ITS NOT ANXIETY!!!!

[cassiefromlondon]

I'm going to write all the symptoms I've been suffering with daily for over a year now. I've had bloods done about three months ago and I was low on folic acid which I'm now nearly finished a course of 5mg tabs a day. I had an echocardiogram last December which came back fine. I can't cope with this anymore. It's actually scaring me now. I'm calling the doctor again tomorrow and will probably be fobbed off again. I just want to feel normal again. I'm trying to look after my severely autistic son full time and I'm finding it hard because I feel so unwell

Completely spaced out.. not with it at all
Face keeps going numb
Throbbing head
Blurred vision/even with glasses
Thumping heart beat
Feeling faint
Feeling very weak
Inside body tremors
Slurring my speech
Dribbling when trying to talk.
No energy at all
Extreme tiredness
Can hear whooshing in my ears
Dizziness severe
Can’t focus/memory loss
Breathless
Legs giving way (no strength)
No Appetite recently
Stomach cramps/dioraha
NOT ANXIETY!!!!!!!!!

I’ve had all these symptoms on and off for the past 2 years during huge periods of stress. Currently going through a bad patch now.

I think for me it’s a combination of things. I do have an under active thyroid but it’s medicated and my levels are good. I have narrow nasal passages and constantly have congested sinuses, but without a stuffy nose or mucous. I get the heavy pressure in my face and dizzy spaced out feeling. I do get post nasal drip with it which generates extra acid in my stomach, so then I produce more saliva. My face has felt numb and I’m dribbling a lot recently.

I had a brain MRI a few years ago and all clear. My symptoms yo-yo. I’ve had an incredibly stressful few years but now things are fine it’s like my body doesn’t know how to settle down.

I know how it feels to be fobbed off with anxiety, but severe stress and worry can have very physical symptoms and I’m coming to terms with that.

Hi op I'm a therapist and I've looked through that list. I would say all of the symptoms apart from the dribbling and slurred speech can be anxiety. Those I have never done across tbh and I feel require further examination before diagnosing anxiety.
However the rest could be anxiety or stress.
You say you feel like your dying, this is very common for panic disorder. You have a lot of stress on your for the responsibility you have around this son. You even said if you were to die no one would notice, this will fuel your anxiety about dying. Also if you are in perimenopause or menopause this can massively affect our emotions and physical bodies.
How we back to your symptoms. I feel a slurred speech and drooling when speaking is not something to ignore, I would recommend further asking about this unless. Anxiety should only be diagnosed once all physical causes are ruled out, take care 😊

You’re describing a b12 deficincy which the nhs often undertreat. Do not take tablets just yet as they will give a false heathy result, get b12 bloods done first and ask for the blood test numbers. Run these numbers past U.K. b12 facebook groups. The nhs consider anything under 200 as rubbish (with 150 being particularly rubbish) but in other countries they treat levels under 300/400/500. You can be on deaths door but often the nhs will tell you your levels are fine. The nhs often fob people off with b12 tablets (cheaper option) but these will only work if there isn’t an absorbency issue (celiac? Or just gluten sensitive?). You can request nhs b12 injections if under 200 but they are likely to make you try tablets first to see if symptoms improve. Thankfully you can pay for a private medic to give initial weekly b12 injections. Some people started self injecting during covid as the nhs swapped many from injections to tablets during covid with differing results. Other countries are much more clued up about b12. Folic levels need to be ok to aid b12 absorption

You have a lot more trust in drs then I do

I think you need to try and push for a brain scan and then you can start checking other things - auto-immune etc.
it could also be cluster migraines (not uncommon to get neurological symptoms and vision issues) but if you genuinely don’t think the symptoms are caused by stress and anxiety then definitely try to see if you can talk your way into getting a scan.
make sure you let the doctor know how bad it is as they seem to try and find any reason to not order expensive tests unless they deem it absolutely necessary.
if you have the means I would possibly try and see a neurologist privately - might cost you £200-300 but I think would help. They can check all your reflexes and do their in clinic tests and often they can be helpful with getting you a scan through the NHS as most private consultants also work in the NHS as well.
it sounds like you have quite a lot going on at home with your child and being a lone parent.
i don’t want to scare you as all those symptoms can literally be triggered by stress and then the symptoms cause anxiety. But it’s best to see a specialist to give you peace of mind.

There may be a few things going on ❤️

Echo the advice to get your B12 checked, before my deficiency (caused by pernicious anaemia) was diagnosed, I really felt like I was dying. I remember phoning my mum and asking her to come round, as I felt like my heart was going to stop (sounds very dramatic now, but I felt so ill).
My B12 was 68 (I forget units), it was meant to be over 180 for the lab range and some people believe it’s meant to be even higher that that
For me, it was missed in the first round of bloods, I also had iron deficiency anaemia, which was successfully treated, but I wasn’t getting any better. I know when I’m due a jab, as my symptoms start to return.

these were my b12 deficiency symptoms …

Completely spaced out.. not with it at all
Throbbing head
Blurred vision/even with glasses
Thumping heart beat
Feeling faint
Feeling very weak
Inside body tremors
Slurring my speech
No energy at all
Extreme tiredness
Can hear whooshing in my ears
Dizziness severe
Can’t focus/memory loss
Breathless
Legs giving way (no strength)
Stomach cramps/dioraha

Hypothyroidism

Unfortunately when you don’t sleep properly you don’t go into the healing slee phase and you don’t heal properly which leads to all sorts of issues. Acupuncture turned my life around when this happened to me.

