Serenity1990
30-01-14, 12:45
Hello guys, firstly thanks for the great forum, I've been reading this site a lot over the past few weeks and it's been very helpful. I've just joined up today, and was after some opinions and experiences from others in a similar boat. Apologies this is a little long-winded, but any responses would be greatly appreciated. :)
A little bit about me, I'm a tutor/researcher and postgraduate student in economics, I have no history of anxiety or anything similar, and no current diagnosis. However I suspect I might well be suffering from something of that nature now, which is why I'd like some input and opinions from yourselves.
Until December just gone I was a picture of health, went to the gym three times a week, and had only been particularly ill once before (with biliary colic probably caused by a passing stone in early 2013). Just before christmas this changed dramatically.
I was on a short flight back from Scotland after an internship interview when I was feeling short of breath and light headed, my heart rate going very fast. I got off the plane and was in a bit of a weird state, I felt very dizzy and sat down in a coffee shop for a couple of hours, assuming it was something to do with the flight and altitude (coupled with the fact I'd been very busy recently and not sleeping well). I got myself checked out by one of the airport's first aiders, he said he thought I had some sort of virus coming on but nothing concerned him enough to want to call an ambulance, so I was sent on my way. I went home, got some sleep and was fine the next day.
About a week later I was driving up the motorway when I suddenly felt very short of breath, pressure feeling on my chest, with slight chest pain. I pulled over at the services, and I was suddenly shivering, despite the inside air temperature in the car reading 26 degrees. I managed to complete my journey and stopped off at one of the NHS drop-in centres. They were concerned as I had low blood pressure on one of the ten readings they did, so sent me to hospital to make sure I didn't have a clot or pneumothorax in my lung. After six hours of blood tests and chest X-rays, ECGs and other such things (all of which came back negative though I had a slightly raised white cell count) they decided it was probably a pleuretic pain resultant of a bad chest infection a few weeks prior, so they sent me on my way with an instruction to rest and a promise I'd feel better in 2-3 weeks. I was happy with this, and on my way. The breathless/dizzy spells
A couple of weeks later (first week of Jan) I suddenly became very dizzy and short of breath, after doing some work on the computer for a couple of hours. I got quite bad chest pain and was worried something might be happening. Palpitations started and someone called me an ambulance. The paramedics thought it was probably nothing but sent me to hospital anyway, where I had two more ECGs, blood tests (again with high WBC count) another chest X-ray, and all came back fine. They sent me on my way, but I was feeling like a bit of a hypochondriac.
It was now I was a little confused, as I felt something was seriously wrong but doctors didn't seem to agree. I was now also having aches all over my body, especially at the back of my legs. I began to consult Dr. Google, who told me I might have coronary heart or artery disease. I began to become convinced this was the case, and suddenly over dinner I had lost my appetite, became light-headed, and was struggling to swallow. The right side of my face went numb/droopy, followed by my leg and arm. I knew (not from my googling but from my first aid training years before) that this could be the sign of a stroke, and once again an ambulance was called. The paramedics didn't seem too worried but took me to hospital anyway. I was seen by an A&E doctor who thought it was possible I'd had a TIA, then seen by a stroke doctor who thought it was incredibly unlikely. I was booked in for a brain MRI which I had last week (and am still awaiting results). Something similar has happened three or four times since, all but one of them when I was worrying about what was wrong with me.
I had a (privately booked) osteopath appointment from the original pleuretic pain, which I still attended. The osteopath is excellent, we've used her for years for back pain and she was a hospital nurse for two decades. She thought the breathlessness was caused by a musculo-skeletal issue, and the rest of the issues caused by a virus which had become sub-clinical.
I also saw my GP, who asked if I was "a worrier", and said that he needed to make sure it wasn't anything to do with the brain so wait for the MRI results, but that he thought it was unlikely.
