Please - I'm really close to losing it :(

[ElectricAlice]

Does anyone get tingling random body parts? At the moment I've had pretty persistent tingling in my left foot for about the last 6 years.

I just read another post about this where someone was diagnosed with my feared illness after having a tingling foot and I'm close to absolutely losing it. I just want my life back.

[Gary A]

Does anyone get tingling random body parts? At the moment I've had pretty persistent tingling in my left foot for about the last 6 years.

I just read another post about this where someone was diagnosed with my feared illness after having a tingling foot and I'm close to absolutely losing it. I just want my life back.

6 years? I'm sure if it were a sign of anything nasty you'd have known long before now.

[ElectricAlice]

That's what I try to think but I have also read about having this symptom for many many years before MS is diagnosed :( I'm freaking out.

[ServerError]

MS isn't about tingling, though. My mum has it. Yeah, she does experience tingling, but the symptoms are far more complex than that. It's more about the extent to which you can control and use various parts of your body. After six years, I'd expect you to have had an attack in which motor skills were severely impaired.

[ElectricAlice]

Sorry to hear about your mum - I hope she is doing OK. I've had sensory symptoms like tingling on and off for about 6 years, mainly on the left side. And I have tingling and slightly numb patches in my back. No other symptoms. I had a brain mri and saw a nuerologist both concluded psychosomatic anxiety. But I have basically convinced myself it's ms because of all the stories I've read and forums I've visited. I just can't move past this fear. I even know it's not the end of the world to have it but that's doesn't stop my fear.

[Fishmanpa]

I have basically convinced myself it's ms because of all the stories I've read and forums I've visited. I just can't move past this fear.

When people post fears here, they're hoping for some reassurance. Then, reassurance (and logic/facts) is given in the hopes that the OP will recognize the irrationality and move past it.

When the response is as above it shows the futility of even trying :( It also shows how many of these fears are self-inflicted. It comes down to the individual to seek help in changing their thinking and behaviors to avoid the spiral of anxiety.

I do hope you find a way to move past this Alice.

Positive thoughts

[Gary A]

Sorry to hear about your mum - I hope she is doing OK. I've had sensory symptoms like tingling on and off for about 6 years, mainly on the left side. And I have tingling and slightly numb patches in my back. No other symptoms. I had a brain mri and saw a nuerologist both concluded psychosomatic anxiety. But I have basically convinced myself it's ms because of all the stories I've read and forums I've visited. I just can't move past this fear. I even know it's not the end of the world to have it but that's doesn't stop my fear.

Well then stop reading stories online.

A brain MRI, the most sophisticated form of imagary in medicine, and a neurologist, pretty much the most complex profession in medicine, have told you that this is all in your head.

Yet, random stories on Google have "convinced" you?

I repeat the point I made in another thread. I see absolutely no point in posting on this forum if you receive a number or replies and then just revert back to thinking the worst anyway. It's clearly not reassuring you, it's clearly not aiding you in seeing the faults in your thinking pattern, it's basically just one big circle.

Ask yourself what it is that you want to get out of posting here and then when you figure that out, think of ways in which you could help achieve that.

[ElectricAlice]

Yeah you're right I need to just stop posting and go ogling. It usually does help. Thank you.

[Gary A]

Yeah you're right I need to just stop posting and go ogling. It usually does help. Thank you.

Post here all you want, just set yourself some goals. You've been posting here for a few years now with the exact same concerns, so clearly nothing has helped at all.

When you get answers, try not to just dismiss them with a "yeah but", try to actually study the logic in them. Try to brand your brain with what your neurologist has said, what your GP has said and what your MRI scan has said.

Google is utterly worthless compared to the information you've been given in the real world, it's time to start realising that and acting on it.

[ElectricAlice]

Post here all you want, just set yourself some goals. You've been posting here for a few years now with the exact same concerns, so clearly nothing has helped at all.

When you get answers, try not to just dismiss them with a "yeah but", try to actually study the logic in them. Try to brand your brain with what your neurologist has said, what your GP has said and what your MRI scan has said.

Google is utterly worthless compared to the information you've been given in the real world, it's time to start realising that and acting on it.

thankyou this really helps me see sense!

[Dave1]

Hi Alice, As Gary says - post as many times as you want. If you've got stubborn anxiety then this is the place to be!

I've had mild tingling in both feet for about 15 years. The neurologist confirmed it was caused by hyperventilation. He was very mildly irritated having to see me, I think he would rather be diagnosing a rare illness. It's my own fault for always breathing with a tense diaphragm. Naughty me!

