Mountainman78
07-08-13, 17:40
Hello everyone,
I have been lurking here for quite some time, and I feel that this forum has really helped me at times because it makes me realize that I am not alone and others have these same concerns. I'll give you some background and bring you up to my current situation, and I would love to hear your thoughts on things.
Back in March, I went through a very stressful time that lasted all the way until mid-May. I was slowly losing weight (170 lbs a year ago, down to 158 lbs), and one night my 6 month old son was standing on my lap and I felt a pain in my groin. I thought it was strange so I googled it and saw that it could be lymph nodes. Of course that led me to lymphoma, and then I REALLY freaked out because it said that other signs of lymphoma were night sweats and weight loss. I had been having night sweats every night for a week at that point, and I was well aware that I was slowly losing weight. I almost had a full blown panic attack that evening and then called my doctor the following morning. He saw me right away, which I was thankful for. He checked all my nodes, did a full CBC, did a full metabolic workup, and a thyroid workup as well. Everything was normal, and he said he had no concerns about it being lymphoma. I was relieved, but I still had concerns about my weight.
I started eating like crazy as well as working out. I was eating healthy food as well as junk food, and I was eating 5 to 6 meals a day. I was also lifting heavy weights. The stressful situation continued (buying a foreclosure, trying to sell our current house, planning a move, my wife finding a new job, etc) and so did the night sweats. Also, I never stepped on the scale. I didn't want to know, because if I was continuing to lose weight I would have had a complete breakdown because I was so worried about it. I just ate a lot and avoided wearing certain jeans/shorts that I knew were loose on me. In fact, if I thought a pair of jeans felt a bit loose one morning, I would freak out about it all day long. It would gnaw away at me.
Finally in mid-May, things resolved and we got the house of our dreams, we sold our old house, my wife got a new job, and things were looking up. The night sweats stopped, but my concerns about my weight continued. I still hadn't stepped on a scale because I was literally scared of what it might say.
New symptoms began.
I started feeling disoriented during certain times of the day. I had a very fine but noticeable tremor with my hands as well. I would feel depressed, anxious, rapid heartbeat at weird times, and overall crappy. I would wake up at 2 AM sometimes with my heart racing. I wasn't myself, my mood was low, and I started wondering what could be causing it. Still no night sweats, but these new issues were so strange, and I wasn't NEARLY as stressed as I used to be, other than my ongoing phobia about my weight. Eventually I self-diagnosed hypoglycemia, because it seemed that eating made a lot of these symptoms subside. I thought that my bad diet had caused irreversible damage to my pancreas and I was now going to have to deal with hypoglycemia for the rest of my life. I was SURE that I had it, because of how eating would change things. But what was also interesting was that late in the day I always felt my best, and usually this was after having some wine or beer. This didn't quite mesh with what all of my Googling had dug up because alcohol is generally known to cause low blood sugar, not help it.
I was still having concerns about my weight, and I was borderline depressed. I had also developed a new issue where my left leg felt very heavy during certain times. It always worked fine and I had no problem with the strength of the leg, but it felt much heavier than my right leg. It would come and go for no apparent reason, sometimes lasting 30 minutes, sometimes lasting a few hours. My left arm started feeling strange as well, it felt kind of restless. Like if I used it a lot it was great, but sitting still watching TV made it feel uncomfortable. Of course I am now thinking I am developing MS.
In early July, my night sweats returned out of the blue, even though for more than a month I didn't have any except for one night after a very stressful day of trying to close on our new house and thinking it had all fallen apart. So, I went to see a new doctor (I had moved at this point and so I had to switch doctors) and I presented to him a log of my concerns and experiences. When I went in to see the doctor, I stepped on a scale for the first time in 2 months. I was very anxious about this moment, but then I was shocked to find that I had gained 6 lbs, because I was certain I was still losing weight. Immediately I felt some relief, before I had even spoken to the doctor. I sat down and shared all of my concerns with him and he listened very closely and took a lot of notes. I had been recording a log of my issues/times/severity and gave it to him as well. He ran a full CBC, metabolic panel, and thyroid workup. He also had me do a chest X-ray, which was negative. All of my bloodwork was normal, and he told me that I had anxiety and my body was no longer able to cope with everyday stresses. He said to try to do things that make me happy and that it would take a while to get back to normal.
