CleverLittleViper
06-10-14, 16:25
For the past few weeks, I've been suffering with what has been diagnosed as severe anxiety. It began when I started to get numbness in my hands, Carpal Tunnel-like symptoms (and was initially dx. with CTS) and the next day, my extremities went really cold.
I wasn't entirely honest with my GP on the initial assessment of CTS, she asked if I had any vision problems and I said no. Well, back earlier in the year, I had developed eye strain like symptoms-dry, sore, itchy, burning eyes, especially if I stayed up late or was using the computer for prolonged periods of time w/o break.
Because I'd been to the opticians recently (just over 2 weeks ago) and my eyes were healthy and normal, I didn't consider it relevant so said no.
Since then, it's been plaguing me. What if that was the key to actually diagnosing me? What if she's missed something?
Anyway, here's my (long) list of symptoms:
1) Numb hands and sometimes numb feet
2) Cold extremities
3) Numb/weak limbs
4) Muscle cramps/pain
5) Stiffness
6) Constant tension headache
7) Tight/numb face
8) Light-headedness
9) Difficulty swallowing
10) Feels like my tongue is swollen
11) Neck cramps
12) oily skin and hair (even after a wash)
13) Nausea that sometimes turns into vomiting
14) Depersonalisation/derealisation
15) Vibrations
16) Insomnia
When I wake up, my hands and feet are numb. I'm not sure if the feet thing is related to the sedatives I'm on, and I, in part, expect my CTS (if indeed it is that) to flare up in the morning/through the night. Today, my right lower leg just went numb, even when I walked around it still felt weird. I don't necessarily lose sensation in my body parts when they go numb, they just feel kind of odd, tight and full.
I'm terrified it's something serious. Some undetected disease, but the doctor/s (I saw one at the out of hours patient clinic on Saturday as well) are convinced all of this is anxiety. On Saturday, the doctor checked again behind my eyes with a light, my blood pressure, my ability to grip and push against him, and found nothing wrong.
If it was MS, or something of that ilk, they would have known, right? My regular GP outright threw the suggestion of MS out of the window, and said I do not have it, and it's not something I have to worry about. But I can't help it. She said what they look for is loss of function, something I do not have.
I'm just so scared. All the time. I can't shut it off. If I read one more thing about how someone was diagnosed with anxiety but it turned out to be something else, I'm going to go crazy.
I have to learn to trust the doctors, and accept the diagnosis. It's just, I've experienced anxiety before, but never like this. Normally, I can just skip on down to the clinic and get a test for whatever I'm fearing, and my fears are alleviated. I've never had it so physical before, and I feel god-awful every day.
Every day I wake up, I think I'm going to be better, and when I'm not, it's a massive blow. I just don't know how, even in my sleep, I'm presenting symptoms of anxiety. :shrug:
I wasn't entirely honest with my GP on the initial assessment of CTS, she asked if I had any vision problems and I said no. Well, back earlier in the year, I had developed eye strain like symptoms-dry, sore, itchy, burning eyes, especially if I stayed up late or was using the computer for prolonged periods of time w/o break.
Because I'd been to the opticians recently (just over 2 weeks ago) and my eyes were healthy and normal, I didn't consider it relevant so said no.
Since then, it's been plaguing me. What if that was the key to actually diagnosing me? What if she's missed something?
Anyway, here's my (long) list of symptoms:
1) Numb hands and sometimes numb feet
2) Cold extremities
3) Numb/weak limbs
4) Muscle cramps/pain
5) Stiffness
6) Constant tension headache
7) Tight/numb face
8) Light-headedness
9) Difficulty swallowing
10) Feels like my tongue is swollen
11) Neck cramps
12) oily skin and hair (even after a wash)
13) Nausea that sometimes turns into vomiting
14) Depersonalisation/derealisation
15) Vibrations
16) Insomnia
When I wake up, my hands and feet are numb. I'm not sure if the feet thing is related to the sedatives I'm on, and I, in part, expect my CTS (if indeed it is that) to flare up in the morning/through the night. Today, my right lower leg just went numb, even when I walked around it still felt weird. I don't necessarily lose sensation in my body parts when they go numb, they just feel kind of odd, tight and full.
I'm terrified it's something serious. Some undetected disease, but the doctor/s (I saw one at the out of hours patient clinic on Saturday as well) are convinced all of this is anxiety. On Saturday, the doctor checked again behind my eyes with a light, my blood pressure, my ability to grip and push against him, and found nothing wrong.
If it was MS, or something of that ilk, they would have known, right? My regular GP outright threw the suggestion of MS out of the window, and said I do not have it, and it's not something I have to worry about. But I can't help it. She said what they look for is loss of function, something I do not have.
I'm just so scared. All the time. I can't shut it off. If I read one more thing about how someone was diagnosed with anxiety but it turned out to be something else, I'm going to go crazy.
I have to learn to trust the doctors, and accept the diagnosis. It's just, I've experienced anxiety before, but never like this. Normally, I can just skip on down to the clinic and get a test for whatever I'm fearing, and my fears are alleviated. I've never had it so physical before, and I feel god-awful every day.
Every day I wake up, I think I'm going to be better, and when I'm not, it's a massive blow. I just don't know how, even in my sleep, I'm presenting symptoms of anxiety. :shrug: