Anxiety causing neurological symptoms.

[agent orange]

You are probably aware of this anyway. Anxiety can cause Neurological type symptoms.I had an MRI in back in May because my anxiety was causing strange symptoms such as; off balance, tingling in feet/buzzing, twitching and many more. The clinical examination report came back fine, but the consultant would send me for a scan to prove or disprove M.S as my symptoms were plausible. The resulting scan came back completley negative. I still have the symptoms,but as my anxiety towards health rattles on and I am constantly obssesive towards it, these said symptoms are not going to cease. There is a good post from itoldyouiwasill, in Loucas's thread i'm convinced it that.. check this out, he speaks good advice. What I am trying to say is that a lot of us have awful symptoms that relate to our health anxieties that last from weeks to years in some case, and that they may appear to mimic an illness, but in fact they are not and they are just anxiety.
I am writing this to encourage, I hope it does.Do check out this previous post that I have mentioned.

Happy New Year to you all.

[itoldyouiwasill]

Yep, once anxiety becomes a chronic physical condition it often presents as a series of neurological sensations. It is common to worry about MS and ALS etc. The funny thing is that we never actually have the symptoms of ALS but rather we think we do as we still link ALS/MND with muscular twitching which is really totally outdated. ALS is about true objective weakness and with anxiety we experience only subjective perceptive weakness which our anxiety fuddled minds misinterprets as real weakness.

The MS worry with anxiety is a tricky one as whatever way you look at it the sensations of physical anxiety can mimic the symptoms of MS very closely. The thing is that Doctor's and Neurologist's know what they are looking for so if you get the all clear you should accept you are good to go...easier said than done I know.

The bottom line is that once anxiety has become physical it is no longer 'just anxiety' it is a real and powerful disorder that is actually effecting all your nervous systems and causes real sensations/symptoms. The sensations it causes are in many cases exactly the same as the symptoms which arise from neurological disease BUT you must undertstand that the causality is emotional/mind based rather than organic/body based.

[Dazo]

I am having neuro symptoms of my anxiety, and fear of both MS and ALS.

I work hard to let those feelings go, to just accept its anxiety.

[HeatherMc]

Please try to accept that it is anxiety I know that this is easier said than done, most of the folk who suffer these symptoms are very concientious people whom are usually strong what I would call the copers and doers in life the people whom care deeply about their jobs, other people, their families etc.

When you have this sort of personality which is not a problem, it is very hard to accept that the are anxiety - deep down I think that we all think that we should be stronger than this and should be able to shrug anxiety off therefore we are constantly looking for a physical explanation to relate them too. ie I think for most of us this would be easier to accept rather than it is our nerves/anxiety causing the problem.

This is what I have come to realise over the past few months and it seems to be helping me.

I think that this is what they mean in the books by acceptance.

I hope I haven't offended anyone with this take on things as you all know me by now I would not wish these symptoms on my worst enemy.

Hope everyone has a happy new year, remember this year will be gone soon so try to look forward if anyone is feeling really bad hold onto the thought that it might be your turn to turn the corner soon and 2009 could just be the year when things are getting better for you.

If you make one resolution this year let it be to be your own best friend and stop coming down so hard on yourself.

Lots of Love to everyone

Heather

[agent orange]

Thanks for the posts. I so agree with Itoldyouiwasill,my body is now experiencing some of theses neurological symptoms and of course I am convinced I have a wasting disease, but the Doctors have said no and I have a very clear MRI. So what am I left with ? I am left with a Somatizing perception of my body and this is what is causing all my problems, and my obsessive thoughts. I have to live with these symptoms as there is nothing that can be done. The drugs do not work for me and I have to change the way I am thinking. It is still very hard, especially when I am not even anxious. I still have horrible symptoms;tiredness, off balance/dizziness, tingling/buzzing, nauseau and other symptoms. I would like to be free and perhaps I will one day, but on the other hand I may not and I must accept and learn how to look after myself and look at this Health anxiety in a different way. As I have a somatoform Disorder (this is a mental Health disorder) the prognosis is not an easy one, but let's hope.
Good luck..