I too was worried about MS, you've seen a neurologist, so you're absolutely OK too. A word of warning, when I knew it wasn't MS I then began worrying about totally unrelated illnesses instead!! Grr! :mad: So it'll never end unless you tackle the underlying anxiety and indeed the underlying causes of the anxiety (if it's possible to work out what it is about your life that leaves you vulnerable to anxiety). All much easier said than done of course!

Added:

Fishmanpa said:
When people post fears here, they're hoping for some reassurance. Then, reassurance (and logic/facts) is given in the hopes that the OP will recognize the irrationality and move past it. When the response is as above it shows the futility of even trying

My personal worrying technique is to say thank you very much for the re-assurance, I'll now worry about a fresh illness!!! :)

[ErinKC]

I haven't read through all the other responses, but I get tingling on my left side any time my anxiety is flaring up. It's actually often the first sign, even before I realize I'm anxious. I'll get numbness and tingling in my left arm/down to my hand and in my left foot. I've also found that it gets progressively worse as my anxiety grows. I think what happens is that I am tensing my body and it's causing pinches nerves in my back. It will last for a good while, even once the anxiety passes because my body has to get itself back to normal.

I will also get this if I have particularly bad posture, as it's putting pressure on my mid to lower spine. The last time it happened was after my daughter had been sick for a week. I've been laying/slumping over on the couch with her all week watching movies on my computer and snuggling, always in the worse possible position. Then the numbness started in my left arm and hand, and after a day or so moved to my left foot. This made me anxious, and that only made it worse from the heavy breathing and hypersensitivity to every sensation. I took a few doses of Advil to reduce inflammation and made sure to sit up straighter and spend some time stretching my back/laying flat and it subsided.

If this has come and gone for you over such a long period of time, it would make sense that it's something like this - trapped nerves combined with anxiety - more than anything serious that would likely progress over time without stopping. Do you have a job or do activities where you're hunching over a lot?

[ElectricAlice]

I haven't read through all the other responses, but I get tingling on my left side any time my anxiety is flaring up. It's actually often the first sign, even before I realize I'm anxious. I'll get numbness and tingling in my left arm/down to my hand and in my left foot. I've also found that it gets progressively worse as my anxiety grows. I think what happens is that I am tensing my body and it's causing pinches nerves in my back. It will last for a good while, even once the anxiety passes because my body has to get itself back to normal.

I will also get this if I have particularly bad posture, as it's putting pressure on my mid to lower spine. The last time it happened was after my daughter had been sick for a week. I've been laying/slumping over on the couch with her all week watching movies on my computer and snuggling, always in the worse possible position. Then the numbness started in my left arm and hand, and after a day or so moved to my left foot. This made me anxious, and that only made it worse from the heavy breathing and hypersensitivity to every sensation. I took a few doses of Advil to reduce inflammation and made sure to sit up straighter and spend some time stretching my back/laying flat and it subsided.

If this has come and gone for you over such a long period of time, it would make sense that it's something like this - trapped nerves combined with anxiety - more than anything serious that would likely progress over time without stopping. Do you have a job or do activities where you're hunching over a lot?


This is almost exactly what happens to me, it comes on kind of suddenly out of nowhere and then sticks around for a few weeks to months and then usually subsides [Or I finally stop worrying about it and don't notice it as much]. But yeah, exactly the same, apart from I get it in my left cheek near my mouth too. This is very reassuring thank you - especially as mine takes a while to pass as well.

---------- Post added at 10:16 ---------- Previous post was at 10:12 ----------


Hi Alice, As Gary says - post as many times as you want. If you've got stubborn anxiety then this is the place to be!

I've had mild tingling in both feet for about 15 years. The neurologist confirmed it was caused by hyperventilation. He was very mildly irritated having to see me, I think he would rather be diagnosing a rare illness. It's my own fault for always breathing with a tense diaphragm. Naughty me!

I too was worried about MS, you've seen a neurologist, so you're absolutely OK too. A word of warning, when I knew it wasn't MS I then began worrying about totally unrelated illnesses instead!! Grr! :mad: So it'll never end unless you tackle the underlying anxiety and indeed the underlying causes of the anxiety (if it's possible to work out what it is about your life that leaves you vulnerable to anxiety). All much easier said than done of course!

Added:

Fishmanpa said:

My personal worrying technique is to say thank you very much for the re-assurance, I'll now worry about a fresh illness!!! :)


Thank you so much for replying - this is EXTREMELY helpful haha. I realised this morning that the tingling is definitely worse when I focus on it. So to prove this I started focusing and worrying about tingling in my right foot. And now I have tingling in both feet -_- haha. But I definitely am breath incorrectly all the time too. Do you ever get a very tight feeling in your lungs and chest from this when you try to breath from your stomach again? It's very reassuring you have had this tingling for so long and the nuerologist confirmed it could be from hyperventilation syndrome. I've had it in my feet [mainly left] since my mum passed away in 2010. So that's almost 6 years. Logically I'm sure I would have had some other symptoms by now if it was MS and untreated for that matter.

