Evergreen
09-25-2015, 02:17 PM
Background:
25yo male
Previous diagnosis of anxiety, depression and OCD
No medications or therapy since 18yo
I don't think what's happening to me is panic attacks but multiple doctors have said that's what it is. I've never seen anything that really matches what I go through so if anyone can say they have had all my symptoms that would be a great comfort.
August 3- Woke up with BP of 135/102 (which is high for me) and pulse of 160 bpm. Felt electric current strong in my chest. Hands were tingling and face was numb. Sharp headache on my right side. Heart settled down after 10 minutes. Other symptoms remained throughout the day.
Since that episode I cut my exercise down to just hiking/walking 1-2 miles a day and consciously made an effort to calm myself. It felt like it improved my heart rate but It was still beating pretty fast constantly. I started having 4-8 oz of wine a day which seemed to help. For a few weeks everything was going well. Then all the sudden things got worse.
September 10- at the grocery store. The electric current came back all through my body. My hands and arms were numb. We had to finish our shopping very slowly while I drank a full bottle of water before finally going home. I had 8oz of wine which gave me a headache and made me feel intoxicated (which still hasn't went away).
September 11- we were working when I felt the feelings coming again. We went to the Urgent Care. I had the electric feeling, pounding pulse, rapid heart rate, head pressure, whole body felt numb and I felt intoxicated. They did an EKG and some blood tests which all came back normal. The doctor told me it was anxiety. He recommended I try "Setraline". Having been on a lot of prescriptions for anxiety and depression in my teen years and going through a horrible detox around 18yo I chose not to take the prescription.
My thoughts at the time were: I know what anxiety is and this is more than anxiety. Something is wrong.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do but I knew I couldn't keep living this way. My symptoms were happening all the time.
-The electric current was near constant now.
-When I would sleep my blood pressure would drop to 80s/50s (I'm not sure what it was before). It felt like I was going to slip into a coma in my sleep.
-I started freezing at night and my body temperature dropped to 97° (with the heat and two blankets). I'm normally 99°.
-I constantly had numbness and tingling in my hands/toes and at worst arms/legs.
-I had head pressure that felt like there was fluid in my brain.
One day my back pain was extra bad. I went to a chiropractor as a teen but hadn't been to one in about 6 years or so. I thought "maybe I have a pinched nerve causing this"
I went to a chiropractor. He took an X-ray of my neck and said he doesn't see any damage. He adjusted my back but wouldn't adjust my neck just in case. He set up an appointment with a neurologist (October 3). I was really glad for the back pain to be gone but all my other symptoms remained. Constantly.
I couldn't stand it. I felt horrible all the time. I called a GP and set up an appointment.
September 22- sitting in waiting room at the doctors office I felt my symptoms get strong. My head pressure was strong. The electric current was worse than ever. It ran through my whole body and my whole arms and legs were numb. I felt like I couldn't move my jaw. The doctor did an exam of me in the waiting room because I couldn't walk. They told my wife they think it's anxiety but they called an ambulance because I said I needed the hospital. I went to the ER for about 6 hours. They ran some more blood tests and another EKG. They took a chest X-ray. They said everything looks normal and gave me a prescription for Ativan.
I've been doing a lot of research on my symptoms and I just can't find anyone who has anxiety with all these symptoms. I found that my symptoms are listed as symptoms of Toxic Mold exposure. Im afraid there's Toxic Mold hidden somewhere in my house. I don't have any respiratory symptoms though which made the doctors say it's unlikely.
The head pressure and tingling NEVER go away. My other symptoms are frequent. I can't enjoy anything that I used to enjoy. I haven't been able to go on hikes in weeks, I can't even enjoy watching football. I can't live like this. I know I have anxiety, depression and OCD but my life has felt really good lately and it doesn't make sense for this to be happening now.
25yo male
Previous diagnosis of anxiety, depression and OCD
No medications or therapy since 18yo
I don't think what's happening to me is panic attacks but multiple doctors have said that's what it is. I've never seen anything that really matches what I go through so if anyone can say they have had all my symptoms that would be a great comfort.
August 3- Woke up with BP of 135/102 (which is high for me) and pulse of 160 bpm. Felt electric current strong in my chest. Hands were tingling and face was numb. Sharp headache on my right side. Heart settled down after 10 minutes. Other symptoms remained throughout the day.
Since that episode I cut my exercise down to just hiking/walking 1-2 miles a day and consciously made an effort to calm myself. It felt like it improved my heart rate but It was still beating pretty fast constantly. I started having 4-8 oz of wine a day which seemed to help. For a few weeks everything was going well. Then all the sudden things got worse.
September 10- at the grocery store. The electric current came back all through my body. My hands and arms were numb. We had to finish our shopping very slowly while I drank a full bottle of water before finally going home. I had 8oz of wine which gave me a headache and made me feel intoxicated (which still hasn't went away).
September 11- we were working when I felt the feelings coming again. We went to the Urgent Care. I had the electric feeling, pounding pulse, rapid heart rate, head pressure, whole body felt numb and I felt intoxicated. They did an EKG and some blood tests which all came back normal. The doctor told me it was anxiety. He recommended I try "Setraline". Having been on a lot of prescriptions for anxiety and depression in my teen years and going through a horrible detox around 18yo I chose not to take the prescription.
My thoughts at the time were: I know what anxiety is and this is more than anxiety. Something is wrong.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do but I knew I couldn't keep living this way. My symptoms were happening all the time.
-The electric current was near constant now.
-When I would sleep my blood pressure would drop to 80s/50s (I'm not sure what it was before). It felt like I was going to slip into a coma in my sleep.
-I started freezing at night and my body temperature dropped to 97° (with the heat and two blankets). I'm normally 99°.
-I constantly had numbness and tingling in my hands/toes and at worst arms/legs.
-I had head pressure that felt like there was fluid in my brain.
One day my back pain was extra bad. I went to a chiropractor as a teen but hadn't been to one in about 6 years or so. I thought "maybe I have a pinched nerve causing this"
I went to a chiropractor. He took an X-ray of my neck and said he doesn't see any damage. He adjusted my back but wouldn't adjust my neck just in case. He set up an appointment with a neurologist (October 3). I was really glad for the back pain to be gone but all my other symptoms remained. Constantly.
I couldn't stand it. I felt horrible all the time. I called a GP and set up an appointment.
September 22- sitting in waiting room at the doctors office I felt my symptoms get strong. My head pressure was strong. The electric current was worse than ever. It ran through my whole body and my whole arms and legs were numb. I felt like I couldn't move my jaw. The doctor did an exam of me in the waiting room because I couldn't walk. They told my wife they think it's anxiety but they called an ambulance because I said I needed the hospital. I went to the ER for about 6 hours. They ran some more blood tests and another EKG. They took a chest X-ray. They said everything looks normal and gave me a prescription for Ativan.
I've been doing a lot of research on my symptoms and I just can't find anyone who has anxiety with all these symptoms. I found that my symptoms are listed as symptoms of Toxic Mold exposure. Im afraid there's Toxic Mold hidden somewhere in my house. I don't have any respiratory symptoms though which made the doctors say it's unlikely.
The head pressure and tingling NEVER go away. My other symptoms are frequent. I can't enjoy anything that I used to enjoy. I haven't been able to go on hikes in weeks, I can't even enjoy watching football. I can't live like this. I know I have anxiety, depression and OCD but my life has felt really good lately and it doesn't make sense for this to be happening now.