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LadyH
21-07-14, 15:50
Hi Everyone, this is my first post (in a Forum EVER!) I hope I do okay :)
Firstly I live in London, I'm 24 and I'm a girl :D

I've been through the mill a bit lately, and have noticed in myself, a pretty constant healthy anxiety, I'd just like to share what's been going on with you all.

For the past two-three years, I suffered with bladder infections. Anyone whose had one will know that they are horrible! You literally feel like you are absolutely bursting to pee every second, you can never get any satisfaction or relief, and you can not be comfortable for one second whilst you've got it. Luckily, they are so easily cleared up by anti-biotics. The problem is they come on quick and hard- doesn't matter if it's a saturday and the doctors aren't open till Monday, If you're stuck at work and can't get away... the whole thing became such an ordeal, and I would get a painful attack of these infections every few weeks. I began to become really paranoid that it would happen at inopportune & embarrassing times, or times when I was stuck somewhere and wouldn't be able to get to a doctor, and have to just suffer and suffer. Luckily and *touch wood* these have ceased over the last few months, however not before I had a really traumatic ultrasound experience, which led me to have a huge panic attack....

So since these infections, and this panic attack, I started becoming really concerned about my health, as it seemed like a always had to focus on them, I was paranoid and so pre-occupied, all of a sudden something switched on in my brain, it was like a worry switch, and it was just ON.

So leading on from this, I have a little mole on my wrist, it's possibly a slightly abnormal colour but I've had it for like 10 years, and it never bothered me, but all of a sudden something went WORRY, and so I did. I saw this health anxiety arising in myself and so I thought- I'll go get this silly little thing checked out, then all can be good and my mind can be free from all this worrying, life will be all daisies and roses once more. I go to my GP, it's a youngish woman who I've not seen before. She seems nice. I explain about the mole, and I also explain that I don't really like doctors and think I am suffering anxiety (she felt the glands in my neck and commented that my heart was racing).
She looked at the mole, and starting acting very weird. She said she was "concerned" about 5 times, and mentioned Melanoma. She explained that I would be referred to the hospital on an urgent two week wait pathway- "Which is the Cancer care pathway" she said..... HOLY SH*T?!?! I came in with my silly little mole and I'm leaving with Cancer!? WITH CANCER!?
My appointment was 2 weeks, almost to the hour later, and I spent those two weeks absolutely convinced I had cancer, utterly, 100% resigned to the fact I had malignant melanoma and was most likely going to die.

My appointment- odd dermatologist guy, no sh*t kinda person, liked him a lot. 1 minute into the appointment- just glanced at me under a little hand held microscope- "Oh this is a blue Nevis, a Blue mole, totally benign, very common, nothing to worry about and no threat at all, you can have it removed for cosmetic reasons if you want, but if I was you i wouldn't bother"

HALLELUJAH! :noangel: Why the hell was I so worried?? I floated out of that hospital on a cloud of utter Euphoria (undertones of massive annoyance at the STUPID GP who had sent me here), went and got a diet coke and super noodles & took them straight home and devoured them (had been eating nothing but blueberries, kale juice and raw veggies for two weeks in attempts to save my life of my cancer).

Next 2 weeks, fabulous, over the moon, care free, no worries, yay!
(I did have an infected wisdom tooth that was cleared up quickly by a course of penicillin-Dentist asked if I'd been run down or stressed lately to which I replied YES!)

Now all of a sudden, just over a week ago, I've developed a "flutter" in my upper body, feels like I'm shivering on the inside. That developed into a "twicth/ spasm" in my left thumb when it's bent or tensed (first noticed holding open a book whilst reading), occasional even milder spasm in the thumb when resting. This has developed into a mild numbing/ loss of sensation in my left forearm, and also in the left side of my face, these come and go through waves of severity, never too severe but severe enough, and always kind of there, Then just today, my left arm feels heavier, feels like it's just woken up kind of thing, it kind of aches too and it feels weaker and possibly less dextrose.
I get occasional patches of pins and needles in my head and tongue, and again in my face. My legs are always falling asleep, I wake up with a totally dead arm.
And this has all happened in the last week.

I can't stay away from Google, I am simultaneously convinced that this all entirely the cause of anxiety, and also entirely the cause of MS, or even worse- MND. That is literally my biggest fear, I am almost HOPING that it is MS, so that it's not MND. I worry CONSTANTLY! It is all I think about when I'm trying to sleep, my first thought in the morning, all the time. At work I am constantly distracted with trying to research what the hell is wrong with me. I can't get a break I am utterly, utterly convinced I have this hideous disease, and that's it- my life is over.

