Is it really anxiety? Or Ms or fnd
Posted , 6 users are following.
So Ive had anxiety for most of my my life, but this past year it has really kicked into high gear this past year. The scariest part of it are the physical symptoms, which causes me to Google, which is where I found MS. Now I absolutely cannot stop thinking about it. Literally 24/7. I just want someone to tell me my symptoms are severe anxiety, because living with MS absolutely terrifies me. The thoughts are taking over my life and I need to do something now.
Here are a few of my symptoms, just to see if anyone can relate and help me.
Symptoms appear without even feeling anxious, which fuels health anxiety.. but I am also always anxious.
Mouth movement- mouth feels like I’m not saying words as if I normally do, only happens when I think about it though and when I get distracted it goes away, hyper awareness.. this is the one that freaks me out the most.
Started around late September
Flashes of light- saw random flashes of light by every couple of days for about a week, until I went to eye doctor and found out it was nothing, then it magically disappeared
Started around late October
Constant higher heart rate than usual, convinced myself I have tachycardia of some sort
Sometimes I get feelings that aren’t really dizzy or spinny, just kind of out of my head, like depersonalization, had it forever
Ice pick headaches- random stabbing pains in left temple always, only once or twice at a time and has only happened twice, but hurts
First one around May/June, then about a week ago
Tuesday my right forearm had a weird burning sensation for about thirty/forty minutes and it felt kind of numb. It wasn’t red and didn’t feel warm
Sometimes my face randomly gets red and feels hot, but I’ve checked my blood pressure every time and it’s always been normal. Happened for a couple months
Irregular bowel movements- will use bathroom normally for 3/4 days, then go three days without using bathroom. No problems though
Wake up in middle of the night- with shortness of breath feeling, but I never remember it, almost like it’s just a dream, also could just be a stuffy nose
Face does weird thing where it feels tight or just weird but goes away really fast, common anxiety symptom
Memory- went for a few weeks with difficulty remembering short term things, not necessarily remembering them.. but I was focused so much on remembering things that I wasn’t living in the moment to where I could actually remember them. Now its fine.
Couple months ago
Nervous tics- head jerk upwards, squinting eyes, dry cough/clearing throat
Muscle twitch- when I would lift my heels up and if I sat only a certain way, my thigh would start doing a little twitch. It hasnt done it anymore.
Random difficulty swallowing
Always have lots of acid reflux
I’m never cold, can go out in 30 degree weather in short sleeves
I’ve never had numbness, tingling, vision problems other than bad eyesight, other than random short burning on forearm
I have every single symptom of an anxiety disorder but also have some symptoms of MS
No fatigue
Constant dissociated some days
Then I’ll go for two weeks at a time with no symptoms or worries
Physical symptoms trigger anxiety, not other way around
if anyone can relate or just tell me Im not dying.. please do. Thank you in advance lol.(this is form Samanthas post 2 years ago and This is exaclty whats goung with me)** THIS IS WHAT MY STORY IS am going through and are not able to explain i have health anxiety and in january i randomly had a weird flare of symptoms where i felt offbalance sort of weird sensation on right side if my body face hand as if its stuck searched the whole night abd first thing googles showed me was ms and i was soo convinced i had ms went to a neuro the next morning and got an MRI which was unremarkable dr said its just anxiety my symptoms changed in april with panic attack palpitations and weird agitation but now again i get these flares after two months with 2 weeks interval if symptom free got checked from 9 different med specialists and neuro everyone saya anxiety its a pattern if symptoms and how i feel google all the symptoms and get into the loop of ms and sometimes of funtinal neurologic disorder all the symptoms i have i feel them no one frome outside knws whats happeingn to me kindly tell me if its severe anxiety or what ill be really thank ful**
0 likes, 4 replies
darren07683 lina64283
Posted
Hi lina, Some of the things you have described I can relate to and have suffered for many years.
I have never really shared my Anxiety problems with any one outside my family as I think we keep it very much a secret, like some hideous disease that nobody else suffers.
It's hard to control as it is a real physical pain that seems beyond a brain problem and more of a whole of you problem,that makes it even more difficult.
I thought that I would grow out of it as I became older but that wasn't so as I am now 58 years old and recently had a bad episode that has resulted in high blood pressure and diabetes of which I'm now being medicated for.
As a child I was clingy to my mother and would cry in terror if left at a friend's party! and school was horrific as I had dyslexia and learning difficulties, back in the days when ignorance was punishable.
I can remember on one occasion in school assembly when a pupil had graffiti on a wall, when the head master said they would find out who it was I suddenly felt guilty! and became very hot and felt my face going red and had a panic attack, in my head I thought every one was looking at me!
Also had the fear of treading on cracks in the pavement for fear of something bad going to happen.
