Back again more issues and doctors are saying nothing is wrong.

[robert07]

Hey all,
Just need some help here because I'm new to having severe anxiety. It's been three weeks and what started as a small fever and slight rash on my face has developed into my life spiralling out of control. I have been to the doctors and ER several times and my symptoms keep changing by the week. Here is my list as of now.

-The last three nights i've struggled to sleep. If I lay on my back it feels like pins and needles are everywhere. back, chest, arms and hands. Some face too. Back is really warm to touch.
-I can also feel my heartbeat in my stomach. its really crazy.
-my skins is warm at times and sometimes I get a low grade fever.
-My vision and eyes are spotty at times.
-Since July 9th (today is the 20th) i've lost almost 15 pounds.---THIS WORRIES ME THE MOST

I can say that I have not been eating as much. actually not much at all. I feel like I'm not hungry at all.

I guess what I am asking is, does anyone deal with anything like this at all? all of my blood work which was done again last night at the ER is fine. I also had an EKG and an echocardiogram.

I've written this before. but this is destroying me by the day. I also am not trusting anything the doctors are saying.

please help :/

[JohnC]

Have you told the doc's about your weight loss? Assuming that you have and they have run the gauntlet of test and found nothing i am wondering if maybe the stress of the anxiety is just keeping your appetite away. It is quite the vicious cycle this anxiety thing and it feeds on itself when you let it. Trust me on this i am an expert at fueling my own anxiety :(

[robert07]

hey JohnC,

thanks for responding. I have told the doctor about the weight loss, but he also is aware that I am not eating as much. I am scheduled for a CT scan in 4 days, but now i'm a mess thinking of it.

[JohnC]

Robert my friend i am the same way. I am a some what rational thinking ALMOST 50 year old man but i have the worst health anxiety and it gets even worse when i have something wrong with me and i must wait for test. Now, i have had this for about as long as i can remember like since i was 12 so thats a lot of years of senseless worry that i wish i had back.... Do you understand what i am saying?
There are some people who could give two sh_ts about their health and never even go to the doc. I just wish i could be some place in between. Good luck my friend

[JohnC]

Have you checked out the stickie called HEALTH ANXIETY EXPOSED it's in the general section at the beginning? If not it is very good, start from the beginning and go through the whole thing and watch the video's too.

[robert07]

Thank you so much JohnC. It means a lot. Yeah I know. I'm with you, I think my doctor is probably annoyed with me at this point. I'm annoyed with me. this is terrible. I wish you the best.

[gadguy]

Hey Robert, you are not alone, i had all those same symptoms when I was a teenager 17-20 years of age. It was anxiety brought on by all the changes in my life, Gradating, starting college, roommates, this from an an anxiety prone guy who did not like change, and grew up in a very rural simple place........more like country boy comes to town. I was a mess weight loss, unable to eat, shortness of breathe, felt like I was choking...my parents must have spent a fortune on test and finally the Doc diagnosed it as anxiety, I got some meds used them for a while until my life became my new normal. I did very well with my anxiety most of time until my 40's them it came back with a BANG.....currently I'm a work in progress.

I wish you the best, I am surprised DR has not diagnosed GAD given all that you have been through and nothing has been found, does DR know about your anxiety, perhaps ypu may need a referral to a DR who knows how to help, so you can start helping yourself.

Just remember you are not alone.

[robert07]

Thanks GADGUY,

Yes the doctor does know about my anxiety, but also is checking everything to make sure. but thank you. I'm trying my best to work through it and hopefully it passes soon.

robert

[robert07]

UPDATE:

HAD A CT SCAN of Brain and Abdomen today and everything is normal. so at this point here is what they checked.

Heart ok
Brain CT scan Normal
Abdomen CT scan normal
Chest x ray normal

Still having tons of trouble sleeping because of the burning, pins and needles and leg cramps. but at least I know everything else is kinda ok. right?

so why am I still worried. almost nothing left to check

thanks everyone for your support. this forum is amazing.

-Robert

[Namaste0701]

It sounds to me like you MAY have a bit of hypochondria. When you say you don't believe what the doctors say and how it's been getting worse, it's because you're anxious about an illness that very well may not be there. I have struggled with health anxiety before and I know all too well that it is a mental disorder that actually GIVES you symptoms of things that you think you have. These symptoms can come and go and new ones can come and go as well. That's what keeps the anxiety going are the new symptoms. Breathe and know that you are ok and that it is just anxiety and that these symptoms can't hurt you. The losing weight is easy, I had anorexia in high school and you lose a lot of water weight from not eating and you can lose a good amount of fat when you first stop eating. Start eating more and it'll come back! You'll be ok, I promise! Take care, Fam!

