Muscle ache/shake/fatigue - terrified of MS - please help!

[screddie]

Hi, i have written to NMP before and it is helpful to hear i'm not alone. For 16 months i have been obsessed about physical symptoms i have been having. Tehy have over this time ranged from head pressure, pressure behind my eyes, shaking, brain fog, dizziness, muscle aching in arms and legs, muscle fatigue feeling and wobbliness sensation. I have at different times been worried about different symptoms in particular. I should sya i have been to the docs and they have diagnosed GAD and say all they symptoms are due to that. Blood tests and physical were fine. They don't want to send me for any more tests as it will be confirmation in my head they think something is wrong. However, i can't accept there isn't.

Recently, for a month or so, i have found the shaking to have got worse. It really scares me. My muscles feel tired and weak and shake whenever i try and use them for anything even vaguely physical. They ache a lot, particularly my arms and legs. I am absilutely terrified this is MS or ALS and it is now beginning to present itself. I have no doubt i am anxious, you can see that by what i say, however, my anxiety has never really presented itself in the usual way (heart palps, sweating, breathlessness, etc) it has always been more 'physical', like it is affecting my nervous systems. I emailed an 'ask a doctor' site and the doc on there said i should get an MRI. This natuarlly scared me even more.

I know i shouldn't email these things or read website symptoms or MS websites. However, i am terrified and i just want answers and an end to this misery. Doctors saying it's anxiety just doesn't help - i need proof nothing is wrong and i'm ok. I need someone to say this is what is happening and this is why. Everyone is tired of listening to me ask what's wrong and why is this happening? I feel like i can't cope anymore. Please help with some reassurance if you think there is a way i can move forward. Any advice or thoughts would be great. I don't know what to do - i can't see me ever getting past this....

[cattttt]

Hi Screddie, I know just what it's like to have these fears, I've had them on and off for years over various things, and I find the best way is to try and rationalise. First thing is, I know from your profile that you're male - I just looked at some stuff for MS, and twice as many women get MS as men. Don't know how old you are, but I'm guessing you're not even middle aged yet, ALS starts over the age of 50, so you're not likely to have that either.
Anxiety does all sorts of things to you, not just the classic symptoms you mention. Have a look at the long list of things in the symptoms article. I've had all of the things you describe at some time.
Anxiety is a horrible thing to have, I'm 54 and I've had it all my life, since as long as I can remember. It was only 3 years ago though, when I finally found a sympathetic doc (I think she has it herself) , that I started to come to terms with it. It hasn't gone away, I've just found ways to live with it.
The bad times are hard to get through, but you will, you will not always feel this bad,
so just hang in there.
Keep yourself occupied, don't google, get some exercise, eat some good food, plenty of veges, stay away from the alcohol, do some relaxation, it all helps.
Hope you are feeling better soon.

[screddie]

Thank you very much for your response. I am really grateful that someone has taken the time to look into this for me. Anxiety is horrible, it is quite cruel. I find that i am in a constant state of worry because despite what doctors say i can't quite accept it. Then the symptoms evolve or change and exceed my tolerance threshold and i start to panic again.

I am 28 and until the last year have been in near perfect health all my life. It amazes me to see what i have become. I haven't done any exercise in over a year! Because i'm scared of my body. If like ill; weak, tired and ache after i do anything even vaguely active. It is this that really scares me; i automatically think that there is underlying weakness in muscles and nervous system - and then, again, i am at MS. My brain says to me 'what else could it possibly be - it must be that...' I guess i just need to be told 'you haven't got that because....'

I hope this will end one day. Thank you again.

[Slothette]

Hi Screddie

It is anxiety hun. I've also been anxious as long as I can remember. I can be fine for years with just a few symptoms and then it will hit me again like a truck!

I've had muscle fatigue and weakness that bad that I could hardly get up the stairs. I remember having this in my 20's also and I was very scared at the time. I'm ok now so I am very confident when I tell you that it will get better for you.

The best thing I ever did was get a relaxation cd with progressive muscle relaxation and stuck with it. Maybe give it a try - it cant hurt.

[shoegal]

Hun, you have exactly the same symptoms as me. It sounds like anxiety.

Please don't google or ask online Doctor's for advice. Your Doctor has examined you and would not ignore your symptoms if they looked like anything serious. I know your symptoms are unpleasant and they feel so awful that it's hard to believe anxiety could be responsible... but honestly it can. It really sounds like anxiety to me.

[screddie]

Thanks very much, Slothette and Shoegal. Your comments do make me feel better. I think you hit the nail on the head when you say it gets to the point where you can't actually believe anxiety could have such an effect. I am going to the docs tomorrow but do feel better now after reading your notes.

I can't actually remember what it was like to feel 'normal' anymore. Anxiety is absolutely bizarre.

[debs180]

Hi Screddie,
I just wanted to say i agree with everyone else. Anxiety does alot to the body and the extra worry you give yourself through the symptoms wears you out.
Good luck at the doctors and let us know how you get on.

Take care
Debs xx

[screddie]

Thanks so much, Debs. So, i have been to the docs and she agreed that is was the anxiety. We had a good chat about it and she is perfectly happy with my physical health. She noted that despite the fact that i think i am bringing her 'serious' symptoms, she has in fact seen them all so many times before - which i guess is comforting. She also said that she knows what she's looking for! I think my doctor is actually really quite experienced in this. She also noted that some doctors would send people for tests to 'reassure' them nothing is wrong. Her thinking was that would be the last thing it would do, amusingly (and correctly!) she said 'if i recommended that for you, you would be in bits with worry, wouldn't you?' The answer of course is YES!! That isn't of course to say she wouldn't refer me if she actually thought i needed it. So all in all i just need to keep working at it.

Debs - i noticed some of your older posts re. head pressure. Not sure if this still concerns you, and i am guessing you are over the fear of a brain tumour now given it's several months later. However, i just wanted to say when i read that i had to double check to make sure i hadn't posted it and forgotton! This was exactly what started everything for me!! And i had exactly the same fear and reaction. I could find very little on head pressure on the web (not that i should look). It is entirely anxiety and is apparently caused by the sheet of muscle that runs across the top of your skull. The brain doesn't actually have any pain sensors/nerve endings and therefore wouldn't be able to produce pressure sensation. Anyway, if it ever comes back try and bear that in mind - hope it helps!

[debs180]

Hi Screddie,
Just to say im so pleased it went well at the doctors for you, hope you feel alittle more at ease now.
Brain tumours are still a big fear of mine....im still getting the pressure now, and slight dizziness. But thank you for what you put that is abit more reasuuring, thank you.

Take care,
Debs xxx

[screddie]

No problem at all, Debs. I do feel a bit better now, yes - thank you.

BTs were what i originally was terrified of and it was all because of the head pressure. It felt so 'wrong'. It lasted for ages and i got more and more wound up about it. I'd feel run down, tired all the time, dizzy and plenty more. The pressure would move also (have you had that?) one day it would be above my forehead, the next at the top of my head and another at the back. I also used to get it behind my eyes too. Sometimes it would develop into a pain, but mostly it was a pressure. All very unpleasant and scary.

As i say, Docs said they had never seen or heard of a BT presenting with a pressure sensation - i saw two docs, both said the same. They did a blood test to make sure there was nothing else like a vitamin deficiency or thyroid issue that might cause a heady feeling. They look for all sorts of markers in the blood for cancers/tumours - if the bloods are fine you need not worry. Plus if you are still standing after several months you should take assurance from that too!

Take care xx