Epilepsy and other things

[KhaleesiDragon]

I randomly started having epilepsy two years ago (when I was 25). Of course I had the "brain tumor freak out" until I got my normal cat scan in the hospital followed by normal MRI results. I had two more seizures while on medicine, then spent a week in the hospital for eeg monitoring, they made me have a seizure, changed my meds and now my brain feels 100% normal. It's great. I feel like I've never had epilepsy, I drive, work a waitress job etc. my meds work and it doesn't control my life :)

Only thing is after all of that I started worrying to much about everything else. Random red blotches on my skin that get brighter after a shower. Light rash on my face that fades after the shower. Pitted nails. High blood sugar that lasted a day, low WBC count after a test was done (sugar for the past 3 months was normal though) . I had a random food allergy that only last two years and went away. Night sweats ONLY after smoking weed.

When I google my symptoms some point to autoimmune disease and of course it makes me overly anxious. I don't feel physically sick just really, really anxious. I'm afraid of having lupus because of the nose rash or diabetes mellitus.

Then again I've been stressed like crazy about money, school, moving etc. I wouldn't doubt if anxiety and panic itself lowers immune function. I had a bad cold a week ago and it went away completely after two days so obviously my body can fight that off. Do any of you see a counselor or take anxiety meds?

[artist12]

Hey Khaleesi,

I wouldn't be at all surprised if you've developed some anxiety specific to health issues, after your experiences. Glad to hear you're doing well! But I bet it was stressful at the time and maybe even more so than you realized in the moment? That's kind of how this all started with me...testing for a brain tumor around the age of 12 when it ended up being cluster headaches (form of migraine).

And like you said, normal everyday stresses can take my health anxiety to ridiculously high levels.

I am not currently taking meds because my only experience with Zoloft gave me the terrible side effect of upset stomach and I couldn't push through it (though that was a while ago, maybe I'd be more willing to try now).

Instead I've been focusing on more holistic approaches like exercise, meditation, a better diet, more sleep, etc. I've got a long way to go but I see tiny shreds of hope in some of these changes.

I've gone to a family therapist but in my opinion, you really need to see someone who is experienced with anxiety/phobias/OCD, etc.

Good luck to you!