Nothing and no one feels real. I’ve felt extremely ill for 2 months.
Posted , 3 users are following.
On May 23,2019, I went in for a lithotripsy procedure. This is where you go under general Anesthesia and they send thousands of shockwaves through your kidney to break up a kidney stone so that you can pass them. Waking up, I apparently was hysterical and crying about my ex-boyfriend who had died by suicide almost 5 years prior. Hours later, I was having a lot of abdominal pain (they said this was normal) and a lot of bleeding and blood clots in my urine (they also said this was normal). I was taking 3 days worth of antibiotics (nitrofurantoin?) and the occasional hydrocordone for pain. Over the next few days I was in and out of the ER because I had developed terrible headaches and neck pain to the point where I could hardly sit up in bed. They ran blood, urine and even did a CT scan of my head and found nothing. I went home and things continued to get worse over the next few weeks. A few days after the procedure I developed this feeling of nothing is real, no one is real, etc. I was able to force myself to go to work a couple of times but always needed to leave early. The next few weeks and now months have been horrible. I had to actually quit my job, have my mom fly out to Phoenix, put my furniture in storage and move me back home to Minnesota. I have been bed ridden for 2 months now. I can't do anything for myself. My mom has to make and bring me food and force me to eat, I can hardly talk to people or doctors on the phone because i can hardly process what anyone is saying....This is ruining my life.
My symptoms are constant feelings of i am not real, nothing is real including my family and friends. I have closed off everyone besdies my mom (maybe derealization?), i have no concept of time, i know things happen or happened but i dont remember them happening, head pain and head aches (mostly in back of head, temples, and top of my head but it makes my head feel heavy so its hard to keep myself up right), extreme fatigue and lethargy, neck pain and now extreme back/spinal pain (started in my lower back a few weeks ago now it spread up to my middle and upper back and is worse when sitting or laying down), my vision is impaired (i feel like i cant see things clearly. everything seems bright or is having flashes of light, visual snow kinda), chest tightness, body numbness (usually in hands/arms/feet but today my right side of the back of my leg, butt, and genital area went completely numb for 30 seconds while i was trying to urinate), insomnia, exteme lack of appetite, lack of motivation, ringing in ears, sudden hearing impairment for a few seconds, etc. The list just goes on.
I have seen a Neurologist (EEG, MRI, EMG, ultra sound of my neck. He said everything looked normal and urged me to see a psychiatrist), Cardiologist (stress test, ultra sound of heart, ultra sound of neck, holter monitor. He said everything looked normal but have low blood pressure so put me on Fludrocortisone), GI specialist (HIDA scan, CT of abdomen, upper endoscopy. He said everything looked normal), Endocrinologist (i have graves disease diagnosed a year before all of this. I went to her to see if something was up with my thyroid. She said everything came back normal for my thyroid levels and ran 24hour urine and just said to up my water/lemon water intake to prevent future kidney stones. I have been to 4 different ER's where they have run numerous blood work, urine, spinal tap, nerve blocks in my neck, more CT and MRI scans and they have found nothing. I even went to my therapist and also my psychiatrist and was put back on Lexapro (escitalopram) 5 days ago to see if maybe this was just all my mental health but it is making my derealization and fatigue and every other symptoms WORSE. I really don't know where to go from here. Could this all just be anxiety/depression/PTSD related? Or is something more going on.
Side note: I do have previous mental health diagnosis of anxiety, depression, and PTSD which all had been treated and I saw my regular therapist at least once every 3 months.
1 like, 8 replies
AlexandriaGizmo natasha15782
Posted
Sadly your side note says it all, there comes a point where tests are finding nothing wrong and yet you are still convinced it's something physical instead of your mental health issues returning.
It's possible that the anesthetic you had triggered an anxiety attack which is not uncommon and it's caused some form of ptsd that's making you feel as if nothing is real, you articulating quite well as I can see by your post, laying in bed is OK if your sick as in cancer or something that makes it impossible for you to walk but bed is definitely the worst place to be for mental health problems.
I wish you well and hope you can get past this.
natasha15782 AlexandriaGizmo
Posted
I greatly appreciate you reaching out so quickly. I am finding it really difficult to deal with the feeling of not feeling and like nothing is real. It's extremely disturbing and quite terrifying.
AlexandriaGizmo natasha15782
Posted
You are right it is scarey but I promise it will pass, anxiety and depression are really horrible things to experience especially when you are young and haven't learnt any coping strategies to help you deal with it.
You need to get some help with it before it has the chance to take over your life which it can do very easily, I know in my 20s when I had no one to turn to and truly believed that I was living in some kind of surreal world I found it very difficult to manage and I had young children as well.
I eventually found a therapist who got me through it and although I have had episodes since I learnt to use the things she taught me to survive and move on.
How old you if you don't mind me asking
natasha15782 AlexandriaGizmo
Posted
I went through a year of intensive therapy and support groups after my ex had died and was able to move out to Phoenix and live on my own and fully support myself. I was flourishing for the first time in my life and then this all happened out of the blue. Which is also why im so distraught and confused over this. I am 22!
AlexandriaGizmo natasha15782
Posted
Don't be hard on yourself it really doesn't sound like you are a weak person and it does seem to be that when we think we are doing so well it all comes crashing down on us, it's just life and I think that people like us have to be more vigilant, having an op is something we can not control and it might take a while to get back to where you managed to get to before it took place.
I'm glad you have your mum to help as well its a good support system that gets you through it
natasha15782 AlexandriaGizmo
Posted
I just hope I can get through this soon. I'm tired of putting my life on hold to get better. I appreciate you reaching out, thank you.
AlexandriaGizmo natasha15782
Posted
Your welcome and I hope you can get better quickly x
hypercat natasha15782
Posted
I have to agree with Alex. It's possible the anesthetic itself triggered some of shock to your body. This isn't usual but maybe you are very sensitive to it.
The last time I had anesthetic after about 20 hours I got very emotional and had a mini breakdown in the hospital. I was crying uncontrollably and felt at a very low ebb. After a couple of days I was back to normal but still felt very shaky.
I know it seems like a long time when you are living it but it's only been 2 months so give yourself time (and permission) to start recovering. The worst thing you can do is stay in bed and give your life over to someone else even if it is your mother. Start by doing a few very small things for yourself and build up from there.
Do what you did last time you suffered from anxiety and depression. You will find a way through it even though it is very scary. x