I nearly called the doctor this afternoon, but I'm scared to find out, I'm scared they will terrify me even more, I am just so scared. I'm scared of everything now, I was never like this.

On a positive, I've contacted a local NHS service called iCope, and have a call with them on Wednesday, to have a kind of assessment. I've said I think I'm suffering anxiety and really need some help.

Could all these physical symptoms be down to anxiety?
What if there is something really seriously wrong?
What if I find out I am physically fine, and then something else just happens, and I get convinced I've got a brain tumor, or bloody malaria or something?
I just don't know what to do and am exhausted with all of this. I just want to know I'm okay, feel okay, and live like that, not with this constant threat, over my head.


Mega long message, guess I've been holding that in for a while!
Any comments and stories are welcome, I'd love to hear from you
Hxx

AnxietyDJ
21-07-14, 15:58
Hey, firstly welcome to the forum - you made a very positive step in signing up and making your first post :)

Secondly, so sorry to hear that you've been going through a really tough time - there are lots of great people here who know exactly what you've experienced (myself included).

Thirdly, it really does sound like classic anxiety symptoms, and from my own personal experience I can confirm that the feelings of illness are so convincing it is hard to accept they aren't real. Try to think rationally about what you are experiencing though - have the problems only arrived since you were stressed? Are you always feeling at your most stressed when the symptoms are at their worst? I know it is hard, but please, please, please don't keep Googling your symptoms... It really doesn't help anyone and to be honest, I could take virtually any symptom on the planet and within five minutes have found convincing evidence via the web that I was on the verge of death! It is scary, but go to see your GP and explain what you have experienced... It is better than stewing for days and weeks on end, which will only serve to make you feel a hundred times worse.

Good luck - hope you are able to feel better soon :)

Serenity1990
21-07-14, 16:04
Welcome to my world!

Symptoms that move around all over the place, change presentation or come and go aren't how MS presents. The twitch sounds very much like anxiety, in fact there is an illness closely related to anxiety called Benign Fasciculation Syndrome (which would also explain your other symptoms). Given the whole left-sided thing have a look at neurosymptoms.org; this site talks about 'functional' neurological symptoms, which basically means the nervous system is free from disease but starts malfunctioning, often preceded by a stressful event.

On the MND side of things, MND is a disease of the MOTOR neurones only. As soon as you have a sensory symptom you know for sure you don't have MND. You don't have MND.

LadyH
21-07-14, 16:14
Hi both!
Thanks for your replies!

@AnxietyDJ, this is particularly helpful. I am talking to a "Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner" on Wednesday, and so I'm very keen to hear what he will think about everything.
I agree with you entirely, Google is just my worst enemy, It's so hard to stay away. I am going to try my absolute best to though. And yes,I think as I get worked up about things, they do seem to become worse, I feel like I focus on a sympton & I make it worse, but it's also hard not to. I also believe that there had to have been some sort of physical sympton there in the first place for me to get so fixated on. Such a vicious circle isn't it!?

What you say is so true- the feelings are so convincing it's difficult to not believe they're "real". God this sucks!!!

@Serenity- Thanks for the useful info. May I ask- have you visited a doctor about your Symptoms and now believe that you don't have MS? Also did you experience a mild numbness in the skin? Just like a lack of sensation along with a very mild tingling- this is what I have in my left forearm and left side of my face.

Thanks,
Hxx

Serenity1990
21-07-14, 16:20
I wish my symptom list was limited to numbness and tingling! But yes I've had both of those.

In my case I'm not necessarily blaming it all on anxiety though. My cervical spine is a mess due to years of peering at a computer screen that was too low, and I was also diagnosed with a "post viral inflammatory process" of my CNS. However when I started to disbelieve doctors and get myself into an MS panic I got all sorts of other symptoms, some of which were/are very scary. However such symptoms follow certain thoughts, so I know they're somatic presentations of anxiety.

Have I seen doctors? Many! Including neurologists, physios, neuroophthalmologists, all sorts!

AnxietyDJ
21-07-14, 16:23
The mind is both a beautiful and frustrating thing! I can always make symptoms seem much worse the more I focus on them and then as I go into 'panic mode', everything goes into overdrive and problems appear to enter a whole new level. At the time, it is so difficult to stop things from happening and spiralling out of control, especially because they can feel so convincingly real.

If you are really concerned, the best thing is to always go and speak with your GP. Obviously, we are not medical professionals and can only give advice based our our limited knowledge and experiences :)

Hope your day has been good so far.

Serenity1990
21-07-14, 16:38
The other thing I'd add is you need to understand that the actual list of symptoms is pretty irrelevant for MS. As one neurologist put it, there are only a handful of neurological symptoms but hundreds of neurological diseases: they all share the same list of symptoms more or less. Rather it's the pattern and presentation of these symptoms that's important. Because of the way it works, MS can only create one basic pattern of symptoms, which is how neurologists rule it in or out.

