Losing the plot in the middle of the night... Anyone there?

[escapeartist]

I am having a variety of GI symptoms, which are not in themselves important (I hope). Instead, what seems to be happening is that I am in the throes of a super long HA crisis.

It has lasted since August, it does come and go, and probably doesn't help the GI symptoms that I have. I have seen two GPs (several times) and have been reassured and have now also seen a Gastro doc. They all seem to think it is psychological, or don't have an explanation of what is going on... I have also ended up in A & E once, not proud of that.

I have had counselling, and CBT, both of which helped me and two years ago I thought I was better. This helped me take a big risk in my life, moved with my family to another country, started a new career etc.

I am up tonight thinking I am dying of undiagnosed pancreatic cancer. I cannot sleep - as I wake up after 30-40 mins with palpitations and huge adrenaline surges. Anyone around?

[NancyW]

It's only 9:53 PM here :-)

I remember my mom having similar symptoms. She had loads of GI problems through the years, We had her in the ER many times, it always turned out to be her stomach. It can mimic many other illnesses and in the end, just be back to square 1 -her stomach.

[escapeartist]

Hi Nancy,

Thanks for that - it s 4:57 am where I am at the moment. Thank goodness for time zones :)

Indeed, my stomach has been all over the place, have lost appetite and weight since August (not masses, about 3kgs). My symptoms have morphed quite a bit, actually, and have gone through several incarnations. My bad mistake was to google actual stories of misdiagnosed cancer, and found several people with symptoms similar to mine, who ended up having terminal cancer, of course... Why oh why????

Of course at my age my chance of that particular cancer is 0,001%, while chances I have health anxiety are 100%!! But the demon in my head tells me that they could co-exist...

Thanks for responding, even if it is not the middle of the night for you!

[Sparky16]

It's only 9:04 here. :)

I am very familiar with the wake up in a panic feeling. You've got two GP's, a specialist, and the A&E people. You've got to accept their expertise. Don't read the Daily Mail. Don't Google. And find something else to do in the middle of the night to take your mind off it. I put on old comedy shows and play video games. When worst comes to worse, you might also talk to your doctor about medication for your anxiety to help you sleep. I took some for a short while that helped me with the middle of the night awakening. Instead of waking up in a panic, I'd wake up like a normal person, look at the clock, realize it was 4AM, and go back to sleep. Not getting good sleep just makes the anxiety worse.

[escapeartist]

Thanks, Sparky!

I am due for a psychiatrist appointment for help with my anxiety, including the insomnia part of it. It has been going on for a very long time and it is not sustainable in the long run. What were you given for your sleep issues? I am (of course) scared of psychotropic medications...

Thanks again for responding, even if it is early evening over there!

[Sparky16]

I was given Xanax, just a half milligram dose. Not sure what they call it in the UK. They don't like to prescribe it long term, but it did help to take it occasionally when I was in a bad way. It also helped with the bad dreams - I'd wake up and think "what a weird dream" and go on with my day, instead of it bringing me down for the entire day.

[escapeartist]

Thanks, Sparky, this is helpful. I have a box of Xanax, as yet unopened. I hesitate to take as I need to drive to take kids to school etc, so worried they will make me so drowsy that it will be dangerous. I am most likely going to try and get some kind of AD that will help with the anxiety... Here's hoping as I can't do this for much longer...

Have a good rest of your night - it's almost morning here.

[Katie55]

I had lots of random GI symptoms from pain, acid, backache to diarrhoea. It turned out to be mild gastritis (didn't feel mild!) diagnosed by endoscopy and soon fixed with 3 months of Lansoprazole. I know for a fact that my constant state of panic made it much worse. Worrying is terrible for the GI tract. Trust your doctors. I sympathise with the middle of the night panic. It's when we're at our lowest ebb

[escapeartist]

Oh Katie, Thank you!

Was your gastritis caused by something? I have been on lansoprazole for 8 weeks now and although feeling better, the pain between my shoulder blades has not gone. I am now thinking it may be a hiatal hernia, which, although not perfect would be a great option as unlike my other fears is not fatal :)

[Worriedwellornot]

Hi 8 just wanted to reassure you that I was worrying excessively for a long time about Pancreatic Cancer. Everywhere I looked there were stories in the press, on social media and on TV I also stayed awake all night googling symptoms. I had every test going and they were all clear. Then the symptoms stopped once I stopped focusing on them. Unfortunately I now am in the midst of a brain tumour anxiety which started with some dizzy spells and tinnitus. Again there were ‘signs’ everywhere in the news, on social media. The rational part of my brain is telling me that it’s me focusing on the symptoms again but there’s another part that’s telling me what if...this time it really is worst case scenario. The reason I’m telling you this is that without help this health anxiety won’t get better. I find it helps to google anxiety and i5 will come up with very similar symptoms. I’m 60 and wasted 40 years of my life with this. Wish I could have known then that I would have had 40 years of good health to come. Hope you feel better soon

[Katie55]

I'm not sure why I got gastritis. The docs didn't seem to know. I was tested for H.pylori by biopsy during endoscopy and it was negative. It took longer than 8 weeks for the Lansoprazole to work. On the endoscopy report it recommended AT LEAST 8 weeks. After 3 months on the full dose the doc halved it for another month so it didn't cause a bounce back of acid. By the way I know that back pain- like burning. It will go, mine did.