Weird Feelings throughout my body

[nicham]

Hi there

I have been experiencing the weirdest sensations and I'm scared that I have MS, Parkinsons or Motor Neurons Disease. My doctor said she thinks it is probably Anxiety but has given me a referral to a neurologist. It happens at times when I'm not stressed or anxious which is why it worries me.

The feeling is like tremors within my body. It's hard to explain. My arms feel really weak and I feel that I have to really think about it to do complex things with my fingers like tie a knot. I've got muscle twitches in my eyelids and the side of my face sometimes. I'm always clenching my teeth. The feelings come on suddenly and then I worry about all of the things that they could be and they get worse.

I have had depression on and off over the years with it getting quite bad last year however I got through that and was doing well. Although I still do often have panic attacks as well.

I guess I'm just on here to see if anyone else has had these types of symptoms and if they know if these sorts of feelings are anxiety related. I have an appointment with a Neurologist but I have to wait until November.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. 🙂

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi nicham,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for being here!

I'm sorry that you're struggling with these. Health issues are so difficult and I understand the fear of worrying that it might be MS or something serious.

To answer your question though, I haven't personally experienced these symptoms (except the eyelid muscle twitching) but I do know that all of them can be anxiety related. One of the things that I read about was what's called 'somatic disorders' or 'somatic symptoms' - basically a fancy way of saying 'mental disorders (even anxiety/stress) which manifest as symptoms but can't be explained medically'.

I understand that they are distressing and awful, especially if you aren't sure, but the good news is that when you can start to manage the anxiety/stress things do get easier.

It's probably important to note that sometimes you can get these feelings when you don't feel stressed - a lot of it can be subconscious aka feelings you're not totally aware of. I'm just hypothesising here too - so hopefully your neurologist and GP can provide a little more insight when you see them.

I hope this gives you a little comfort!

[nicham]

Thank you so much for your reply romantic. It has given me some comfort so thank you. 🙂

I will look up Somatic disorders/symptoms. It might help me with some of the worry that I have, at least until m appointment with the neurologist.

I haven't been formally diagnosed with Anxiety but I have worked out that my panic attacks and things mean I probably have it. Apart from breathing through my attacks, I'm not sure on how I'm going to tackle the anxiety side of things. I have seen a psychologist and he wants to Schema Therapy? I'm not sure what that is or if it is going to help but I'm going to give it a try.

🙂

[baet123]

Hi Nicham,

Welcome to BB and thanks for posting.

Romantic said some great points above and ill just add a few things to this thread 🙂

It sounds like you may be suffering from health anxiety. Health anxiety basically means we are always anxious about our health and always pessimistic or worried that something is wrong with us whenever we feel slightly off or experience any symptom. However, your concerns are absolutely real and I believe you are taking the right steps. It is important for your peace of mind to do so.

Your symptoms are very common health anxiety symptoms most of which I experienced myself. The neurologist should be able to shed some light on if there are any areas of real concern and it will be great for your own emotional well-being for him to examine you.

Please keep us posted and hope your appointment goes well.

All the best,

Nick.

[nicham]

Thanks Nick for your reassuarance and support. I will try to think positively about the symptoms. Although they feel so weird that they surely can’t be anxiety related. When I start to feel good and not have the feelings, they come back with a vengeance and then I think I’ve got something awful. I’ll look up health anxiety to get an understanding. I’m hoping and praying that’s what it is and Counting down the days to my Neurologist appointment.

Thanks again.

[blondguy]

Hi Nicham

Really great to have you posting on the forums with us 🙂

Romantic and Nick have provided excellent & sound advice above. I used to have chronic anxiety attacks for many years and it can be an awful place to be in....The worrying (Health Anxiety as Nick mentioned) can sometimes make our symptoms feel 'worse' than they really are

After 35 years of having anxiety followed by depression I have learned the hard way not to use Dr Google where our mental health is concerned as it may exacerbate the symptoms we have in the first place as there are so many opinions and articles often not written by a person with anxiety or its symptoms

Using Google is fine for basic health concerns....yet with our mental health our doc is usually the best option

Beyond Blue have a Anxiety/Depression checklist which is simple yet helpful..Its a copy & paste link below

www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety-and-depression-checklist-k10

Really great to have you as part of the forum family Nicham 🙂

my kind thoughts

Paul

[baet123]

Hey Nicham,

Good stuff. It is super important to stay positive and although many of your symptoms won't seem anxiety related, they most absolutely can be. I hope your neurologist appointment goes well and we fingers crossed! It will be so beneficial for your peace of mind once you see your neurologist.

All the best,

Nick.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi nicham,

Great to hear back from you! I'm also glad it was comforting to hear!

I'm really glad that you're so open to hear about health anxiety and the idea of somatic symptoms. I think the hardest part for me is when we see or experience people with health anxiety who aren't ready or don't accept that anxiety is the only cause. Going to the neurologist is smart of course but some people can seek out specialist after specialist. So validating that early on is so helpful.

As part of the anxiety, breathing is kind of important! But there are other things to do. A lot of the work with anxiety happens behind the scenes - so things like recognising thoughts, mindsets, patterns in mood and behaviour. Hopefully your psychologist can give you a better understanding but here's a couple of links below if you want to check them out -

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/treatments-health-professionals-and-therapies/schema-therapy-for-anxiety

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qodIDRVVvVQ

[nicham]

Thank you so much Paul. I have always known about Beyond Blue but never thought I was in a position to be a part of any community related to it. Denial I guess. I have filled out the anxiety checklist and it seems I'm up there on the scoring so I need to remember that this is most probably the cause of what I'm going through right now.

It's strange isn't it because you lead a normal life (you think). You get on with things, run a family, a business, ageing parents and you seem to forget about yourself.

After a sleepless night of worry and googling last night, I called the Specialist this morning and told them how concerned I am and that my symptoms are getting worse, and they've managed to get me in on Thursday morning so the first steps to moving forward which is great.

I had to laugh though Paul and Romantic... I googled Health Anxiety and the first thing that came up was Hypochondria. LOL I've had this all of my life. Still, perhaps it's at the point now that it really is affecting me more than just having a laugh about ridiculous self diagnosis.

Anyway, thank you for your support everyone. I'll come back and let you know how things are going with the Neurologist.

Nicole 🙂

[jmc28]

Hi nicham,

I also get the eyelid twitches, plus a myriad of other symptoms (I'm pretty sure I have health anxiety too). At the moment I'm having nausea, palpitations, gut pains, feelings of "depression" in gut, bloating, loss of appetite etc etc. So hard to know what is causing what! Keep thinking I have a serious disease because these symptoms are so debilitating and making it difficult to relax and enjoy my baby (4 months old).

Hope you can find some relief soon!