atam90
02-27-2015, 10:04 AM
Hello, everyone!
I just wanted to take a second to introduce myself. After perusing this forum for some time, I finally decided to join. I am a 20-something year old female with a long history of (untreated) anxiety, and a six month history of pretty severe health anxiety. It all started with onset of widespread muscle twitching in September of last year that coincidentally began after taking antibiotics for an infection. I previously worked in a hospital emergency department and was having fairly bad anxiety from being in the environment, thinking I had all sorts of diseases (my educational background allows me to know more than what is for my own good). With the muscle twitching, I made the huge mistake of googling it. The anxiety spiraled out of control from that point onward.
I ended up seeing my primary doctor, who did a quick strength test and sent me for some blood work to see if there were any underlying causes. He basically said the twitching could be a weird, adverse reaction to the antibiotics I took, or a multitude of things. Blood work came back showing a possible autoimmune disease, he referred me to a rheumatologist, and the rheumatologist referred me to a neurologist after diagnosing me with possible connective tissue disorder. So basically, I am awaiting a neurologist appointment at the end of next week and hanging by a thread.
Funny thing is the muscle twitching seems to be worse when I am really stressed. It otherwise fluctuations in location, frequency, etc. This is the only bothersome symptom I have; I am very active, go to the gym weekly, and ski frequently. I am excited in a way to be going to the neurologist finally, but am also absolutely terrified. I am also wondering if my anxiety is truly a factor, and if the neurologist can possibly prescribe me something to balance out both the anxiety and the frequency of twitching. (But I don't know if I have to see my primary again to handle the anxiety? I was just hoping to loop it in with my neurology appointment since the twitching may be related.) Let's just say that my anxiety has been so bad at times, it completely interferes with the rest of my life. Despite my best efforts, relaxation methods seem to have nothing on my anxiety.
So that brings me here today. I apologize for the length of my post, so thank you to anyone who took the time out to read that. :)
I just wanted to take a second to introduce myself. After perusing this forum for some time, I finally decided to join. I am a 20-something year old female with a long history of (untreated) anxiety, and a six month history of pretty severe health anxiety. It all started with onset of widespread muscle twitching in September of last year that coincidentally began after taking antibiotics for an infection. I previously worked in a hospital emergency department and was having fairly bad anxiety from being in the environment, thinking I had all sorts of diseases (my educational background allows me to know more than what is for my own good). With the muscle twitching, I made the huge mistake of googling it. The anxiety spiraled out of control from that point onward.
I ended up seeing my primary doctor, who did a quick strength test and sent me for some blood work to see if there were any underlying causes. He basically said the twitching could be a weird, adverse reaction to the antibiotics I took, or a multitude of things. Blood work came back showing a possible autoimmune disease, he referred me to a rheumatologist, and the rheumatologist referred me to a neurologist after diagnosing me with possible connective tissue disorder. So basically, I am awaiting a neurologist appointment at the end of next week and hanging by a thread.
Funny thing is the muscle twitching seems to be worse when I am really stressed. It otherwise fluctuations in location, frequency, etc. This is the only bothersome symptom I have; I am very active, go to the gym weekly, and ski frequently. I am excited in a way to be going to the neurologist finally, but am also absolutely terrified. I am also wondering if my anxiety is truly a factor, and if the neurologist can possibly prescribe me something to balance out both the anxiety and the frequency of twitching. (But I don't know if I have to see my primary again to handle the anxiety? I was just hoping to loop it in with my neurology appointment since the twitching may be related.) Let's just say that my anxiety has been so bad at times, it completely interferes with the rest of my life. Despite my best efforts, relaxation methods seem to have nothing on my anxiety.
So that brings me here today. I apologize for the length of my post, so thank you to anyone who took the time out to read that. :)