[Adam Thompson]

im currently waitin for an MRI, firsy my doc suspected ms.
last year all i had was heart pain

i have at the minute almost constant headaches, dizzyness, slight loss of sensation in hands, pins & needles, nausea feelings.

whera last year i had constant back/chest tightness pains

i think we convince ourselves so much we have an illness we actually get the physical symptoms o this illness.

havin said that im absoloutely convinced i have a tumor or other brain related illness and cant wait for my mri.

lol

[itoldyouiwasill]

Thanks for the posts. I so agree with Itoldyouiwasill,my body is now experiencing some of theses neurological symptoms and of course I am convinced I have a wasting disease, but the Doctors have said no and I have a very clear MRI. So what am I left with ? I am left with a Somatizing perception of my body and this is what is causing all my problems, and my obsessive thoughts. I have to live with these symptoms as there is nothing that can be done. The drugs do not work for me and I have to change the way I am thinking. It is still very hard, especially when I am not even anxious. I still have horrible symptoms;tiredness, off balance/dizziness, tingling/buzzing, nauseau and other symptoms. I would like to be free and perhaps I will one day, but on the other hand I may not and I must accept and learn how to look after myself and look at this Health anxiety in a different way. As I have a somatoform Disorder (this is a mental Health disorder) the prognosis is not an easy one, but let's hope.
Good luck..


I do not take any medication either. Medication will only work for you if your anxiety disorder is because of a chemical imbalance in your brain...not all anxiety disorders are due to this.

Somatisation can be down to a number of conditions but generally speaking people who somatise have a faulty thinking process (cognition) and have a faulty perception of their place in the world...this does not mean you are unable to function in real life but rather that somatisers tend to deal with stress and anxiety differently, they do not follow a logical cognition framework and therefore tend to 'convert' the emotional to the physcial.

Your post sounds somewhat defeatist! Do not label yourself with a specific mental disorder as as soon as you label yourself you are prone to fall into the trap of becoming a victim. Do not accept that your symptoms will always be with you. Your symptoms are with you today and they may be with you tomorrow, who knows. At this moment in time these symptoms are with you for a reason...worrying about these symptoms is what they are designed to do..it is their reason for being.

You mention about looking at your Health Anxiety in a different way. The biggest secret with Health Anxiety is that it is actually nothing about your health...we are fooled into thinking that if only the twitching, buzzing etc etc stopped we would be OK again but the truth is we where never OK and that is why we carry the symptoms today!

Do not look at your Health Anxiety in a different way! Look at your life in a different way...do not compart little bits of it off but look at the big picture and look at what you are avoiding and what you are scared of.

Hope this helps

[agent orange]

I am not really too much of a defeatist, but I have had these symptoms for too long and sometimes we feel like it's too much and really trying to believe that they are not true is very trying.(Lol) But we battle onwards.... Some days are better than others.
Tony.

[lauren6]

If you haven't read "It's Not All In Your Head" by Asmundson, get a hold of it. Anxiety does bring on zillions of symptoms. This author is in the forefront of this field. I also have his much more clinical book called "Treating Health Anxiety" meant for therapists but this one is geared toward us.

[itoldyouiwasill]

If you haven't read "It's Not All In Your Head" by Asmundson, get a hold of it. Anxiety does bring on zillions of symptoms. This author is in the forefront of this field. I also have his much more clinical book called "Treating Health Anxiety" meant for therapists but this one is geared toward us.

I have the book that Lauren mentions AO. I notice you are UK based so if you would like to borrow it I would be happy to post it to you and you can return it when you have read it. The book is US only so can be a bit pricey on Amazon.

PM me your address and will sort it out for you if you want.

[agent orange]

Thanks. I will think on that. It's not that my anxiety is panic attacked based, it's always there in the background and yes I am always thinking about health. Surely these symptoms cannot be presenting always and 24/7 can they? My doctor says that there is really nothing wrong with me and yet I question why I feel this way. He is very supportive and he knows that these symptoms are very real. I just struggle with the fact that I am suffering from a Somatoform disorder and that this appears to be long term at present, but then part of me thinks yes this has to be anxiety based as everything major has been ruled out. Oh I cannot win. (I smile)
Tony.

P.s itoldyouiwasill I do not know your name?

[agent orange]

thanks I'll think on it. I just am having a problem with believing that these symptoms can present themselves 24/7 and I go to sleep and then they are there the next day. What must my body be doing? I am having a problem in again believing that I am suffering from a Somatoform Disorder. My doctor is very supportive and says that He cannot explain these symptoms, but that I have been checked over and that there is nothing major wrong with me. Oh for the power of the mind?
Tony

[agent orange]

I keep losing this thread. I am having a problem in believing that these symptoms can be there 24/7. I go to bed and then in the morning they are still there in some form-Why I do not know. Surely somatic symptoms don't do this do they?

