marc8701
12-10-08, 13:18
Hello,
I am new to this forum and would like to say already that I think it is fantastic and it is a real help to know that there are people out there suffering from the same problems.
My problem began in July 08. I am a male in my late 20s, have never had any physical illness ever apart from colds, am fairly fit and generally fairly positive about things.
Anyway one evening I was sat with my lap top and when I stood up I could feel this strange pressure on the left side of my head, almost like someone was pushing there finger on my head. It didn't hurt, just felt very strange. Over the next few hours I developed this strange tingly feeling on the same part of my head. It really freaked me out I didn't sleep much that night. The next day it pretty much went so I went on a birthday night out as planned. The feeling returned slightly and I felt awful all night. Looking back I know that the majority of the ill feeling was anxiety (sweating feet, increased heart beat, dizziness).
The next few days were not very pleasant, the sensation was still there accompanied by typical anxiety symptoms which I was reading very negative conclusions into. One night I took one of my fiance's anxiety tablets and suffered a full blown panic attack which resulted in an ambulance being called.
I had been to my doctor about 3 times by this point and I was determined to get a more satisfactory response on the fourth visit. I did. I was told to go to the Acute Medicine Unit in A & E immediately and I was kept in overnight. I had an MRI scan, a blood test, a urine test and an ECG. The conclusion was that I was fit as a fiddle and that it was the result of stress and anxiety.
I was in total disbeleif at this outcome to begin but over time I have come to accept it. My problem now is that I am 'worrying about having health anxiety' rather than worrying about having any particular illness. Of course I do occassionally have thoughts that its actually MS or the MRI missed a tumour but generally im just worrying about worrying.
The symptoms I have seem to revolve in cycles. The head sensations still appear occassionally but they are much better. I also have periods (of sometimes days) of increased or strong heartbeat. I also get tingly pains in my fingers and feet. Headaches arn't really a problem but dizziness and off-balance feelings are regular. I havn't had a panic attack since but constantly feel anxious.
The crux is that I know these symptoms are probably anxiety related but I just dont have the faith to completely rule out some sort of illness and when one symptom appears I stress over it for days which brings on further symptoms. I have had periods of weeks where I feel absolutely fine and all symptoms cease. But as soon as one occurs it all starts over again. I'm almost at the point where I can predict what symptom will come next! I have become completely obsessed by it and I just want to know how to break the cycle. I am managing work ok but I have had days where the symptoms are bad and worrying myself silly and find that I've spent the last 2 hours looking up MS or other illnesses on Google.
Does anyone else have this worry that they are simply worrying about having health anxiety?? And does anyone else have the symptoms I've spoken about??
I am new to this forum and would like to say already that I think it is fantastic and it is a real help to know that there are people out there suffering from the same problems.
My problem began in July 08. I am a male in my late 20s, have never had any physical illness ever apart from colds, am fairly fit and generally fairly positive about things.
Anyway one evening I was sat with my lap top and when I stood up I could feel this strange pressure on the left side of my head, almost like someone was pushing there finger on my head. It didn't hurt, just felt very strange. Over the next few hours I developed this strange tingly feeling on the same part of my head. It really freaked me out I didn't sleep much that night. The next day it pretty much went so I went on a birthday night out as planned. The feeling returned slightly and I felt awful all night. Looking back I know that the majority of the ill feeling was anxiety (sweating feet, increased heart beat, dizziness).
The next few days were not very pleasant, the sensation was still there accompanied by typical anxiety symptoms which I was reading very negative conclusions into. One night I took one of my fiance's anxiety tablets and suffered a full blown panic attack which resulted in an ambulance being called.
I had been to my doctor about 3 times by this point and I was determined to get a more satisfactory response on the fourth visit. I did. I was told to go to the Acute Medicine Unit in A & E immediately and I was kept in overnight. I had an MRI scan, a blood test, a urine test and an ECG. The conclusion was that I was fit as a fiddle and that it was the result of stress and anxiety.
I was in total disbeleif at this outcome to begin but over time I have come to accept it. My problem now is that I am 'worrying about having health anxiety' rather than worrying about having any particular illness. Of course I do occassionally have thoughts that its actually MS or the MRI missed a tumour but generally im just worrying about worrying.
The symptoms I have seem to revolve in cycles. The head sensations still appear occassionally but they are much better. I also have periods (of sometimes days) of increased or strong heartbeat. I also get tingly pains in my fingers and feet. Headaches arn't really a problem but dizziness and off-balance feelings are regular. I havn't had a panic attack since but constantly feel anxious.
The crux is that I know these symptoms are probably anxiety related but I just dont have the faith to completely rule out some sort of illness and when one symptom appears I stress over it for days which brings on further symptoms. I have had periods of weeks where I feel absolutely fine and all symptoms cease. But as soon as one occurs it all starts over again. I'm almost at the point where I can predict what symptom will come next! I have become completely obsessed by it and I just want to know how to break the cycle. I am managing work ok but I have had days where the symptoms are bad and worrying myself silly and find that I've spent the last 2 hours looking up MS or other illnesses on Google.
Does anyone else have this worry that they are simply worrying about having health anxiety?? And does anyone else have the symptoms I've spoken about??