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Anxiety and Severe Joint Pain

I have severe joint pain where it is hard to walk, hips, neck and wrists are extremely painful .. I can't pick up my purse and had to go to a lighter one.  I also have severe anxiety where i am not sleeping .. I had my heart looked at and at 7am resting heart rate was 150.  I have also the feeling of going unconscious and difficulty swallowing.  I also have a ton of black spots in my eyes and my vision has become blurry.  My doc says MS or Fibromyalgia.   I am going to be tested for these things but it is very difficult to function.  Its 4am and I can't sleep due to anxiety and racing heart...  any ideas?  I am not on any medication just vitamins which I started taking due to my anxiety and joint pain to see if it was a vitamin deficiency.  I have researched that vit D and severe B 12 depletion can cause these same symptoms.  I am taking both..
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Avatar universal
I am suffering from anxiety and have got all issues of joint pains, back pains, neck pains , Gastro, blurry vision etc. I have hypothyroid. All these symptoms sometime gets bad and sometime gone all by themselves. I have undergone treatment for depression and anxiety. The only time i get relieved of all these pains is when iam stress free. Keep note of ups and down in daily routine and frequency of pains or gastro issues, you'll be able to know the exact reason
Helpful - 0
20828753 tn?1526295043
there is some therapy you have to consult with Doctor and check your anxiety that how much of its label and then according to him obey the rules. Take care of your health and have a good diet and healthy life.
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Avatar universal
I too am suffering with anxiety all my life. My jaw the upper and lower feels as though they tighting up to the point that I feel that I am not breathing I also get nerve twitches throughout my body. I am now currently feeling joint pains and also foot pain like if my foot were bruised. I also have neck popping my neck pops when. later
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I was always and still do get a lot of back pain and after reading the book by Dr. John Sarno, who says that most back pain is caused by what he calls TMS or tension miosis syndrome.  The tension from your mind,etc. goes into a particular part of your body and causes pain. I know if I am particularly anxious I get my back pains or other pains and they later go away after the anxiety is gone for a while. You would have to read the book to understand what he is talking about. He has been a back Dr. for over 20 yrs. When my anxiety was really bad I could barely turn my neck in either direction.
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Avatar universal
Aftr readng all yur ques and comnts I really have to wnder if all my health prblms are rlatd to my depression/anxiety. I have a mild case of ibs, undiagnosable back neck & shoulder pain, and am also going thru a lot of tsts, incldng lupus. Maybe we should compare medications. Tho all this pain really can be caused by stress or anxiety. When yure worried, yur brain activates the "fight or flight" mechanism which causes yur bld to be reroutd from less importnt organs & body prts to the ones that require quick reflexes and higher oxygn lvls. When your brain does this on a regular basis it can wreak havoc on your body. However, I still find it hard to believe it can give me literally incapacitating pain. I'm usually ok, but sometimes I can't even move. Last time that happened the doc gave me amitriptyline.  Any input?
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Avatar universal
I have been having joint pain as well. I was diagnose with IBS and anxiety. I have had all sorts of tests and almost everything has been ruled out. I just can't accept that my mind is causing my body so much distress.
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Avatar universal
Hi All -
I'm new here and have a few ?'s for anyone who can help.
I'm a 34 yr old female, mother of 2.
I consider myself to be pretty healthy - not overweight/under, no major health issues.  I do however suffer from GAD which didn't start until 2 yrs ago after a major family crisis.
I'm on an antidepressant and take Ativan on really bad days. (Not often)
Along with my anxiety, I started suffering from IBS ( that too is under controll for the most part).
My problem is this - about 2 months ago I started having joint pains.  First, just in my hands and ankles for a couple of days.
Then, one day I woke up and every joint in both of my hands, both feet, ankles and hips hurt me, as well as some numbness in my feet and hands.  I made an appt. w/a Rheumatologist.  
