Anxiety or real health issues?

[AstandsforAnxiety]

Hi all,

I'm new here! Used to visit anxiety zone from time to time, but that one disappeared obviously So I'm hoping to find some support on here.

I'll give you guys a short introduction of my life.... About a year ago I developed strange neurological symptoms like internal vibrations, paresthesia, muscle cramps, twitching fingers, tiredness... after a while I panicked and thought I had ALS, MS, Lyme, Parkinsons... I was referred to a neurologist who did all kind of tests (MRI, , blood works, CT scan, lung tests, nerve conduction tests, etc...) Everything was fine... He thought it might be caused by chronic hyperventilation.

I have dealing with fears (including health fears) since I've been a toddler & during stressy times it becomes worse. So because of my issues dealing with this health stuff and the constant fear the doctor was wrong I decided to go see a psychotherapist.

She helped a lot & because of her I did realise I'm a hypersensitive person, my stress shows up through physical symptoms & most of all I'm suffering from GAD combined with some big health fears. I can't remember a time without worries... Even when I was a child I had a fear of friends leaving me, a fear of having a brain tumor & dying etc. But I just saw myself as a stressy person never thought of anxiety... until last year.

I was getting to know myself better, trying to cope with my symtoms & feeling more relaxed without the fear of having a serious disease, but then... all hell broke lose.

It started with innocent symptoms: lower back pain, coccyx pain and a bit of a burning feeling in my hip... that lasted for a while & saw a doctor. CT scan was made.. everything ok. Had to take some pain killers to see if they would work, they didn't. After a few weeks my symptoms changed. The pain became much less, but every time I sat down I got a burning feeling in my butt & the backside of my upper legs. This lasted for about 2,5 weeks. It was horrible... the pain was so bad!

Then... burning sensation became less, but I became hypersensitive of my pants, or fabrics rubbing on my legs. It's like everything is made of prickly wool.... this has lasted for about 2 months now.

Again I visited the neurologist, who did more tests (blood work, MRI's of my spinal cord, nerve conduction tests).. off course everything came back normal. I'm now referred to a dermatologist, because I sometimes get tiny red dots on my body and he thinks there might be a link (I don't, because they are not in the places I get the hypersensitivity). If that doesn't reveal anything I need to go back to him for some pills against nerve pain.

I'm also seeing a physical therapist who thinks she can solve these sensations by manipulations... but it will take time, so far no improvement.

These are stressy times for me, work, will be moving within 2 months, stressed out boyfriend which causes a lot of fighting, I'm 30 so also the age children come to mind & now these health issues again... I'm flipping out. Scared this will last forever, I will have pain all my life, I do have lyme (Have been tested 3 times all ok, but all over the internet you can read standard tests in Belgium aren't ok, but the other team says the methods used for other kind of tests aren't trustworthy... Don't know what to believe anymore) or maybe I have something else scary like small fiber neuropathy...

I'm scared sick, I'm frustrated because of the pain I'm dealing with for over 3 months now, I don't know what to do anymore...

I'm just wondering, do you think these burning sensations can be a symptom of my anxiety? I've read it's possible, but for such a long time? Maybe It's all become too much for me and my anxiety is causing all these symptoms, but that would truely blow my mind.

Would love to hear some words of encouragement, because my life at the moment isn't great.. NOT AT ALL.

Greetings,
A.

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya AstandsforAnxiety and welcome to NMP

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way

[Alexldn89]

I can tell you I have had so many pains and aches over the last three months that this stress has been with me ..
I have had horrible chest pains and although I have had THREE ecgs I still think it's my heart and I pani over it.. because I'm panicking without almost even realising my breathing gets bad my vision gets a bit blurry
And I just feel unwell all the time ..
Try to trust the doctor when they say nothing is wrong .. it's easier said than done I know!
BUT I've been there and I'm still there ..
burning sensation I've had and I get it in my chest by my heart .. I get palpitations at the same time and every time I think I'm dying
EVERY single time .. so your not alone I assure you

[Panic sufferer]

it can be incredibly difficult to trust the doctor when they say "everything's fine" and you worry it isn't. I had an ECG, blood tests & lung function test (all came back absolutely fine) when admitted to hospital with breathing probs last week, and since if I get palpitations or chest pain I try to tell myself "you've been checked, it's OK". It isn't easy though.

