arm weakness

[lal]

Hi there, i hope you've got your tea and biscuits cause this could be a long 1 and i'd like to apoligise in advance because your not goin to get these minutes back, lol.

I am a 25 year old male living in the UK, I have been having a lot of problems over the last year which my Dr and family have put down to some sort of Hyperchondria or health based anxiety. My story starts in 2010 when i quit smoking in feb, evrything was going fine with it and i was coping well, when 1 day i finish work and start to clean round the house when i start getting this great pain in my chest, it literally knocked me off of my feet, my left arm kept burning up and i was sweating uncontrollably. All this for no apparent reason. I went to the ER room and was Dx with GERD/Acid reflux. I think this is when my life took a turn for the worse because i've not been right since.
A few weeks pass by and i start getting blood in my sputum which scares the heck outt me and im all over google putting the fear of the devil into myself, i start using google regular and it was like an addiction, every symptom im on google and every symptom is a symptom of LUNG CANCER, even the obscure symptoms i match up to lung cancer.
Over the next 6 months i spend my life going to and from my Dr and the ER, having test after test, I had x ray after x ray and blood work after blood work. Everything comes back clean and im still convinced i have it. The Dr put me on medication for anxiety and i start taking it and start to get better, as i get better i stop taking it cause i think im fixed, a month goes back and BLAM, i'm the same as before but this time no google as id already got every symptom, srage, prognosis in my head. The Dr sent me for an M.R.I and C.T scan to finally prove me wrong, guess what, they came back clean.
I go back to the Dr who puts me back on the medication and i have been on it ever since.
About a month ago i started getting alot of pain in the top of my right chest and started coughing up blood, the blood has now stopped but the pain is dull and persistent, i am also getting weird feelings in my left arm/hand and foot/leg, it is worse either at night or when i first wake, it goes off during the day. It is pretty bad though, like a weakness but its not weak. Sometimes i get it into my right arm but not as bad. I have gained weight over the past year during these problems as well, these symptoms are here even though im on the medication and its worrying the hell outta me. The Dr has sent me for another x ray which came back normal. The chest pain is doing my head in because the Dr said anxiety pain is usually a left sided chest pain. It feels like there is something in the top of my chest.

It has just got to stage whhere i need to sort my head out or risk losing my family, this is the first time ive looked into anxiety and for help on the matter, i have read a book on it, my Dr says anxiety can cause absolutely anything. MY main symptom are:-
*Chest pain on right hand side(upper)
*Weakness/Numb/Tingling/Wierd feelings in (Mostly left) arm/leg/hand/foot
*A feeling of congestion in my head
*Lower backache
*Some vision problems
*Hard to concentrate

I dont believe these are anxiety because these are here with me most day every day even when im no thinking about it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and please comment, good or bad i look forward to hearing and being helped if thats possible. Again thanks.

[kah]

Hi there,

I can relate to everything you are saying - in fact I could have written it myself! My story (in brief!!): In October last year I noticed blood in my phlegm, at roughly the same time my left shoulder/arm started to ache continuously. I was sent for a chest x-ray which was clear and for a time I didn't focus on the pain but noticed the blood was still there. In January this year my GP said that as it hasn't cleared up on it's own he is referring me to a chest specialist - I freaked out thinking something was desperately wrong (had googled back in November and convinced myself I had lung cancer). I am still waiting, appt was scheduled for 2 weeks time but had a letter the other day to say it has been put back another 3 weeks, making it a total of 12 wks I would have waited for the appt. I still have the achey arm, blood and now have intermitent pain in right & left hand side of chest. I'm always short of breath too and exhausted 24/7. I've been to the docs rather regularly (:blush:) over the past month because I'm getting so anxious but each time the GP has assured me he isn't worried in the slightest.
What I do know after having this problem for nearly 4 months is that the more I focus on it the worse it seems. The pain never totally goes away but if I am able to keep the anxiety in check it is not so bad. I'm not saying that your pain is all in your head but maybe your anxiety is making it out of proportion.
I saw my CBT therapist yesterday and one really helpful thing he taught me was to think of what you would say to a friend if they told you they had the same problem. Given all the tests you've had which have all been fine I would hazard a guess that you'd tell them that maybe it's muscular or perhaps caused by anxiety. I'm certain you'd say it was nothing to worry about.
I hope if nothing else my story helps you to realise you are not alone and I hope you start to feel better very soon. If you ever want to chat please feel free to PM me.
K xx