I am scared to death of having a disease right now, because of some symptoms

[Zeno]

Anxiety does weird shit, and fixation can create issues which manifest in the physical. I went through a similar phase a little while back (not necessarily with the legs)..I had a couple of blocked saliva glands that I was convinced was cancer (as well as hyper fixation and just anything that seemed odd and different). I just put it in God’s Hands and I’m much better now, for real.

They actually appear after I pay too much attention to any part of my body. Right now, I'm fixated on the movements of my tongue and mouth muscles. The slightest mispronounciations will drive me to think my speech is slurred, and therefore that I have ALS or a brain tumour, if there are even the slightest headaches or a feeling of painless pressure on my head. Then, if I fixate on my heart's rhythm and my respiratory rate, the deviations (which I, after all these ECGs and ultrasounds I've done, know now they're completely normal) I think I'll have a cardiac arrest, prompting me to check my heart rate, my blood pressure and my rhythm of breaths. If I see blood on the toilet, as I see it on and off the last two years, I will panic and think it's colon cancer, and I will be checking if I lose weight abruptly... Or to do blood tests, to see if I have anaemia (which, after having done 2 blood tests in a row, they found absolutely nothing, as my blood work showed a perfectly healthy 21 year old man).

And then... The feeling of weakness that I have over the last 2 weeks, that are nearing to the 3. That prompted me into go into the ER. Two consecutive times, over 2 days, in two different hospitals, wasting the times of the doctors who cured actual serious cases. In one of the two I went they were saving a man from a heart attack. While I was worrying like a crybaby over "pinches on the chest area and generalised weakness", and they found nothing. Mind you, these ECGs of these two hospitals were done not even 24 hours from one another. And the ultrasounds.

Trust me, buddy; this is definitely anxiety. You`re spiraling from one panic attack into the next. The whole deal sounds like mild derealization to me which is really nothing more than a (albeit very uncomfortable and low key scary) defense mechanism of your brain, to avoid overstimulation. I know that sounds like the hardest thing to do right now, but you`ve got to calm down. Tell yourself this will be over soon and cant harm you.

I know I have to calm down. But as you said, it's extremely hard. I've been fighting this for almost 5 months now.

Are you currently on medication for your anxiety?

Right now, no, but I do visit a psychiatrist (he does not propose invasive medication, we're holding discussions, which have helped)

Is it possible you have a conversion disorder which can lead to a realistic perception of physical impairment? Have you received an evaluation from a psychologist since these symptoms began to appear?

I am having therapy sessions with a psychiatrist.

This reminds me a lot of when I was convinced I was going to faint of allergic reactions to random things and it turned out to just be crippling panic attacks from PTSD. I felt a lot of the same symptoms despite my vitals being perfectly fine (except increased heart rate/blood pressure from the anxiety). I know it sucks to hear that something you feel so truly to be a real physical illness is probably in your head, but take it from the nutcase with multiple psychological disorders - sometimes it really is panic convincing you that you're dying.

I know... It's terrifying that, while you're healthy, your mind plays awful, AWFUL tricks to you. Like, I already must have died (knock on wood) from 6 multiple diseases already.

Anxiety attacks because you are likely under alot of perceived stress.
There is medication for it - but nothing exercising along the Greek beaches won't help.
My brain runs 100 miles per hour during business hours and when I eat I feel like I want to sleep because whats focussed in my head spreads out to my organs to digest food and forgets my head. It's something similar.

Yes, anxiety can do awful things.

Just get an understanding there's no objective reasons for it and if there are, we're all gonna die sooner or later.

That's actually what my best friend is saying over and over again. We're all going to die sooner or later, so, no worth chasing certainty when the only certainty of life is death... Pretty paradoxical, right?

If you are not on medication right now you should slam a few beers, if the feeling subsides it is anxiety.

I actually had no symptoms when I was for vacations in Cephalonia. When I returned to Athens however...

