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Original poster

ITS NOT ANXIETY!!!!

275 replies

cassiefromlondon · 07/10/2024 01:15

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!!!!!!!!!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
Bohemond23 · 07/10/2024 07:25

HollyKnight · 07/10/2024 02:33

Is there a reason why it can't be anxiety/mental health related? Anxiety isn't something that is just in your head. It causes actual physical changes in the body. It causes inflamation. Raising children is stressful enough without the added issues that come with severe autism.

I'm someone who internalises stress. By that I mean I don't "feel" stressed, but my body does. My psoriasis flares up. My IBS flares up. My blood pressure is constantly high. I have a scary volume of palpitations. Nausea. Muscle spasms. Heartburn. Random stabbing pains in my stomach. Cluster headaches. Chronically tired and exhausted, yet I can't sleep, except when I do I can't wake up. I wake up feeling like I'm shaking on the inside.

I took a ton of drugs and supplements to try to correct all the things in my blood results that were a bit off. My results are all perfect now. But I still feel like this. My GP told me to go for walks (🙄). I asked for beta-blockers. They actually have helped reduce the intensity of the heart symptoms, although not the frequency. I think improving vitamin D levels helps a little too. Magnesium too, but sometimes that upsets the stomach more. Can't win eh.

Get a copy of your blood results and look at the things that are normal but at the lower end. Some people will still feel "off" even when the labs say the level is fine. The thyroid is a good example of this. I know it is frustrating. You feel how you feel, and even if it is psychosomatic (the physical manifestation of a mental factor) it still should be taken seriously. Stress kills.

Hear hear. I am exactly the same. I ended up at the doctor with all these symptoms. Was fixed very quickly with sertraline and then HRT.

wildthingsinthenight · 07/10/2024 07:30

I am also wondering about Long Covid.
I have had this since March 2024.
It is awful.
Please look into this. Track back to when it started. Could you have had covid just before?

MathsandStats · 07/10/2024 07:33

Get checked for coeliac disease, just another to add to your list.

I felt more unwell than I ever have in my life before my diagnosis..I had all that you do and more. Untreated it causes multiple vitamin deficiencies which cause a lot of the symptoms. I honestly thought I was going to die.
Doctor repeatedly told me I was depressed. I knew I wasn't. She could have saved me a month long hospital stay (I got that ill) had they worked it out sooner and not fobbed me off.

Trixiefirecracker · 07/10/2024 07:33

I second hyperthyroidism, can involve many of these symptoms and can be very similar to menopausal symptoms so get missed easily.

SamPoodle123 · 07/10/2024 07:40

Look at your ferritin levels. If they are under 30 you need iron. There are different ranges that are deemed satisfactory and here some doctors think above 10 is acceptable....but it is not. Guidelines elsewhere says otherwise. Find out your ferritin levels (which are iron stores) and research more information about it.

NamechangeRugby · 07/10/2024 07:40

Hope you find answers Op. Not to worry you, but as @DreamTheMoors mentions, worth getting MS ruled out given your symptoms.

iseetoday · 07/10/2024 07:41

Ask for a mri brain scan .

Gloriia · 07/10/2024 07:43

Op, you're adamant that it isn't anxiety but being the lone parent of a nonverbal disabled child will have a massive affect on your wellbeing which then manifests in physical issues. Even if you think that stress isn't the underlying cause I would bet it's a massive contributory factor.

Do you sleep ok? if not that will make you feel all those things you list.

If all bloods have come back clear and you say that they have apart from folic acid then really focus on lifestyle. A good diet, physical activity to promote sleep, yoga, meditate.

Do you have any respite care for your dc, any family support?

gingerbears · 07/10/2024 07:45

What tests have you had done so far?

HowYouSpellingThat10 · 07/10/2024 07:45

What are your iron levels? Lots of those things are in line with anaemia.

It could be that your previous results were just over the threshold but haven't recovered.

Folate or iron deficiency can definitely make you feel terrible.

kab89 · 07/10/2024 07:45

OP If I were you I would make a list of the blood tests that pp's have mentioned and ask your GP for them. I don't think I've seen a HbA1c mentioned - ask for that as well. They should also be requesting LFT's and U&E's as standard.

I would be prepared to explore an anxiety diagnosis ONCE they have medically ruled out a cause for your symptoms, possibly including a Neurology referral.

Good luck with your GP today.

Ivyiris · 07/10/2024 07:47

I have a lot of these symptoms and have POTS what does your heart rate do when sitting/lying to standing. Hope you get to bottom of it.

HowYouSpellingThat10 · 07/10/2024 07:48

SamPoodle123 · 07/10/2024 07:40

Look at your ferritin levels. If they are under 30 you need iron. There are different ranges that are deemed satisfactory and here some doctors think above 10 is acceptable....but it is not. Guidelines elsewhere says otherwise. Find out your ferritin levels (which are iron stores) and research more information about it.