Coeliac disease can present with many of those symptoms.

Other posters appear to have more credible suggestions.

I know someone who began the perimenopause and they instantly developed food allergies. Various allergies that did not make sense. Lots of weird symptoms, but not quite like yours.

The condition is called adult onset food allergy.

The first thing to rule out would be gluten and see if that makes a difference. As this is happening with frequency, food can be the hidden problem as we are eating every day. It could be something perfectly innocent.

I for example have allergy to alliums (garlic, onions etc…) but my symptoms are gastrointestinal. My friend though got dizziness, cold sweats, lack of energy, headaches, brain fog and a whole host of things that didn’t appear to be to do with gastro stuff.

If your GP thinks you are suffering from anxiety, what help has he offered regarding this OP?

I had most of these symptoms. It turns out I have a heart condition which was causing my blood pressure to go extremely low.

Well, if the OP wasn’t suffering from anxiety before she could well be now with this increasingly long list of things that could be wrong.

OP, do you have your test results on the NHS app? You can check exactly what your blood were tested for and the numbers. If you are comfortable you can post a screenshot on here and people can advise on specific numbers.

Hi OP,

I'm in a similar situation. Is it possible that a social worker could get you access to respite care for your son, just to give you a bit of time to figure out your own situation?

Caring for a diabled child 24/7 is incredibly demanding work. That alone could be causing all this and if you could only get a break you would be able to start helping yourself.

Xx

Does your GP know about your long term cannabis use? As that directly affects brain function — specifically the parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning, attention, decision-making, coordination, emotions, and reaction time.

Ask for a head scan to check for any abnormalities and if they say no they have to refer you to someone who will. The headaches and numbness and slurred speech and dribbling etc sounds really neuro based.

I knew a person who was fobbed off for ages with similar symptoms, literal years. Eventually they argued back with PALs, had a brain scan and found out they had Arnold Chiari malformation. The brain was literally herniating into the spine. I know they had to fight hard to be heard, and it ruined all faith in medical system having to live with it for so long, but it’s finally being sorted.

hugest luck OP

Do you have a headache upon waking that gets better when you stand up?

Neck pain?

The ear whooshing could be (idiopathic) intracranial hypertension.

Edited to say: if it's idiopathic (not caused by something else) the only way to diagnose is to rule out everything else and then perform a lumbar puncture to find out the pressure of CSF.

Can also be caused by Chiari Malformation as mentioned by poster above me!

Hi OP, just wanted to send support. I hope you find answers. It’s horrible going through something like this.

Op you say you worry about you and your son, can you tell them this? I talk to my mum every single day, could you have a chat with your family and say you’d like to check in with them even if it’s just by text?

Stress can cause huge physical symptoms, and it’s not like anxiety where you are (probably) very aware that you’re anxious.

For me, I had the following symptoms:

Severe brain fog
Extreme forgetfulness
feeling like I was ‘floating’ above my life and watching it happen but I wasn’t involved or actually feeling any of it.
Being chronically exhausted, but also struggling on and off with insomnia.
Any sleep I had was full of stressful, vivid dreams so I never got any actual rest.
Vomiting multiple times a day.
Feeling like food was ‘stuck’ in my throat when I ate.
Constant cluster headaches.
And then finally, I had a seizure which it turned out was stress related.

This was all truly stress related, because the seizure was the wake up call for me to finally accept that the situation needed to change one way or another. Once the situation was better, every single one of the symptoms (which had gone on for months/some up to 2 years) disappeared.

But the key thing for me was I didn’t feel like I was stressed if that makes sense. The stress was so deep rooted that it was just a part of who I was and not something I noticed.

Hay op do you understand your blood result reading only asking as GP practice will say , normal or in range, when really some could be on the very low side normal, I too had similar symptoms many years but gp would do , normal, started to think I was going crazy, then a friend asked to see my blood results ( try getting a copy of gp ) any friends h who was a nurse looked at them and my god I was super low, ferritin, folic acid, B12, vit D and thyroid was underactive, also menopause,
You need to be able to understand your results or have a friend look at them because I was fobbed off with ' it's normal ' for a long time,
So armed with highlighted bloods form from friend I went back to gp, he started different medications, honestly the relief that I wasn't going crazy, all resolved but do keep an eye on folic and ferritin as that seems to drop yearly, hope this gives you some reassurance op, get copy of your bloods and all your bloods and research those numbers, fb have groups for B12/vit D and thyroid also menopause please ask on there too x

There could be more than one thing at play. Apart from the slurred speech/dribbling , I suffer with the rest with neurocardiogenic syncope. The stomach issues are IBS for me.

You could try an SSRI or similar to treat the anxiety you’re feeling about feeling so unwell 💐.