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Strange symptoms. Told it's anxiety but am terrified!
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Hi opuses,
Thanks for your post.
I'm glad to hear that you'll be continuing to see the psychologist after the 10 sessions are up. They can get quite pricey so it's good to know that's affordable for you.
You said you've suffered from the brain tumour for a while now; do you mean 'the idea of a brain tumour'? I assume that's what you meant but I just wanted to double check as so far it sounds like with your health the only thing you've been diagnosed with is anxiety and labyrinthitis.
I'm interested to hear whether or not you find the St Johns Wort helpful. I've heard a lot about it (mostly for use with depression) but have never had the chance to try it because it interacts with all my other medication.
I love the idea of thinking about our thoughts as passing traffic. Sounds like your psychologist is trying to help you use mindfulness as a tool for anxiety. Do you find that metaphor works for you? There are lots of other ones that people can use like imagining the thoughts as clouds in the sky or a little kid yelling at you in the car. The kid one is my favourite because it's such a great way for me to visualise this little kid who pretends they know all the facts and wants your attention.
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Hi opuses,
Thanks for your post.
Sorry about the late reply over the Christmas and holiday season - how have you been since then?
Reading what you've gone through I can see that there is really a strong belief that these sensations in your head are caused by a brain tumour of some sort. I can only imagine how hard it would be to lose someone so suddenly; especially in the shock that nothing could be found.
I know you've said too that the GP's don't care but I have to disagree. I think your GP has been really thorough in ordering different tests and scans like an MRI. If you thought your GP did truly care - what is it they would do? What tests would they need to order or what treatment would they to do?
I also wonder if you are still seeing your psychologist and if you're finding that they're helping or if you've discussed this with them.
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Hi Opuses I don't know if it helps but to alleviate your worry about MS, I know a couple of people who have MS and it was diagnosed by an optician, through a regular eye test.
That might help to take away your worry. I know myself that I always want to check things out before I can let it go completely.
I hope all is well with the MRI and you get some peace. I had convinced myself I had cancer and had a terrible pain in my chest for months and months. I went and had a chest X-ray and it came back clear, and from that very day I have never had the pain again. It just amazes me how powerful our minds are that they can create physical symptoms.
Take care of yourself and sending lots of wishes to you for good health to resume.
Regards Clare B
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Hi Clare, glad you were ok. I've had the eye test and things were fine then. Am still waiting for the MRI results and Im wondering, if the radiologist had seen something on his screen, would he have told me straight up seeing I wasn't referred by a neuro and they said the results don't ever get sent back to a GP, rather they call you when they're ready to pick up? Would they consider a tumor or MS 'serious' enough to mention at the time?
Today hasn't been great. Woke up and almost instantly after getting out of bed and lounging around got the head crawly thing and tightness around my head. I have a day off today so lots of time to do nothing. I have many people now telling me maybe it's not anxiety, but also not serious as again the strange thing about it is how it goes away when I stand or move my head around. They reckon it's my neck and after the chiro I had nothing for a day and I went to get a massage and felt better after. Now that Im home again and sitting on my bed, Ii can feel the crawling coming on. It's mainly always at the top of my head maybe a little to the right. Ive also had mild burning of my forearms which could be stress and remembering days gone by, Ive periodically had very sensitive skin on my thumb area running along the top of my hand to the wrist sometimes, what feels like if I lightly touch the skin it kills! Only last a few hours but it's something I'm remembering having. Im sorry but I cant believe its anxiety given its pattern. Sit...on. Stand or move head...goes away. And standing isnt a distraction, its simply standing. I noticed last night I was watching tv on my bed with my neck crooked on the bed head and whenever I do that the next day I have tight muscle tension around my shoulders and back, some pain too. This has only been happening in the last 3 months also, so Im trying not to do that........neck perhaps?
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Hi opuses,
Thanks for your post. I'm glad to see you're still on the forums after the holiday break.
From your post it looks like you've recently had the MRI done so hopefully the results will come back sooner rather than later and you won't have to wait too long!
I can see that there's a lot of expectation that the MRI will show something that explains what you're feeling; have you thought about what will happen or what your plan of action will be if it doesn't?
I am glad you are still seeing the psychologist even if you don't think it's helping much or even though you don't believe it's anxiety. My reason for suggesting that is hopefully he/she can at least understand how you're feeling or even provide some support while you navigate through all these tests. MRI's are not an easy test to do and are quite anxiety-provoking in some people. Another thing the psychologist could do (if you were open to it of course) would be to help try to explain how the body reacts with chronic anxiety; and why it is that you're having odd feelings at odd times. Especially with chronic anxiety as it doesn't look or feel typical (i.e. racing heart, sweats etc); so it can be hard to understand the timing of it all when you can feel perfectly rested and calm.
I'm also really glad the chiropractor helped; alternative medicine can be a great way to go and also very non-invasive!
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I know this is an old post but I am curious as to how you are doing now. Do you still have these symptoms?
I have had anxiety for most of my life and have experienced a wide range of related symptoms. My neck muscles have taken more and more strain over time from my inability to relax. I have long been used to my neck being sore and stiff at the end of the day and my neck twitching when in a stressful situation.
Recently I have begun to get the symptoms you described. It feels like my scalp is crawling, little prickles, or tickles, almost like ants crawling over my head.
I have been through enough anxiety-related weird feelings to be able to accept that it is that in this case too but there is always that feeling that it might be something more serious. I have had my legs feeling exactly like this before, more than 5 years ago. It just went away after a while.
Last weekend my head and neck were very bad but I made an effort to sleep more and it was a pretty good week, until tonight. I think I need to sleep more again. My anxiety has a tendency to keep me awake at night, which doesn’t help.
I hope these symptoms are a thing of the past for you now but, if not, know that you are not the only one. You can look up Paresethesia Anxiety. It describes this sort of thing as one of the symptoms.
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hi, I know this was over a year ago but I'm having some real trouble with similar symptoms and I don't know what to do...
about 8 weeks ago I woke up early hours to the left side of my face going completely numb I felt like I was having a stroke its spread to my arm and left leg I was having tingling sensations in my head and burning sensations I do suffer with a anxiety disorder but have never experienced anything like this, my ct scan came back normal so my brain is okay but I have never felt right since. My gp has also put it down to anxiety and has refused to send me for any more tests (even though I was referred to a neurologist and they have recommended an MRI for my neck and spine they believe it could be a disc that's slightly out of place or a trapped nerve) my cheek feels numb and tingly and I'm always getting pins and needles and burning sensations. One nurse suggested it could be a hemiplegic migraine which can cause temporary paralysis on one side of the face, but I have no headaches and the numbness comes and goes. I don't know what else to do and feel like I'm going crazy can anxiety really cause all of this? if so what can help ease it I only know how to deal with the mental side I have never experienced physical before 😞