I've had so many neurological tests and no answers yet
Hello! I'm new here. 23yo f. I've had extreme health anxiety lately because of some scary symptoms I've been having. The main one being muscle twitching spasming in different parts of my body for long periods of time(each section lasts about a week, goes away and a different area takes its place. So far my foot, knee, rib cage, under my eye and now the current place is in my arm going into my thumb) I also have joint/nerve pain, severe headaches on and off and my feet have been acting strange with bruising, being overly sensitive, etc. I have a great neurologist and I just recently had a lot of tests done between him and my hospital visits.
I've had:
Multiple CBCs
A CT scan of my head
2 chest X-rays
A neck X-ray
A back X-ray
An EEG
An EMG
An EKG
Sent away for Lyme titers
A carotid ultrasound
A kidney ultrasound
I go for a brain MRI on Thursday just to make sure the CT scan didn't miss anything.
So for everything has come back clear besides being told previous Epstein Barr has reoccurred. I have a follow up next week to talk over the eeg, emg, another round of bloodwork and carotid ultrasound but he told me if he saw anything scary and threatening he would contact me before then. So I'm hoping this is a good sign.
2 nights ago I got Globus sensation in my throat, at least that's what I think it is. Feels like something is stuck in my throat. I have been diagnosed with GERD when I was a teen. It hasn't left since and has only gotten worse, sending me to the ER this morning having difficulty breathing. (That's when they did the neck and 2nd chest X-ray) They told me to follow up with a primary and gastro and told me those X-rays were clear.
I'm still extremely scared something is really wrong. I keep thinking the worst and it's making my symptoms worse and I feel like my senses are hightend because of the anxiety. I don't know what to do and I'm just so anxious and overwhelmed:(
Re: I've had so many neurological tests and no answers yet
Wow, sounds like you've been taken apart there, and anything would have been found.
We health anxious types want answers, but when the nasty stuff's been well and truly ruled out you're left with "medically unexplained symptoms", which is medical speak for "we don't really know, but we've checked for everything that would be bad".
And in this case, as it appears you know, anxiety itself is the likely culprit left and you're in a spiral of worry > symptoms > worry about symptoms > more symptoms... and so on. We've all been there.
Keep telling yourself - I've been tested by experts in their field and they can find nothing physically wrong. Therefore I have nothing physically wrong. Even if you don't believe it at first, keep telling yourself that.
Re: I've had so many neurological tests and no answers yet
Re: I've had so many neurological tests and no answers yet
Quote:
Originally Posted by
axolotl
Wow, sounds like you've been taken apart there, and anything would have been found.
We health anxious types want answers, but when the nasty stuff's been well and truly ruled out you're left with "medically unexplained symptoms", which is medical speak for "we don't really know, but we've checked for everything that would be bad".
And in this case, as it appears you know, anxiety itself is the likely culprit left and you're in a spiral of worry > symptoms > worry about symptoms > more symptoms... and so on. We've all been there.
Keep telling yourself - I've been tested by experts in their field and they can find nothing physically wrong. Therefore I have nothing physically wrong. Even if you don't believe it at first, keep telling yourself that.
Thank you so much! It's really nice hearing from people who understand, I'm so glad I joined this forum.
---------- Post added at 13:26 ---------- Previous post was at 13:24 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by
nervousnelly52
Did they do an eye exam?
Yes they shined light in my eyes while looking through a magnifier and made me look around, follow their finger, etc. I'm assuming all was well with that because they didn't seem concerned.
Re: I've had so many neurological tests and no answers yet
Hello! :)
I think I've had every single one of your symptoms for about 10 years. I've just got used to being twitchy! I also have random patterns of goosebumps (left forearm) and sleep hallucinations (hympnopompic) along with a load of other anxiety related symptoms. I was told it's anxiety. Back when anxiety was called "nervous illness" it made more sense in a way because anxiety messes with the nerves. A LOT.
If I'm not twitching, I'm tingling or sort of numb. I get the twitching all over my body, but some places more than others. I call these my "hot spots" (left eye, left buttock, left little finger, right thigh and right shoulder)
I swear the twitch in my bottom looks like I'm twerking with one buttock! :') The eye one is prob the worst though, it actually shuts itself sometimes and looks like I'm winking when I'm not. Awkward!
Hope you feel better soon x
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Re: I've had so many neurological tests and no answers yet
Lol, poor girl. Not one of the doctors told you that you have Benign fasciculation syndrome? Cause that's what you have. After those tests, it's literally impossible for you to have anything wrong. No chance in hell.
Re: I've had so many neurological tests and no answers yet
I'm curious whether this stuff started after a GI illness for you guys? It did for me. I also have twitching everywhere. The fact that its in my face means that it's definitely not a problem with my spine according to my Dr.
I also get tingling in my face, hands, feet, back, legs, arms- everywhere, basically. It happens intermittently. I have got a chronic headache, too- I wouldn't call it severe but it's there most days.
Re: I've had so many neurological tests and no answers yet
Hi :)
Interesting, but it's hard for me to tell because I have IBS. The IBS came wayyyy before this level of twitching and tingling for sure.
I do get headaches with IBS flare ups.
I think all of my symptoms are stress related.
I do notice that I twitch and tingle much less when completely occupied.
I might start going to meditation again. That has really helped me in the past. :)
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Re: I've had so many neurological tests and no answers yet
Quote:
Originally Posted by
claireypoo
Hello! :)
I think I've had every single one of your symptoms for about 10 years. I've just got used to being twitchy! I also have random patterns of goosebumps (left forearm) and sleep hallucinations (hympnopompic) along with a load of other anxiety related symptoms. I was told it's anxiety. Back when anxiety was called "nervous illness" it made more sense in a way because anxiety messes with the nerves. A LOT.
If I'm not twitching, I'm tingling or sort of numb. I get the twitching all over my body, but some places more than others. I call these my "hot spots" (left eye, left buttock, left little finger, right thigh and right shoulder)
I swear the twitch in my bottom looks like I'm twerking with one buttock! :') The eye one is prob the worst though, it actually shuts itself sometimes and looks like I'm winking when I'm not. Awkward!
Hope you feel better soon x
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Oh my gosh I have the goosebumps too! I totally get what you mean about hot spots too, I can definitely pin point the hotspots I tend to have. The twerking comment made me laugh lol I know that feeling and I never thought of it that way that's so funny to me! Thank you for your response:)
---------- Post added at 14:04 ---------- Previous post was at 14:03 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by
nervousnelly52
I'm curious whether this stuff started after a GI illness for you guys? It did for me. I also have twitching everywhere. The fact that its in my face means that it's definitely not a problem with my spine according to my Dr.
I also get tingling in my face, hands, feet, back, legs, arms- everywhere, basically. It happens intermittently. I have got a chronic headache, too- I wouldn't call it severe but it's there most days.
Yes for me personally it started after I was diagnosed with GERD!
---------- Post added at 14:05 ---------- Previous post was at 14:04 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Josh1234
Lol, poor girl. Not one of the doctors told you that you have Benign fasciculation syndrome? Cause that's what you have. After those tests, it's literally impossible for you to have anything wrong. No chance in hell.
They have brought this up, I think the reason why they haven't completely diagnosed me with that yet is because of a lot of other strange symptoms I have. I think they want to truly rule out everything first, they're very thorough which is great.
