So many weird symptoms, scared and depressed. Can it just be anxiety?

[Wurlywurly]

I have a whole range of weird symptoms and I'm so scared that I have some kind of scary illness or autoimmune disease. I have:

Pins and needles in right foot. Had normal brain and spine MRI and EMG tests 3 years ago. Was told it was anxiety/functional neurological syndrome.

Bad reflux and gastritis symptoms. Had a normal gastroscopy 2 years ago. Have another one booked in a few weeks. Consultant not worried and thinks it's anxiety based.

Swelling on retina (cotton wool spot) 2 years ago. No cause found. Multiple tests have found nothing otherwise wrong.

Burning tongue 1 year ago that comes and goes. Initially started with a red patch that went away after a few months. Maxfax (whatever they're called) couldn't find a cause. Said it could be stress.

Nasal congestion but no nasal mucus at all (nose totally dry). Sinus pressure. Head MRI normal except for a small pituitary tumour that hasnt grown in the last 3 years. Started 3 years ago. ENT has no explanation.

Sinus tachycardia started 3 years ago. Controlled with low dose beta blockers. Also lots of ectopic beats. Had full cardiology tests and nothing found.

Pulsatile tinnitus in left ear. No cause found.

Hip pain on right side. Seeing a physio who thinks it is myofascial but treatment isn't helping. Small bursitis on both hip joints (but pain only on the right). MRI was normal.

Muscle twitches (pretty sure this IS anxiety as they get worse when I'm stressed).

Reynauds.

Fatigue but not sure how much fatigue is normal. I can carry out normal activities, just often get waves of tiredness but I just push through. Maybe this is normal?

Two very small brown marks on nails - one on thumbnail and one on toenail. Looks like a splinter haemorrhage when I looked at Google.

Anxiety!

I have had normal blood tests, head MRI, gastroscopy. Waiting for a repeat gastroscopy and colonoscopy, repeated sinus MRI scan and repeated blood tests. I had a mildly positive ANA (autoimmune) test 3 years ago but further autoimmune tests found nothing and recent ANA was negative. All other blood tests are normal.

I feel like I'm going mad as I have so many symptoms that are unexplained. Can these all really be based on anxiety? The thing is, it's all these unexplained health issues that are causing me anxiety! I'm feeling so depressed about it all and am convinced there is something seriously wrong underlying all of this.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated!

https://youtube.com/@painfreeyou?si=2JcfPYTaySRUHrFl

Oh I love Dan Buglio and have been listening to him this morning to try to cope with my anxiety. I absolutely believe in the concept, just don't know if it actually applied to me or whether I actually have something medical going on. Surely anxiety can't cause retinal inflammation or marks on nails, for example?

Are you menopausal?

Whe you say your nosenis dry, do you mean not drippy?
Or actively dry?

Have you gone through the questionnaire on Dan's website? It helped me realise that my issues were mind body.

I had those splinter marks on my nails for years. Sometimes lots of them and when one lot grew out an new batch would form. Worse in winter.
I mentioned them to a friend one day and she said it's the top layer of the surface of the nail drying out, splitting and getting a bit of dirt in which stained. I started rubbing Bio-oil into them before bed and with a month or two the old 'splinters' had grown out and no new ones have formed in the last year or so.

DH had anxiety and with it pins & needles, sinus pain, tinnitus, fatigue, muscle twinges, burning patches of skin, reflux. He had many tests and was admitted to hospital twice with heart attack symptoms.

When the anxiety was brought under control ( a mix of drugs, therapy, meditation, reading advice and taking lifestyle actions) all the symptoms went away and have stayed away for several years now.

You sound to me as though you have health anxiety and are constantly scanning your body for signs of problems. I'd wager 99% of the trouble is down to anxiety which can bring crippling physical issues with it and that there is no other underlying issue.

It's horrible I know. Can you seek help for this from your GP? My husband's GP was very supportive and the catalyst for a completely new and happier start in his life.

Also, something else to hold very close to the front of your mind is that over the last two years you've had more tests than most people have in decades and all have found nothing. This and the reassurance you've received is a good thing. If anything was wrong such thoroughness would have found something.

Possibly. I'm 46 but still have regular periods. Even if I am I can't take HRT as have had breast cancer that was highly oestrogen receptive.

There is no mucus (snot) at all. Even when I had sinusitis I didn't get any mucus, just extreme sinus pain and fever, which was resolved with antibiotics. It means that my nose feels dry and uncomfortable all the time and I have constant pressure feeling in my sinuses.

Yes I have. And many of my symptoms fit with TMS, like the pins and needles, tinnitus, ectopics, burning tongue.

But other don't, like the marks on nails, retina swelling (which has caused mild vision loss), reflux and gastritis, sinus pressure etc. I also tested positive for h pylori which I think caused the gastritis. I have a gastroscopy booked for a possible ulcer (also had a positive FIT test so there is bleeding from somewhere).

Oh and I also have dry eyes which I forgot to mention. So bad I often have to put in eye drops in the middle of the night.

So while I totally get that many of my symptoms could be anxiety, many of them don't fit with anxiety or TMS, which makes me think that there is some unifying underlying cause for all of the symptoms.

Thank you for this. I don't think the marks are superficial, they definitely look like they are underneath the nails.

I'm glad your DH has recovered. I have tried many things for health anxiety, including counselling, CBT, yoga, meditation, hypnosis, EDMR, exercise etc. The only thing that has helped a bit is EDMR. I was on medication (sertraline) but was told to stop it when I got gastritis as it can make it worse.