Then there was the repeating of things,like putting something in a certain place or something bad will happen.
All my life I have been wondering WHY! why was i born this way?
One thing comes to mind and it's one of my easiest memories of a child about 3 or 4 years old, it was one early cold morning I was standing holding my mother's hand at a railway level crossing waiting for a train to pass when the train comes rattling past suddenly something came flying out of the window and smashed on my head knocking me unconscious!
just remember my mother screaming and waking up in the signal box (back in the days).
Was this early trauma the course of my Anxiety?
Do you have any recollection of a childhood trauma? as maybe this could have triggered our life of Anxiety.
Wishing you well on controlling the disorder we have .
kind regards
Darren
mihaildorian lina64283
Posted
Hi,
You have a lot of symptoms, and I have some of them, but not so many. For example, when I panic, my blood pressure rises. If you think so strongly that you have multiple sclerosis, go to the doctor and ask him to do a brain scan and you will get rid of this fear. My opinion as someone who has had anxiety for about 40 years (with breaks, of course) is to seek specialized help, that is, a psychiatrist, for consultation and treatment. Tell us something about yourself: lifestyle, weight, etc... Discussions on the forum can help you relax, I'm telling you from my own experience, but it won't cure you. We are waiting for good news from you 😊
ruby.t91 lina64283
Posted
Hi!
I was wondering if your symptoms subsided? Or if you have had any further investigations doing?
I am currently going through right now and am totally convinced I have MS. So any useful help or tips would be appreciated?
Guest lina64283
Edited
Okay, I've read your post in detail. Initially, please refer to my in-depth response to the forum member "Star586" regarding a very similar post and how your own symptoms being described relate to actual diseases such as MS.
Realize that when anxiety reaches certain levels, the normal sensations that people recognize as anxiety tend to subside to a degree and are replaced by somatic features, or in other words physical sensations or peculiarities that can range from subtle to quite extreme.
With regard to the odd sensations regarding coordination of the mouth when speaking, it's imortant to note that vigilance to habitual practices and autonomic functions can result in what appears to be difficulty with coordination and subsequently, disturbances in articulation. This is because you are unwittingly interfering with autonomic and well-rehearsed practices by invoking voluntary control impulses through intense focus. This is true in instances where people focus on respiratory function, only to find that at intermittent times it feels as though the natural rhythm associated with the autonomic functions of respiration might stop if vigilance is not maintained, or at the very least become unstable, which is also the most likely cause of your difficulty swallowing. The swallow reflex is autonomic and its smooth patterns can be slightly affected by any vigilance to the process. Persons who focus upon swallowing can very often find it difficult to swallow food, liquids and medications among other circumstances as though the act of swallowing has suddenly lost its coordinated abilities. Again, one's focus to these reflexes can invoke voluntary impulse that intermittently compete at various moments.
Vigilance to one's bodily functions is quite common among persons with health anxiety and if they seek out any unusual patterns they very often will find them via their own interpretations.
Acid reflux and Irritable Bowel Syndrome are very common among persons with significant and protracted anxiety. Many factors can impose an increase in stomach acidity such as poor sleep architecture, worrisome concerns, muscle tension and irregularities in bowel function.
De-realization and de-personalization are also common among persons with signifiant anxiety due to disturbances being imposed upon the body's senses that otherwise work seamlessly to correctly sense the environment around you in a manner that feels well-recognized and normal. When anxiety is present, it can alter the combined senses in their ability to provide normal feedback. People describe instances where they feel as though their surroundings are blunted, that they feel as though they are outside of their body in some manner, or an unusual sensation that they are not themselves. Again, this is due to faulty feedback by the senses and not a sign of disease.
I see absolutely nothing of your symptoms being described that are consistent in any manner with true signs and clinical symptoms of MS. You are reading from generalized topics posted online and misinterpreting the nature of the symptoms. You need to remind yourself that accurate clinical diagnosis requires many years of education, clinical training and experience. If it were somehow possible to merely compare a summary of symptoms appearing in website on the internet with complaints by patients to summarily arrive at an accurate diagnosis of disease then the extremely long pathway to becoming a licensed physician and specialist for the very same reason would be entirely unnecessary and implausible by comparison. For the reason just stated, it very plainly highlights the trouble with people seeking diagnosis and underlying reasons for their symptoms by using the internet. It's just not possible and most often leads to gross misinterpretations that result in needless excessive worry and unwarranted fear.
In direct response to your request, you most certainly are not dying. You are suffering the woes of significant health anxiety and the somatic features that very often accompany such a disorder. You are making a home out of visits to the medical community for reassurance that arises many times from the inability to resist seeking out the worst possible outcomes related to unusual sensations that are more accurately arising from significant anxiety.
You're going to be just fine. Learn to focus externally rather than internally.
Best regards