Ms fear

[Elliejane44]

Hi

I don't post on here very often . I suffer from health anxiety over myself and my children . I have spells of good times where I have very little anxiety then bad spells with the opposite . I started cbt about a month ago and doing health though sheets and diaries etc

A few weeks ago I was worried over oral cancer due to a colleague having been diagnosed

Now I moved onto ms . Last weekend I needed toilet all time and stupid googled it and one came up with ms . Even though I know I often get urine infections . That has gone now but since Monday I had this strange feeling in my left leg . It is like I am aware of my leg more and feel something pressing on it or slight numb . It worse if I walk don't feel it as much sitting . Today it also have moved up my leg to right buttock ! I am paranoid it ms .
I am 45 so a bit out of the normal diagnosis age .

I did have a gp appointment but cancelled till next week as trying not to go to gp as soon as I get symptoms now . Part of my cbt

So guess 2 things any thoughts on ms and any suggestions how not to immediately think worse over a body sensation

I hate health anxiety but guess we all do

Thanks for reading

Ellie

[ServerError]

MS can be a hard disease to diagnose. However, there are classic signs that doctors recognise, and you haven't described any of them. Plus, very few people are diagnosed with MS at your age.

I would bank on your sensations - which sound quite vague - being psychosomatic, or related to posture and tension.

[Sampowell542]

I've been getting left leg pain - not pain as such but like I'm more aware of it so you're not alone!
I honestly wouldn't worry about it. I've had it for 3 weeks now and if I don't think of it it's not there. Think it's just because my back muscles are so tense it's sitting on a nerve. And partly because everytime I don't have it I think of it and it comes back.

Sam xx

[Elliejane44]

Thanks for both your replies

Yesterday I was not aware of any sensation in my leg . I did have a sore eye which I thought was optic neuritis but eye drops have cured it . Did leg go as my mind was thinking about my eye instead !

However today I back the feeling the sensation in my left leg right above my knee like someone pinched the skin feeling and foot feels but tingly. I don't seem to be feel it much if at all when sitting or lying only walking

Still worried it start of ms ! Husband just rolls his eyes at me . I am doing cbt but still struggling to think rationally .

Any tips

I know I over thinking . If I was reading this post by someone else I would think that

Ellie

[ServerError]

Ellie, you aren't describing MS symptoms! I've seen MS first hand as my mum has it. It's true that MS has different forms and affects people differently, but as I said, there are classic signs. You simply aren't showing any.

If you're doing CBT, what tips do you think you could take from that to help you with this? Because the best tip I can give you is to keep meeting your anxious thoughts with counter thoughts - namely, that this doesn't look anything like MS, and that MS is very rarely diagnosed at your age.

[Elliejane44]

Thanks again for replying . So sorry about your mum . I hope I don't offend anyone with ms or family with ms with my worries

My cbt therapist says same I have to complete a though diary with factual evidence why I think I have ms and factual evidence why not etc etc . I complete the sheet abd try not to think about it . Guess it just won't stop overnight

I think I expecting too much as I just want to be able tobrush off symptoms as nothing like my husband and most other folk do ! Instead of going to the worst thing possible every time I have anything wrong

Ellie

[Bittersweet05]

Hi. My father had ms and took many many years for diagnosis. I think they finally said it was because they didn't know. They thought only in his head. But he had no feeling in his legs and he would say he had a buzz in his ears. Then he would tremble all over. He lived with that for over 40 years. Hang in there. Doesn't sound like how he was. I know i deal with HA and I wish I didnt.

[ServerError]

Thanks again for replying . So sorry about your mum . I hope I don't offend anyone with ms or family with ms with my worries

My cbt therapist says same I have to complete a though diary with factual evidence why I think I have ms and factual evidence why not etc etc . I complete the sheet abd try not to think about it . Guess it just won't stop overnight

I think I expecting too much as I just want to be able tobrush off symptoms as nothing like my husband and most other folk do ! Instead of going to the worst thing possible every time I have anything wrong

Ellie

I'm not offended in the slightest. If you're offended by people worrying about diseases they don't have, a forum full of hypochondriacs may not be the place for you! What you're doing is not really any different to when I was worrying about schizophrenia even though I didn't have it. So I've been there too. I just mention the fact my mum has MS so you know that I've seen it first hand when I say you don't have it, albeit I'm still no expert.

If you look at my earliest posts on this forum, you'll see how bad I was. Arguably, I was worse than you. I'm not saying it's a competition, but I think people should take heart from the fact that someone can go to as dark a place as I did and come back from it. What you say about being able to brush things off, I am now able to do. But you can't expect CBT to magically make that happen. It's good that you're continuing to try, but don't hold on too tightly. Treat it as a tool in your arsenal rather than a magic answer in itself. And be prepared to tell your therapist absolutely everything, including if you think things aren't working. The more they know, the more they can help you. I should say that, in my case, CBT worked best in conjunction with medication.

Have you ever explored the concept of acceptance and mindfulness? It's genuinely effective as part of the effort to get better. As you rightly say, it won't go away over night, but some degree of acceptance of thevway things are rather than the way you wish they were could help take the sting out of your situation.

[Elliejane44]

I not good today . Last night I started to get a pain in my toe like you have cut your nail too short feeling at top of nail and today it in my other toe as well . I woke at 5 in a panic over it and feel sick worrying what it is. It like you scraped under toe nail with scissors feeling .

I so down that I feel I will never recover or feel normal again

I am on citropram but never really felt it has helped anxiety . Depression yes but I still get very anxious

I not sure what to do next . My husband is at end of his tether and don't want to phone my parents to worry them again .

Finding life hard going with this latest episode . See my counsellor next Tuesday .

Ellie

[ServerError]

The thing to do next is get real world help for this uncontrollable anxiety. Tell your doctor or your therapist - whoever. There's not much we can do for you here. All I can really do is tell you that this feeling in your toe doesn't sound like anything to worry about. But I doubt that is much help.

[Elliejane44]

Thank you server error . I really appreciate it .

I have booked gp for Friday both to discuss my worries and also my health anxiety. She knows that I suffer and we have been debating trying a new anti depressant for a few months .

I am teary today so thank you so much for replying

Ellie

[ServerError]

Your GP will tell you that the feeling in your toe is nothing to worry about. So be prepared for that. You aren't going to be referred to a neurologist. Which is a good thing.

MS may be hard to diagnose at times, but there's no mistaking that something serious is wrong when you have it. There's no teary days of worrying about minor bodily sensations. Doctors don't dismiss you. My GP sent my mum straight to hospital when her symptoms first emerged. He didn't know it was MS, but he knew something serious was going on.

[Elliejane44]

Thank you again. I think my main thing that I need to resolve is acceptance of fact that I will get sensations , pain etc in my body and it does not have to mean it is a serious illness. I know that is what I need to do I just can't get my mind to do that . That is what I really think is my key to success and also not googling .

I have 2 theories of why I might be getting this toe issue, yoga that I started 2 weeks ago to help me with anxiety and breathing or the fact I ran a wee bit yesterday with running shoes and no socks . It feels like Ingrown nail pain but with no ingrown bit.

I really appreciate you taking time to reply to my posts .

I hope your mum is doing well .

Ellie

[tryingtosurvive1]

From everything I've read about MS--and I read a lot because i thought I might have it last year--it does present with various classic manifestations. None of which you have.