One of the issues I have is that I've had a few serious illnesses (cancer, appendicitis) where the doctors told me I was fine and it was all anxiety but it wasn't. So now when doctors tell me it's "just" anxiety I can't believe them. I also have a disabled child because the doctors said everything was fine and it wasn't. So I have a deep mistrust of the medical profession. I have been right multiple times when they were wrong!

My GP just tells me to have more CBT but that was the worst thing of all for my anxiety. I just feel like if I didn't have all of these health issues then I would be fine. I don't have anxiety about other things, I'm very confident and independent. But past experience has taught me that doctors make mistakes and having so many symptoms all the time with no explanation is really worrying.

Thank you this is really helpful and I will try to cling onto this. I do seem to have had loads of tests! But I know that autoimmune issues are very hard to diagnose - even the consultant said that - and he seemed convinced that something is going on but we just haven't found out what it is yet. It doesn't help that my breast cancer diagnosis came after a clear mammogram and ultrasound either!

This, this and more of this!!!

Wurly, I couldve written your post 2 years ago. From the ANA, to the anxiety, MRIs, treatments, gaslighting, etc etc etc.

I discovered Dan about 2 years ago and it changed my life overnight. I went from worrying about all of these non descript symptoms, to no symptoms. I had the backpain, tingling, a daily eye twitch that lasted 4 months (?!), aches, pains, migraine etc. I had felt like it for years. One of the key things I took from the TMS was - if we are ever in any doubt at all, the symptoms will not leave. You have to trust the process 100%.

Occassionally, I get the odd issue come back, and I have to check myself. I watch a couple of Dan's videos and really ask myself - is this real? Whats happening for me at the moment... and usually the symptoms leave as quickly as they start.

Have you read much around trauma and how the body can make us feel sick to protect ourselves? I have found TMS is closly linked to this and might be worth reading around if you think it might fit..

Of course saying all of this only works if you really trust that you're not physically unwell, and thats where you are at the moment. I also think you've got extra challenges, as you've been so unwell in the past and dont trust medical professionals to help you. You could very well have an autoimmune condition, but if you have had the tests that determine if you're very unwell and theyre clear, it might be worth trusting in the TMS system. If you give it 100%, whats the worst that can happen? The symptoms dont go - which is where you are now, so you wont have lost anything.

Not sure if you said you were peri or menopausal? HRT did help me with some aches and pains and dry eyes.
However, I do think it's helpful to focus on living your life, finding comfort in pleasant activities and not focusing your attention on how bad you feel. Try listening to the success stories in Dan's channel.

My consultant said the same thing to me, years ago. Yes, you most likely have something going on, but we dont know, because medicine hasnt got that far yet. reasurring, but not very helpful!

I also had a load of tests, and nothing of value was found really. It didnt help at the time, but looking back has been the security that allowed the TMS pathway to work for me.

Perimenopause. I had every red flag, loads of tests. Also peri made my anxiety much, much worse. Now I'm through it, I've no anxiety at all and I don't keep getting mystery symptoms.

Has anyone ever mentioned Sjogrens Syndrome to you?

Thank you for this. I don't think the marks are superficial, they definitely look like they are underneath the nails.

Mine did too. I thought they were bruises or a splinter in the skin under my nail. There was nothing to feel on the surface of my nail. It must have been a tiny delamination of the surface of the nail that I couldn't see or feel.

Sorry you've had such problems with the medical profession in the past. I didn't mean to belittle your experience in any way at all.

But other don't, like the marks on nails, retina swelling (which has caused mild vision loss), reflux and gastritis, sinus pressure etc.

All of these totally fit with TMS. What does Dan call forums?

Just asking people will keep the anxiety and doubt alive. Concentrate on the calm and clarity and education from Dan.

I'm so glad it worked for you. I really want it to work for me too. I just can't get to the place where I can 100% trust it is TMS and not something else. When you have doctors telling you they think something is wrong but they're not sure what it is it's hard to accept that it is TMS.

I have read about trauma and I had EDMR which is the only thing that has ever helped my anxiety. I've been told I likely have CPTSD from the health traumas that I have experienced. I do absolutely believe in it. I just don't know how to trust that it applies in my case. Having been told my breast cancer was just anxiety it feels like the stakes are too high to be able to trust that this time it really is anxiety.

I just don't know how to get to that 100% belief stage. Perhaps when I've had the repeat MRI, blood test results and gastro procedures - and if they show nothing - it will be easier to believe that it applies to me.

Peri probably. Still having regular periods.

Yes I think focusing on just living life will help. It's just hard as it feels like it's impossible not to obsess over the physical symptoms. I'm typing this now with my big toe tingling really badly. It's so hard to ignore.

I do like the success stories and will keep listening to those.

Did your symptoms continue or have they gone?

Yes the consultant said they have so far identified about 80 autoimmune diseases but said there are probably many more than they haven't identified yet. He also said that even if the blood tests came back normal I might still have an autoimmune disease as they sometimes don't show up in the blood tests. I appreciate his honestly but it means that even if the tests come back normal it doesn't actually rule anything out!

Yes but confusingly I don't have a dry mouth which is the main defining symptom and the only way to accurately diagnose is to biopsy the lip apparently.

Thank you I didn't think that you belittled my experiences. I'm aware that my experience is unusual - not so much the experience of doctors being wrong, but the amount of times they have been wrong, that scans haven't been reliable and that my anxiety has actually saved my life in the past! It makes it hard not to believe that my anxiety is right and the doctors are wrong.

I dont have any weird unexplained symptoms these days, theyre all gone. Very occassionally I will have something silly come up, but I just have a chat with myself and it usually goes away. I havent had tests for years, and I know I am ok. I have a bit of anxiety here and there, but thats largely from peri, which I take hormones for now.