After she asked tons of questions on by family history ( which there in no one on either side of my family with a history of RA, Lupus, Fibro, ect.) she sent me for bld wk.
She called back a week later and told me that all of my bld wk came back normal, however I was a little low in Iron and B12.  My #'s were in the normal range, just a little low.  She started me on those 2 vitamins and wanted me to come in for X-rays.
I just got a call back from the dr.'s office saying that my x-rays looked fine and the doctor wants me to just come back in if my symptoms came back.....I told the nurse, they never went away!
I'm really confused!  Can a person suffer from moderate joint pain from high anxiety alone?
I really want to believe that, however with my crazy anxiety, my mind keeps telling me that it can't be....I've never read one book (Lord knows I've read 'em all!) about anxiety - where it mentioned joint pain.  Just the typical fast heartbeat, dizzines, lump in the throat, ect.
Anyone with similar symptoms - or just any insight about this please respond!
Thanks!
Jennifer
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Avatar universal
I have to agree that a Dr. throwing around diseases like MS & Fibromyalgia without any testing is kind of irresponsible.  I went through something similar last year.  My ophthamologist said to get an MRI because he thought I had MS or Huntington's.  It freaked me out!!  Caused even more anxiety and I went through a terrible few months just worrying myself sick.  Ended up it was nothing.  Just anxiety causing my eye to spasm. I wanted to punch that Dr. in the nose for freaking me out so cavalierly.  I won't see him again.  So I would advise you to go back to the doctor, get the necessary tests done and hopefully you'll have the same result I had.  Nothing wrong!  Good luck!  Everyone is going to be okay!
Helpful - 0
560272 tn?1311350293
Hi, I've had anxiety for 10 yrs. My anxiety came first. Recently in the last 2 yrs I have been having daily muscle aches, pains, etc... Question for you? Are you overweight? I am, and my pains didn't start until I became overweight. But the pains feed the anxiety. I've only tried Prozac (that was supposed to help depression, anxiety, pms), but I had little sucess with it and quit it 5 weeks ago. Just wanted to let you know you aren't alone.
Helpful - 0
370181 tn?1595629445
Your post brings so many questions to mind..........how long have these symptoms been going on? How old are you? Did you have problems with anxiety BEFORE these symptoms appeared? Did a cardiologist look at your heart or just your PCP? When was the last time you had a thorough eye exam? When, EXACTLY are you going to be tested for these things?
Many, many of your symptoms sound like anxiety. The rapid heart rate, as remar said, is so classic for anxiety. Feeling like your about to pass out and difficulty swallowing are simply two more classic signs. EVERYBODY gets those black spots,(floaters) and sometimes you can have a lot of them and sometimes just a few. They are 9 times out of 10 nothing to worry about. They are annoying for sure, but not indicitive of anything serious. I would still advise an eye exam tho, just to ease your mind if nothing else.
Without knowing some of the answers to these questions, it's difficult to give you any real advice, which I should add would be just our opinions as we are NOT doctors. My first question about what came first, the chicken or the egg..........the joint pain or the anxiety...........is a really important question.
I would suggest you talk to the good folks over on the MS Forum and get some "expert" advice from them regarding your symptoms, THEN I would talk to my doctor as soon as possible and ask for something to help calm you down. If he/she knew how anxious you were, I find fault with them for not offering you something at the time of your visit.
In my humble opinion, I think your doctors hasty DX of MS or fibro was uncalled for and did nothing but scare you. If this turns out to be nothing but some arthritis and anxiety, I would find a new doctor poste haste!
PLEASE keep us posted and let us know what the tests show.
Hang in there.
Peace
Greenlydia      
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i have anxiety and get the joint pain too. your resting heart rate is high but that's probably because of the anxiety. it's good that your taking vitamins but you may want to talk to your dr. about anxiety medication and or therapy. the black spots in your eyes sound like floaters and it's not uncommon.  of course only your dr. can tell what it is for sure. i wish i could help more and i hope things work out for the best. take care. remar
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