Worst disease for a health anxiety sufferer.... And I'm convinced I have it :( [Archive]

View Full Version : Worst disease for a health anxiety sufferer.... And I'm convinced I have it :(

nervousmummytobe

29-09-12, 16:05

So I've fixated myself on Lyme disease and it has me gripped as its so hard to confirm! Ive had neg elisa and westwrn blot at a regular lab !It's full of controversy and tests are either unreliable or hard to understand! I think this disease is a ha sufferers worst nightmare! I feel like ill never ever know if i have it! I've now gone and ordered a very expensive test at a lab in the USA called igenex who are meant to be the best but looking online this lab seems to hand out 'positive ' results regularly making some doctors question their testing!
The test for Lyme is so confusing as they test specific parts of the bacteria so basically you can hve specific 'Bands'' come back positive even if you don't have it . I'm scared about these results as I don't wanna have it positive if I'm not truly positive for it and same goes for a negative reading! I'm so confused! If you get an overall negative but have say one band positive some people online say it's significant and could mean Lyme !
Sorry for going on but does anybody understand my frustration? I've gone down a very bad road with a disease that is hard to test , diagnose and treat! And now Im scared tho lab will return positive no matter what! and if it returns overall negtive I know I will frantically search online for significance of certain Bands that may return reactive ! All forums of Lyme seem very cult like and everyone seems to think everyone has Lyme and try and scare the crap out of people who post results!

Stormsky

29-09-12, 16:45

Why do you think you have it? What symptoms do you have?

nervousmummytobe

29-09-12, 16:49

Weird pressure in head, twitching, floaters, odd skin sensations, muscle pain :(

Stormsky

29-09-12, 16:54

I can honestly say I've had those symptoms over the years but its more likely the anxiety..isn't lymes something you get from tic bites?

nervousmummytobe

29-09-12, 16:56

I seem to have constant symptoms though! They don't come on through panic attacks! I get weird puniness prick sensations and burning feelings! Yeah it's from Rick bites I don't know of I had a tick bite though but some people say you might not notice as they r tiny

Stormsky

29-09-12, 17:03

Tics don't just bite, they attach to the skin.my dog had one on his face recently.. You'd know if you had one...
The symptoms you have don't come necessarily from panic, they're from a constant anxious body and mind, which with all your worry over lymes, wld cause the tension.

nervousmummytobe

29-09-12, 18:47

My body just keeps throwing weird symptoms at me and I can't see how anxiety could cause them especially as some of them physically hurt and feel neurological

nomorepanic

29-09-12, 19:33

It sounds like anxiety to me as well and I wouldn't waste money on expensive tests.

Have you read this page at all on here:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms/

Devyn

30-09-12, 07:25

not the worst disease possible. it doesn't kill you, treatable and cope-able.
Severe, SEVERE worriers like me convince oneself that he/she has AIDS or all types of cancers.

Em84

30-09-12, 08:38

Hi

I went through a very long time convinced I had Lymes if not that then Bartonella. I called a place in Hemel Hempsted which do accurate tests but it costs a lot which is why I didn't go....I still will get tested for it though as it will settle my mind with a few of my personal thoughts.

My Anxiety symptoms came not long after having hair loss (alopecia areta), about a month before my hair started to fall out my dog had very bad fleas and prior to that had a tick....I was bitten to bits then oh all my symtoms start about a month later.....

To be honest though if I was clear of that it wouldn't be long before another illness becomes top of the list.....

Lymes is controlled by Antibiotics.....

X

sunshine1

30-09-12, 08:38

I am with strormsky. Tics dig into skin and are small to start with but get bigger - have experience of them on dog,kids and myself. Where I live they are carried by deer and drop off whenfull. There are regions in the UK where there is Lyme's but it is rare. Do you walk in the countrysideetc, where there are deer? x

Em84

30-09-12, 08:43

Yeah as Sunshine said!

I lived in Windsor at the time and walked in the Great Park daily where there are a ton of Deers as its a deer park also! : / Hence the idea...

