Thought it was anxiety, turned out to be possible GBS (Guillain Barré Syndrome)

[iPodClassic]

Some of you might have seen me comment on your posts, and I would like to be brief and not bore you.

I suffer from angiooedema/allergies, for a year and a half, been taking Benadryl and whatever, having many panic attacks thinking it was something else, always being told it's just my head.

4-3 weeks ago, all of a sudden I had a massive, sudden RLS attack, I thought it was the antihistamines or anxiety. that very night I ended up in ER; since I could not take the RLS, and I even puked out of the anxiety it generated; I never ever had RLS that strong, and trust me, I have had it before.

ER dr ran a full blood test, tested my strength etc. She tested for calcium, sodium etc, all came back perfect. She said I was great. After a while waiting for the test results, the feeling subsided (never went way completely), so I thought it was anxiety.

After that, daily episodes of 'going insane' with a really bothersome feeling in legs/arms, and RLS almost every night.

I thought it was anxiety.


These last week, my legs are really weak, my calves hurt and my arms also experience some weakness, sometimes it improves, sometimes not.

Needless to say, today it was almost impossible to get to work, I can't walk, I actually had to sit down on the train floor cos I couldn't stand.

Allergist got really worried, and I am in line to rule out Guillain Barré Syndrome, along with other stuff.


Of course, I'm scared to death, because I feel like "So I was right.. so what if I'm right with other stuff too?".

I am looking to sue the medical staff as well, I feel conned, cheated and left to chance.


So my words to you: Never believe a dr if you feel you shouldnt believe them. If I am wrong then I will eat my own socks, but so far, I am right.

Thanks.

---------- Post added at 14:39 ---------- Previous post was at 14:35 ----------

Symptoms:

- Severe RLS, sometimes mild.
- Muscle twitching.
- Anxiety.
-Depersonalization-
- Apathy.
-Leg / Arm pain, weakness.
- Feeling like water on my tigh.
- cold / hot feelings in legs, skin etc.


So what I'm saying is, that "anxiety list" can help a lot by reassuring you, it has helped me, but also it can harm by not giving importance to real symptoms as well.


Only accept a truth when you really feel it. No matter how hard they tell you it's in your mind; if you don't think it is, then don't take it. Only someone experiencing the same thing as you, at the same time, can know.

[Fishmanpa]

So you've not actually been diagnosed with this?

Anxiety sufferers get real illnesses too and if yours turns out to be an actual physical illness, then you would be in the vast minority who actually had something going on.

To say "Never believe a dr if you feel you shouldnt believe them." is feeding the fear of all the skewed perceptions of the VAST majority of anxiety sufferers posting here.

Hope all works out well for you!

Good luck and as always...

Positive thoughts

[iPodClassic]

Oh shoot, I had a really long reply and I pressed ctrl+something which caused the page to go back, ndedless to say, the text wasn't there when I went 'forward'.

Basically, what I said is that I wasn't diagnosed with anything, because I saw my allergist yesterday, and he cannot diagnose with conclusive test results.

However, he's a doctor, right? If he presumed this, it must be for a reason (symptoms, physical check and previous blood works).


I am not looking to feed any fears and yes, I should rephrase myself; "Never believe a doctor if you believe you shouldn't, there is a reason why you don't believe them, right?"


People with anxiety are not insane nor delusional, they're just anxious. Can we exaggerate things? Yes. Can we make things up on our mind? I don't think so.

I am not looking to scare anyone. If I was, I would say "all they say is lies, even if you are happy with your diagnose, do not believe because you have an illness they just cannot find!! They are hiding illnesses from you!!"

I am just saying, if you don't feel confident with a diagnose, do not believe it. I know this knocks down the self reassuring comfort for the vast majority, however, it might help the vast minority; in the end, wouldn't be unfair for the minority to suffer just because the majority does not want to suffer? Or should we sacrifice the vast minority in the name of the peace of mind for the vast majority?


Thanks.

[Fishmanpa]

"People with anxiety are not insane nor delusional, they're just anxious. Can we exaggerate things? Yes. Can we make things up on our mind? I don't think so."

That's where I disagree. I'm not saying they're insane or delusional but it's the mind itself and the spiral of anxious thoughts that causes all the real physical symptoms listed on the symptoms page and what the vast majority of sufferers feel and write about here. I believe you're feeling real physical symptoms. I don't believe they're being caused by some rare physical illness.

There are some that believe(d) they've had a deadly illness for years and nothing a medical professional, and sometimes several along with scientific medical tests can convince them otherwise.

An allergist is a medical professional specializing in one area of study. It appears you're being referred as he cannot diagnose your symptoms and that's what a good doctor does and it's a CYA move as well. So far, all tests have shown nothing and let's hope that further testing will have the same result.

Positive thoughts

[Captain irrational]

You are getting way ahead of yourself here. Wait until the tests are done before you draw conclusions on anything. For what it's worth, I doubt you have GBS, it is an extremely rare disease and there are many other more common things that can cause the symptoms you are experiencing.

But if it does turn out to be GBS, then it's not the end of the world because it is treatable.