Malnutrition? Or something else?

[Mb315]

Hi, I'm new to the boards. I'm 23 year old female.
My ordeal started about a month ago. I started having urinary frequency.. Which I thought was a UTI but when anti biotics weren't effective, my anxiety started to heighten. I waited a week and contacted my obgyn, she examined me and believed I have an ovarian cyst causing my discomfort and frequency. I was of course worried about it being something more serious. She told me to give it some more time... I started losing weight because of the anxiety, working 40 hours on top of that, on my feet 90% of the day.. It was a struggle. I lost about 12 pounds the first 2 weeks due to my lack of appetite and worrying. My urinary symptoms subsided some but not much, I had an ultrasound of the ovaries done and it looked as if my cyst had burst because it was no longer present.. The urinary symptoms continued to decrease slowly. However my anxiety lingered and istill heightened the remaining issues. I Started noticing a heaviness in my legs and when I googled.. I started to become concerned for MS. Then this past week I started noticing a heaviness/weakness in my left arm.. I'm left handed and use it all day at work and for other various things of course. It then started in my right side. When I lift them up, they just want to come down harder and quicker.. I can still do tasks but I feel my grip getting weaker. I'm down 22 pounds at this point, it's been a struggle of eating small amounts and then burning off what I eat while at work, walking around all day. I've started taking my vitamins about 5 days ago and I'm trying to get my nutrition in a better place. I'm terrified of there being something neurologically wrong with me due to these symptoms.. However I'm aware that nutrition and my anxiety can play a large factor in this.. Anyone ever deal with similar feelings or know the effects of malnutrition? I Google of course but there's nothing like feedback from others who have struggled. I'm looking for some support during this time and some advice. Thank you!

I guess I should my my other symptoms.
- difficulties sleeping (wake up every hour or two)
- hard to stay warm
- very dry skin
- bad breath
- indigestion
- feels as if sensations to skin are a bit dulled
Seems whatever body part I use..there's extra strain or sensitivity to.

[Goomba]

Not eating right accompanied with anxiety creates a maelstrom of symptoms.

My anxiety started at 23 too lol.

Take comfort in the fact that you have been evaluated and are in the clear. Don't play "what if" and google stuff. Ever. Its counterproductive.

If things get that serious, get it checked out.

But yes, I experienced almost all of those symptoms, including 20 plus pounds of weight loss. The weight loss stabilized when I began eating properly again, and got my anxiety under control.

[ctb1988]

I get the hunch that it's a little bit of malnutrition (the extremely dry skin is the tip off for me, that frequently happens when you're not getting enough fat) on top of a lot of anxiety. Have you ever taken a probiotic? You can get it OTC and that helps reset your stomach and get your good bacteria back in line. This has helped me a lot the past couple of weeks. I had a pretty bad bout of anxiety and couldn't eat for days. Whether it's because of anxiety or not, your stomach gets pretty messed up when you're not eating.

Somtimes it's hard to justify spending the money on copays and doctor visits and specialists when you suspect it's just anxiety, but it's good to get everything checked out for peace of mind. Do you have a regular doctor that you trust? If so, tell them what is going on, tell them about your anxiety and all of your symptoms. They should be able to order all of the appropriate tests and direct you towards other specialists you may need like a GI doctor. I didn't establish a doctor until a couple of weeks ago when I had a bad episode of anxiety, but so far her team has helped me out a lot. A lot of my symptoms are / were all in my head (certain symptoms miraculously disappeared within a couple of days of a consultation), but it turns out I did have some issues that made my anxiety worse. For example, I took an allergy test and it turns out I'm allergic to almost everything in the environment, pets, etc. I was sent to an allergist and it turns out I have asthma as well. One of my chief complaints going in was about my breathing and chest heaviness, so sometimes it's not ALL in your head. Like most other health issues, there is a goofy relationship between anxiety and asthma. A good doctor will take you seriously even if your only symptom is a racing heart if you decide to get checked out.