Finding things hard lately...

[worriedlikemad]

Hi all,
I'm a 17 year old male, average weight, 6ft tall and keep quite fit playing various sports.
I've had some real problems with anxiety and stress lately related to school and other things in my family. Over the past 3 or 4 months I've becoming increasingly worried about my health because of some strange symptoms.
I've had diarrhoea for about 3 months now, it keeps changing in consistency and everything and it's freaking me out. (sorry for the detail) I have to go usually about twice a day, sometimes less and I think the most is about 5 times.
There are these lumps under my skin too that I'm scared are lymph nodes that have been persistently enlarged but I can't find any reason for them being enlarged.
Other things that are annoying me are; persistent dandruff and frequent colds and sore throat
Oh and I have frequent/constant chest pain and upper back pain too - this can be caused by anxiety right? I can't really find anything that links all these symptoms.

When I've been to the doctors i've been tested for; flu, mono, HIV (3, 6 and 12 weeks) and 3 full blood counts - they have come back completely normal.
What I'm asking is has anyone had the same things as me? And if they have, do they have any answers?

Would be really good to hear from someone about this.
Thanks x

[Geoff2301]

I remember constantly worrying about my health at your age.... that was 40 years ago and I'm still here and still neurotic though I don't worry about my health any more!!
Constant aches/pains are common with anxiety...... now don't go looking up any "symptoms" on Google or you'll convince yourself you've had your chips!! + you'll bring in some more "symptoms" that you've just read about..... speaking from experience here!!
If the blood tests have come back ok and you're pretty fit, then you're ok. Dandruff..... everyone gets that now and then... even my cat's got it!!... try another shampoo. Colds/sore throats...... time of year for those I'm afraid...... I did have a sore throat, or a sensation of a sore throat, that lasted for months...... again, a few years back..... this was anxiety as well!!

[anthrokid]

Hey man,

Anxiety has probably the broadest range of symptoms possible of anything!

Diarrhoea is often very common with anxiety because anxiety upsets the stomach and intestines which causes changes in your bowel movements. When my anxiety is at it's worst I have bouts as well, or I vomit a lot. You may also find that your body is intolerrant to something you are eating, like dairy perhaps? I'm intolerrant to a few foods, and whilst they aren't allergies or anything dangerous it just makes my stomach funny.

Frequent colds and sore throats are also very normal with anxiety, if anything about it can be normal. What happens is because we are so anxious all the time our nervous and immune systems are constantly in over-drive, which makes the immune system less effective and makes us more likely to develop colds. In a lot of people a sore throat is also a sign of stress. Since I was a little kid I have always had sore throats in periods of stress or anxiety, I never made the connection myself though, my mum mentioned it after I had about 7 bouts of tonsilitis last year!

Chest pain and upper back pain is caused by hunching over, which is a huge thing with anxiety, or muscle tension. When we are anxious we unconciously tense our muscles, especially through out shoulders and back which in turn creates a lot of pain because we exhaust the muscles so much.