Health Anxiety - Fear of brain tumor

[John23a]

I'm a 21 years old male, i have suffered from health anxiety but got over it for the past year or so.


There has been stuff happening to me for the past 3 weeks that it has made my anxiety much worse. This time around i'm pretty sure its not my mind playing games and im really suffering from something serious.


For the past 3 weeks i have had a headache upon waking up. Sometimes the headache disappears after couple of minutes, but sometimes its there for the whole day. Sometimes when the headache disappears in the morning it comes back at night again. When my headaches first started i had neck stiffness, the neck stiffness got better but i still feel tense around my neck area. There are 2 bones at the back of the head that im assuming everyone has, (behind the ears, above the neck). Those two bones hurt when i press my fingers against them.
I went to an eye doctor and got a full check up and took an optomap, Everything was normal except my eye muscles were weak. I had hard time focusing back on letters that were shown to me while getting checked. He said this could be due to other stuff and doesnt necessarily mean something serious and told me to come back for a more accurate vision field test on Friday. Obviously im thinking that it’s the worst case scenario and assuming that too might be due to brain tumor. I also get nausea and stomach pain sometimes and that i read could also be related to brain tumors.

I have done a CT scan from my head (non-contrasted) and a MRI from my neck 3 years ago due to similar problems. It wasn't exactly the same problem since my headaches were not as bad and werent worse in the morning. It was mostly my fear of derealization and depersonalization symptoms that forced my doctor to give me a CT scan.

My social life is just gown down the drain same with my school. I really dont know what might be happening. i tried changing my pillow, taking sinus rinse but nothing helps. a headache for 3-4 weeks, being worse in the morning, now thats something to be worried about.

Any ideas or similar experiences?

I gotta admit my sleeping and eating habit is not that great. I usually go to bed at 4-5 in the morning and sleep until 12-1. I usually eat my first meal at 5 and end up having my second meal around 11ish. My fiancé thinks thats the reason im having these symptoms but i just can connect the dots and assume a constant headache thats worse in the morning could be caused by these habits.
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[jlroesner]

I'm not a doctor, but for me personally anxiety does mess with my vision.  I get mainly blurred vision and at night it seems like everything is fuzzy and has an aura around it.  After countless tests at the eye doctors and seeing opthamologists who could find nothing physically wrong with my eyes, it was determined that "stress" or "anxiety" was causing the muscles behind my eyes to contract thus affecting my vision.  Wow.  Who'd of thought?  In any case, if you feel that your doctor is not taking your headaches seriously, would it be possible for you to get a second opinion?  I can tell you this, in the for what it's worth category, my mother's best friend has a brain tumor that is inoperable.  The only symptoms she had was a siezure.  That's how it got diagnosed, she just had a siezure one day.  No headaches.  No dizziness.  No vision issues.  Just a random siezure.  Now, almost a year later she experiences some problems with memory and recalling certain words.  She can't think of the names of things.  But, still, no headaches, no dizziness, no vision compromise.   Maybe that can reassure you a little?  I'm sorry that you are going through this, let us know if the schedule change helps.  Take good care.  Jen

[John23a]

thanks
i also get this thing, im not sure if anyone else experiences this
when im driving and i see a traffic light i see two sets of light, like if the traffic light is green i see another one right beside/above it. Its kind of like double vision with blurriness. Im scared this might be related to brain tumor as well since i haven't had this (to this extent) before and i was wondering if this could be a sign of brain tumor.
i have astigmatism eyes and i did see a doctor which checked my eye, and told me everything is fine except my eye muscles being weak but the nerves were healthy on optomap. Could this be caused by anxiety?

[Alisonj29]

No I dont. There are so many other issues with brain tumours, but I am not going to mention them as I dont want you to start having other symptoms. Maybe see a massage therapist or chiropractor for your neck and see how that works? There are medication that you could discuss with your doctor which help anxiety as well as treat headaches.

[John23a]

Thanks alison

Appreciate the response, I went to my doctor and got a CBC blood test which came back normal. He is not concerned about my headaches. He thinks my neck might be causing the headaches and since he knows i suffer from health anxiety im  thinking maybe he is not taking me as seriously as he should. I'm trying to change my habits starting tomorrow and see if that helps with the symptoms im having.

Do you think the symptoms sound like  a brain tumor?

[Alisonj29]

Hi there
Sorry that you are suffering from health anxiety. I think going to your doctor and having a check up and finding out that nothing is medically wrong should be your first step. If there is nothing causing the headaches or the anxiety medically then you can talk about your anxiety and what the next steps to take would be.
For sure your sleeping and eating patterns could have alot to do with it. It would really mess up your bodies natural clock, many people that work midnights have problems as well. You need to get up early in the morning so you can be tired at night at a good time. Then have your eating patterns follow. Have breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between. The better care we take our of bodies the better we are naturally going to feel. Also make sure to get in exercise everyday. That will help with the sleep as well.
My health anxiety revolves mainly around my heart but I have had a period of time that I too was worried about tumours or some neurological issues as well. Good Luck, I hope you can start to feel better very soon!