When I got back all of the results I felt relief. Almost immediately my dizziness/tremors/rapid heartbeat went away. I felt better and thought that I was on the mend. I had no real stress in my day to day life either, so I thought I was cured. But the night sweats didn't go away. And my heavy leg still returns from time to time. I have new symptoms too, like white spots in my right eye when I blink really fast. Sometimes my right ear starts ringing for a few seconds, then returns to normal (this fuels my brain t. And I have been concerned about other small pains or discomfort. I have tried to stay off of Google, but I have still had concerns that I have: liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, a brain tumor, and MS. Overall, day to day, I don't stress nearly as much, but obviously I still have some health anxiety.
A little over a week ago my night sweats stopped, even though I had had a stressful day on the night it stopped. This lasted about a week, and I thought I was good to go, that I had turned the corner and my body was going to be normal again. I felt good! It appeared that I didn't have any deadly disease that was ravaging me. But then, over the past 2 nights, the night sweats have returned, which have intensified my fears again and I now have an appointment to see my doctor again. It has been a month since I last saw him and he said to "monitor" the night sweats, but they will not stop. Interestingly, I continue to gain weight, and am now up to 171, which I haven't seen in years. I am working out, have plenty of energy, have a healthy appetite, and overall I feel good physically. But I am still worried about my health, and in particular the sweating at night.
A note about my night sweats: some might not consider them "true" night sweats. Over 90% of the time it happens within an hour of falling asleep. I will wake up with a damp pillow and neck, sometimes a damp back, and occasionally a damp lower back/buttocks area. I have never soaked my sheets or clothes or had to change out of my shirt/pillowcase/boxers. However, they happen every single night and are definitely my number one concern.
Anyway, that's my story and thanks for listening. I will see the doctor on Friday and see what he recommends for my next step. I am well aware that I have health anxiety, but I am not so sure that it is causing all of these issues.
I have been lurking here for quite some time, and I feel that this forum has really helped me at times because it makes me realize that I am not alone and others have these same concerns. I'll give you some background and bring you up to my current situation, and I would love to hear your thoughts on things.
Back in March, I went through a very stressful time that lasted all the way until mid-May. I was slowly losing weight (170 lbs a year ago, down to 158 lbs), and one night my 6 month old son was standing on my lap and I felt a pain in my groin. I thought it was strange so I googled it and saw that it could be lymph nodes. Of course that led me to lymphoma, and then I REALLY freaked out because it said that other signs of lymphoma were night sweats and weight loss. I had been having night sweats every night for a week at that point, and I was well aware that I was slowly losing weight. I almost had a full blown panic attack that evening and then called my doctor the following morning. He saw me right away, which I was thankful for. He checked all my nodes, did a full CBC, did a full metabolic workup, and a thyroid workup as well. Everything was normal, and he said he had no concerns about it being lymphoma. I was relieved, but I still had concerns about my weight.
I started eating like crazy as well as working out. I was eating healthy food as well as junk food, and I was eating 5 to 6 meals a day. I was also lifting heavy weights. The stressful situation continued (buying a foreclosure, trying to sell our current house, planning a move, my wife finding a new job, etc) and so did the night sweats. Also, I never stepped on the scale. I didn't want to know, because if I was continuing to lose weight I would have had a complete breakdown because I was so worried about it. I just ate a lot and avoided wearing certain jeans/shorts that I knew were loose on me. In fact, if I thought a pair of jeans felt a bit loose one morning, I would freak out about it all day long. It would gnaw away at me.
Finally in mid-May, things resolved and we got the house of our dreams, we sold our old house, my wife got a new job, and things were looking up. The night sweats stopped, but my concerns about my weight continued. I still hadn't stepped on a scale because I was literally scared of what it might say.
New symptoms began.
