Tight skin and muscles in face

[kev]

Morning everyone,

Just wanted to ask if anyone gets really tight skin on their face and scalp? I can feel the muscles tightening and squeezing. Also weird is my bottom lip twitches. It tenses up on it's own and then a couple of seconds later relaxes again!

I know it doesn’t sound like much but the effect these tiny things have on my state of mind is not good, you can probably guess what I'm thinking about the symptoms...

The CBT I’m having is helping loads, but these changing symptoms are freaking me out (and I’ve been good and not googled them!)

On the positive side the pins and needles in my hands and feet have subsided and my vision is back to normal, and my hands are no longer weak

It just seems to be one thing after another at the moment!

Last thing, has anyone got any positive stories about having medication for their health anxiety? I’m sure I’ve read some posts on people saying how it gives you a break from the sensations, and if it carries on for months and months I may need a break, and it may provide some comfort to me to know that there is a last resort I would consider if all else fails

Thank you for reading

Kev

[Catalyst]

Hello again

Good news about those other symptoms subsiding. That's got to be a good sign!

In answer to your question about medication - I've never taken medication specifically for health anxiety. I personally am hugely reluctant to go down that route unless I absolutely have to. However, I did actually get prescribed diazepam last year (for it's muscle relaxant effects) because a twitch I had in my eye had been going on for so long. I'd had the annoying eye twitch for months & after the 1 week course of diazepam it stopped! Apparently it doesn't always work, but my doc said that the muscle had got into the habit of twitching and that the diazepam might be able to relax it enough to break the cycle. Maybe it's worth asking if it could work for your lip twitch?!

(I've had the occasional twitch in my eye since, but absolutely nothing like what I had last year! So I consider it a success story!)

Carly x

[kev]

Thanks Carly!

Yes i'm really reluctant too cos I've heard a few horror stories about side effects etc, I just wanted to hear some positive stories, as I tend to remember only the negative ones!

Will definitely ask about it if it carries on!

Thanks again!

K

[guitarpants]

Well here's the thing about medication. Benzos are great as long as you only take them sparingly and short term. If you get addicted or get in the habit or taking them, or "needing" them, they will ruin your life.

With that said, Xanax worked great for me for those times I needed a bit of relief. Really with no side effects either except for the tranquilizing effect and some short term memory loss.

SSRI's on the other hand can be difficult. They need a significant time investment and perseverance. For me, they caused more problems than they solved. My main complaint is the physical symptoms of anxiety, and SSRI's just caused more unpleasant things to happen. I also wasn't able to give them a fair chance. I only made it to day 3 on either of them (Zoloft, Lexapro).

I guess I may have failed at giving you positive advice lol. SSRI's do work great for some people. If you give them a shot and they don't work, you can always stop them. That's what I did. Some people have no side effects at all. You don't know until you try them since they work differently in everyone.

I also get the twitching and tightness. I'm sure it's stress and anxiety. Both Lexapro and Zoloft seemed to help with this, but I couldn't tolerate the other side effects.

[anthrokid]

I get the tightness and tension in my face, as well as the twitching in my bottom lip or jaw, I can't decide which one it is!

[kev]

Thanks for the replies!

Ninja, thank you for explaining everything, was really useful! I think i'm in the same boat, as the physical syptoms is the worst thing for me and maybe taking medication I would be constantly checking for side effects and weird things happening!

K

[guitarpants]

Thanks for the replies!

Ninja, thank you for explaining everything, was really useful! I think i'm in the same boat, as the physical syptoms is the worst thing for me and maybe taking medication I would be constantly checking for side effects and weird things happening!

K

My doctor told me if that I was constantly fighting the medication and wasn't comfortable with taking it in the first place, it's not going to help anyway. I have to admit though that Lexapro wasn't that bad and I might give it another shot at some point. But yeah, I didn't see the point in taking something that is just going to cause more weird physical sensations. That seems counter-productive.

[anthrokid]

Kev,

I've had very severe and terrible psychical symptoms, me and ninja seem to get sooo many of the same things! For me though medication is working amazingly, I'm on fluoxetine. I still get icky sensations a lot and horrible feelings and I feel out of it still, but nowhere near as bad as I was beforehand! Just for a positive medication story I don't even get side effects with my meds, only reduced appetite.