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!

Thanks. I'm not sure I believe that retinal swelling can be TMS though? Not sure how that would work. I would love it if that's true though! It happened 2 years ago and I have what seems like permanent loss of vision from it. Surely there must have been a physical cause?

I know that reassurance seeking doesn't help but I'm just not at the stage where I can fully believe it is TMS. Especially with medical tests coming up and the doctors thinking there is some disease underlying everything. I feel like I need to explore all of the medical possibilities before I can believe it is TMS.

That's so encouraging and gives me hope.

I think it's very fair that you continue your testing and get everything ruled out before anything else.

Also, you could consider that there is something going on (eg with your eyes), and there are also anxiety driven issues causing some of the problems.

I have things going on in my body (don't want to share as too outing), that definitely are real and don't quieten down with TMS work.

Also, I just want to say that I'm sorry you're going through all of this. Cancer, surgery and all of these symptoms sound so difficult - regardless of the cause. I hope you get to the bottom of things and that you have some good support around you

Do you notice if your symptoms get better when you're distracted?

Obviously don't ignore health problems, but make note of when you feel symptoms and track it.

I'd also advise, stop googling all symptoms. Stop body checking. These things feed health anxiety. Distract yourself as much as possible. If you notice something, just say 'oh

Health anxiety can 100% produce severe psychosomatic symptoms. The pain is real, but it's from your mind.

I'm a mental health nurse and had a patient with very very similar symptoms to this, such as tingling, shortness of breath, vertigo, etc. Like you, he'd had a very serious health scare (heart attack) which then made it very difficult to believe it was health anxiety.

It's hard as you obviously don't want to be ignoring any issues, but it's a positive sign you've had lots of clear tests and bloods. Where you can, avoid more tests. Again, they just feed the anxiety. They reassure you for so long, but then you end up needing more.

What is TMS?

Sounds like anxiety with the added bonus of perimenopause.

Tension Myositis Syndrome. Have a look at the YouTube links about. Dan Buglio calls it "perceived danger pain/symptoms". It's basically when your brain thinks something is a threat it turns on physical symptoms. If you can calm your brain and your fears then the symptoms go away. It's about the mind/body connection. Lots of evidence that it's real and that it works. I just don't know if it applies in my case or if something else is going on.

Yes sometimes they do but sometimes they don't. The tongue in particular I'm more convinced by it being psychosomatic as I once got some bad news over the phone and it instantly started burning having felt OK for a few days before that.

The issue I have about doctors and tests is that in the past, pushing for more tests due to my anxiety is what saved my life. That makes it really hard to just accept a doctor's opinion that it's "probably fine". Statistics have not been on my side previously so I'm not reassured by someone telling me that a certain disease or diagnosis is "unlikely". I have had a lot of "unlikely" things in the past, including cancer that didn't show on a scan and was only diagnosed because I pushed for a biopsy against the doctor's recommendation.

Thank you. No I don't have any support, which doesn't help, and is why I turned to mumsnet. Thank you to everyone who has replied as it has made me feel less alone.

You've probably tried this already but in case you haven't - have you tried googling for histories of people with unexplained whole body symptoms and what the ultimate outcome was.

I'm thinking particular recent example of Miranda Hart who turned out to have long term undiagnosed lyme disease. There are other examples of that sort of thing that are a bit obscure but may give you ideas like Complex regional pain syndrome/Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy.

Expect you've tried this already so sorry if not very helpful.

Have you been tested for B12 deficiency?

Thanks but I generally try to avoid goggling about possible diseases as it really sets off health anxiety!

Yes thanks I've been tested a couple of times for this - when the pins and needles first happened and when the tongue burning first happened.

I have 9 of those symptoms and have had them for years. I have seen various consultants, had lots of tests and still none the wiser. The more the continue (or worsen) the higher my anxiety gets. It's a vicious cycle.

The info on TMS is really interesting. I don't know if remedial hypnosis would help but, given that it's an emotion based issue there's no reason why it wouldn't.

Have you tried putting all symptoms and test results into chat GPT? Sometimes it can find links. I was wondering if you had your b12 checked?

Have you actually asked for the b12 results?
My daughter was told she wasn't deficient because she was 2 points above the lowest threshold. The software used for the tests only highlighted the result in red if it was below the exact level. She went on b12 and iron and her health improved greatly.
I think it would be worth reading up b12 tests and thresholds.

From your original post you have had many tests and they all come back clear. That is the bit that I would concentrate on.

The tests have been normal.

Repeat tests have been better than the original tests.

Some of the symptons have been with you for years but you are still here.

The above does fit so well with the TMS picture.

You have seen many professionals and none of them have found a issue that needs to be treated.

No I'm a bit nervous of doing too much of my own research as I'm pretty sure I would end up convincing myself that I have some kind of life-limiting illness!

No I haven't seen them and they were done by NHS consultants who weren't interested in showing me the actual results and they don't show on the app. I don't think my GP would have them either. I wonder if this is something I can get done privately through one of those postal services. My GP wouldn't agree to repeating the tests.

Yes you're right. Except for the eye issue that showed on scans but there is no explanation for it.

One of the problems is that in the past I've been told nothing is wrong when it was. I had clear scans but still had breast cancer. I had normal blood tests but still had appendicitis despite the surgeon saying I didn't. And consultants have suggested that I have a so-far unidentified autoimmune disease that isn't (yet) showing up in blood tests.

I wish I could believe that it is definitely TMS but my past experiences make it really difficult.

With the pins and needles I keep telling myself that I've had it on and off for years and nothing has progressed but I still can't escape the panicky feeling that it's actually MS or ALS or an autoimmune issue. It's so hard to remain relaxed about symptoms that are so real!

I'm going to listen to some success stories from Pain Free You tomorrow and hope that it helps to calm me down.

I'm currently in huge pain from my hip issue with pain going down my leg. Multiple physios and osteopaths and sports massage hasn't helped. Again, no one can reach a diagnosis. I suppose that makes it more likely that it is also part of TMS.

I just feel like I can't cope with it all any more. All of these issues at once is just too much.

Just to update this. I had a lot of blood tests and the only thing that has come back is that my thyroid pyroxidase antibodies came back as "slightly elevated" but the doctor said it is of "no concern". I am going to ask for further thyroid level testing but I was wondering if this could explain any of my symptoms?

I think it's probably worth the some really good thyroid testing, but the NHS won't fund what you need. If you're on Facebook, there are a lot of functional medicine groups who might be able to help. Specifically women's health ones.

I have used Medichecks for private blood tests, but not sure they do the reverse T3 you probably need.

Then you have to consider whether it's worth going down that rabbit hole at all.

How has it been going with the TMS stuff?

I've ordered an advanced thyroid blood test from Medichecks which includes free T3 and free T4. I think the NHS only looks at TSH.

I still have another 2 weeks to wait before the gastroscopy/colonoscopy so finding the TMS stuff difficult until I get an answer about the stomach pain and positive FIT test.

I do feel reassured that the blood tests came back mostly normal. I also had a sinus/head MRI which was normal so that helps as well.

Going to see the GP tomorrow to show him the brown marks on my nails. Suspect I'm overreacting about this but I just want to make sure I've covered everything so I can then focus on TMS.