notukbutok
12-09-18, 03:29
Hello all! I started having some odd symptoms around one month ago, which has caused my health anxiety to increase tenfold. It started with this odd sensation in both of my calves. When laying down or sitting down, it felt like the muscles were vibrating deep within. I had some of my friends and family try and feel my legs to see if any actual shaking was occurring, but nobody could feel anything. However, not long after that I started looking up my symptoms and instantly was convinced that I was dying of a brain tumor. Went to the ER, they did a CT scan which showed nothing, and eventually got an MRI which also revealed nothing other than a seemingly healthy brain.
I was diagnosed with GAD and given Citalopram and Propranolol, which I have been taking as prescribed. However, while the two did seem to help my anxiety, the vibrating feeling in my legs turned in to a twitching feeling. When the twitching first started it would twitch starting in both calves and going up into my thighs and ass, and eventually they would feel sore from this. After waking up from sleep, I'd feel fine for a while. Eventually I'd think about the twitching and it would return. After a few days, however, I started to develop a twitch in the left side of my neck which seemingly got worse when my anxiety would spike. I started waking up after about two hours of sleep feeling like my entire body was shaking and that I was having a panic attack. I was getting next to no good sleep, and my legs were constantly twitching alongside my neck.
This lead to me googling my symptoms and coming across the possibility of Parkinson's. Now, given my age (20 years old) I know it's incredibly unlikely I have Parkinson's or anything similar. However, I remembered something else that is a bit worrying. Around the 4th of July I spent three days getting drunk off my ass with friends. The 2nd, the 3rd, and the 4th were spent in a drunk stupor. On the morning of the 5th, I woke up feeling the most depressed and anxious that I ever have in my life. I went home and proceeded to break down and start crying in my floor, yelling that I hated myself. After that, I started having bad insomnia, where I would wake up after about 4 hours of sleep feeling like my mind was racing and my eyes were dry. This continued until just before my legs originally started vibrating. Right before that started I began to sleep much better (8 or so hours) and my depression started to lessen.
Why am I bringing this up? I know that some of the symptoms of Parkinson's can be non-motor symptoms, and can begin long before motor symptoms of the disease manifest. There's one last thing that I think could be relevant, and it's that about 6 years ago I started having periods of time where I would have chronic constipation. However, I always chalked it up to having a poor diet, as when I made improvements to my diet I would no longer be constipated.
I've tried my best to rationalize everything and am constantly telling myself, "Anxiety can manifest in odd physical symptoms. It's incredibly unlikely that anything is wrong with you." I've started sleeping better again, and upon waking up my legs no longer twitch for several hours. My neck is no longer twitching as well, though I feel like the twitching may have pulled a muscle, as it now hurts slightly every now and then where the twitching was occurring. I'm not stiff, I'm going to the gym and am still able to do everything like I used to, and I'm no longer waking up with a panic attack.
Does all of this just seem like anxiety? I've always been an anxious person, but I didn't feel particularly anxious at the time prior to all of this starting. That's one of the main reasons that there's a part of me worrying it's something else. Apologies for the wall of text, by the way.
I was diagnosed with GAD and given Citalopram and Propranolol, which I have been taking as prescribed. However, while the two did seem to help my anxiety, the vibrating feeling in my legs turned in to a twitching feeling. When the twitching first started it would twitch starting in both calves and going up into my thighs and ass, and eventually they would feel sore from this. After waking up from sleep, I'd feel fine for a while. Eventually I'd think about the twitching and it would return. After a few days, however, I started to develop a twitch in the left side of my neck which seemingly got worse when my anxiety would spike. I started waking up after about two hours of sleep feeling like my entire body was shaking and that I was having a panic attack. I was getting next to no good sleep, and my legs were constantly twitching alongside my neck.
This lead to me googling my symptoms and coming across the possibility of Parkinson's. Now, given my age (20 years old) I know it's incredibly unlikely I have Parkinson's or anything similar. However, I remembered something else that is a bit worrying. Around the 4th of July I spent three days getting drunk off my ass with friends. The 2nd, the 3rd, and the 4th were spent in a drunk stupor. On the morning of the 5th, I woke up feeling the most depressed and anxious that I ever have in my life. I went home and proceeded to break down and start crying in my floor, yelling that I hated myself. After that, I started having bad insomnia, where I would wake up after about 4 hours of sleep feeling like my mind was racing and my eyes were dry. This continued until just before my legs originally started vibrating. Right before that started I began to sleep much better (8 or so hours) and my depression started to lessen.
Why am I bringing this up? I know that some of the symptoms of Parkinson's can be non-motor symptoms, and can begin long before motor symptoms of the disease manifest. There's one last thing that I think could be relevant, and it's that about 6 years ago I started having periods of time where I would have chronic constipation. However, I always chalked it up to having a poor diet, as when I made improvements to my diet I would no longer be constipated.
I've tried my best to rationalize everything and am constantly telling myself, "Anxiety can manifest in odd physical symptoms. It's incredibly unlikely that anything is wrong with you." I've started sleeping better again, and upon waking up my legs no longer twitch for several hours. My neck is no longer twitching as well, though I feel like the twitching may have pulled a muscle, as it now hurts slightly every now and then where the twitching was occurring. I'm not stiff, I'm going to the gym and am still able to do everything like I used to, and I'm no longer waking up with a panic attack.
Does all of this just seem like anxiety? I've always been an anxious person, but I didn't feel particularly anxious at the time prior to all of this starting. That's one of the main reasons that there's a part of me worrying it's something else. Apologies for the wall of text, by the way.