ErinKC
09-09-17, 02:11
I've been off here for a while because I've been feeling great. But, then my anxiety started spiking up over the last few weeks. I had a big family road trip planned that took me weeks to put together, and so I had a good deal of anticipatory anxiety that something would go wrong leading up to it - so it just enhanced my overall stress. I thought as soon as the trip started I'd calm down because I'd see everything was fine. But no.
After only the first 2.5 hour leg of it, we stopped for a break and when I got out there was a sharp pain in my knee. For some reason (well, my anxiety) the first thing I thought of was a blood clot. It was totally irrational because we'd only been driving for 2.5, which I do all the time. But, then the seed was planted. So, for the rest of the trip (6 days from Baltimore to Minneapolis and back) I had this fear in the back of my mind. By day 3 my sciatica was acting up from the driving, and so I had pain down my right leg that I became obsessed with. It would come and go, but I couldn't stop worrying. We stopped many extra times so I could be sure I Was moving around enough.
We got home on Thursday and I started to calm down, but this morning I was coughing and coughing (I have allergies to dust and cats, so my dusty, cat hair covered house that I didn't clean while gone for 6 days explains that). The panic kept rising that I'd gotten a clot that moved to my lungs. Finally, I cracked and went to urgent care and the PA there was not worried at all (obviously). She said it sounded like sciatica (pain down the back of my leg, some numbness in my toe on and off, etc...). She listened to my lungs and they sounded perfect. As soon as she said that my coughing started to ease up. I went and got tea and started to feel better.
Then, when I got home, I started to feel a cramp in my calf, and the pain down my leg and in my calf has continued to get worse. I took 3 Advil about an hour ago, and it hasn't helped at all, so now my panic is back in full swing! I'm sure the cramping is from sitting on the exam table at the doctor (the shooting pressure/pain gets worst when I'm pressing into the mid point of my calf), and because the doctor squeezed my calves to check for pain (none at the time). But, I just can't shake it. I'm so frustrated and tired of this!! I'm calling my doctor on Monday to talk about medication because it's getting so old. Not sure what I'm looking for here - just commiseration/support, I guess. Anxiety is such a bummmmmmer.
After only the first 2.5 hour leg of it, we stopped for a break and when I got out there was a sharp pain in my knee. For some reason (well, my anxiety) the first thing I thought of was a blood clot. It was totally irrational because we'd only been driving for 2.5, which I do all the time. But, then the seed was planted. So, for the rest of the trip (6 days from Baltimore to Minneapolis and back) I had this fear in the back of my mind. By day 3 my sciatica was acting up from the driving, and so I had pain down my right leg that I became obsessed with. It would come and go, but I couldn't stop worrying. We stopped many extra times so I could be sure I Was moving around enough.
We got home on Thursday and I started to calm down, but this morning I was coughing and coughing (I have allergies to dust and cats, so my dusty, cat hair covered house that I didn't clean while gone for 6 days explains that). The panic kept rising that I'd gotten a clot that moved to my lungs. Finally, I cracked and went to urgent care and the PA there was not worried at all (obviously). She said it sounded like sciatica (pain down the back of my leg, some numbness in my toe on and off, etc...). She listened to my lungs and they sounded perfect. As soon as she said that my coughing started to ease up. I went and got tea and started to feel better.
Then, when I got home, I started to feel a cramp in my calf, and the pain down my leg and in my calf has continued to get worse. I took 3 Advil about an hour ago, and it hasn't helped at all, so now my panic is back in full swing! I'm sure the cramping is from sitting on the exam table at the doctor (the shooting pressure/pain gets worst when I'm pressing into the mid point of my calf), and because the doctor squeezed my calves to check for pain (none at the time). But, I just can't shake it. I'm so frustrated and tired of this!! I'm calling my doctor on Monday to talk about medication because it's getting so old. Not sure what I'm looking for here - just commiseration/support, I guess. Anxiety is such a bummmmmmer.