Another brain tumor worrier

[Renaemarti]

For the past couple of months I have been having symptoms that have me worried about a brain tumor. I started out with pressure In my head but that has subsided and now my main symptoms are muscle twitches, mainly in my left leg, tingling in my left arm.. I do get muscle twitches in other places but not nearly as often. My left leg and arm also feels weak or heavy a lot of the time.. I have had a mild vertigo feeling off and on for 2 months as well. The most worrisome symptom at the time are visual disturbances. I have increased after images of bright objects, making it hard to watch tv in a dark room due to all the bright after images I get when blinking or looking away from the tv.. I also see random pin pricks of bright light or black. I have been to my gp with all of these symptoms and he thinks they are due to stress and anxiety and possibly ocular migraine. I had a ct scan done about a month ago and it came back clean. I am worried i could have a brainstem tumor that was missed by the ct scan..
I have read conflicting opinions as to whether cts are useful in diagnosing brain tumors. My gp sees no reason to refer me to a neurologist at this point. Does anyone else have any similar symptoms that are due to anxiety?

[Renaemarti]

Thank you.. I am trying to trust what the Drs are telling me, I am just really worried about the visual symptoms that Are hard for me to believe are due to anxiety. I haven't had a panic attack in over a month and I don't feel overly anxious, other than worrying about the brain tumor symptoms. I did find a few stories on the web that talked about cts missing tumors in the back prt of the brain and of course that has me freaking out!

[countrygirl]

A ct will pick up any brain tumour no question. It will show a "mass" that would need further scans like mri but they would know you have something that needed further looking at. Believe me I have 3 friends with brain tumours/ had brain tumour removal at moment so have experience of how they are diagnosed.
The twitching etc is all stress/tiredness and anxiety. I have had it ona nd off for over 40 years and no neuro disease in that time. For past 2 weeks my left thigh muscle and left upper arm muscle have been twitching badly enough for others to see it. It will go in time as it always does.
The visual things when watching bright tv in a dark room sound totally normal to me. Bright spots and black spots are also quite common and don't have to mean anythng at all.

[Renaemarti]

Thank you for your reply. I feel a little better about my symptoms. I really hope I can manage to calm down and let all of it pass..
I'm doing my best to stay off of google which is why I started worrying about a brain tumor in the first place.

[LilGsMama]

My right leg twitches, just above the knee and to the side.. it looks like something is having a dance under there! Very bizarre. Also having the same bodily twitching I had during my last HA episode back in 2011. I had a clear CT/MRI back then, and I've had clear CT/MRI again this time. Still bugs me though!

:hugs:

[cattia]

This worries me because I have BT worries but unlike everyone else I have never had any kind of brain scan. The dr did look in my eyes but that was a year ago. i wonder should I try to insist on a CT scan?

[countrygirl]

If you have not developed serious symptoms a year later then the chances of your symptoms being from a brain tumour are almost nil as brain tumours even benign ones continue to grow and cause worsening symptoms.

[cattia]

Thanks, my Dr said I have occular migraines as I get lights and flashes but no headache. I have had this more lately, maybe because I am stressed? But of course I am going down the brain tumour route, especially as I have been tired and sometimes bright lights and noise bother me a lot which they never used to.

[Renaemarti]

Thanks, my Dr said I have occular migraines as I get lights and flashes but no headache. I have had this more lately, maybe because I am stressed? But of course I am going down the brain tumour route, especially as I have been tired and sometimes bright lights and noise bother me a lot which they never used to.


Bright lights and noise bothers me more than it used to also.

[cattia]

Thanks Renaemartin, do you sometimes feel like lights and sounds are suddenly magnified or overwhelming? That's how it's been with me lately.

[Renaemarti]

Thanks Renaemartin, do you sometimes feel like lights and sounds are suddenly magnified or overwhelming? That's how it's been with me lately.

Yes. Especially the lights.. Being around florescent lights are the worst. When I was really wound up with anxiety about my symptoms I noticed that smells, lights and sounds all seemed to be more intense and would bother me more. Those things have gradually decreased since I started to get my anxiety more under control. Lately I have been back to worrying more about brain tumor symptoms so I'm noticing these things creeping back up. Ugh! I wish I could convince myself to listen to my dr and trust the ct scan.. Google is my worst enemy!

[cattia]

Yes. Especially the lights.. Being around florescent lights are the worst. When I was really wound up with anxiety about my symptoms I noticed that smells, lights and sounds all seemed to be more intense and would bother me more. Those things have gradually decreased since I started to get my anxiety more under control. Lately I have been back to worrying more about brain tumor symptoms so I'm noticing these things creeping back up. Ugh! I wish I could convince myself to listen to my dr and trust the ct scan.. Google is my worst enemy!

Yes, I know just what you mean! I've been googling balance issues and am now obsessed that my balance is off. I keep testing myself with my eyes closed and feeling really off balance and the more I obsess over it the worse it gets. Why do we do it go ourselves? My anxiety was so under control for ages and now I've let it spiral back to this. So frustrating! Also florescent lights are the worst for me, and going from dark to light. Shopping centres are a nightmare at the moment!

[Renaemarti]

I`ve been to the docs today with what has ended up being a really bad cold / viral infection but my sinuses are inflamed so my head feels like someone is squashing it, I`m coughing up green phlegm, am slightly breathless and feel as rough as possible, along with staggering round like I`m drunk

doc took all my stats and said use steam to clear sinuses and congestion, covonia in hot water to loosen phlegm, and lots of rest - no antibiotics needed

I was stunned but he said there is a huge amount of similar symptoms affecting all ages so treat the symptoms, rest, and let it pass

I know thats not easy when you`ve got HA, I`ve been there myself and it`s dreadful, but just let that thought into your head that maybe your body has an infinite wisdom that will see you through.

take care, breathe deep and let it all pass

Paul

Thank you Paul for your reply... I do have terrible allergies and actually just went through with allergy testing today and discovered I am allergic to numerous things in my environment. Hopefully the shots will help with the dizziness. I just have a hard time convincing myself that all of my symptoms could be due to various benign conditions rather than one very serious condition. I go to the opthalmologist tomorrow and I'm hoping that will help put my mind more at ease.

[Renaemarti]

I just left the opthalmologist and he said my eyes were perfectly healthy. Optic nerve looked great. So with the clear ct, and the opthalmologist would it be safe to assume any type of tumor would have been spotted?

[ItsNick]

Yes! I didn't have a ct scan but had my pupils dilated and I was told my eyes were 100% healthy... I assume that means the optic nerve. People say that should put my mind at ease but it doesn't. You should feel totally confident!

[Renaemarti]

Thanks nick for your reply! I do feel a little better but now I've noticed that my pupils are different sizes. One has went back to normal after the dilation and the other is slightly still dilated. Ugh! Why do I always find something else to worry about. I've never had the eye exam before this one so I don't know if this is normal or not..

[ItsNick]

They'll both be back to normal soon. That's nothing to worry about.