I continued to feel very achey, mostly down by right side but then all over. My right arm and leg felt weak, I was getting fasciculations all over, and burning sensations on my skin. I consulted Dr. Google again and decided I must have MS (partly due to symptoms and partly as my grandmother had it). I spent about a week in bed convinced of this beyond all doubt, and not being able to cope with the 18 week wait to see a NHS neurologist I booked a private appointment with one at a central London hospital; this guy is one of the best in his field, and a specialist in MS. He did a detailed neurological examination, took full history etc, and advised that he could't say anything 100% without an MRI (results still aren't in) but that he stongly suspected it would be either a viral or post-viral type of thing. The only abnormality he could find was a raised heart rate (over 100), where it's usually 60-65 due to the cardio I do.
The same day as that appointment, joy of joys my dad started getting very similar neurological symptoms: twitching eye, burning of the skin, along with the aches and joint pain I've been getting. At this point I realised it probably wouldn't have been MS causing my symptoms, though I was still a little concerned that I've never heard of a virus causing these sort of problems.
Now I seem to be getting a little better, and have actually managed to partially return to work this week. However I'm still getting really weird symptoms. I'm getting headaches all over my head, eye pain, occasional fasciculations, raised heart rate (especially after even mild exertion such as climbing stairs), dizziness and constipation. I'm also finding it difficult to focus my eyes on occasions, and very aware of movement in my peripheral vision. I was hoping for the MRI results today but haven't heard anything as yet. I've been worried that I've either picked up a virus when in hospital that is hiding the real underlying problem as to why I was there in the first place, or I simply have the same virus as my father but made worse (and with additional symptoms) by anxiety.
I wouldn't have considered anxiety as a potential factor before, as I'm usually a very calm person. For example, when I was doing my first degree I was also a manager at a supermarket in a slightly rough area, and occasionally had to deal with attempted armed robberies and suchlike when I was running the store and I always remained completely calm through those sort of situations. However recently I suppose I have some weird symptoms of anxiety, for instance I had to live a lengthy witness statement to a court for something a little while back and despite feeling mentally calm and collected my heart rate started going nuts as soon as I stood in the witness box. I had a similar experience the first time I had to teach a seminar to a load of undergraduates. So is it possible to have anxiety without feeling really anxious?
Apologies for rambling on, but any information, support, questions or words of wisdom would be hugely appreciated. Whatever's going on it's been going on too long now (6-7 weeks), and I'm scared I'm not going to get better!
A little bit about me, I'm a tutor/researcher and postgraduate student in economics, I have no history of anxiety or anything similar, and no current diagnosis. However I suspect I might well be suffering from something of that nature now, which is why I'd like some input and opinions from yourselves.
Until December just gone I was a picture of health, went to the gym three times a week, and had only been particularly ill once before (with biliary colic probably caused by a passing stone in early 2013). Just before christmas this changed dramatically.
I was on a short flight back from Scotland after an internship interview when I was feeling short of breath and light headed, my heart rate going very fast. I got off the plane and was in a bit of a weird state, I felt very dizzy and sat down in a coffee shop for a couple of hours, assuming it was something to do with the flight and altitude (coupled with the fact I'd been very busy recently and not sleeping well). I got myself checked out by one of the airport's first aiders, he said he thought I had some sort of virus coming on but nothing concerned him enough to want to call an ambulance, so I was sent on my way. I went home, got some sleep and was fine the next day.
About a week later I was driving up the motorway when I suddenly felt very short of breath, pressure feeling on my chest, with slight chest pain. I pulled over at the services, and I was suddenly shivering, despite the inside air temperature in the car reading 26 degrees. I managed to complete my journey and stopped off at one of the NHS drop-in centres. They were concerned as I had low blood pressure on one of the ten readings they did, so sent me to hospital to make sure I didn't have a clot or pneumothorax in my lung. After six hours of blood tests and chest X-rays, ECGs and other such things (all of which came back negative though I had a slightly raised white cell count) they decided it was probably a pleuretic pain resultant of a bad chest infection a few weeks prior, so they sent me on my way with an instruction to rest and a promise I'd feel better in 2-3 weeks. I was happy with this, and on my way. The breathless/dizzy spells
A couple of weeks later (first week of Jan) I suddenly became very dizzy and short of breath, after doing some work on the computer for a couple of hours. I got quite bad chest pain and was worried something might be happening. Palpitations started and someone called me an ambulance. The paramedics thought it was probably nothing but sent me to hospital anyway, where I had two more ECGs, blood tests (again with high WBC count) another chest X-ray, and all came back fine. They sent me on my way, but I was feeling like a bit of a hypochondriac.
