. I try to tell myself it's from weeks of tensing up my muscles, but I just can't wrap my head around it. I still get fears that I have some bad disease the doctors have missed. I still catch myself tensed up, my shoulders all up and tight, and everyday my thoughts are very consumed about how my body feels. Sorry for the long winded intro, but i'm just trying to assure myself that I'm not alone. Thanks for reading