Self Hitting Injury or Something Else? (Please Read)

[ArtByWarren]

I wasn't sure where to post this question... if anyone has a suggestion as to where it might belong if not here, please let me know where to repost it (as I may need to talk to a doctor of "physical injury" - you know what I mean, lol - about this at some point). Also, this may be a little lengthy but I will try and be as to-the-point as I can.

The History: I have suffered with anxiety for most of my life, which I never really "did anything" about in terms of getting help when I should've. I just kept "dealing with it" and it eventually became OCD in about 2008. I've seen a couple of different doctors over the years but I live in such a remote area (not to mention the fact that the docs were always "so busy") and seeing someone for an hour once every three weeks or so didn't do much good. I've tried my best to kick this on my own and, despite what you are about to read, I really have had a signifigant reduction in OCD symptoms overall just by the work I've done myself. ...But that's not what I'm here to talk about.

Without sharing all the grizzly details of the Hell I've been through this year up until August / September, something I've had a problem with fairly recently is smacking myself in the face and around the forehead - once in a while on top of the head but that's been a month or so - several times over and over (NEVER with a fist, just a few open-handed slaps - although strong enough to make my cheeks turn red, as well as the palm of my hand) whenever I feel I've done something "stupid" concerning my wife (she has been put through the wringer with me and this OCD for a long time - the obsessions tend to revolve around her - but again, I'll spare you the boring details. Back to the story). It kinda looks now like I've become somewhat obsessed with making sure everything concerning her / my marriage is "perfect". That I don't take any of my obsessions out on her, or do or say anything to make her worry or get upset. I want every day to be perfect for her so that she can finally relax and not have some freak idiot of a husband and just a normal guy like she deserves. So, whenever we're on the phone and I feel I've said something to make her "short" with me or snap at me, I let it slide during the conversation but then when we hang up, I smack myself in the aforementioned areas as a "punishment" for not acting, sounding or being "normal" for this great woman. When I sit here and type it out it sounds like the most illogical thing, but when I'm caught up in the moment, it seems perfectly normal and appropriate... I guess that's the nature of OCD though, am I correct? ...But that's not what I'm here to talk about.

Here's what I AM here to talk about: I have some funny symptoms going on for the past 12 hours or so and I want to lay out a couple of different scenarios for you all based on what's happening, and have someone give me some kind of direction as to what I may be looking at here in terms of which one could be the problem (and PLEASE, people... if your response is going to read anything like: "Hey,yo i thik you myte have damged ur brains so um k yeah, go to a doctr"  then please don't waste your time or mine, OK?)

The last time I did this head smacking thing was probably the end of October or first day or two of November... either way it's been well over a week (I should also mention that I never blacked out or felt dizzy or funny or anything during or afterward... sometimes I would have a welling-up of emotion and I would cry, and there were a few times that my face or forehead was a little sore from it, but I never got a headache or anything really bad as a result of it. I've hit my head accidentally MUCH harder in the past and never had symptoms like this).

OK, info on potential problem number Two:

Even though none of the Internists I've been to have ever been able to find anything, I KNOW I have a blood sugar problem. That probably sounds like a typical hypocondriac statement but it's true. It's something I've always suspected I had but I went on the Atkins diet back in '09 and came out of the induction phase straight back into carbs and my body hasn't been the same ever since. I swear! My anxiety went THROUGH THE ROOF wen I put carbs back in and for almost a year, if I drink soda or eat a piece of candy - or even if I eat an apple - I get dizzy, spaced out and start to cry / get very weepy (I once tried to drink a beer and after two or three sips I felt so dizzy I could barely get off the chair - and no, I'm not allergic to alcohol, I used to drink some before this all happened). Keep in mind that this happens just a short time after I eat something BUT... it also gets out of whack if I wait too long and eat. It's awful. My personal opinion based on research I've done is that my blood sugar has taken the anxiety problems and made them worse - but again, I've been tested for hypoglycemia and diabetes and nothing ever comes back. The doctors refuse to give me a glucose tolorance test because they say it's unneccesary - all I've done is a fasting test.

And now, potential problem number Three: Last Friday (a week ago today), I started coming down with a cold which turned into bronchitis and I had to go see a doctor who gave me Zithromax (good stuff for clearing up what I had - and yes, I've had it before and I don't feel the Zithromax is part of the problem). And I am now on the mend, but while I was sick I felt horrendous and I ate a lot of things I shouldn't have (but kinda HAD to, you know? - sugary Dayquil, cough drops, hot tea, ect.)

