Changing symptoms

[Kiki]

Hi,
I'd be really grateful for some reassurance about the symptoms I've been having. Through reading lots of other posts I've more or less been able to come to terms with the fact that most of my symptoms are anxiety-related, but I'm still convincing myself that some sort of serious illness started the symptoms off. The reason I say this is because, although I've suffered from anxiety for years, the only symptoms I've ever experienced before were derealisation & tiredness.
Basically, it all started when I came back from a 3-week holiday in Oz over Christmas, I was jet-lagged & came down with a cold, & got it into my head that I couldn't wait till the day that I woke up & felt 'normal' again. So, of course, when this never happened, I stressed out that something was wrong with me. Only a week afetr coming back, I started getting constant headaches that I was even waking up with every day & wouldn't even go with painkillers. Around this time I started experiencing chills during the day & feeling really sensitive to the cold weather, but sweats during the night, & just feeling totally exhausted & not being able to concentrate on anything. After about 3-4 weeks, the headaches subsided, but about a week later, I came down with a sore throat & started getting aches in my limbs & joints, which about a week later turned into weakness & numbness (mainly down my left-hand side, including my face) which was there constantly for 3 weeks. After the first week, I went to the doctor, who sent me for blood tests, which came back normal. About a week later, I was feeling so scared every day when I woke up, I just couldn't stop my hands from shaking & I had also started suffering from panic attacks. So I went to see a different doctor, who put me back on Cipralex (10mg/day) (I was on this for about a year up until last October when my doctor advised me to try CBT instead, which I am still doing). I suffered from terrible panic attacks when I started back on the Cipralex but, must admit that these are all but gone now (after 7 weeks of being back on it) though I am still suffering from the other symtpoms, although no longer constantly.
What I find is strange is that the headaches stopped after four weeks, then I had completely different symptoms for four weeks. Is this usual? I'm just worried that, even if the newer symptoms are anxiety, the headaches were caused by something else. I've also had two further colds this year, which seems quite a lot.
Sorry that this is so long, but it's just such a relief to finally get it all out. I'm not sure if I should really have posted this on the health anxiety forum, but any reassurance will be much appreciated.
K x x

[Meg]

Hi kiki,

A few points to ponder.

You came back on a plane with recycled air for near enough 24 hours, with 300 other people some of whom would have colds and respiratory viruses one of which ypou seme to have picked up.
You also landed in the cold winter and may have picked up whatever was going round your neighbourhood too which was a double whammy.

Worrying about the symptoms caused you anxiety which you perpetuated with being scared all the time and that then led to where you are now.

The headache mostly sufferred by anxiety is known as the headband headache and is horrible and constant.






Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...

[Kiki]

Thanks Meg :)
I wouldn't particularly describe it as a headband, it was more like a dragging pain that moved all round my head & made it feel really 'full'. It felt like the sort of aches you get in your joints and like I needed to open up my head & clean it out! I'm sure you're right that it was caused by anxiety, but I just still find it hard to understand why it would be constant for 4 weeks, then suddenly stop & then be replaced by other symptoms... I think the only way I'll accept things is if I can understand why & how they happen.
K x x

[Atkin]

I do this a lot too- for several days/ weeks it'll be one thing such as chest pains and butterfly heart, then it'll be back to numbness , or a run of head pains, or IBS symptoms- I think it is just that anxiety is unwilling to let go of us( or even sometimes that we are unwilling to let it go for fear of what will be left if that which has consumed our time for so long does go!) so that once we tell ourselves that the pain in our chest really isn't angina/ heart disease it has to break out somewhere else. I read somewhere that this symptom shifting can be used to postive effect, in that it means our affirmations have ousted one set of worries , and that we can keep repeating this technique until we have ridded ourself of all our negative/catastrophic thoughts.

[shell]

Hello Kiki,

Reading your post described alot of my symptoms. I have been free of anxiety for about 5 years until 6 months ago when I started having all sorts of weird symptoms including numbness in my face and headaches. This subsided after a couple of weeks but came back with a vengance in january after a particularly stressfull time. I was having headaches and visual disturbance and was obssessed with thoughts that I had some awful illness. When i saw the doctor he (harmlessly) mentionned that i must have been worried about things like MS -following this I was obsessed with this and similar diseases, looked it up on the internet and convinced myself that I had it. Iwent back to the doctors and he said that MS takes a very definate course and would be highly unlikely that I had it. He signed me off work and after a couple of days the headaches went away and then I started having aches and pains in my arms and legs and generally felt weak. This then led me to believe that i had other illnesses. I've had loads of blood tests-all came back clear and been examined by the doctor several times and he seems convinced that I am fine. Sorry for the ramble but I am staring to think that your mind can just about create any symptom of what seems like life threatening illness. I am so focussed on my body that any any ache, pain or twinge is under a microscope which starts the incessant worry.

The main thing is to challenge the thoughts and fears, distract yourself and in time I think the symptoms will get better. have you tried CBT?, Ihave been doing this privately and although I have found it hard going at times it's been really useful. I hope this helps, take care.
Shell