X

nervousmummytobe

30-09-12, 10:25

It's a horrible thing to think you have in terms of there is no simple ruling out! I know there are worst diseases but in terms of health anxiety sufferers who want clear answers this one is tricky! U can have negative tests an have it or have poaitive test and not have it :/ ! Also the symptoms r so rare! Em84 what symptoms do you have? Have u had a regular test at your gp?
Sunshine I live near a royal park with deer so it's not completely unlikely although apparently this park is not a risk of Lyme which I don't get as there are deer and there are ticks :s ! I don't go here a lot but I do go and my mum walks her dog there everyday! He has had ticks! I'm really scared! :(
Em84 that's where I went to Hemel Hempstead ... They send the tests off to a lab called igenex ! I'm waiting on results I'm pregnant too which is y I am petrified as Lyme can transfer in utero ;( I'm so down and worried I could be sick !

---------- Post added at 10:25 ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 ----------

I meant the symptoms are so vague

sunshine1

30-09-12, 10:57

Well if it is a royal park I am sure diseased deer would not dare go there! LOL! But seriously, being pregnant does highten anxiety for things that are outwith our control. I had a tic on my arm when I was pregnant with my second child and phoned the midwife in a state. ( I didn't even suffer from anxiety at this point!)

She reassured me that it was hightly unlikely that I would get lyme's even though I live in a fairly remote area with deer who may carry lyme's. i treat my own dog with frontline tic prevention stuff - might be an idea for your mum top try this to give you a bit of reassurance.

x

nervousmummytobe

30-09-12, 11:11

I think she does use that frontline!
I'm so so so scared. I've had really weird symptoms and each one I keep convincing is Lyme! I'm really fed up

panickyme

30-09-12, 13:25

Awwwwww sorry you feel so bad! I am not a doctor, so I would never tell you not to get tested. ( I have to get tested for everything, or I will not get over something) I live in the USA were lymes is really bad. I do not think you have it at all. It makes you so violently ill. More like the flu x 10. You are so sick. The tick itself is very, very small (needle point size) not like the normal deer size. When you are bit it usually leaves a bulls eye mark on you, like a big, sore red, round mark, and by the next day you are sick. Also know this, it will not kill you, a round of antibiotics, and its gone. I wish I could help you to believe that in my opinion, I really, really do not think you have it. I hope you feel better soon.:hugs:

nervousmummytobe

30-09-12, 13:34

Thank u for your input! I just don't understand how I feel all these physical symptoms and I don't know what could cause them! I feel really tired (prob the pregnancy) but I also feel weird sensations like pins and needles but not from circulation more like someone pricking me ! I have paid for a test to be sent to igenex in the USA which are known to be accurate so I'm hoping that it will be negative although I know bands can react etc nd I'm scared I will read into any abnormality ! X

panickyme

30-09-12, 13:50

Oh you are tired from being pregnant, I have 4 children and with each I could sleep all day! Also hormones throw off some really weird symptoms! I got some really strange symptoms, while pregnant, and being anxious just makes it worse. I can soooooo relate to you in trying to understand that anxiety does this to us. My newest is chest pains, i'm convinced my heart or lungs are really sick. (and how could I get such intense chest pain, and not be dying!!!! right.) How can it just be anxiety. I feel bad, you are so wrapped up in this. It really is just the way we think. But like I said before I really do not think you have this one. I knock on wood, have not gotten it, but with my list of anxiety diseases over the years, I was tested for it! A BIG NEGATIVE didn't have it. (just like you do not) Its just that crazy thinking. You will be fine. Don't read, I know its hard, but it will just make you worry. I will keep in touch with you to make sure you are doing fine. Which I know you will be.:) Debbi

nomorepanic

30-09-12, 15:00

nervousmummytobe

30-09-12, 15:47

Yeah I did it is a great help! Although what relly plagues me are my weird sensations such as burning and prickly sharp feelings ! :( feels like my nerves are firing! And sometimes hurts .... Surely this would be neurological in nature? Not anxiety