Tingling all over, muscle spasms and no dull eye/head ache... and health anxiety.

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I'm a female and I'm 20 years old I have serve healthy anxiety. Since the start of December I have been experiencing a tingling sensation all over my body. Some days it's really bad, some days I hardly notice it. This is accompanied by occasional muscle twitching. Due to the symptoms I have been referred to a neurologist by my GP but it's a 9 week wait. So as you can imagine someone with health anxiety I'm googling away and up comes MS! Of course this has made me worse. Since then I have developed a full head/eye ache. Well I went to th opticians straight away, she was very thorough and checked everything. If it was opti neuritis (common symptom of MS) she would have noticed. But she said my eye are perfect, very healthy. I don't know what to do. I'm still having all these symptoms and it's really getting me down. I cry daily.

1 like, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • Posted

    alana

    They can generally tell if you have something Nurological wrong by looking in the eyes, so it looks like you are ok.

    Look on the tests as confirmation that you are ok, you are very young so do not worry regards MS

    Try and relax, try Mindfulness Relaxation Technique, See Related Information, on RHS of page

    BOB

    • Posted

      Hi Bob,

      Thanks for your reply. I'm just really worried what could be causing all these physical symptoms!

    • Posted

      Alana

      You will be having your Nuro tests in the near future, so be patient all will be revealed and hopefully your mind will be put to rest

      My condition mimics MS and I have to go through all relevent tests every so often, Believe me when I say you would know something was wrong if you were having contraindications sighnposting MS. So stop worrying I would suggest you are to young to suffer this condition.

      Stop worrying

      Keep a hold

      BOB

  • Posted

    Alana this sounds typical of health anxiety.  I've dealt with it for the last 16 yrs.  it varies in severity for me.  it's troubling to feel a certain way but medical checks show nothing.  it wreaks havoc on the mind for sure.  for the past year and a half i've been dealing with it after a 5-6 yr period of feeling just fine.  like i said it comes and goes.  my symptoms...far worse than what you've described.  i'll get muscle twitching like yourself along with tingling in the hands mostly.  sudden sweating as well along with feeling warm or cold.  if i'm too anxious i'll feel a little off balance as well.  likewise, they performed the neurological checks with me along with mri/ct scans of the brain and nothing came back.  it seems those of us suffering forget how powerful the mind is and believing we have a condition can bring on the symptoms we believe we have.  i've noticed this over the years.  stay strong and do your best not to worry which is the real culprit to most of your symptoms if not all.

    • Posted

      Thank you for your reply! I just think back to the times were i didn't feel like this. Constant worry on my shoulders about my health and the whole 'what if'. There always seems to be something wrong with me. I spend my whole free time googling away... I suppose for reasurance but it doesn't always end that way. I'm young and i should be enjoying my life but it really gets me down x

    • Posted

      alana even after all the feedback here you'll still have your doubts.  likewise, you may still have doubts after your neurologist says your fine.  if you're having a wide variety of symptoms in a very short period of time...it just isn't common for serious neurological conditions.  parkinson's is slow progression...ALS the same...MS...typically won't span the entire body with regard to symptoms.  anxiety is likely the culprit here.

  • Posted

    Im sorry you are having physical symtoms! I have had health anxiety for 10+ years. I recently took Niacin, its vitamin B3. Google it for anxiety. In the 50's they did studies on how it can treat depression/anxiety. Its worth a shot right! I have a constant feat of having a heart attack, amd my husband being alone and my kids being withoit a mother. I do alot of praying and exercising helps too! Keep us updated a d good luck to you!

    • Posted

      Thanks alot. I had blood tests done back in December and they came back fine. I'm waiting for my Neurologist appointment which is on 13th March. I called my GP today to ask for an appointment sooner... No luck though sad x

  • Posted

    ALANA Please read this

     when I was in my 20s I have the exact same symptoms that you do. I did not have the Internet then to get the support offered on this site so you can imagine how scared I was. I also thought I had MS.   My dad took me to a neurologist and all my test came out normal.    I even had visual disturbances and the headache.All those symptoms are related to stress and anxiety! Anxiety symptoms can mimic some terrible diseases so that's why people get so scared. 

     The tingling all over the body is a very common symptom of anxiety. Anxiety can have hundreds of symptoms!     I'm actually having the tingling in my  leg right now. But I've had it on and off for many years.  Then just ignore it.  Another very common symptom is the muscle twitching which I also had  and still get from time to time. . Millions of people including athletes often get the muscle twitching. I am a nurse so I also know a little bit about this. Well I am happy to tell you that I am now in my 50s  and I'm still here! Through the years since my 20s when I feel anxiety some of those symptoms will come back but that just tells you that they are not serious!  Remember, anxiety cannot kill you. 

     here's how it works: when we are feeling anxious the brain thinks it has to go into action to protect you. That is called fight or flight. When there is no real danger, all that anxiety buildup in the brain has to go somewhere so it comes out as symptoms,

     I have been dealing with this for a long time and all my fears of a terrible condition never happened and I wasted years of my life worrying. Please don't do that to yourself.  Another thing is trying not to Google it will only scare you and may not even pertain to you. 

     more active you stay the less anxiety you will feel. When I exercise it completely lift the anxiety so I do it on a regular basis. Another thing I did that helped was to speak with a counselor. They see this every single day and have the tools to help you. It's hard to overcome on our own and great to vent to someone else .   I keep going even when I feel better. The key is learning how to manage the anxiety. My symptoms literally go away when I manage it well.

    FEAR Stands for false evidence appearing real. That's what happens when we thinking negative thoughts. Fear is based out of non reality.

     there are some great meditative audio's free online that deal with negative thinking and anxiety. You can find it on YouTube. 

     remember…… Stay active, eat healthy, don't Google, socialize, and  when a negative thought comes to mind, say out loud NO!  And immediately think of something positive or go do something right away.  Be a fighter for yourself! You can do this. Of course follow up with your doctor because when your test all come out normal you can feel relief and start working on dealing with the anxiety. Your symptoms are VERY common believe me with stress or anxiety.   

     I hope this helps. 

    • Posted

      Wow! Thank you for such a detailed reply. I really appreciate you taking your time to write that message! You are very kind, thank you for the reassurance!

      I just constantly feel like there is something wrong with me. I just want to feel normal again and not constantly worrying about my health and 'what if'.

      I have since had a head/eye ache which has lingered since Friday which is accompanied by rainbow halos, glares and starburst effects. My Optician did a full eye exam and she said my eye are healthy but i am still so concerned. So i have another appointment with a different optician tomorrow to see if they pick up on anything different ... x

    • Posted

        Have you ever had migraines or a really bad headache's? Those are very often accompanied by the visual effects that you have. My visual effects were almost like I  was looking through steam, everything looked a little Wiggley and then I didn't see anything on the sides only what is right in front of my vision. After that I would get a headache. Ended up being all related to  stress and anxiety. Those visual effects are called Auras. 

       when you have your eyes examined next time ask if they will  take pictures of the back of your eye.  That's what they did when I went and that way they can check out the retina in the back. Mine turned out to be fine. Maybe you've already had that done. 

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