Now take everything I've told you (OCD / face hitting, blood sugar, being sick with bronchitis) and keep those in mind as here are the problem(s) I'm experiencing:

Last night at about 6 o'clock I started to feel very strange... (I was pretty hungry as well I might add). I felt spaced out, weak in the knees, my stomach hurt a little (not nauseus) and my eyes felt "weird" - not blurry but kinda "loose in my head"... it's hard to explain. Once, it felt like a "pulse" in the headache I had may have made me a little sick but it was very fleeting and so small that I still can't tell if it actually happened. So my wife and I made dinner and I thought that after eating something good for me (that I usually eat which doesn't mess with my "sugar") I would feel better. I didn't. And I thought that after I "slept it off" I would feel better. I didn't.

I feel VERY "out of it" - I can't concentrate and am having a hard time remembering things in the short term. Driving my wife to work this morning was very un-nerving... I felt too spaced out to be driving. My eyes feel funny still and I feel somewhat dizzy. No nausea. Maybe a VERY slight headache but that feels like residual soreness from coughing so hard (which could also be why my eyes feel funny and my muscles feel a little weak.... when I cough, I cough pretty hard! This closest thing I've felt to this is when I came off Atkins last November, but it still wasn't this extreme. I just feel WEIRD!

And now here I am this morning, hoping for some answers. Here are the scenarios I feel may be the cause of this. Please let me know which of the three you think is the most likely:


This is post-concussion syndrome caused by a mild concussion that I didn't realize I had.

This is blood sugar being out of whack as a result of being sick for almost a week and eating a lot of foods I shouldn't have, plus sweet cough syrups and cough drops and very carb-y soups, ect.

This is a reaction to the Zithromax (which I am still taking - tomorrow is my last dose).


I appreciate anyone's help. Please respond ASAP.
Thank You!

[mammo]

These aren't typical side effects of Zithromax.  In 1% of patients taking this drug there was some dizziness, but the side effects seem to be stomach problems.  Having a husband with Type 2 Diabetes, I don't feel that you have any blood sugar problems.  What you may have is a sensitivity to sugar which makes you jittery, which causes anxiety which causes the symptoms describe. I would see how you feel after being off the medication for a few days.  If no better, I would get a thorough check-up including blood work, and if all is fine, you may need to look at anxiety as the problem.  It can, and does cause all the symptoms you describe.  We often don't like the idea of our problem being anxiety and/or depression, but it's no different than any other medical condition that requires daily medication.  You sound like you are having anxiety attacks which can hit us out of the blue.  What is happening is a normal response coming at the wrong time.  Our body senses the "fight or flight mode" like when we are in a bad situation, and floods our body with adrenaline to give us the abilty to protect ourselves.  Since we don't need this extra adrenaline, it has nothing to work on and results in a panic attack.  It makes us dizzy, weak, scared, confused, raises our heart rate, makes us tremble, trouble breathing and weak in the knees.  Blood sugar problems show up very easily and are not mysterious at all in how they present themselves. If your sugar is the least bit high or low it is quickly and easily detectable.  There are the Keotone strips you buy OTC which you urinate on to see whether your blood sugar is high or low, and they are very accurate.  You may want to use one before eating and after, or when you are feeling funny.  Keep in mind that everyone's blood sugar rises when they eat, no matter what they eat.  But if you suffer with anxiety, sugar and caffeine makes it worse. You may not even recognize yourself as being anxious.  It's well worth looking into because it may also be why you hit yourself.  If nothing else, seeing a psychiatrist for an evaluation will either confime it or deny it, at which point you can put that theory to rest.  Hope this helps, I wish you all the best and take care.

JCook144........ I'm with your mom on this.  What she is describing is exactly what anxiety about our health does to us.  We become obcessed with a certain thing being wrong with us. Talk to a psychiaitrist and go from there, like I said above, you need to rule out all causes and this will either be your diagnosis or something you can put to rest.  Take care.

[j17c27]

Well, as for potential problem #2 the exact thing happened to me! If i eat anything sugary my body freaks out on me and i get super dizzy and shaky and just very out of it.  This also happens if i wait too long to eat, just like you.  I also just 2 weeks ago did a fasting blood test and my everything was normal! I was soooo shocked becuase what I am feeling after I eat sugary things is not normal! So I dont know what to say about that...just know your not alone! (My mom says its just anxiety, and since I've got it in my head that my body is intolerant to sugar, it makes me feel weird whenever I eat sugar even though nothing is physically wrong, its all mental) which does make sence.  

As for the hitting yourself...maybe when you feel like doing that put a rubber band on your wrist and snap it a few times.  I cut myself, and my doctor says if I do that, it wont actually hurt me but there still is a similar feeling.  So instead of hitting yourself in the head which can be very harmful..maybe do that instead.