[AstandsforAnxiety]

It's the fact that anxiety symptoms aren't something they can test & prove that's what going on. It's a matter of.. "well we can't find anything so, since you're an anxious person this will probably be anxiety". That uncertainty is very difficult for me to deal with, VERY difficult. I'm someone who needs to see proof. And the things I'm fearing like lyme disease are things that are also very difficult to test for and have all kind of symptoms that anxious people have too... so what is it? Anxiety or real health issues? This question is driving me insane and I know all I can do is trust my doctors, but also myself (because doctors can make mistakes too).

I hate this

[sporque]

It's the fact that anxiety symptoms aren't something they can test & prove that's what going on. It's a matter of.. "well we can't find anything so, since you're an anxious person this will probably be anxiety". That uncertainty is very difficult for me to deal with, VERY difficult. I'm someone who needs to see proof. And the things I'm fearing like lyme disease are things that are also very difficult to test for and have all kind of symptoms that anxious people have too... so what is it? Anxiety or real health issues? This question is driving me insane and I know all I can do is trust my doctors, but also myself (because doctors can make mistakes too).

I hate this

Welcome to the club! I can relate, and your pain/symptoms are 100% real. The only questions is what's causing the problems. In my years dealing with Anxiety/Health anxiety I've found that sometimes you're not imaging it and there really is something wrong with you. Pain/discomfort is the body's way of telling you there is something wrong. However, it's important to note that many of my worst health scares/experiences turned out to be nothing of importance at all. Unfortunately, the anxiety can cause neural pathways to form that will literally keep pain going when there is no physiological cause. This is just a signifcant as if there were a definitive cause. As for the Lyme, I've had it 2 or 3 times and it never gave me symptoms. I treated it all those time with antibiotics. The one thing I'd recommend, if you did have recent Lyme it to make sure your Doc was smart enough to give you 30 DAYS of treatment. If they just gave you a 2 day or 1 week course, that is not enough for Lyme. Also, there is no need for anything MORE than a 30 day course, so if that's the case for you forget about Lyme.

[AstandsforAnxiety]

Hi Sporque,

Thanks for the encouraging words.. Really trying to cope with all of this, escape the panic mode and give my body the chance to 'reset' itself. I've got a lot of stressful things going on, I'm moving in a couple of weeks, my boyfriend has a lot of job related stress which causes tension in our relationship, I just started therapy about a year ago to conclude that I probably suffer from anxiety (which I found difficult to accept), I've had family issues (addiction), etc. So enough thing going on to stress out a 'normal' person, so for a worrier like me it's been hell!

I hope that when the moving is behind me & other things start to ease down I will get the chance to calm down a bit (although I'm not always feeling THAT stress out). I know this will probably take a while and shouldn't count on seeing results after a few weeks. But hoping I will after a few months.

On the lyme thing. I've only had a tick (knowingly) one time in my life, about 16 years ago. This was removed the correct way after a few hours. It never gave a rash, or irritation or something so I didn't have treatment then (Lyme wasn't a big issue at that time too). I have however always lived in a rural environment, with cats that come and go, sleep in the couch, sleep on the bed. I always checked for ticks and never had one on my body that I know of. In the last year I've been tested for lyme 3 times (the standard test), and it always was negative. So never was treated with anything. The only reason for the tests was that lyme can cause these symptoms.

What creeps me out is that there are people that claim that standard tests aren't enough and you should get tested with special blood tests in Germany, or America that cost hundreds of dollars and always advice on months and months of antibiotics if you test positive. Here in Belgium these kind of test are considered unreliable and not proven affective, so to make this choice I would have to spend A LOT of money for something I don't know is reliable.

Because I don't want to cause harm to my body with endless treatment for something I might not even have I've decided to leave the lyme story behind me for now. If after a long time things get worse or unbearable I can always make the choice to do the tests anyway & see what I'll decide to do if they come back positive.

Now I'm trying some alternative ways of healing my body, which cost a lot too, but don't harm the body. So if it doesn't work it's just my walled I've hurt .

Thanks you all for the support! I hate feeling like this (mentally and physically!!)

A.

[Totallyphobic]

Hi

I am also from AZ what was your user name there? getting on to your topic I have suffered from the same thing Back issues, burning, skin disorders and believe it or not it was made worse by constant stress and anxiety. I started to get relief from it all after taking meds and working with my therapist and psychiatrist. While I still have some issues it is now more under control and like you seen a neuroligist and went through testing. Also I found I suffer from allergies that also bring on some of these issues and I never was allergic to most of what I am now allergic too. Get tested for allergies and also try to reduce your anxiety and stress. It is hard to do but it can be done paitience is the key.