[itoldyouiwasill]

I keep losing this thread. I am having a problem in believing that these symptoms can be there 24/7. I go to bed and then in the morning they are still there in some form-Why I do not know. Surely somatic symptoms don't do this do they?

....but they are doing it:shrug:

[agent orange]

oops i have posted three times the same information- i thought it had vanished and i did not see the next page-apologies.

[agent orange]

do you believe that they do this Itoldyouiwasill? Do they do this for you?

[itoldyouiwasill]

It is not a case of believing it, it is a known and understood medical fact.

Yes, as mentioned I have been in a pretty bad way with health anxiety for about 20 months and I believe that the vast majority of my symptoms are somatic.

If you actually think about it, all physical anxiety is somatic as the starting point and subsequent causality is the emotional/mind rather than the physical. Yes, the symptoms we feel are very physical and very real but they are generated by the mind. There is no smoke and mirrors here...all very straightforward stuff.

[agent orange]

o.k thanks. I need a good stiff drink and I wish you all a very Happy New Year, thanks for the posts.
God Bless.

Tony.

[agent orange]

Before I go. I think you do seem to speak a lot of good sense Itoldyouiwasill, I wish I found it easier to understand or rather believe. I think we make our lives very complicated (I laugh).

[willtheconk1998]

Agent orange,

I have suffered from health anxiety for many years and have had and still get many of these symptoms although I am getting there with them. I have had more tests and scans etc than I ever needed (Clear MRI etc)and last year was told by a specialist that these symptoms are somatic. My GP explained all about somatic illness to me which helped me a lot.They are real to us but they are formed in our minds and have no organic or disease base.
Before you can start to get rid of these or reduce their frequency you need to believe they are not signs of a terrible illness if you've had the tests and they are all good. Try to fight the negativity and try to stop googling etc (if you do that) We are all capable of turning our symptoms into some serious illness if we google hard enough. If we focus on nothing but our symptoms we feed the anxiety and make them worse. The mind is capable of some scary stuff.

Have a good New Year

[agent orange]

yes I see this. I have had tests and perhaps I did not need them.
Thanks again-I really must stop. New year is approaching and a drink is awaiting me...

Tony

[agent orange]

Thanks for the posts. I will leave it open for a while before I close the it.

[AntiLove_SuperStar]

Anti anxiety drugs may well work through placebo effects as well, not solely chemical alteration.

[agent orange]

thanks for the reply anti_love.

[hopingitsanxiety]

Hey all,

I find this thread slightly reassuring although I feel my symptoms are different to what people are describing. My symptoms are; tingling / itching (all over), muscle twitches, trembling, feel off balance, occassional nausea, aches and shooting pains. Can anyone relate to these? x

[jadeyjade]

please someone help me, im 18 and suffer with health anxiety. for a while ive been getting random weakness down my right side and sometimes i dont even think im that anxious when it happens during the day, its just random. can anyone put my mind at ease by saying anxiety could in fact cause this one sided thing? i get pains in both right and left arms and legs and slight weakness sometimes but its mainly on my right then i obsess over it! like now! please someone!
p.s had blood tests just before new year which were 'stone cold normal'

[hopingitsanxiety]

please someone help me, im 18 and suffer with health anxiety. for a while ive been getting random weakness down my right side and sometimes i dont even think im that anxious when it happens during the day, its just random. can anyone put my mind at ease by saying anxiety could in fact cause this one sided thing? i get pains in both right and left arms and legs and slight weakness sometimes but its mainly on my right then i obsess over it! like now! please someone!
p.s had blood tests just before new year which were 'stone cold normal'

I jadeyjade - I woild not worry if i were you. That symptoms does not relate to anything scary and is probably just anxiety. Worry kicks in when you have a number of symptoms not just one! You'll be fine, please dont worry x:D

[jadeyjade]

i do feel like a have a million symptoms though lol but they come and go so i try to tell myself that if it was something that bad ALL my symptoms would be there ALL the time, thanks for replying by the way!