[robert07]

It sounds to me like you MAY have a bit of hypochondria. When you say you don't believe what the doctors say and how it's been getting worse, it's because you're anxious about an illness that very well may not be there. I have struggled with health anxiety before and I know all too well that it is a mental disorder that actually GIVES you symptoms of things that you think you have. These symptoms can come and go and new ones can come and go as well. That's what keeps the anxiety going are the new symptoms. Breathe and know that you are ok and that it is just anxiety and that these symptoms can't hurt you. The losing weight is easy, I had anorexia in high school and you lose a lot of water weight from not eating and you can lose a good amount of fat when you first stop eating. Start eating more and it'll come back! You'll be ok, I promise! Take care, Fam!

Thanks Namaste,

I don't want to speak to soon, but things have been better. I actually hate meds but finally asked for them. And I am 100 percent a hypochondriac. But it's fairly new, well at least to this level. I started seeing a therapist and that helps too. I also have been taking the stance of controlling the symptoms and not letting them control me and rationalizing them. I have stomach burning and issues because I haven't been eating as well. My body feels weak for the same reason. The more I read about it the more it helps. This forum helps a ton too, so thank you :)

[Namaste0701]

I'm a hypochondriac too! The worst thing to do is Google symptoms because it brings you to the worst possible outcome rather than something more likely to be bothering us. For instance a headache in the morning comes out to a brain tumor or constant muscle twitching and Blurriness in eyes are multiple sclerosis. It's crazy. And the unfortunate part is that anxiety mimics so many symptoms of so many diseases that it's hard not to think that we have something serious. After a while, you learn to deal with it and it gets better! Right now, I have had twitching, eye Blurriness, tingling in arms, and the nerves in my arms have been overly sensitive. I've had every test EXCEPT MRI because the doctors that I have seen have said that I don't have anything and that I don't need to be exposed to so much radiation. It's CRAZY what anxiety can do. It's what WE do for ourselves to not necessarily fight anxiety because that's the worst thing to do, but accept that it is a part of us and to more ignore it than anything that defines how ready we are to overcome this and move on. I have nonstop symptoms and have had them since my anxiety started now 2 months ago from this day. It's getting better as I don't google things and don't worry about things too much anymore. You will be ok my friend :)

[robert07]

I'm a hypochondriac too! The worst thing to do is Google symptoms because it brings you to the worst possible outcome rather than something more likely to be bothering us. For instance a headache in the morning comes out to a brain tumor or constant muscle twitching and Blurriness in eyes are multiple sclerosis. It's crazy. And the unfortunate part is that anxiety mimics so many symptoms of so many diseases that it's hard not to think that we have something serious. After a while, you learn to deal with it and it gets better! Right now, I have had twitching, eye Blurriness, tingling in arms, and the nerves in my arms have been overly sensitive. I've had every test EXCEPT MRI because the doctors that I have seen have said that I don't have anything and that I don't need to be exposed to so much radiation. It's CRAZY what anxiety can do. It's what WE do for ourselves to not necessarily fight anxiety because that's the worst thing to do, but accept that it is a part of us and to more ignore it than anything that defines how ready we are to overcome this and move on. I have nonstop symptoms and have had them since my anxiety started now 2 months ago from this day. It's getting better as I don't google things and don't worry about things too much anymore. You will be ok my friend :)

Ugh I hear you. Every week it's something new for me. This week my jaw is hurting and my neck and arms are weak. I just want it to be over and my life back to normal. It's very exhausting

[MomOfTwo]

I started having "health issues" in May of this year. I put it in quotations because it felt like health issues but all my tests are coming back normal. So now I am exploring anxiety as the cause.

Anyhow, you mentioned weight loss & how that worries you. Well, I can sympathize. I went from 128 lbs to 120 in the matter of 6 weeks. When I feel like crap, I tend not to eat as often & I don't have any hunger. My family kept mentioning to me that I look "too thin". Then I started worrying more, like "seriously what is wrong with me? Can't the doctor's see I'm losing weight??" But, I think my not eating also contributed to why I felt bad. When I started forcing myself to eat small meals, regularly ... I actually had more energy. Go figure.

