dgs5023
07-03-18, 17:02
I feel like I've told this story a million times to many doctors but I wanted to get a fresh perspective on it. Apologies for the book I'm about to write.
At the end of November 2017 I began to suffer something which I would describe as a panic attack on a daily basis - feeling like I couldn't breathe, heart racing, chest/shoulder pain, mind racing and fear. I have had panic attacks before but never like this and never as frequently as this. At the worst point they were happening multiple times a day, almost always at work, but sometimes at home and once or twice I woke up thinking I was about to die.
I also began to experience some numbness in my hands/fingers, which I would not describe as completely numb, just odd feeling similar to numbness. I was extremely worried I was having something heart related. I went to my PCP who told me that this was likely stress - luckily I had seen a cardiologist and had a echocardiogram + stress test the month prior which came back good. They gave me an Rx for Xanax and sent me on my way.
Around the same time I started seeing a psychiatrist who put me on a daily dose of vortioxetine and I received a diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I also began seeing a therapist who began working on CBT. Both tell me the numbness is likely an anxiety symptom.
I began to obsess over every little symptom of something - one day I thought I was having a stroke, another day a blood clot. Sometimes I would think I had the beginnings of ALS. Always doom and gloom.
At the end of December I went to a gastroenterology practice and one endoscopy later I received a prescription for an anti-GERD medication which took away the chest pain and I seemed to be on the road to recovery.
BUT then in early January I began to have neck and eye related fatigue, which eventually progressed into neck and back pain. For a while I began to wake up with headaches, which thankfully has gone away most days. My PCP says that I strained my Trapezius and when I went for the follow up I was told that it's probably the stress I've been going through that's causing this. The pain has gotten a little better with time, but the muscle fatigue persists. The numbness comes and goes as it has always.
While I was using Dr. Google in between my PCP visits, I found this forum, which has been a tremendous help. I don't google symptoms anymore and that's made the little voice in my head which says "You're OK" so much louder. I'm productive at work again.
I'm fully aware I make mountains out of molehills. I have full use of my body, and I'm able to keep doing the demanding physical things I was able to do before, but I worry though that the numbness I feel, the brain fog, the muscle fatigue are something bigger. I struggle with racing thoughts that there's something wrong or that this is the 'new me' and I'm going to feel like this forever.
I feel sometimes like things are slowly getting better but then I have episodes like last night where I become petrified I'm going to die suddenly and my throat gets tight. I know I should trust my doctors but it's difficult to not worry that they've missed something.
Can stress and anxiety really cause the symptoms I'm feeling? I've tried to reduce my stress and therapy helps but it's so frustrating slow. Five months ago I wasn't like this at all and I feel like I'm almost a completely different person.
Again sorry for the book. It does help to write this stuff down so it's not in my head.
At the end of November 2017 I began to suffer something which I would describe as a panic attack on a daily basis - feeling like I couldn't breathe, heart racing, chest/shoulder pain, mind racing and fear. I have had panic attacks before but never like this and never as frequently as this. At the worst point they were happening multiple times a day, almost always at work, but sometimes at home and once or twice I woke up thinking I was about to die.
I also began to experience some numbness in my hands/fingers, which I would not describe as completely numb, just odd feeling similar to numbness. I was extremely worried I was having something heart related. I went to my PCP who told me that this was likely stress - luckily I had seen a cardiologist and had a echocardiogram + stress test the month prior which came back good. They gave me an Rx for Xanax and sent me on my way.
Around the same time I started seeing a psychiatrist who put me on a daily dose of vortioxetine and I received a diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I also began seeing a therapist who began working on CBT. Both tell me the numbness is likely an anxiety symptom.
I began to obsess over every little symptom of something - one day I thought I was having a stroke, another day a blood clot. Sometimes I would think I had the beginnings of ALS. Always doom and gloom.
At the end of December I went to a gastroenterology practice and one endoscopy later I received a prescription for an anti-GERD medication which took away the chest pain and I seemed to be on the road to recovery.
BUT then in early January I began to have neck and eye related fatigue, which eventually progressed into neck and back pain. For a while I began to wake up with headaches, which thankfully has gone away most days. My PCP says that I strained my Trapezius and when I went for the follow up I was told that it's probably the stress I've been going through that's causing this. The pain has gotten a little better with time, but the muscle fatigue persists. The numbness comes and goes as it has always.
While I was using Dr. Google in between my PCP visits, I found this forum, which has been a tremendous help. I don't google symptoms anymore and that's made the little voice in my head which says "You're OK" so much louder. I'm productive at work again.
I'm fully aware I make mountains out of molehills. I have full use of my body, and I'm able to keep doing the demanding physical things I was able to do before, but I worry though that the numbness I feel, the brain fog, the muscle fatigue are something bigger. I struggle with racing thoughts that there's something wrong or that this is the 'new me' and I'm going to feel like this forever.
I feel sometimes like things are slowly getting better but then I have episodes like last night where I become petrified I'm going to die suddenly and my throat gets tight. I know I should trust my doctors but it's difficult to not worry that they've missed something.
Can stress and anxiety really cause the symptoms I'm feeling? I've tried to reduce my stress and therapy helps but it's so frustrating slow. Five months ago I wasn't like this at all and I feel like I'm almost a completely different person.
Again sorry for the book. It does help to write this stuff down so it's not in my head.