To not know if I'm anxious or ill?

[fallingapartdaybyday]

God this is so hard.
How do you tell the difference between anxiety symptoms and being ill?
I’ve had upper stomach one sided pain for months.
They don’t think it’s gallbladder but have ordered tests/scans.
They say it could be a symptom of anxiety. I’ve had an awful few months and I’m 100% anxious.
Then last week the shortness of breath started. I got myself in a right state as I thought it was connected and I was dying.
Earlier on this week my eyesight went funny. I had flashing lines in front of both eyes.
Now numbness has started. I woke up in the night and one half of my head was totally numb. Then it changed to a tingling sensation.
Today my head and face feel numb.
How the bloody hell do you differentiate between anxiety and real illness?
All of these things point to anxiety, but then they also point to genuine medical issues.
I just want to know what’s happening.

I’d like to think this was anxiety.
I’d like to think that I could get on some long term medication and get back to normal.
My head keeps telling me I’m seriously ill and to stop kidding myself that it’s just anxiety.
It’s the worst feeling.
Wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
I feel like I can’t trust my judgement.

Reading your updates, there are some really good resources here you might find helpful:

www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/looking-after-yourself

I've made use of them in the past and found them helpful.

Thank you @AnoukSpirit I’ve had a quick read through a couple and I think they’ll be useful.

You need to go back to GP and say you would rather rule out any physical cause before assuming it's anxiety. With those types of symptoms they should be referring to a neurologist. Have they tested B12? Could be lots if things including anxiety but some of those symptoms are concerning and it needs to be properly checked out. If you don't get anywhere with one GP, try another one or go private.

The anxiety should be treated regardless of whether it's causing your physical symptoms. Diazepam is just sticking plaster, it's addictive and you will become tolerant to it and need more and more. Ask about a referral for CBT and mindfulness. Mindfulness made a huge difference to my anxiety and depression. It has been a literal lifesaver. Antidepressants are also a better option for testing anxiety than diazepam.

I’ve only been to the gp for the stomach pain. The tests are just for the stomach pain.
The other stuff has been the last week or so, eg the numb face, struggling to breathe, flashing eyes etc.
I’ll speak to gp about those when I next go.

Hand on heart though I think it’s anxiety.
When I’m busy at work I don’t get any symptoms.
When I’m busy with my family I don’t.
My stomach pain has actually been much better lately purely by taking gaviscon for the past week.
I dunno. I’ll feel better when I’ve had the remaining tests.
And then get on some long term anxiety medication.

Deepak Chopra has an interesting blog about breaking the cycle of anxiety - it talks about how to deal with the physical manifestation of anxiety, might be worth checking out

I have had all your symptoms from anxiety, op, including the stomach: I was vomiting from the pain and was convinced it had to be gallstones. Nope.

It affects my eyes (often blurred to double vision), has caused vertigo attacks, crushing chest pains, extreme dizziness (especially when getting up suddenly), general aches and pains, face blindness (assumed I was getting some form of neurological condition), tics, a stammer, migraines (actually migraines, admittedly - but triggered by anxiety), palpitations, racing heartbeat - even raised blood pressure.

So you might indeed have multiple medical conditions - but it's also entirely possible that you have GAD or some other sort of anxiety disorder

I completely resolved my anxiety with no medication. Medication can probably help the symptoms (tho can also have side effects) but won’t fix the root cause. Mental health issues are often telling us something is wrong that we need to fix.
For me it was quitting my job and spending 3 months resting and leading a healthier less stressful lifestyle, talking about it a lot, and sorrounding myself only with nice people.

If you only get the symptoms when you're not distracted then it's very likely to be anxiety. I've had various 'things' from anxiety - back pain, neck pain, foot pain (alternating feet!), allergy symptoms, mild facial issues like Bell's Palsy (but not BP itself) that came & went & came back & went again. Once I've worked out that it's just anxiety & I tell myself that then within a couple of days tops the symptoms have gone. The mind is a really clever thing - the anxiety needs to get out and so the brain makes something hurt. The pain is real, it's just there's no physical reason for it.
Try reading Dr John Sarno's 'Healing Back Pain' or Marc Sopher's 'To be or not to be... pain-free'. You don't need medication to stop the anxiety symptoms, you just need to believe it's caused by anxiety. Just tell yourself yourself repeatedly that there's no reason for the pain, it's just anxiety. Over and over.

I haven’t had it back except for a brief spell back in an office!
I also did yoga and mindfulness etc..

And I had blurred vision too - only it varied in which eye and in which direction I was looking!!

Wow. It’s crazy that anxiety can cause all of this.
Now I’m worried that my throat feels tight.
Genuinely need to get this anxiety sorted.
It’s awful.

Do u tend to be quite hard on yourself, perfectionist etc? Or not? Anything else you are doing mentally that is making it worse?
I did NLP therapy and the therapist gave me some good tips to reframe things. You can get a book on it if u can’t afford sessions

I had tight throat. So many times I googled throat cancer etc. It felt like I had a lump in there. I had symptoms for 2yrs tho. I totally lost the plot. Maybe yours is a reaction to something as it’s happened so suddenly.

I have a chant I say to myself if I get tense now, you can make one up that suits you. Mine is ‘I am happy, I am healthy, I am loved, all is well’

Also the CALM app has a free trial and there are things you can listen to.

I get a lot of physical anxiety symptoms. Chest pain, breathlessness, tingling down my left arm, right sided upper abdo pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, loss of appetite and reflux.

I've had 4 ECGs and numerous blood tests and everything is fine. GP is 100% convinced it's anxiety.

Its worth remembering that when you are starting to get anxious about physical symptoms then those symptoms naturally become a lot more noticeable. So whereas a non-anxious person might get breathless and not even notice it - you and I would by constantly scanning and noticing small things and then you are alert to it and become even more anxious about that symptom, because the anxiety has increased the physical symptom gets worse and round and round we go!

@cricketmum84 that all sounds so so familiar.
It’s like every time one illness is ruled out or treated then another thing starts.

@MrsMaker88 can so emphasis with tight throat , was convinced I had throat cancer until I realised I only had tight throat when I was anxious.
If I googled all symptoms when anxious I would have every disease/cancer going but when head is in a happy engaged space I have no symptoms.

I had the same problem as you. I was convinced I was really ill (constant diarrhoea for 5 weeks, chest pain). I thought that there was no way this could be anxiety. After many tests from the doctors who told me there was nothing wrong with me physically I realised it was actually anxiety. I was the same as you; when busy doing something I was fine but as soon as I got home I'd spend the whole time on the toilet being sick/pooping haha. A combination of CBT and antidepressants sorted me out. Also a book called 'anxiety: panicking about panic' It explained what all the physical symptoms mean and knowing that made me feel much better as I didn't have to worry I had some underlying disease! Also read Matt Haig 'Notes on a Nervous Planet' which helped with the anxiety.

Ps @MrsMaker88 I spent many a hour with tongue out trying to see lumps in throat convinced my throat looked different , it wasn't until I stopped checking that throat felt normal .

Crazy isn’t it.
Well hopefully I’ll know one way or another over the next 2 weeks.

@windydoggy it’s quite scary / amazing what the mind can do!!!!

It’s like every time one illness is ruled out or treated then another thing starts.
That's what happens. Your mind gets the message that you've twigged there's no real problem so it shuts up shop on that pain or symptom and moves to another one. I started with the back pain, then it was neck & shoulder, then the feet and so on. They didn't coincide because they didn't need to but once I'd defeated one another would pop up. I know better now and if anything starts up my default mental position is 'it's anxiety, bollocks to it' and it goes.