Seriously can anxiety really make you feel this bad?!

[cassy1989]

I have said before on this forum about how I am convinced I have MS because of what happened a few years ago when I had a couple of times where parts of me went numb and when my vision went double for a few weeks. I saw my doctor and an optician and they told me nothing to worry about.

Then I have all the weird feelings over the last few years, tingling, burning sensations, etc.

I was doing ok but then last night my finger and thumb started tingling again and I am convinced it is MS.

The way I see it is I only saw the doctor and optician, no one higher then them so they could so easily have missed it.

I actually just have this feeling I do have MS, in fact I'm almost sure I do.

Can anxiety really make you so convinced of something?

Thanks in advance for any replies x

[cassy1989]

Bump

[cassy1989]

Anyone?

[nomorepanic]

Tingling is anxiety too - have a read of the symptoms page on the left.

[pollyanna]

Yes cassy , anxiety can make you convinced about just about anything. its trying to convince you it is evidence of something, when in actual fact it is only evidence of tingling, not the reason behind it...


I have had too many weird things happen over the years to mention, but they were all due to anxiety......

you have sought the advice of an optician and a doctor, if they were in least bit concerned they wold have refered you on to someone...

The more you concentrate on the symptom, the worse it seems to come...

P x

[cassy1989]

Thanks Nicola I know tingling is a symptom of anxiety but its so hard to not panic :(

Pollyanna what sort of weird things have you had over the years can I ask?
I do agree the more I concentrate on it the worse it becomes.

I hate anxiety with a passion. I'm only 19 I just want my life back before I was like this :(

[Deepest Blue]

cassy, I understand you're worried about this but I get them too, I get tingling in my legs, arms and even face, I also get twitches too. It's all related to anxiety because it's the nervous system reacting to how you're feeling, stress is a big contributer to it and if you're anxious you're feeling stressed too.

I've learn't to try and never self diagnose myself because I think if I continued to do that I'd diagnose myself with every illness there is with all the symtoms I get ! I mean the other I got a rash on my elbow and I would have fretted about it in the past but I just accepted it was heat rash and it's gone now.

I hope you feel better soon,
Take Care.

[cassy1989]

Thanks Deepestblue, I had this tingling for a week and then it went away but came back last night. I was feeling quite anxious yesterday though.

In the past I have self-diagnosed myself with cancer of a few different kinds, brain tumour, Motor neurones disease and a few others!

It's just this scare feels even more the real because of what happened with my eye sight. It just suddenly went double out of the blue and then slowly went away after a few weeks. And then I read that with MS you can go without symptoms for a few years and then it suddenly comes back.

[Deepest Blue]

In the past I have self-diagnosed myself with cancer of a few different kinds, brain tumour, Motor neurones disease and a few others!



:hugs:

I've done the same, I was convinced that I had either a heart problem, brain tumor or CJD because of all the symptoms I was "feeling". Nobody could convince me that I was OK, not even my GP because once it was in my head that I thought I had something wrong I truely believed it and nothing was going to change that.

I think the way I managed to break out of this habbit of thinking was one day I thought about it with some actual logic that these so called illnesses (although it happens) are still VERY rare and that you would have to be very unlucky to contract or develop something fatal, I think I read the chances of getting say CJD was so rare that you'd win the lottery twice before you get that, so this type of logical thinking made me feel a bit better. Yes it does happen but really, look at how many people you know and know of (either in real life or otherwise) who has a fatal illness and I bet it isn't that many if at all so then you must start to therefore think "why me then?"

I hope this helps a bit.

Take Care

[cassy1989]

Thank you I know I need to think logically it is just so hard as I'm sure everyone else knows! x

[SickofIt]

I have been to a cardiologist and a neurologist in the past 6 months. The weird thing is, is that I hate doctors and I am really afraid of medical procedures. I had an echocardiogram done, but my cardiologist wanted me to have a stress test, just to be sure everything was OK. He also wrote me a Rx for bloodwork, which I never did.

I have been having tingling and numbness, so I went to a neurologist. He did a few little tests in his office and said that he didn't think anything obvious was wrong, but he also prescribed more tests, which I didn't follow through with.

So, I have caused myself more anxiety over what might be wrong when in actuality, it is most likely anxiety that is the problem in the first place.

Interestingly, I have dx'd myself with everything from MS to Fibromyalgia to a pinched nerve. I have also had low vitamin D, Lyme Disease, and cancer. Well, I suppose I could have any of those, but when I step back and think a minute about what has been going on in my life, I see a pattern of anxiety and depression that has been going on for years.

[Deepest Blue]

Thank you I know I need to think logically it is just so hard as I'm sure everyone else knows! x

In the end yes you do, however, it isn't easy because I know how hard it is to train and convince the mind. The only way to do this is just remind yourself of certain facts about these illnesses like they are very rare and the chances are so slim of you getting any of them that you will find your symptoms will slowly ease up on you and that will help towards feeling positive and convincing yourself further that you don't have anything serious. It won't happen overnight but as long as you stay on the right track you will do it, that's what I found anyway.:hugs:

[j2]

Cassy,

As a long time sufferer of HA I too have managed to convince myself of just about everything. I google then I panic then I feel worse then I google then I panic. For the last several months I have had these migrating pains in my arms, legs, hands and feet. I am "sure" they are fatal. Even with all my experience, I still feel that this can't be anxiety, but I know it is. There is a constant battle in our heads between feeling and knowing, or logic and fear or whatever. Anyway, this board helps me cope, so does learning about anxiety. There are several good books on both panic and HA. If you are looking for reassurance on a set of certain symptoms and have questions, post them here and we will answer. Good luck.

[cassy1989]

Thanks Deepestblue.

J2, the symptoms that have really made me panic happened about 2 1/2 years ago. I woke in the night with a dead arm which spread up to my face and at one point made my lips go dead and I couldn't talk properly. Very scary, it happened 3 times and only lasted a minute or less. The doctor said it was where I had pinched a nerve.
Then around the same time my eye sight went double. It came on suddenly and went away slowly, lasting about 2 weeks. The optician said I had a lazy eye and my eyes were strained and I am slightly long sighted.
At the time I was mentally and physically ill. I was very depressed, still suffering from pnd (my son was 11 months at this time) and I had a bad sinus infection. I have no idea if any of these contributed.

Then about a year ago I started getting burning and cold type pains through my head. Convinced myself all my symptoms pointed to MS but doctor said it was very unlikely. These pains went away by themselves in the end.
Then lately been having alot of tingling and I also sometimes get a numb tingly patch in the same place on my back.

I can't stop thinking what if it is MS.

Sorry it's so long but any reassurance would be great x