It was now I was a little confused, as I felt something was seriously wrong but doctors didn't seem to agree. I was now also having aches all over my body, especially at the back of my legs. I began to consult Dr. Google, who told me I might have coronary heart or artery disease. I began to become convinced this was the case, and suddenly over dinner I had lost my appetite, became light-headed, and was struggling to swallow. The right side of my face went numb/droopy, followed by my leg and arm. I knew (not from my googling but from my first aid training years before) that this could be the sign of a stroke, and once again an ambulance was called. The paramedics didn't seem too worried but took me to hospital anyway. I was seen by an A&E doctor who thought it was possible I'd had a TIA, then seen by a stroke doctor who thought it was incredibly unlikely. I was booked in for a brain MRI which I had last week (and am still awaiting results). Something similar has happened three or four times since, all but one of them when I was worrying about what was wrong with me.
I had a (privately booked) osteopath appointment from the original pleuretic pain, which I still attended. The osteopath is excellent, we've used her for years for back pain and she was a hospital nurse for two decades. She thought the breathlessness was caused by a musculo-skeletal issue, and the rest of the issues caused by a virus which had become sub-clinical.
I also saw my GP, who asked if I was "a worrier", and said that he needed to make sure it wasn't anything to do with the brain so wait for the MRI results, but that he thought it was unlikely.
I continued to feel very achey, mostly down by right side but then all over. My right arm and leg felt weak, I was getting fasciculations all over, and burning sensations on my skin. I consulted Dr. Google again and decided I must have MS (partly due to symptoms and partly as my grandmother had it). I spent about a week in bed convinced of this beyond all doubt, and not being able to cope with the 18 week wait to see a NHS neurologist I booked a private appointment with one at a central London hospital; this guy is one of the best in his field, and a specialist in MS. He did a detailed neurological examination, took full history etc, and advised that he could't say anything 100% without an MRI (results still aren't in) but that he stongly suspected it would be either a viral or post-viral type of thing. The only abnormality he could find was a raised heart rate (over 100), where it's usually 60-65 due to the cardio I do.
The same day as that appointment, joy of joys my dad started getting very similar neurological symptoms: twitching eye, burning of the skin, along with the aches and joint pain I've been getting. At this point I realised it probably wouldn't have been MS causing my symptoms, though I was still a little concerned that I've never heard of a virus causing these sort of problems.
Now I seem to be getting a little better, and have actually managed to partially return to work this week. However I'm still getting really weird symptoms. I'm getting headaches all over my head, eye pain, occasional fasciculations, raised heart rate (especially after even mild exertion such as climbing stairs), dizziness and constipation. I'm also finding it difficult to focus my eyes on occasions, and very aware of movement in my peripheral vision. I was hoping for the MRI results today but haven't heard anything as yet. I've been worried that I've either picked up a virus when in hospital that is hiding the real underlying problem as to why I was there in the first place, or I simply have the same virus as my father but made worse (and with additional symptoms) by anxiety.
I wouldn't have considered anxiety as a potential factor before, as I'm usually a very calm person. For example, when I was doing my first degree I was also a manager at a supermarket in a slightly rough area, and occasionally had to deal with attempted armed robberies and suchlike when I was running the store and I always remained completely calm through those sort of situations. However recently I suppose I have some weird symptoms of anxiety, for instance I had to live a lengthy witness statement to a court for something a little while back and despite feeling mentally calm and collected my heart rate started going nuts as soon as I stood in the witness box. I had a similar experience the first time I had to teach a seminar to a load of undergraduates. So is it possible to have anxiety without feeling really anxious?
Apologies for rambling on, but any information, support, questions or words of wisdom would be hugely appreciated. Whatever's going on it's been going on too long now (6-7 weeks), and I'm scared I'm not going to get better!