15 Years Old - Very Worried and Afraid - PLEASE respond!
Hello everyone, I am so glad I found this site so that I can post what I am feeling on here without being, well, basically laughed at. For the past month and a half, I have been very worried about my health and it all started once I got done football (my first year playing.) I would always remember being really nervous before each game but I never really looked at it differently because I didn't feel any different. Can anxiety sneak up on a person without even knowing it? Could physical symptoms be present with the person really ever feeling "anxious" or panicky? Please read my symptoms below and tell me if this is normal anxiety stuff. I can't take it anymore, I look my symptoms up in the bathroom at school, at home, at parties, etc and it's taking over my life!
My first symptoms (experienced since middle of football season):
- Shaky arms/hands when squeezing fingers/fists
- Arms shake when leaning on them
- Hands shake when holding things
- Some days my legs would feel like jello, other days they would be fine
My secondary symptoms (experienced AFTER football ended):
- "Empty" feeling in right foot and left hand, moved up both entire limbs within a few days
- Muscle aches/dull aches in arms some days, other days not at all
- Right leg (after the empty feeling) turned into a tickle/itch feeling (VERY dull, not too bothersome I just knew it was there) - WOULD NOT go away with walking or moving, it stayed for it seemed like forever
- Lingering headache that lasted for just over two weeks, slowly faded off
- Period of about a week where I was convinced I had an ear infection (had dull ear pain, tickle feeling in ear which I figured was fluid, etc.)
- Dull hearing in both ears, thought I was going deaf
- Muscle twitches EVERYWHERE. I would get them in my arms, legs, back, butt, face, eyes, etc.
- For a while I felt fatigued all day long in school and at home
- Short period where I felt sick to eat, I was hungry but only ate a small amount and was full very quickly
- Chest pains (I was convinced it was due to my heart, started freaking out)
- Stomach always gassy, always making sounds, seems like I went to the bathroom more frequently
More symptoms (these started around two weeks ago)
- Tickle feeling in right leg was still present at certain times, but seemed to move back down and radiate into my right ankle/foot (more of an emptiness than a tickle in my lower leg.)
- Weird emptiness moved to right arm now, it was gone in my left for the most part
- Perceived weakness in right hand due to the weird sensations I was feeling
- Perceived weakness in my right leg from the weird feeling I was going through since football ended (I would constantly due strength tests, stand on toes and heels, a was CERTAIN I was developing foot drop and that I had ALS for SURE.)
- I was aware with every step I took with my right foot, seeing if it would go higher than the left, always lifting my feet to see if it would drop, wake up and do strength tests, etc.
- Still breathless with physical activity, lump in throat was barely noticeable I believe at this point.
- Muscle twitching was constantly present, random spots everywhere all the time, I could see it through my skin (Noticing that it was in my right leg for a while where I was feeling the weird tickle/tingle/empty sensations, I was certain for a while that the muscles were getting weaker due to ALS.)
- A couple weeks ago my right eye would have an achy feeling when I moved it up
- Every once in a while I would get a dull upper tooth ache and my jaw would hurt occasionally when eating
- Stomach continued to stay gassy, always making sounds and gurgling
MY CURRENT SYMPTOMS (what I feel right now)
- Every once in a while I will be "reminded" of the weird feeling in my right foot but its basically all gone (for now)
- Still breathless with physical activity (I feel like I am short of breath without moving even though my breathing remains fine?)
- Lump in throat has came back, I feel like my throat is constricted but when I breath in with my mouth or nose, nothing feels different.
- Still have muscle twitching everywhere on my body
- Stomach is still gassy always making noises and burping
- Today I felt twitches on my tongue which has sent me off the deep end
- Due to the tongue twitches (only have felt them once) I am VERY aware of whenever I speak out loud
- I will occasionally slur my speech when talking. I start to freak out and think it is Bulbar ALS, go look up my symptoms, and freak out more.
- I will repeat myself and talk to myself to see if I slur my words all of the time now
- My tongue feels a little bit bigger or very slightly swollen in the back
- The dull hearing I had weeks ago was gone but every once in a while I will get a high pitched ringing in my ears that lasts for around 5 seconds then my hearing returns to normal
- I now find myself sometimes struggling to remember certain things such as words or names
I have been to two GP's since the start of my symptoms. First GP told me I had very minor post nasal drip which was causing my lump in throat feeling. She listened to my heart because of my chest pains and told me I was fine and said I could have an EKG but she was sure they wouldn't find a thing (she said it was from Acid Re flux and general gas pains.) I had one anyway being so worried and it turned out completely normal. I asked her about my other symptoms and she said she would refer me to a neurologist if it was really bugging me but it wouldn't be until mid January. She did some simple strength and reflex tests and found nothing wrong.
The second GP I went to was strictly because of the fact that I didn't think the first GP listened to me much. I asked the man (this time) about my symptoms and he basically said it was too much things to be anything serious in his mind. He did a short neurological exam while examining me stand on my toes, heels, feeling for any muscle changes, tested my reflexes again, etc. Oh yeah, I was freaked out for like two weeks thinking that my right leg was atrophying due to ALS since the weird tickle feeling was only in my right leg (along with the muscle twitches, which was felt in other places) and felt that it was a little smaller than my left. In fact, the doctor measured both calf's and said my right leg was actually a bit bigger than my left mainly because I am right handed. He told me there was no reason to seek a neurologist and said I was fine.
I have literally thought I was suffering from a stroke, having a brain tumor, MS, was going to go deaf from my hearing differences weeks ago, and now since my "speech differences" and occasional tongue twitches I am noticing, I am stuck on the fact that I have Bulbar onset ALS instead of limb onset I thought I had with my right leg and arm weeks ago.
Long story short, my life has been going down hill this past month and it's all because of my health worries. Can anxiety really cause all of these symptoms? Or do I have something the doctors could have quite possibly missed? I don't want to believe it but I can't get the thought of some serious illness out of my mind, I am only 15 years old for God's sake. Can anxiety cause these physical symptoms even though I tell my mind that I am not suffering from anxiety? I mean, I have been VERY worried about my health but I have never felt this way before in my life. Could it have all started from being anxious before my football games and this is my body's way of releasing all the worked up adrenaline and now my health worries is just fueling it? Please someone reply with answers and reassurance that it isn't anything serious. I can never be satisfied from what my GP's are telling me being that I feel something different and worry about something different every day/week.
