Please help

just wanted to type and say hi how are you feeling now? im sat on my sofa right now frozen because i have yet another tension headache and pressure. i feel like i must be ill or either im going to have this anxiety symptom forever. it is draining and gives me such a sense of dread and low mood. im going to heat up a hot water bottle and tell myself it will pass. hope you are ok. do you have anything you can do to? just wanted to let you know youre not alone and anxiety is a massive @#+&!

Hello,

I'm a retired medical professional from the U.S. and I'll share some information with you that I hope will provide some reassurance.

Understand that chronic anxiety can become elevated to the degree that it produces somatic features, or physical symptoms. The palpitations are merely isolated PVCs as a consequence of inadvertent stimulation of the vagus nerve, which is a large mixed nerve that extends from the gastrointestinal tract upwards to the heart and brain among other areas. Realize that gastrointestinal symptoms can result in nerve impulses that ascend and merely result in unintentional premature heartbeats. These particular heartbeats can appear singularly, in pairs(bigeminy,) triplets(trigeminy) or other variations and can be sensed as an extra beat followed by a significant or strong regular beat or in some instances can be detected as a skipped beat. Regardless, they are entirely harmless and the heart's normal pacer remains unaffected. In other words, the palpitations of the type you describe are absolutely incapable of resulting in any type of dangerous arrhythmia.

Diaphoresis, or sweating, is a very common feature of chronic anxiety with or without an accompanying panic episode. Muscle tension is also a very common feature of anxiety, as is gastrointestinal discomfort or pain.

Cancer is not an option here because it most always arises as the last symptom in virtually all cancer types rather than the initial clinical feature. Cancers are also most commonly insidious, or very slow in progression, so you would have been experiencing a host of other symptoms long before any pain appeared.

You are allowing your anxiety to become a runaway train of sorts regarding health concerns. Your description is one that I've encountered a tremendous number of times by other patients who experience health anxiety.

As for being lonely, you should join or utilize existing social media accounts to talk with friends and use the time with them to obtain reassurance while diminishing your loneliness. It is not uncommon at all for persons with health anxiety to become social withdrawn and feel as though life is passing them by because they become preoccupied with their health to the extent that it constantly spoils and diminishes one's outlook on life in general.

You're going to be just fine. Not a single patient that has provided health complaints or worries very similar to your own has ever subsequently developed any type of disease, so take a deep breath and relax in that regard. Arrange an appointment with your primary physician and discuss your issues. There are medications that can help in the short term while making arrangements to speak with a therapist who specializes in anxiety disorders.

Never allow your health worries to negatively impact your life. Simply take control and seek help. It's that simple and you'll be on your way to regaining your foothold on life in no time.

Best regards

Hi,

I can sympathise. Since enjoying a week free over Xmas from head pressure / tension headaches, I have now returned to work and the dreaded tightness in head / neck are back 😦 Have booked another visit to GP but am not hopeful for any resolution, and have just had a strange adrenaline rush which felt like it nearly pushed me off my chair !

The start of another grim year of chronic brain fog, it sounds morbid but at times I would sooner be dead then endure this nightmare. If there was a fast forward button through the working day I would happily push it.....