[helen s]

hello, just joined this website. have had health anxiety for 15 years which exacerbated after i got run over 2 years ago. had cbt for a year. still and will probably always have health worries, do sympathise with people who have physical sensations i have them daily and think i have about 3 different fatal illnesses per week. i just know after all this time that the dizziness, tingling, numbness tiredness etc is all anxiety, but still we worry! x agree that the book 'its not all in your head is well worth reading its like my autobiography! x

[staple]

I have some neurological symptoms in my leg and was attending a doctor as he though it was to do with my back as I had some history of lower back problems I was to go to see a specialist and luckly I came across a book by Dr John Sarno "Healing your back" (the mind body connection) which was an eye opener. My anxiety played a big part in my symptoms
Mike

[itoldyouiwasill]

I have some neurological symptoms in my leg and was attending a doctor as he though it was to do with my back as I had some history of lower back problems I was to go to see a specialist and luckly I came across a book by Dr John Sarno "Healing your back" (the mind body connection) which was an eye opener. My anxiety played a big part in my symptoms
Mike


:yesyes:

[agent orange]

Dear hopingit'sanxiety. Your symptoms are very much similiar to other person's symptoms posted on here. What has the doctor suggested? I am trying to accept my symptoms, but I still think I am suffering from something. Just to recap, I suffer from aches and pain in legs, neck, shoulders, arms etc,
dizziness at times, nauseau at times, off balance etc. i have been checked out by a neurologist, had a scan and there was nothing wrong even though symptoms could be plausible for M.S. I still have the symptoms and I still have the health anxiety and the Undifferentiated Somatoform Disorder also.
So I suppose the symptoms will not disappear until I except it 100%. Whilst my mind is in turmoil, then I will have these. I think that probably the body needs quite a lot of rest if you are in chronic anxiety. Now I don't feel anxiety all the time, but the symptoms are there most of the time and it's not as if I have not seen the doctors a lot; because I have. I think a lot of us need to try and think differently, but this can be very difficult when you haver this Health anxiety. Take care....

[j2]

I know this is a really old post but I am really struggling right now with many many neuro symptoms. I have burning feet, one cold hand, twitching everywhere, numbness in my other hand, weakness of one arm, aches and pains in my upper back and shooting pains over my chest muscles. Like so many of the poeple on this thread, I am not feeling partuculary stressed or anxious (at least on the surface) yet my symptoms seem to be getting worse. My balance is dodgy and my vision and memory seem off some how. I have fought HA for years and I have tried meds to no avail. I had an MRI of my head about 10 yrs ago and have had annual blood tests every year since. Nothing has been found. I just feel like a beaten man and I just want it to stop. Thanks for listening. God Bless.

[PJC]

Recently diagnosed with somataform. Feel like I have strings of pins and needles wrapped around my body which are going to pull me down. Severe muscle twiching. Won't leave the house because of the strings causing pulling sensation. Has anyone experienced these symptoms. They are constant, they are drying me nuts and and I feel isolated. Had all the tests MRI, spinal scan, blood tests etc, all normal. Still convinced I have some neurological illness which they have missed. How does anyone cope with all this. Thank you. Julie-Anne

[sue43]

You are probably aware of this anyway. Anxiety can cause Neurological type symptoms.I had an MRI in back in May because my anxiety was causing strange symptoms such as; off balance, tingling in feet/buzzing, twitching and many more. The clinical examination report came back fine, but the consultant would send me for a scan to prove or disprove M.S as my symptoms were plausible. The resulting scan came back completley negative. I still have the symptoms,but as my anxiety towards health rattles on and I am constantly obssesive towards it, these said symptoms are not going to cease. There is a good post from itoldyouiwasill, in Loucas's thread i'm convinced it that.. check this out, he speaks good advice. What I am trying to say is that a lot of us have awful symptoms that relate to our health anxieties that last from weeks to years in some case, and that they may appear to mimic an illness, but in fact they are not and they are just anxiety.
I am writing this to encourage, I hope it does.Do check out this previous post that I have mentioned.

Happy New Year to you all.
I would like to point out as one who has MS symptoms but not MS diagnosed, severe anxiety and pst, that the symptoms being felt are real and not imagined. What happens is that the brain function is normal but the signals get mixed up hence the physical symptoms. It is very real and every bit as disabilitating as MS and other such disorders. The mix up of brain signals can cause numbness sometimes it comes and goes and other times it can last for months at a time with no feeling in part of the body as if there were nerve damage, when in fact it is the brain signals acting as if that were the case because of overload. So anyone who is suffering from this needs to know they are not crazy nor are the symptoms imagined, anxiety can and does have very real very physical side effects.