[Ylla]

It sounds like anxiety/chronic stress to me. You also mentioned you have tachycardia on another thread. Have you figured out what could be your source of anxiety? Something going on in your life? Whatever it is, I really hope you get to the bottom of it. You are a young guy and shouldn't have to worry about health issues as much as you do.

[tk'es]

try auto-suggestion mode

[Nurzat]

get a blood test and include there as many things as possible, from liver enzymes to immune system stuff, inflammation stuff etc.

if there's anything anywhere you would get a sign from a blood test alone, then some sound investigation etc.

in case it's nothing it will help you know it's nothing, it helped me with my anxiety.


and it also helped catch signals of disease early (hopefully - I am trying to fight off some conditions for over a year now, I feel better but there's still work to do with the fatty liver and the prediabetes, I hope to cure both)

[Sylvanas]

It sounds like anxiety/chronic stress to me. You also mentioned you have tachycardia on another thread. Have you figured out what could be your source of anxiety? Something going on in your life? Whatever it is, I really hope you get to the bottom of it. You are a young guy and shouldn't have to worry about health issues as much as you do.

Yes, it sounds like anxiety attack

[Zeno]

get a blood test and include there as many things as possible, from liver enzymes to immune system stuff, inflammation stuff etc.

if there's anything anywhere you would get a sign from a blood test alone, then some sound investigation etc.

in case it's nothing it will help you know it's nothing, it helped me with my anxiety.


and it also helped catch signals of disease early (hopefully - I am trying to fight off some conditions for over a year now, I feel better but there's still work to do with the fatty liver and the prediabetes, I hope to cure both)

I have done 2 blood tests in fact. And two ECGs and ultrasounds.

And I will do another complete blood count, together with thyroid, urine and B12 tests on Monday.

[Creoda]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypochondriasis

[Zeno]

Hello everyone.

Some updates:

Went to the ICU a further 2 times, the ECGs and ultrasounds came back clear once again
After that, I went to a primary health centre and did two ECGs and a chest x-ray, all coming back normal. On the same day, which was the Monday of the previous week, I did a blood test which was scheduled nonetheless and everything was clear.
Last Thursday I went to the neurologist, who examined me and found nothing, but for my own peace of mind and to exclude anything else, he prescribed a cerebral MRI and an electromyogram.
And tomorrow, I'll have the MRI done.

Wish me luck for tomorrow, I'm still scared for what the MRI will show... Let's hope there's indeed nothing and all the symptoms I have were psychosomatic.

[Maria Sharapova]

I had a similar neurological/ophthalmology issue were I thought I was going blind. I kept seeing black in my peripheral vision like black smoke in the corner of my vision. It was like certain parts of my vision had been atrophied and that was the gradual result. I saw countless neurologists, ophthalmologists and even highly specialised neuro-ophthalmologists and research professors. Performed countless tests, mri, erg, vep, visual field ect and the vep came out slightly abnormal which was a bit concerning but improved slightly on the one year follow up test so was dismissed as all other tests had been normal. They kept telling me it was visual snow related but I don't believe visual snow would have caused my type of symptoms. After seeing the N-O my mind was finally at rest and I was able to move on as he convinced me my symptoms had no organic cause and was most likely a psychological issue, to which he referred me to a psychiatrist. Funny enough after that consultation and after all of those tests my symptoms stopped bothering me as I had the reassurance that I was not going blind, atleast in the organic sense. He said it was most likely my mind being hyper-aware of my vision and the imperfections that come with the human eye, which everyone experiences, but due to my anxiety I was focusing on them more than I should. Although I am less bothered by my symptoms now, I still to this day find that hard to believe, but my rational thinking as convinced me that this is the case and I have been able to move on. My point is, our brains can make as experience unusual sensations and give us unusual symptoms without there being an underlying organic disease present. You are doing the right thing by getting the appropriate tests completed and seeing the appropriate professionals, but if all tests that you are aware of along with the medical professionals opinions giving the ok, you should accept it might just be anxiety or a psycolgical issue.

[Incal]

It's all in your head.