ls
24-05-17, 23:26
Hello,
I've suffered with health anxiety for a few years now, which is usually always present but sometimes gets set off really badly by something and I get stuck in a circle of symptoms causing anxiety which causes symptoms which cause anxiety.
My latest 'circle' started about two weeks ago when I had a swollen gland appear on my neck. It went down a few days later and I figured it was caused by two people in the house having a cold, but not before days of extreme worry because of it. This anxiety, I think, led to tingling sensations in my legs and arms, which scared me a lot at the time as it was my first time getting tingling, but have now reduced.
However, on Sunday night I got a tiny, dull ache in my lower leg while laying down which only lasted a second or two. Of course, my mind being on red alert due to my worry about the tingling, picked up on it immediately and began stressing about that. I then got more aches in both legs, as well as my feet, arms and hands which are still occurring now. The pain is not bad at all, just noticeable. It doesn't feel muscular, possibly nerve pain as it is in the same places as the tingling was. It comes and goes all over those places and only lasts for a second or two at a time. I have had a bit of pain in my stomach and back, but they feel different and more like muscular cramps, so I'm thinking they may be due to my body being tense from the stress of the other aches.
I've been in a pretty much constant state of panic over the aches since Sunday, but I've noticed they seems to be more achy and frequent when I'm really stressing about them. They've been on my mind all the time, however there have been two short times where I was so busy that I had no choice but to not think about them, and during those times I didn't feel the aches at all, they only returned when I was finished with my tasks and was able to think about them again. Also, when I first wake up I don't feel them at all, they only come a few minutes after when I begin to think about them.
My mind has made up symptoms before - last summer, I caught a whiff of smoke as I walked past an open window (most likely my neighbour having a bonfire) and immediately worried that the smell was in my mind and that I had something wrong with my brain; cue two months of phantom smoke smells and sheer terror until I was able to distract myself long enough to realize that they went away when I wasn't thinking about them. The smoke smell went away afterwards and I haven't had it since.
However, I'm still worried about the aches I'm currently experiencing. So I'm really just hoping someone could offer me some reassurance, do you think these pains are just in my mind and that it's possible for anxiety to cause this?
Thanks to anyone who read this. :)
I've suffered with health anxiety for a few years now, which is usually always present but sometimes gets set off really badly by something and I get stuck in a circle of symptoms causing anxiety which causes symptoms which cause anxiety.
My latest 'circle' started about two weeks ago when I had a swollen gland appear on my neck. It went down a few days later and I figured it was caused by two people in the house having a cold, but not before days of extreme worry because of it. This anxiety, I think, led to tingling sensations in my legs and arms, which scared me a lot at the time as it was my first time getting tingling, but have now reduced.
However, on Sunday night I got a tiny, dull ache in my lower leg while laying down which only lasted a second or two. Of course, my mind being on red alert due to my worry about the tingling, picked up on it immediately and began stressing about that. I then got more aches in both legs, as well as my feet, arms and hands which are still occurring now. The pain is not bad at all, just noticeable. It doesn't feel muscular, possibly nerve pain as it is in the same places as the tingling was. It comes and goes all over those places and only lasts for a second or two at a time. I have had a bit of pain in my stomach and back, but they feel different and more like muscular cramps, so I'm thinking they may be due to my body being tense from the stress of the other aches.
I've been in a pretty much constant state of panic over the aches since Sunday, but I've noticed they seems to be more achy and frequent when I'm really stressing about them. They've been on my mind all the time, however there have been two short times where I was so busy that I had no choice but to not think about them, and during those times I didn't feel the aches at all, they only returned when I was finished with my tasks and was able to think about them again. Also, when I first wake up I don't feel them at all, they only come a few minutes after when I begin to think about them.
My mind has made up symptoms before - last summer, I caught a whiff of smoke as I walked past an open window (most likely my neighbour having a bonfire) and immediately worried that the smell was in my mind and that I had something wrong with my brain; cue two months of phantom smoke smells and sheer terror until I was able to distract myself long enough to realize that they went away when I wasn't thinking about them. The smoke smell went away afterwards and I haven't had it since.
However, I'm still worried about the aches I'm currently experiencing. So I'm really just hoping someone could offer me some reassurance, do you think these pains are just in my mind and that it's possible for anxiety to cause this?
Thanks to anyone who read this. :)