Hi, I've been reading this forum for a while but this is my first post. Male, 35.
Last year, around about this time I was having panic attacks. At the time I thought it was a serious health issue, sometimes I thought it was a heart attack and other times I thought it was a stroke. I didn't realise that panic attack symptoms could be so severe, but by reading forums like this I realised that's what was happening and they pretty much went away. I didn't consult a Doctor.
But for the past month or so, I've been having terrible health anxiety. About 5 weeks ago I found a lump on my left breast and redness with heat, Googled it (I know, STUPID!) and convinced myself it was inflamatory breast cancer. It was checked out by the Doctor and he said it was just an infection and had antibiotics which cleared it up.
Unfortunately after this I then became ill with a very bad throat and ear ache. My stomach was also very painful after I ate. I did a bit of research and found out that my stomach problems were probably related to taking the antibiotics and my good bacteria needed replacing so ate of a lot of pro biotic yogurt which sorted that out. My bad throat persisted however, and about a week and a half ago I woke up with numbness and slight tingling in my left arm and left leg.
This really has set off an avalanche of symptoms which have really fead my anxiety which have included -
General chest pains
Cramp type feeling on the left side of my head near the top followed by a burning feeling that lasted for a few hours after.
Tightness and pain in the left side of my neck.
Numbness in my left cheek and around my left eye with my left eye feeling odd and slightly out of focus.
Not being able to sleep properly due to fear I will wake up having what I think is a heart attack.
Lower back pain which randomly crops up all over, had a very bad and painful twinge in my right hand side Saturday morning which stopped after I took some co-codamol.
A tender clicking / popping area where the back of my neck meets the collarbone.
A high pitched whistling in my left ear.
And today, just for more fun, I woke up at 6 o'clock with a pressure in my upper abdomen which I was convinced was a heart attack, and have been getting a sharp stabbing pain under my left breast a couple of times today. I think this might be down to my digestive system going crazy with all the stress and anxiety. It only lasts a few seconds and tends to happen just after I've eaten so think it's wind, but along with all the other symptoms I've had over the past week or so it's really alarming me.
I also feel generally VERY tired and just wrecked physically and emotionally, there's been a couple of times I've been very close to just bursting into tears from both the worry and frustration of it all.
I have noticed that I am very tense and my shoulders are pretty much constantly tensed up and I'm clenching my jaw without realising.
I'm hoping it's anxiety but obviously, the more symptoms and the longer it goes on the more I'm convincing myself it's something very serious.
It's really affecting my life, I'm starting to dread every day as I'm just scared as to what's coming next. I'm usually someone with a good sense of humour, but even that's starting to give in now. It's making me very miserable.
I have an appointment at the Doctors on Friday, I did have one yesterday but got so anxious I couldn't leave the house and almost had a panic attack (first in ages) so have re-scheduled. I'm terrified of Doctors anyway and this visit is going to be a nightmare for me.
I was wondering if anyone else has had all these symptoms in this space of time? Did you go to the Doctor and what did they do? What did you tell them? I'm afraid that they will try and rush me and I feel like I've got a lot to tell them, also would be interested to find out what might happen when I'm there so I can at least prepare myself.
Thanks for reading and I'll be really grateful for advice on this!
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