I'm not a medic let alone a neurologist, but what you describe doesn't sound like that at all.

LadyH
23-07-14, 13:03
Hi Guys,
Thanks for your above comments, hearing from you is so helpful.

I just had a call from the Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner, who was very nice. After firmly establishing I am not a risk to myself or others, we chatted about what's been happening lately, and he recommends a course of Counseling & some CBT. Brill, all up for this.
He gave me a number of a place nearby, I called them and spoke to a really nice chap, Richard. The issue with this, is their appointments are 9-4, I work 9-6 in a role it's difficult to get away from.
More to the point, this is just a conversation I do not want to have with my Manager, I get on really well with him, but It's not something I want to have to bring in to the workplace. At work I'm confident and good at my job, and I don't want people to know, and I don't want it to be an issue.
So that's awkward/ disappointing. Any thoughts?

Regarding my physical symptoms, yesterday was an okay day, today a bit worse. I've got more tingling/ weakness, bad sleeping, heavy feeling in my arm again. Like a stiffness and a tightness in my finger. I've realised I think that it's worse in the morning, and tends to get a bit better throughout the day. Seems to peak around 10-11am. Any thoughts again? And do you think I should go to a GP with this? Bearing in mind that going to the GP is an extremely stressful experience for me, absolutely hate hate hate going.

Hope you guys are having good days so far, looking forward to hearing form you
Hx

LadyH
24-07-14, 10:06
Hi guys!
Again my "Symptoms" keep developing. Still tingling, even some prickling and a little pain now. I feel heavy down my left side even my leg now too. I'm absolutely paranoid that I've got weakness in my left arm and leg. Keep wanting to test my strength in my fingers and balance and strength in my legs....
I scuffed my foot while walking the other day- and split my sandal (You know where you do like a phantom trip) and it split my sandal, convinced I've got drop foot!!!!!
Keep looking at the way that I walk in shop windows etc, looking at my muscles to see if one is bigger...
Keep looking at other people, at their gate, at their muscles, comparing myself to them,

I am going CRAZY! I think it may have to be time to see a GP

I hate this, I am now having a really really hard time believing these physical symptoms could all be down to anxiety....

---------- Post added at 10:06 ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 ----------

I also have been getting a really tired jaw form chewing, I can't stop panicking today, I feel really terrible :weep:

Serenity1990
24-07-14, 11:20
I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but the more symptoms you have kicking off all over your body the more likely this is the result of something anxiety related than an organic process such as MS. :)

LadyH
24-07-14, 12:58
Thank you Serenity,
Yes that does make sense when you put it like that doesn't it.

I have a telephone appointment with my GP tomorrow, I feel like I'm going to sound like an absolute crazy person with everything that I feel! I find it difficult to tell GP's everything that's wrong, I don't tell them the whole story. I've written a list.

How are you today?

Serenity1990
24-07-14, 13:51
I'm good thanks. Just had a bit of a realisation yesterday that many of my issues are definitely musclo-skelital as I was told a long time ago now. As I did some hard manual work my leg mobility issues dissipated and back came the excruciating lower back pain that was resultant of a bad car accident three years ago.

LadyH
24-07-14, 15:00
Hi Serenity,
I hope you manage to make some progress soon, is your situation basically that you're struggling to get correctly diagnosed?

Today my leg and arm both feel heavy and I'm very paranoid about that, feel like I'm stumbling over my words aswel, today is not a good day, really hating this...
Hx

LadyH
25-07-14, 13:16
Hi all!

Had the call with the GP today. He says nothing is setting Alarm bells off for him, and that whilst there is a slight chance of MS, there is no indication really that this is MND.

He's putting a blood test panel thing out for me, and in a few days if I'm still having problems I should book in with the nurse for blood tests, and then book an apportionment in a couple of weeks so I could see the doctor with the bloods, and talk about a neuro exam.

He seemed to be on the side that this is anxiety/ one of those things.

He knew when he as saying this that it would be practically impossible for me- I must try and relax, have a relaxing weekend and de-stress!

I wish I could, couldn't eat anything last night as felt so sick, same at breakfast this morning. Last night was unbelievable exhausted, then awake for sever hours in the middle of the night fretting & worrying & going out of my mind.
Got really upset this morning when telling my partner about my docs call today, and some of the things that have been going on. Feel upset typing this.

I just want to relax and stop thinking about it all, please how can I do this?


As far as physical symptoms, nothing new, kind of same old same old. Stiffness & aching a little, less of the pins and needles but more of the "weakness".

xx