elincia
21-06-20, 18:04
Hello everyone!
I'm a 22 year old woman who is fairly physically fit (5'2, about 45kg, not very strong but good cardio) with no diagnosed medical conditions. I have autism, but no physical disabilities. I suffered from depression for a while a couple of years ago but recovered. I have always had anxiety but over the past few years it has pivoted to health anxiety, which occasionally goes dormant but sometimes becomes so bad that I become convinced that I will die and spend several hours crying over it.
I was wondering if anyone else with health anxiety has had strange symptoms appear suddenly and disappear suddenly. The biggest thing that happened to me is that the toes on both of my feet began to wiggle and writhe on their own. It would be worse in the heat and was incredibly distracting and distressing. They would keep me up at night with their wiggling and did so for about a year. I went to a neurologist and he identified the movement as a chorea. I didn't know what that was at the time. He told me he thought it was benign, but he didn't explain why or do any tests.
Months later my hands began to twitch and shake, which was extremely distressing to me because I thought my chorea had spread. I thought that I had huntingtons (I have no family history of anything) and was certain that I would die. I called my GP and told him about it and he prescribed me diazepam (valium) which is a medication used for anxiety and twitching.
I took the pills and my feet and hands got a lot better. My chorea basically stopped. But I've since come off the medication and it never really came back. My feet are still. I have full movement in 9 of them and partial movement in 1 (one of my pinky toes) but they do not move on their own anymore.
After my chorea went away I got headaches which lasted for about a month. Then my hands started to shake and my fingers began to twitch from side to side again and my headaches gradually went away. My hands are now the thing my anxiety has fixated on.
I found out about somatic symptom disorder and I'm beginning to think I have it. I was hoping to hear from someone with a somatic symptom disorder diagnosis or anyone else who has had a similar pattern of symptoms appearing and disappearing, especially if you have had a movement disorder (like chorea, twitches, muscle jerks or tremors).
I would be grateful if you could share your experiences with me. I think hearing from someone else who has dealt with this would help reassure me and make me feel less crazy and less alone.
I'm a 22 year old woman who is fairly physically fit (5'2, about 45kg, not very strong but good cardio) with no diagnosed medical conditions. I have autism, but no physical disabilities. I suffered from depression for a while a couple of years ago but recovered. I have always had anxiety but over the past few years it has pivoted to health anxiety, which occasionally goes dormant but sometimes becomes so bad that I become convinced that I will die and spend several hours crying over it.
I was wondering if anyone else with health anxiety has had strange symptoms appear suddenly and disappear suddenly. The biggest thing that happened to me is that the toes on both of my feet began to wiggle and writhe on their own. It would be worse in the heat and was incredibly distracting and distressing. They would keep me up at night with their wiggling and did so for about a year. I went to a neurologist and he identified the movement as a chorea. I didn't know what that was at the time. He told me he thought it was benign, but he didn't explain why or do any tests.
Months later my hands began to twitch and shake, which was extremely distressing to me because I thought my chorea had spread. I thought that I had huntingtons (I have no family history of anything) and was certain that I would die. I called my GP and told him about it and he prescribed me diazepam (valium) which is a medication used for anxiety and twitching.
I took the pills and my feet and hands got a lot better. My chorea basically stopped. But I've since come off the medication and it never really came back. My feet are still. I have full movement in 9 of them and partial movement in 1 (one of my pinky toes) but they do not move on their own anymore.
After my chorea went away I got headaches which lasted for about a month. Then my hands started to shake and my fingers began to twitch from side to side again and my headaches gradually went away. My hands are now the thing my anxiety has fixated on.
I found out about somatic symptom disorder and I'm beginning to think I have it. I was hoping to hear from someone with a somatic symptom disorder diagnosis or anyone else who has had a similar pattern of symptoms appearing and disappearing, especially if you have had a movement disorder (like chorea, twitches, muscle jerks or tremors).
I would be grateful if you could share your experiences with me. I think hearing from someone else who has dealt with this would help reassure me and make me feel less crazy and less alone.