I started feeling disoriented during certain times of the day. I had a very fine but noticeable tremor with my hands as well. I would feel depressed, anxious, rapid heartbeat at weird times, and overall crappy. I would wake up at 2 AM sometimes with my heart racing. I wasn't myself, my mood was low, and I started wondering what could be causing it. Still no night sweats, but these new issues were so strange, and I wasn't NEARLY as stressed as I used to be, other than my ongoing phobia about my weight. Eventually I self-diagnosed hypoglycemia, because it seemed that eating made a lot of these symptoms subside. I thought that my bad diet had caused irreversible damage to my pancreas and I was now going to have to deal with hypoglycemia for the rest of my life. I was SURE that I had it, because of how eating would change things. But what was also interesting was that late in the day I always felt my best, and usually this was after having some wine or beer. This didn't quite mesh with what all of my Googling had dug up because alcohol is generally known to cause low blood sugar, not help it.
I was still having concerns about my weight, and I was borderline depressed. I had also developed a new issue where my left leg felt very heavy during certain times. It always worked fine and I had no problem with the strength of the leg, but it felt much heavier than my right leg. It would come and go for no apparent reason, sometimes lasting 30 minutes, sometimes lasting a few hours. My left arm started feeling strange as well, it felt kind of restless. Like if I used it a lot it was great, but sitting still watching TV made it feel uncomfortable. Of course I am now thinking I am developing MS.
In early July, my night sweats returned out of the blue, even though for more than a month I didn't have any except for one night after a very stressful day of trying to close on our new house and thinking it had all fallen apart. So, I went to see a new doctor (I had moved at this point and so I had to switch doctors) and I presented to him a log of my concerns and experiences. When I went in to see the doctor, I stepped on a scale for the first time in 2 months. I was very anxious about this moment, but then I was shocked to find that I had gained 6 lbs, because I was certain I was still losing weight. Immediately I felt some relief, before I had even spoken to the doctor. I sat down and shared all of my concerns with him and he listened very closely and took a lot of notes. I had been recording a log of my issues/times/severity and gave it to him as well. He ran a full CBC, metabolic panel, and thyroid workup. He also had me do a chest X-ray, which was negative. All of my bloodwork was normal, and he told me that I had anxiety and my body was no longer able to cope with everyday stresses. He said to try to do things that make me happy and that it would take a while to get back to normal.
When I got back all of the results I felt relief. Almost immediately my dizziness/tremors/rapid heartbeat went away. I felt better and thought that I was on the mend. I had no real stress in my day to day life either, so I thought I was cured. But the night sweats didn't go away. And my heavy leg still returns from time to time. I have new symptoms too, like white spots in my right eye when I blink really fast. Sometimes my right ear starts ringing for a few seconds, then returns to normal (this fuels my brain t. And I have been concerned about other small pains or discomfort. I have tried to stay off of Google, but I have still had concerns that I have: liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, a brain tumor, and MS. Overall, day to day, I don't stress nearly as much, but obviously I still have some health anxiety.
A little over a week ago my night sweats stopped, even though I had had a stressful day on the night it stopped. This lasted about a week, and I thought I was good to go, that I had turned the corner and my body was going to be normal again. I felt good! It appeared that I didn't have any deadly disease that was ravaging me. But then, over the past 2 nights, the night sweats have returned, which have intensified my fears again and I now have an appointment to see my doctor again. It has been a month since I last saw him and he said to "monitor" the night sweats, but they will not stop. Interestingly, I continue to gain weight, and am now up to 171, which I haven't seen in years. I am working out, have plenty of energy, have a healthy appetite, and overall I feel good physically. But I am still worried about my health, and in particular the sweating at night.
A note about my night sweats: some might not consider them "true" night sweats. Over 90% of the time it happens within an hour of falling asleep. I will wake up with a damp pillow and neck, sometimes a damp back, and occasionally a damp lower back/buttocks area. I have never soaked my sheets or clothes or had to change out of my shirt/pillowcase/boxers. However, they happen every single night and are definitely my number one concern.
Anyway, that's my story and thanks for listening. I will see the doctor on Friday and see what he recommends for my next step. I am well aware that I have health anxiety, but I am not so sure that it is causing all of these issues.