Is this anxiety only or am I having a physical medical problem?

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I'm 35 years old, not prone to panic attacks. No history of mental illness. I'm not on any meds and never have been long-term. I have always had pretty bad social anxiety in elementary school and high school. Since the second grade, for instance, I hated public presentations (reading in front of the class) more than anything. I always felt shaky and nervous in social situations with a lot of people around and I apparently had a Benign Essential Tremor from a very young age. Fast forward to present, I have worked at a lot of jobs in Customer Service, Sales, etc. I work at the corporate offices campus for a major worldwide brand with 4,000 people there. I'm responsible for over 1,000 people in my area alone. I walk the floors, know admins, office workers, VP's, SVP's, etc., by name. I talk to them a lot. Docs never knew why I had light tremors earlier in life, but they were barely noticeable.

This past Wednesday, I started shaking at some point during the day. I don't remember if it was when I got up that morning or sometime during work. I have a pretty laid-back, repetitive job that I have been at for over 10 months now. There's nothing "new" about it that would have stressed me out, nothing I was fearing/dreading in life in general or any of that. Along with full-body shakes as if I'm freezing cold, I get this anxiety/tension/adrenaline feeling in the left side of my chest. So I suddenly feel like I'm shaking to pieces, anxious about everything in life that used to not bother me the other day and even shaking when I sleep and not sleeping that well. I feel like I have so much adrenaline that I want to go run a marathon. At the same time, somehow, I feel so fatigued and tired that I want to lay down in the floor and go to sleep. I sleep 7-8 hours and feel exhausted when I get up. Very extreme reflexes noted by doctors when I went to an Emory clinic. They tapped my knee and I kick like 2 feet. They wanted blood work. They planned to take a vial for thyroid and also for a general blood panel. As soon as she poked me with the needle and I felt blood rushing out, I got lightheaded, nauseous and passed out for the first time ever for 10-15 mins. I had a drop in heart rate to 50bpm and blood pressure went way low, about 60/60. I know that because I woke up to 4-5 people frantically trying to get me back and I saw the monitor with stats in front of me. The lady nurse shook her head like I had been having blood pressure and heart rate low for a long time and the doctor kept saying, "It's going up, it's going up."  I had blood all over my shirt and the table. They said I had fainted and couldn't get the general panel, but got the vial for thyroid. The doctor was screaming at the staff, "There's a lot of people in the waiting room, we need to get them out of here!" and wanted me to get up a few minutes after I came to.

I'm very hungry on a regular basis. My heavier shakes come sometimes and then go away completely for a while, as if they were never there to begin with. The minor tremor that I have had since my childhood is still there and apparently separate from whatever this is making me shake way more. I'm going to have to go to another doc and get a basic blood panel, since I fainted before they could get the last one and only got a thyroid vial. Even when the shakes go away, the adrenaline/anxiety feeling in my chest remains and I still feel this "panic" feeling all over that gives me heavy chills. I feel like I can't breathe enough. This is not me and I don't think I'm having a breakdown or anything like that. I have never had such anxiety, so this is alarming to me and it is for no reason. I have always been very healthy with no issues, so this came out of the blue. The doc who did the thyroid test referred to neurology and wants a brain scan. Also, they wanted me to go to a psychiatrist/psychologist and I was quite offended when they asked me if I ever had any mental problems.

I have read that throid issues can cause severe anxiety, shaking, etc. Anyone ever heard of this?

0 likes, 2 replies

2 Replies

  • Posted

    You have given a great deal of detailed information. I would recommend you follow your docs lead wherever it takes you.
  • Posted

    I would follow your doctors advice ! Then you can rule out medical problems and if it is anxiety you can get support needed 

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