Hi my name is Ono, i'm a 23 year old male living in the UK.
I haven't been officially diagnosed with any form of anxiety problems but that's mainly down to me keeping my problems to myself basically out of fear of people not understanding.
A brief history
For as long as i can remember, growing up, i've always been a bit of a worrier and at Primary School i'd often worry about the most ridiculous things. For example i remember when i was 8 i would take off my uniform and fold it up neatly because i was so paranoid that other kids outside would see my screwing it up and they'd tell the teachers at school
Then over the years i seemed to revert to being quite a laid-back person...or so i thought.
The first time i noticed something was wrong was around 3 - 4 years ago and it was a common anxiety symptom (although i didn't know at the time). I'd be trying to go to sleep and all of a sudden i'd wake up with my heart pounding, gasping for breath. I'd breath deeply and after about 30 seconds i'd get my breath back. Originally i thought it was a heart problem and i ended up having a few ECG's only for them to show up fine.
I then went down the asthma/allergies route as i do actually have asthma and have developed an allergy to my cats and dust. I was relating the breathlessness to my allergies for a while untill i started to wonder why these attacks only ever happened when i was trying to sleep. Anyway after a little while they became less frequent and eventually they stopped and touch wood i haven't had one for probably 18 months.
However, once they stopped, another problem developed. Now (not every night) when i'm trying to go to sleep i get this all over body trembling/shaking. It's bizarre but not as bothersome as the palpitations and breathlessness of the past. It seems to subside after about 10 minutes and eventually i fall asleep and normally have a good sleep.
Now this is the confusing bit. Over the last 3 years i've also been experiencing a great deal of other symptoms. I've no idea if they are related. I guess that's why i'm here. The list goes as follows....
Occasional dizzyness/not really there feeling
Head pressure
Face pains/Head pains
Hand numbness
Feeling unsteady on my legs (Sea legs)
Neck pain/back of head ache
Sudden onset of quite severe tiredness
Body trembling that's more severe when trying to sleep.
and more recently...
Foggy memory, difficulty concentrating.
What have i done about it?
Numerous visits to the Doctor explaining the symptoms as and when they occured. Originally diagnosed with Labrynthitus due to the dizzyness and unsteadyness on my legs. Took antibiotics - no change.
Went back a few months later and they moved onto allergies. Given allergy medication and different inhaler and that helped control my allergy symptoms (sneezing, weasing etc). Other symptoms still hadn't stopped so back i went again. This time they moved onto my sinuses. Bought an air purifier for my bedroom and prescribed a steroid nasal spray. The air purifier stops me from waking up with a runny nose and head pressure which is good but the other symptoms still exist.
So i went back and now they have moved on to my neck. I could have a neck problem. I've been for my 1st bout of physio today and i apparently have a few weak vertabraes on the left side of my neck. Been given some streghtening exercises and told to go back next week.
In Summary
I change my mind as much as the doctors. One minute i'm convinced it's my neck, the next minute i think it's my sinuses. I'm just scared of never getting to the bottom of it. I've read countless internet posts from people with very similar problems and they've gotten nowhere and have eventually just been told by their doctors that they have anxiety disorders. It's at the point now where i'm starting to think it's the same for me but at the same time i wouldn't accept that explanation from my doctors because i honestly feel like they don't have much of an idea and they can use 'anxiety' as a safety net or a cop-out.
Sorry for the long-winded post, it's just good to be able to talk to people who have gone through the same situation, where other people don't understand nor care. I think that covers everything, and hopefully this forum will eventually help me to turn the corner maybe get to the bottom of what's happening with me. So hi again to everyone
Reply With Quote
