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Mental Health  (Expert Forum)
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Please Help...I could no longer go on
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD), bipolar disorder, dementia, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic, personality disorders, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, stress, transitions, and work problems.
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MedHelp Member's Question

Please Help...I could no longer go on

by ALybella, Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM
Long history, here I go…

I am a very healthy 29 year old, I know so because of the last 4 times I have gone to the ER in the last 3 months and left with perfect CBC, CHEM's CT's and all Doc’s telling me I’m perfectly healthy.  All my life I have suffered from OCD, atypical bipolar, hypochondria and GAD.  However, in the last 5 months I have diagnosed myself with the following:

Lymphoma

Kidney Failure

Wilson's disease

Autoimmune hepatitis

Hemachrotosis

Liver Cirrhosis

Lupus

IC

Bladder Cancer

Ovarian Cancer

Cervical Cancer

Cardiac Sympathy

Colon Caner

Breast Cancer

Melanoma

and now MS



The reason I am so scared of MS, is that after suffering from severe anxiety after thinking I am dying for about 2 weeks (without sleeping and barely breathing), I develop tingling and weird sensations in my extremities.  After the ER confirms that I don’t have the specific disease I thought I did,  I'm OK, the parasthesias disappear.  

However, this time after a bout of anxiety due to frequent urination, I found on line that MS could be the cause.  Oh boy, I went to a Neuro, and the exam said I looked fine and my reflexes were really good just a little brisk because during the exam I suffered a panic attack.  He sent me for a thyroid test and adrenaline test and straight to a psych .  However, I can't eat or sleep thinking I have MS.  I really do feel tiny little pricks sporadically in different parts of my body that last like a second.  I decided to self medicate with paxil and to make matters worst now I have developed twitching, another MS symptoms.  Then after searching in more websites, I developed kind of like a cold like tingling in my lower feet and legs and arms...OMG dysthesias.  I am truly feeling these weird cold stings that last about one second in all my extremities, especially my hands and feet.  My Doc in the ER said that's from hyperventilating, and that I will feel all those weird things, I wish I could believe him.  I do notice that when I am thinking of something else I don't feel these annoying sensations.



I have lived with this agony my whole life.  I have no weakness, numbness, pins and needles, loss of balance no other typically MS symptom.  Physically I feel the strongest ever, I work out like a beast everyday, doing squads, I feel like if I have an enormous boast of energy...But God why these paresthesias.  I pray I don't have MS.  I work full time, take 15 credits towards my masters and have a beautiful family.  Please pray for me.  Can these paresthesias be caused by anxiety.



Please help

Doctor's Answer

by Roger Gould, M.D., Nov 18, 2005 12:00AM
yes, yes, yes  ....anxiety is written all over everything you wrote.   You should see a therapist and get to the root cause of all of this.....
Member Comments (33)

by stefany4, Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM
I'm sorry to hear you're not well. Please consider seeing a good Naturopath.  Meds will only cover up the problems-not solve them.  My family and I always go to a Naturopath for any health issues.  We've had much better sucess than we've had with doctors.

by LukeL, Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM
I am a hypochondriac myself and know that you can go online and find any disease to match your symptoms. To a normal person their fatigue means they are tired to a person like you or me it means leukemia or lymphoma.



Just remember that these doctors have spent years or even decades researching and studying the human body and know what they are doing. It is understandble to get a 2nd opinion but when 4 or more doctors all tell you the same thing you kind of know its in your head.



You even admited that you feel better after going to the doctor but shortly afterwards you go right back to thinking you are sick.



Some doctors say hypochondria is a form of OCD because we constantly check our body over and over and go to doctors over and over and our anxiety is only shortly reduce from seeing a doctor.



My best advice would be to get rid of the internet or stop going to sites like emedicine (which I have spent many hours on which only made matters worse).



The fact that you know you are a hypochondriac is a good first step towards getting real help. Almost most importantly DO NOT self medicate as this will only lead to adverse side effects and make you think you have something else wrong with you.



by ALybella, Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM
Thank you all.  I just can't shake this MS paranoia, I swear I feel some slight 1 seconf tingling in my extremeties, i6t always happens days after I have severe anxiety.  Also, I could now feel like my ankles and feet feeling a little cold sensation.  No numbness weakness, as I run almoist 2 miles a day.  I can't live like this anymore, I look at my 2 girls at night and cry that I will not be able to be there for them because of the MS.  My life has become a nightmare, all I want is peace of mind in my life, I want to enjoy the wonders God ha=s given me.  I can't I thinks as I'm speaking I'm getting twitches all over.  Could they be form the Paxil.  Oh God help me I just can't take this anymore.  SOme one please help

by LukeL, Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/MentalHealth/messages/33011.html



Right here in the mental health forum another person had muscle spasms or twithcing while on Paxil.



Also if I have not already said it DO NOT self medicate or take more then the reccomended dose.

by ALybella, Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM
God I've tried to post in Neurology with no luck.  My doctors all say anxiety can lower the carbon dioxide in your body along with Calcium, Potassium, magnessium, etc... and that all these things can make you feel all these weird sensory problems.  Have any of you heard this?  Gosh other wise, i feel so healthy, so much energy, good coordination, muscle strength, no numbeness, pins and needles, (which I guess hurt), no vision problems, only some urinary frequency when I'm real stressed, which I've had since I was a young child.  I tell you, nothing is worst than this mental ailment, life is a never ending nightmare with GAD and OCD.

Once I thought I had HIV, mind you I have only had one partner  my whole life (HS sweetheart), and I tested myself 11 times in two years.  Why is my mind like this?  I had a wonderful childhood, great parents, friends, why I'm I so ungrateful and unhappy? WHy does my life surround itself around diseases, ranging from my parents to my girls, husband, etc.?  Why can't I be normal, gosh why these little tingles sporadically in my extremeties?  Guys isn't his an MS symptoms?  Then of course I found an MS website saying that their feet seem real cold sometimes, urghhhhh....

  Oh God I can't breathe right now, I feel as if I can't be in a room.



I went to the pshy, I'm om 100 mg Zoloft, 3 zanax per needed a day and restoril for sleep.



I don't know what else to do

by Aruba417, Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM
I can say that I know EXACLTY how you guys feel! I've been in the same boat. While medication is not for everyone, it worked for me. I saw a Psychiatrist who said that my GAD, panic disorder, and OCD tendencies were not due to some emotional problem, but rather a chemical imbalance. I know not every one agrees about chemical imbalances, but I certainly do. We tried therapy, and I had a full psych evaluation, and I was told that it doesn't stem from anything other than a chemical imbalance. After trying several medications, I finally found one that works, and I feel so much better. Sometimes I still get the ocassional "weird" symptom, like chest pain or tingling. But now I don't obsess over them. I also had the full physical work up! Heart, brain, blood tests, etc. My father and my uncle both have MS. But I was actually hoping it was THAT and not my heart or something worse. My MRI DID show that I had some abnormal spots, but in 6 months if they have not grown or changed, the doctor will write it off as normal. Spots showing up on an MRI is actually quie common. But seriously, the medication is really starting to work. I personally tried Paxil, and it did not work for me. But Zoloft worked for me and so has Effexor. It just depends on the person. What works for one won't work for the other. Good luck and God Bless!

by Aruba417, Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM
P.S. Tingling is also caused by extreme anxiety. I have also had tingling and cramping and headaches and numbness. And a word of encouragement, if your MRI didn't show anything unusual, then you are home free! Trust me, I've seen my dad's MRI films. MRIs are the best at ruling out MS. If there is any scarring on the brain it will show up!