---------- Post added at 10:19 ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 ----------

Oh and the postural thing makes sense because I have awful posture that has worsened since the birth of my son, with continuous breastfeeding. I've actually locked the internet on my phone to stop myself googling and this is the only place I'm going to check if I feel I REALLY need help. Googling is the WORST. I swear if I had never googled I never would have even worried all this time. I would have gone to the DR's and taken his diagnosis. Why can't we feel like we did when we were kids. Sick for a week and no worry whatsoever because we didn't GOOGLE.

[ErinKC]

[/COLOR]Oh and the postural thing makes sense because I have awful posture that has worsened since the birth of my son, with continuous breastfeeding. I've actually locked the internet on my phone to stop myself googling and this is the only place I'm going to check if I feel I REALLY need help. Googling is the WORST. I swear if I had never googled I never would have even worried all this time. I would have gone to the DR's and taken his diagnosis. Why can't we feel like we did when we were kids. Sick for a week and no worry whatsoever because we didn't GOOGLE.[/QUOTE]

Oh my, mine was so so much worse when I was breastfeeding!! Giving birth and breastfeeding were the absolute worst for my back/neck AND anxiety. And not looking down at your phone while nursing with help both!

My anxiety was at its worst postpartum.[COLOR="blue"]

[ElectricAlice]

Same! Although weirdly enough my symptoms vanished during pregnancy! How were yours during? A couple weeks after the birth mine came back for 2 months. Finally they went when I fully accepted them and 5 months later they're here again. It's very confusing!:huh:

[Dave1]

Do you ever get a very tight feeling in your lungs and chest from this when you try to breath from your stomach again?

Yes. It feels like my diaphragm is kind of locked shut due to tension and trying to breath from the stomach doesn't work. If I work on my relaxation eventually it seems like my diaphragm 'unlocks' and I can then breathe deeply.

[ErinKC]

Same! Although weirdly enough my symptoms vanished during pregnancy! How were yours during? A couple weeks after the birth mine came back for 2 months. Finally they went when I fully accepted them and 5 months later they're here again. It's very confusing!:huh:

I had almost the exact experience as you.

I didn't have any anxiety during pregnancy either. My anxiety has always been really mild. It would pop up now and then but I could get it under control within a week or so on my own. Then, postpartum it was very bad right after and for the first month or two, just like you - those postpartum hormones are AWFUL!! And then it went away, just like you, when I got more acclimated to motherhood.

Then, it came back in full force when my daughter was around 8 months old. I have no idea why either! And then it got increasingly worse up to her first birthday. It reached a climax when she was about 14 months old, and that's when I finally started seeing a therapist and was able to get it totally under control. My daughter turns 3 in May and for about the last year and a half it's been very controlled. I've had a few panic attacks in that time - maybe 3 or 4, but I haven't gotten bogged down with the cycle of anxiety I had back then.

You're not the first person I've encountered who has a similar situation. I am thinking there must be some kind of hormonal shift around this time postpartum for nursing moms. I would think the amount of nursing is decreasing as they get older and start eating solids that might cause a hormone change and kick up the anxiety again.

[ElectricAlice]

My goodness, this is exactly what happened to me - down to the age my son was when my anxiety returned. He was 8 months. Do you have the tingling sensations returning when your anxiety returns too? How long have you had them for? Do you ever experience cold hands or numbness too? My left hand feels so weird today like cold and more numb on the fingers. It's really quite reassuring to hear all this - although I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I also get depersonalisation, tingling across my back and numb patches. I have an underactive thyroid so I'm thinking this might be causing my symptom flare ups too.

I wsh I could just feel 'normal'

Thank you for your continuing support.:hugs:

---------- Post added at 16:23 ---------- Previous post was at 16:21 ----------


Yes. It feels like my diaphragm is kind of locked shut due to tension and trying to breath from the stomach doesn't work. If I work on my relaxation eventually it seems like my diaphragm 'unlocks' and I can then breathe deeply.

I get this exactly the same, I totally get what you mean about the unlocking feeling. Do you find the hyperventilation causes anymore physical problems for you? I feel very spaced out and get tingling in my left hand too. I think it also causes my depersonilsation too.

[ErinKC]

Yes, the tingling is directly related to my anxiety and I get both numbness and coldness. It will often feel like waves of cold sensations in my upper arm and hands/fingers. I also get numb and cold spots in my back.

I do think I have a combo of actual intermittent back/pinch nerve issues from bad posture and from carrying my daughter on one hip for three years, but the problems all go hand in hand.

A combo of rest (mental and physical) and ibuprofen help me a lot.