Anxiety over stretch marks

[Savvy_Darling]

I haven't been on NMP for awhile. Lately I've been going through a rough patch with my anxiety: it's been bad. Tonight I relapsed and went on google and got myself sooo worked up about dieseases. I've been so good for awhile now about googling and here I am. I'm struggling guys. So I've gained weight over the last year -2 years. I've been noticing myself get more stretch marks because of this, on my inner thighs, legs, hips and now tonight in the mirror I noticed a few on my stomach. I freaked and felt so insecure. I haven't been very good about exercising and eating right. My anxiety makes me pretty inactive. My boyfriend and I have made a point of going for hour walks now and I plan on working out more and dieting as the stretch marks really made me realize I need to get it together because I don't wanna get fat. I was looking up things about stretch marks and then I saw something about Cushings Syndrome being a cause of stretch marks and it freaked me out bad and then I spiraled out of control and googled more about Cushings Syndrome and now I've convinced myself I have it. There are plenty of symptoms of it that I don't have but all my stretch marks are causing me to think I have it still. Or that having anxiety has caused me to get Cushings Syndrome. Anyone who hasn't heard of it is basically having too much cortisone in your body for long periods of time. A benign tumor on a gland I forget the name of. Anyways it scared the heck outta me: only symptoms I have to relate to it is anxiety, fatigue and my stretch marks. Rational me is saying I'm fatigued lately because my anxiety& depression has been so bad lately and I've had anxiety for the last 2 years now so it's not like I've all of a sudden aquired it and my stretch marks are from me gaining weight, I think I've gained 50 lbs in the last couple years now.. from anxiety and not working out and staying active and eating too much. But I can't help but freak out still about having a dieseae and I haven't been this bad in awhile and I'm so upset. I just came here to vent and maybe some advice. Ugh.

[thestruggle]

Stretch marks can happen so easily! You're probably feeling fatigued because you're overwhelmed with anxiety and feeling down, plus if you're not active it will make your body (and mind!) feel even more sluggish.. I work out pretty regularly and still get the odd stretch mark here and there! It's annoying, but some women are just more prone to them. If you've gained 50lbs that would be enough to give you stretch marks unfortunately I don't think you have a disease to be honest...you just need to find your happy place and get motivated to look after your body again in the way you've probably done in the past. I know there's not much you can do once you have them, but taking the time to moisturise your skin and drink plenty of water can make you feel tons better about it.. they look worse on dry skin

[nomorepanic]

I know about Cushings Syndrome as I have an adrenal gland tumour that is benign but they are keeping an eye on it.

I saw the endocrinologist 2 weeks ago and she looked at my abdomen for obvious signs of Cushings but said I didn't have the typical signs of it but I am overweight and do carry fat around my middle.

Sounds to me like you have been googling too much to be honest and if you have put on 50lbs that is a lot of weight and yes will cause the skin to stretch.

[Savvy_Darling]

The struggle- ugh yeah this past month has been a rough one for me as far as anxiety goes and I've just been wanting to sleep more. I lay down a lot which probably makes me tired too. These stretch marks and the new little ones on my stomach are a wake up call :( I don't want them to get worse so I need to start working on my body more. Thanks for your reply!

Nicola- does that mean you have it then? Because in my googling it said that as a symptom. I don't have any of the physical signs like they say either. I wouldn't have even known or started to get so anxious over this if it wasn't for looking up stretch marks. :( I feel pretty low today after my rough night. I haven't been in this place in awhile and it sucks. I need to get health insurance so it's not like I can go to a doctor about my worries. Like I said rational me is saying the stretch marks are simple from me gaining weight which I have. Health anxiety is saying I have Cushings and I'm freaked out about it. I'm also worried that having anxiety can cause Cushings because of being stressed often. Ugh wish I never saw that or googled at all about stretch marks :(

[Savvy_Darling]

Ugh I had to take one of my anxiety pills because I was freaking out so bad today and they made me fall asleep for 4 hrs. I cried to my boyfriend about all this. Although he really doesn't understand. It was so bad earlier I was looking for the "hump" that's on the back of your neck between your shoulder blades when you have Cushings and I convinced myself I had one a small one and kept having my Bf check and feel and he said he doesn't see or feel anything and that it's just my back spine bone. I don't know what to think. I'm not sure if it's normal or a hump because of Cushings Syndrome. I wish I never googled and saw that because it's all I can think about and keep checking my body for symptoms and I'm just doing so bad :(

[Kimberleaf]

I actually have this concern right now, too, and I can't afford the testing. :(

[Savvy_Darling]

Ugh Kimberleaf I feel you.no health insurance and Even if I had it I'd still be terrified to go to the doctors. I wouldn't have any known about this if it wasn't for me innocently googling stretch marks not I'm obsessing over it. Today was horrible honestly and I'm still obsessing over feeling the back of my neck and looking at the mirror if I have a hump. Like it's ridiculous. I hate this. I don't even know if I have a hump or if my anxiety is causing me to believe I have one. I just don't understand how the different between gaining weight and having Cushings.. like I thought I just gained weight and needed to start dieting and being more e physically active now that I'm obsessing over this new thing I'm terrified into thinking I have it. :([COLOR="blue"]

[Kimberleaf]

I totally get it! However, it's actually most likely that you just gained weight and the stretch marks are a result of that!

[Savvy_Darling]

Yes that's what rational me is saying and that's what I've thought all this time before accidentally reading into Cushings Syndrome. I do think I have a little bump in the back of my neck and I think it might be related to poor posture and using my phone alll the time and looking down. I was reading into that option and I do use my phone so much and am looking down a lot and know I have poor posture from slumping my shoulders so perhaps that's what caused that. The Cushings "buffalo humps" are far bigger than what I have and even then I wonder if paranoia is hyping up the bump in my neck. It does feel boney and not so much fatty as a Cushings buffalo hump is fat. I don't know I'm just trying to calm myself down and be more rational with all this. Anxiety sucks! I wish things like this wouldn't get me as terribly worked up like they do. :(

[tn13]

Hey there, I haven't posted here in ages but had to when I saw this thread because the fear that I had Cushing's absolutely dominated my life a few years ago. They were some of the worst months of my life.

My advice to you is DO NOT LOOK ON ANY CUSHING'S SUPPORT SITES. DO NOT. Read reputable medical sites if you must (probably don't do that either) but avoid the patient support groups like the plague. There are a lot of people in them who think that everyone who is overweight, depressed, has period issues, basically has any vague symptom of Cushing's has it, tests aren't accurate, etc. People with Cushing's often develop emotional problems, so I understand these people likely deal with their own anxiety, anger, depression etc that makes them believe this. They are full of terrifying stories that do not represent most people. This seems to be a shared feature among a lot of chronic illness "communities" online and it's really unfortunate.

Stretch marks happen for a wide variety of reasons. Almost everyone has them. The type of stretch marks seen in Cushing's disease are usually very extreme, angry, red and purple marks because the cortisol excess causes the skin to thin.

I thought I had the "buffalo hump" too, until I started noticing that pretty much everyone, especially if you have more weight on you, has some variety of fat in that area. If you're looking for something specifically, you'll probably find it, even if it's not really there.

If your symptoms get worse, sure look into testing, but chances are that you do not have Cushing's syndrome and this is your health anxiety talking. Also, don't forget that anxiety gives you high cortisol too, causing some of those symptoms of fatigue and so on - it's the stress hormone! I'm sorry you are going through this.

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