Worried CT Missed Something

[Renaemarti]

I had a clear ct brain scan without contrast about a month ago but since I have been reading stories of ct scans missing tumors in the occipital lobe or brainstem. (thanks google) My symptoms of course all point to a tumor in those locations and I can't seem to shake the fear that my ct may have missed something. My gp doesn't think there is any reason to continue any kind of testing because he thinks it is all anxiety that is the cause. My symptoms continue even when I'm not feeling anxious and have been hanging around for 3+ months. I hate living like this! I am constantly thinking about dying and leaving my 2 kids and husband behind and I can't stand the thought! Here are my symptoms..

Visual symptoms
-seeing pinpricks of light or black for a second
-seeing increased afterimages
-when I wake up in the middle of the night my vision is completely out of whack, I see lots of after images and spots and vision feels like its jumpy or moving around
-when I close my eyes at night I sometimes see bright colors and patterns swirling around
-I get white spots in my eyes (almost like a camera flash) but they are dark when I open my eyes.. I can make the spot show up more if I blink repeatedly (very weird and hard to describe symptom)

Twitching and tingling
-I get small muscle twitches in different parts of my body but most commonly in my left leg and left hand.
-I get pins and needles or buzzing sensations in parts of my body
-my left leg and right arm feels weaker or heavy, I have never had any problems using my arm and leg but it just has a strange feeling to it

Neck pain
-I have neck pain when I turn my head a certain direction and I also have a crackly popping in it when I roll my neck around.

I do get headaches but not very often, when I get them they are usually tension type headaches or one sided headaches located right in my right eyebrow bone

Dizzy feeling
-I had one episode of a true vertigo feeling of the room spinning but since that one episode the dizziness is more of a general feeling of dizziness rather than the room spinning vertigo.

can anyone relate to these symptoms? I just cant understand how anxiety could cause such scary visual symptoms like the ones I am getting.. I can see maybe the twitching, dizziness, and headaches being caused by anxiety but the visual symptoms are what scares me the most.

[Fishmanpa]

I'm sorry you're still worried but you've been cleared by very precise and thorough medical imaging/testing. I just wanted to point out how your symptoms relate to anxiety. Click the links.




Visual symptoms (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms#Eyes_Blurred_vision_Eyes_sensitive_to_lig ht_Dry_watery_or_itchy_eyes)
-seeing pinpricks of light or black for a second
-seeing increased afterimages
-when I wake up in the middle of the night my vision is completely out of whack, I see lots of after images and spots and vision feels like its jumpy or moving around
-when I close my eyes at night I sometimes see bright colors and patterns swirling around
-I get white spots in my eyes (almost like a camera flash) but they are dark when I open my eyes.. I can make the spot show up more if I blink repeatedly (very weird and hard to describe symptom)

Twitching and tingling (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms#Muscles_muscle_tension_stiffness_muscle_t witching_tight_scalp_or_neck)
-I get small muscle twitches in different parts of my body but most commonly in my left leg and left hand.
-I get pins and needles or buzzing sensations in parts of my body
-my left leg and right arm feels weaker or heavy, I have never had any problems using my arm and leg but it just has a strange feeling to it

Neck pain (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms#Muscles_muscle_tension_stiffness_muscle_t witching_tight_scalp_or_neck)
-I have neck pain when I turn my head a certain direction and I also have a crackly popping in it when I roll my neck around.

I do get headaches but not very often, when I get them they are usually tension type headaches or one sided headaches located right in my right eyebrow bone

Dizzy feeling (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/symptoms#Dizziness_or_light-headedness)
-I had one episode of a true vertigo feeling of the room spinning but since that one episode the dizziness is more of a general feeling of dizziness rather than the room spinning vertigo.

can anyone relate to these symptoms? I just cant understand how anxiety could cause such scary visual symptoms like the ones I am getting.. I can see maybe the twitching, dizziness, and headaches being caused by anxiety but the visual symptoms are what scares me the most.

Treating the real reason for your symptoms (anxiety) will most often help alleviate the symptoms associated with them. Hope you feel better soon.

Positive thoughts

[Nzxt27]

I also get tons of small twitches that only last for a second or two then goes away but can come back seems like 100 a hour. I can see my twitches too if I watch them when they start. I wish they would go away.

[countrygirl]

I get all your symptms too as I would imagine do most people on here. The visual stuff is actually normal but most people don't notice is but because of your anxiety you do. If you have had an eye examination and it was clear then you can be reasssured on all fronts. IF you haven't had an eye exam in last year then go and get one as they are a great health mot.

Ct scans can pick up brain tumours in the brain stem as my neighbour had what they thought was a small stroke last summer but a ct scan picked up something on her brainstem that required further testing and it was an inoperable tumour:weep: so this is first hand proof that they are not always missed.

[Renaemarti]

I'm sorry you're still worried but you've been cleared by very precise and thorough medical imaging/testing. I just wanted to point out how your symptoms relate to anxiety. Click the links.



Treating the real reason for your symptoms (anxiety) will most often help alleviate the symptoms associated with them. Hope you feel better soon.

Positive thoughts


thank you so much for this reply, it really makes me feel better that these symptoms can be associated with anxiety. I hope I can relax and let these symptoms subside. How long can these symptoms last after my anxiety is under control. I thought I had it under control for around a month but they just don't seem to be going anywhere!

---------- Post added at 17:28 ---------- Previous post was at 17:24 ----------


I get all your symptms too as I would imagine do most people on here. The visual stuff is actually normal but most people don't notice is but because of your anxiety you do. If you have had an eye examination and it was clear then you can be reasssured on all fronts. IF you haven't had an eye exam in last year then go and get one as they are a great health mot.

Ct scans can pick up brain tumours in the brain stem as my neighbour had what they thought was a small stroke last summer but a ct scan picked up something on her brainstem that required further testing and it was an inoperable tumour:weep: so this is first hand proof that they are not always missed.

So sorry about your neighbor :( but thank you for your reply.. I always seem to find the stories on google that reinforce my fears rather than ones that are the norm. UGH! My eye exam was last week, and all checked out including my retina and optic nerve, he didn't detect any pressure in my against my optic nerves. I initially felt better until I started googling again. I have to force myself to trust the doctors and stay away from google! I do ok until one of these weird things happen and it throws me right back into the fear and doubting.

[Fishmanpa]

thank you so much for this reply, it really makes me feel better that these symptoms can be associated with anxiety. I hope I can relax and let these symptoms subside. How long can these symptoms last after my anxiety is under control. I thought I had it under control for around a month but they just don't seem to be going anywhere!

:) Glad it helped. Concerning longevity of symptoms? Think of your anxiety like a campfire. When it's burning hot, your symptoms are worse. But, even when the fire goes down, there are still a lot of very hot coals and all it takes is a little fuel (like a trigger or symptom) to get the fire burning hot again. Your anxiety has to be quiet for a while for the coals to go out entirely and it's different for everyone.

Positive thoughts

[Renaemarti]

my family has a large instance of migraine.. my grandmother has debilitating migraines that occur 3-4x a week and she actually had to quit her job because of it. My aunt and sister get them frequently as well. My mom has had them a few times in her life. My doctor suggested that some of my visual problems could be associated with migraine but my headaches normally do not come after I get the visual symptoms and my visual symptoms seem to be more frequent than a migraine aura would.