Anyhow, the weight loss definitely could be due to stress. I now believe mine was.

[ShaunAlex]

Sounds a lot like the symptoms many of us with anxiety face. You're not alone, that's for sure

[MiST]

We are one big happy family of nervous nelly's..:D

[JohnC]

I had a CT scan two months ago and it came back as swollen lymph nodes. my Doc acted like it was no big deal but here i am two months later and they are still swollen and i have had this pain in my throat/neck area for well over three months. On to an ENT next month. I am a little pissed at how slow they are moving with this, i mean lymph nodes don't just swell for no reason. Meanwhile my health anxiety has run amuck with all this crap. It figures though, I felt perfectly fine four months ago when i quit smoking now i feel worse than i ever have. NEVER ENDING i swear.

[MiST]

Relax, if it were anything to be concerned about they would be rushing, trust me. It's kind of obvious when someone has Hodgkins Lymphoma, when I was diagnosed I had a tumor the size of a golf ball sticking out the side of my neck..LOL

Swollen lymph glands are nothing to worry about, I get it all the time. If I thought, "Oh shit my cancer has come back" every time they were swollen I would be a nervous wreck..haha

[JohnC]

Thanks Mist ( I think :) ) I cant take my mind off the pain in my neck and it's not all that bad but it's been there for three months and driving me mad. I am constanly swallowing like i have a soar throat but it doesent even hurt when i swallow. It's my dam Health Axiety making it all worse.

[MiST]

Maybe your growing a second head? :D

It's nothing mate, just standard swollen gland symptoms, I get the same thing. Doctors can tell straight away if it's anything nasty and I'm sure they would have acted fast if it were, because lymphatic tumors are time sensitive, so they wouldn't be making you wait any great length of time for more tests.

[JohnC]

i was thinking more on the line of throat cancer. Wouldent that be ironic after quiting smoking?

[MiST]

Whatever you do, don't google your symptoms..it will only freak you out even more..

[JohnC]

LOL, no i dont have to google it to scare the crap out of myself. That is one thing i have learned not to do. I do quite well at feaking myself out without Google

[MomOfTwo]

My left lymph node under my chin (close to my neck) was swollen for a good year. I freaked out about it too. Turns out you shouldn't play with it, touch it and prod it because it will cause it to get bigger.

Just leave it be & give it some time. I can't even feel my lymph node anymore and it was easily the size of a lima bean.

[JohnC]

That may very well be the reason that it continues to bother me because i can not seem to leave it alone. And i check that area out quite well every time i pass by a mirror.
Thanks MomOfTwo

[MomOfTwo]

That may very well be the reason that it continues to bother me because i can not seem to leave it alone. And i check that area out quite well every time i pass by a mirror.
Thanks MomOfTwo

Anytime :)

[robert07]

Thanks Mist ( I think :) ) I cant take my mind off the pain in my neck and it's not all that bad but it's been there for three months and driving me mad. I am constanly swallowing like i have a soar throat but it doesent even hurt when i swallow. It's my dam Health Axiety making it all worse.


Hey JohnC
how is the swollen neck? Checking in and hoping all is well

-ROb

[JohnC]

It's still a pain in my neck :) going to try not to worry about it to much until i see the ENT on the 18th. Thanks for asking

[Zoot]

Count me among people with very similar experiences. I started getting severe anxiety because of stomach pains earlier this year and had every test imaginable done. They all turned up nothing and in many ways I was relieved that it was "only" anxiety. But that left me with severe anxiety and depression to deal with...

Anyway, I've improved considerably since then (though still with bad days). I've been on medication and I had the same burning sensations you describe while sleeping. I thought it was the medication, and it might have partly been because it did increase my anxiety initially. But I am 90% certain now that it was because of anxiety primarily. Once I had that recognition, and my anxiety have lessened through medication and other measures, those feelings have abated (though I do still get them sometimes when I'm otherwise hot during the day or at night). I don't worry about them as much now and they occur less often.

I also experienced a lot of weight loss. I was at 168 lbs last November and have been down to 150 lbs at times. I've settled at about 158 lbs, which is actually about right given that I've cut out drinking alcohol and am eating healthier and still exercising. (Though I've just gone on Mirtazapine, which is notorious for causing weight gain, so we'll see...).