This is good advice. When I had low ferratin my heart was racing in the night yet I knew I wasn't panicking about anything.

The guidelines and what make you feel well can be a bit out.

I was only just under the threshold but I felt like a different person after talking high strength iron.

xB1991x · 07/10/2024 07:49

OP i had all the same symptoms as you and also started having panic attacks after i kept feeling faint whilst looking after my babies. It was hypothyroidism and low iron. Ask your doctor to test it to rule it out for you. Hope you get it sorted soon

CassandraWebb · 07/10/2024 07:50

I would be prepared to explore an anxiety diagnosis ONCE they have medically ruled out a cause for your symptoms, possibly including a Neurology referral

Same. And the fact is, even if op is stressed and anxious that doesn't mean there isn't an underlying neurological/autoimmune or similar condition that is being exacerbated by periods of stress

After 20 years of battling symptoms and being told they were caused by stress/tiredness /etc I found out I have a rare neurological condition. Yes, it gets worse if I am stressed or tired, but there is a very real physical cause that can be treated.

sewsewsewyourboat · 07/10/2024 07:50

Have you had your b12 levels tested and seen the results? I had many of those symptoms with levels at the very low end of what the NHS deem normal, I get B12 injections privately now after moving abroad and within 3 months of starting them all symptoms have stopped. I'd say over 12 months I experienced all your symptoms apart from loss of appetite and dribbling. The slurring of speech/mixing up my words is one of the first obvious signs to me that my levels have dropped again.
The private GP abroad was trained in the UK and explained that the NHS levels are really not fit for purpose and that many people experience severe symptoms well before they go below the threshold for treatment.

Gloriia · 07/10/2024 07:51

xB1991x · 07/10/2024 07:49

OP i had all the same symptoms as you and also started having panic attacks after i kept feeling faint whilst looking after my babies. It was hypothyroidism and low iron. Ask your doctor to test it to rule it out for you. Hope you get it sorted soon

She has had bloods checked.

The only thing identified was folic acid deficiency which has been treated.

SamPoodle123 · 07/10/2024 07:53

HowYouSpellingThat10 · 07/10/2024 07:48

This is good advice. When I had low ferratin my heart was racing in the night yet I knew I wasn't panicking about anything.

The guidelines and what make you feel well can be a bit out.

I was only just under the threshold but I felt like a different person after talking high strength iron.

Show quote history

Yes, me too. I had all sorts of symptoms, including anxiety, heart racing, fatigue, muscle aches etc. The list is long of what you can experience with low ferritin.

DoIWantTo · 07/10/2024 07:54

It’s not POTS. That starts in your teenage years and is hereditary. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can start in adulthood and has the exact same symptoms.

CassandraWebb · 07/10/2024 07:54

Gloriia · 07/10/2024 07:51

She has had bloods checked.

The only thing identified was folic acid deficiency which has been treated.

Show quote history

That doesn't mean there can't be a real physical cause.
I was told for 20 years I couldn't be ill because my "bloods were normal". Turns out I have Myasthenia. Noone was testing me for that.

When a GP says your bloods are normal it just means it's quite likely you don't have any of the conditions they have tested for. It doesn't mean there isn't a real physical cause.

JustEatTheOneInTheBallPit · 07/10/2024 07:54

Untreated Lyme disease? I also think it is worth asking for a thyroid check.

CassandraWebb · 07/10/2024 07:58

Op, don't let your GP fob you off.

Make it very clear that you were in a good place mentally when the physical conditions started. Ask them to show you that they have recorded that in their notes.

Barney16 · 07/10/2024 07:59

My daughter had a lot of the symptoms you describe and it turned out to be anemia. Doctor gave her iron but it was only when her hair started falling out that they looked again at the results and upped the dose hugely. Not quite sure why they didn't give her that dosage to begin with. She's fine now. However she felt very unwell for quite a time beforehand and to some extent that triggered other symptoms that are linked to anxiety. Once she began to feel better those went away too. So it was a sort of combination of the physical which triggered the psychological. It's very scary if you feel very poorly.

Victoriancat · 07/10/2024 08:00

This sounds like my hemiplegic migraine symptoms, I lose the ability to speak and limbs go numb.

Omgblueskys · 07/10/2024 08:01

CassandraWebb · 07/10/2024 07:54

That doesn't mean there can't be a real physical cause.
I was told for 20 years I couldn't be ill because my "bloods were normal". Turns out I have Myasthenia. Noone was testing me for that.

When a GP says your bloods are normal it just means it's quite likely you don't have any of the conditions they have tested for. It doesn't mean there isn't a real physical cause.

Show quote history

This, when they say ' within range ' or ' normal ' this could be on the very low end , say B12 may be normal range but really low end were you have symptoms, but as of nice guidelines, there in range and gp don't always treat this is were we have to say ' but there really low aren't there doctor, until you have a copy of your bloods and maybe you last lot to compare them,