Freaking out... Brain Tumour :'(.

[KieranH960]

Hello,
So I'll get right into it:
I'm awfully worried that have I brain tumour because over the past few weeks Ives been having the following symptoms:
- memory short term loss, I'm forgetting things quickly and forgetting the simplest of things/ words...
- I'm stuttering more(was never previously a stutter), I know what I want to say but struggle putting it out there.
- headaches, they're not full on headaches but discomfort in my head mainly when I wake up in the morning, it doesn't last too long and isn't every day...
- twitches, my muscles have started randomly twitching, like my hand just might decide to convulsed itself about a cm to the right, not much but noticeable...
... I think that's about it, but as a side note I'm currently on Fluoxetine and lymecycline, they may of caused this?.
Please reply, I'm really worried... is it brain tumour, my medication or just my anxiety?.
Thanks,
Kieran.

[Female healthanxiety]

Hello Kieran,

Sorry to hear your anxiety is high at the moment.

From reading, I don't see anything you have listed that would tell a tumour! My friends brother had one and was in so much pain, it is something you would know about!

Forgetting things - we all do it!!! A lot of it is down to mental exhaustion and/or tiredness and even my old councillor told me it's very normal!

Stuttering - you must be very anxious/nervous with how much your thinking about at the moment!

Headache - I and many on here have them daily! There would be 100000's of reasons for a headache and your thinking do the worst! You have a headache because your mind is on co stand overdrive with your thought!

Twitches - I have them a lot my head, left arm - hospital and DRs were not worried.

It sounds like a mixture of anxiety and maybe you adjusting to your meds.

Stop worrying and try and focus on breathing and relaxation techniques

Xx

[.Poppy.]

These are all things that can be triggered by anxiety, or other external (and easily explained!) factors.

Memory loss: sometimes this just happens, and if you are anxious about it, it will happen more. Our lives are hectic and we have a lot going on in our heads. This is especially true of those of us with anxiety as we have a lot of worries/fears that are rocketing through our mind at any given time, either consciously or subconsciously. Since we're wasting brain power on that, we're not always paying attention to what we're doing or we're not always focused on what we want to do.

Stuttering: I get this too, and I used to think it was a big deal. I was a speech therapy major in college so I would notice when I was doing it, and when others noticed too I would get really embarrassed. But, like you, it's not so much a stutter as it is my words get tangled up coming out and I have to restart. Again, we've got a lot going on in our brains and sometimes when we want to share something it seems clear to us mentally, but we get in a hurry to share it and it just messes up. If you listen to others talk, like really listen, you'll notice that not everyone speaks perfectly 100% of the time. People's words get tangled easily.

Headaches: Sounds to me like you're either sleeping in a funny position, have a bad pillow, or are grinding your teeth at night. All of these are easy to fix. Since it's upon waking and it goes away, one of these is most likely to culprit.

Twitches: Again, anxiety can cause these and anxiety WILL make them worse. I used to have a single twitch in my arm, freak out that it was MS or ALS or something and then I would be constantly twitching. Naturally, I thought it was a symptom of my "disease" getting worse. But when I decided that I was being impractical and really, REALLY let go of the idea that I had one of those diseases, the twitching stopped. It's all subconscious, which makes it harder to move past, but it can be done.

So....it's not likely you have a brain tumor. Of course, if you're truly concerned you should speak to a doctor but they'll likely say the same things to you. You may want to address each problem separately and see what happens (ie. find a better pillow or a mouth guard, slow down and think before you speak, resolve for two weeks not to think about the twitches AT ALL and see what happens).

Best of luck :smile:

[KieranH960]

It can't be adjusting to my meds cause I've been on this dosage for months now.

[JITTERBUG1]

This just sounds like stress. I have all of those symptoms. Have had them for 13 years. They get worse the more stressed out I am. Brain tumor symptoms would more likely be seizures and trouble walking. You just have anxiety. We all understand how you feel, though. I have had the same exact worries.

Take Care, Tiff

[KieranH960]

Poppy, I have braces and have just recently had the high level archwire fitted, maybe this could be the cause of my headaches cause lots of pressure!.

[Miaivanova]

It sounds like anxiety to me. I have your exact symptoms and many more, and the three neurologists I've seen so far have told me that it's nothing serious, just my nerves. One of them still ordered me some tests for next week (an EEG and a MRI) but i'm sure everything is going to be fine. Like you, I was convinced i had a brain tumor and in my head all the symptoms matched what I had read on Google, but now that I think I have another disease the symptoms match better with this one, according to my mind, and probably tomorrow I will find another disease and the symptoms will match with that one as well :/ It's all anxiety.

So try to relax because it's probably nothing, but if you see that you can't control your anxiety and your symptoms get worse, go see your gp or a neurologist, they will be able to put your doubts at rest :)

[NotCool]

As you said it yourself, it might be side effects of your meds. It might also be bad sleep quality, bad diet and lack of excercise. I guess these are by far the most common reasons for stuff you named, especially the sleep part.