I am a 27-year old male professional (attorney), and around five years ago, I began having episodes during which I was lightheaded and kind of felt out of touch with the world. It is really difficult to explain. The first of these periods began the summer prior to my starting law school and stopped after approximately two months. After feeling great for 2 1/2 years, the lightheaded sensation came back in my final semester of law school. Also, it seemed like my urination had become more frequent...not terribly so, but more often than I was accustomed. I went to the school clinic and they ran numerous blood and urine tests. Nothing showed up.
I was fine for another six months, and then the symptoms returned, this time for 3-4 months. I saw my GP several times and had many, many blood and urine tests. I also had additional symptoms, such as periodically feeling jittery and shaky, floaters in my vision, fatigue, and malaise. The lightheadedness returned, as it is the seemingly constant symptom when symptoms are present. At this point, I got on to the brain tumor / MS bandwagon, and the GP ordered a head MRI, which was completely normal.
The symptoms resolved, and I was good for another 1 1/2 years until February of this year. Many of the same symptoms returned, with the addition of intermittent light tingling in one foot. It has never progressed beyond just a light tingle in my heel and a few toes, from time to time. As always, the lightheadedness is the most annoying symptom, followed by the, periodic fatigue, "frequent" urination, and visual floaters. The floaters are always there, but seem much more noticeable when I do not feel well. The urination and fatigue come and go, sometimes weeks at a time, sometimes days. I have had a sleep study, seen ophthalmologists, and two neurologists (including an MS specialist), all of whom say they can find nothing wrong with me. I am scheduled to see a neurotologist next month at the recommendation of a neurologist. My GP has stated that he thinks it could be anxiety and stress from a high stress job. My only problem with this is that I have had reason to be stressed throughout my life. I felt great through most of law school and all of college. Law school, I would think, should have been stressful. I didn't feel bad at all prior to and during my Bar exams. Why would this not seem to crop up at those times, rather than during just everyday, routine life?
The GP also gave me some xanax, and told me to take them when I felt bad. Sometimes it seemed to help, other times it didn't. I was not taking it on a consistent basis, and basically I couldn't tell if it was helping or not.
Could all of these symptoms I have described be anxiety (or stress) related? If so, what type of medication is used to treat such a disorder? Is this very common in people with high-stress jobs and careers?
I realize you cannot diagnose, but thank you for any information or advice you can dispense.