Terrified about these constant symptoms, doctor says it's anxiety?

[sophiemelissa]

Hi, I'm new to these forums so not sure if this is the right place to post this..

I'm 20 years old, have suffered with an eating disorder and anxiety for about 5 years now, but recently my anxiety has been getting a lot worse, I hear about physical symptom but people say about getting these with panic attacks but mine are constant, all day and all night.

For months now I've had achy legs, more of a deep constant ache, then a few weeks ago I started getting sharp shooting pains in my legs (calves, thighs, even around my ankles. My feet and hands feel very numb and then these past few days my calf muscles on my right side have constant pins and needles and numbness. I'm so scared and have convinced myself I have MS or something else terrible.

I'm also exhausted and my eyes have been going blurry and it's been hard for me to focus and I'm in such a panic about all this :(

My GP originally said it's definitely anxiety, I had blood tests and they came back fine. I have managed to get a referral to see a neurologist but have to wait a while for that and I'm so scared I can't do anything. I was wondering if anyone else had anything like this or thinks it could have anything to do with anxiety?

[nomorepanic]

:welcome:

Have you read this :

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

[Serenity1990]

Welcome to my world!

Neurological symptoms do not equate to MS. Let me save you a few months of hell and tell you that whilst the symptoms of MS are enormously varied, they follow a very specific pattern of behaviour. There are only a handful of neurological symptoms but hundreds of neurological illnesses, comparing your symptom list to that on google is a pointless exercise as it'll just always point to the most serious (and rare) conditions, rather it's the pattern of these symptoms that matters. You and I are not qualified to assess this, but your doctor is.

It is true that it can be difficult to pick up in the early stages. However you have such a multitude of symptoms if you really did have that it would be relatively developed, and as such would almost certainly have shown up on your GP's exam. You mention issues with your eyes; the eye issues caused by MS are very easy to detect, usually confirmed through inflammation of the optic nerve at the back of the eye but always through pupils responding abnormally to light (though this latter symptom is commonly caused by all manner of things). If there was something wrong there the doctor would have picked it up. Also it's incredibly rare for it to affect both eyes at once.

There is a specific process that leads to issues of the mind creating neurological symptoms, which accounts for around 20% of neurologist initial consultations (and is rarely misdiagnosed, you'll be glad to hear), comparative to which MS is very rare. This can be as simple as anxiety, or more rare and profound conditions that can have extreme symptoms such as total paralysis or loss of motor control (which I won't list here).

Stop searching the internet now, for your own sake. MS can cause practically any symptom as any part of the nervous system is vulnerable, and you'll find people on the internet with all of them. It is a rare disease and a rare cause of the neurological symptoms you describe. Anxiety and similar processes are far more common. The more symptoms you have the more likely such a process is occurring as opposed to MS.

If you want to read online, have a look at posts on here by RLR (a retired neurologist who used to post on here) and itoldyouiwasill.

I wish you the best of luck, it's a difficult road. I was nearly better until it started googling again! Think of yourself as a drug addict and google as your drug. The longer you stay away from it the better you'll get. :)

[anxiouskitten]

I am also a Google addict....I tell myself every day that I absolutely will NOT look up any of my symptoms online, because I know it only makes me feel worse...in fact, I'm convinced that I have developed physical symptoms simply by reading about them....I've been told by any number of healh care professionals that what I have is anxiety and that all of my physical symptoms (and there have been many over the last eighteen months since this rollercoaster ride began) are associated with that disease....but I'm stubborn, and keep convincing myself that "this time" it might really be something bad....I've had an MRI, countless ECGs, numerous blood tests, an endoscopy, and multiple trips to the emergency room....all point to the same thing....anxiety. Why is it then that my mind won't accept that fact? I think it's because I don't WANT to accept that fact....perhaps because it suggests that I'm somehow weak or irrational? I mean, people like me don't suffer from anxiety, right? I've always been the responsible, over-achieving member of my family which makes all of this even more difficult. I'm giving CBT another try and am going to make a more concerted effort to stop looking up my symptoms on the internet...and to stop going to see the doctor every time something feels "not quite right".....ugh, none of this is easy, and it's even more difficult when the anxiety has worn you out.....my heart goes out to anyone who is suffering from health anxiety....it's truly a beast.

[Presto]

Nicola thankyou so much for posting all that information on this thread, I cannot believe what u have just read, my life is revolved around these symptoms which come and come all the time. I spend my entire life worrying about nearly every single thing that is written in that article about anxiety. The day I had a " funny turn" at home I think I experienced every single one, I feel like The day has been put into perspective and I can say that I suffered a very big anxiety attack!!! I can't wait to show this to my mum and partner for them to read. Thanks again x