Here is a looooong list of anxiety symptoms.

[supermum_ms]

Hi There wonderful people,

I cant get my head around why people with MS sx can be confused with someone with a stress disorder or anxiety disorder, so i've been trying to find the connection. The only thing that i can say for sure is that if your still breathing then it fits into the stress/anxiety basket lol

I found this the other day, its a long list of symptoms that are listed as anxiety symptoms. Shooot no wonder anxiety gets thrown around, have a read but be warned just about everyone on the planet will have experiened at least some of these sx and I think the only thing not included is the kitchen sink .ROFL I should point out that it apears to be self promoting there own programs.

http://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-symptoms.shtml

This next one has different disorders defined and video clips as well, self help, drugs etc.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/anxiety/what-is-anxiety.php


This one is a basic explanation of stess

http://www.medicinenet.com/stress/article.htm


Cheers.........JJ

[Quixotic1]

Thanks, JJ.  The list really is completely unuseful for evaluating symptoms.   There are a couple of symptoms that are seen frequently with people who have panic attacks and obvious anxiety:

The combination of lightheadedness, tingling of hands and face, and shortness of breath (sometimes with chest pain) is classic for hyperventilation.

Difficulty swallowing and a constant sense of a lump in the throat

Irritable bowels

But, all of these can be seen in real diseases and must be checked out.  Sometimes, if the triad of lightheadedness, tingling in face and hands, and shortness of breat it was so obvious that people were hyperventilating that I would counsel them on stopping an episode and see them back promptley, but rmember I was dealing usually with adolescents.

Stress/anxiety can so overlap with all other things that, even if we suspect anxiety, the other complaints should be looked at.

Thanks for the list!

Quix

[artspaz]

I'm piggy backing on to what you all were saying here and made a separate post on this. I haven't had any of those classic signs except for the tingling in the hands and feet but they were coupled with my other symptoms. No racing heart or anything like that.

I've been searching for a diagnosis for my painful neck spasms, muscle cramping in my leg that made it difficult to walk, migraines and blurring vision for about a year now. I've had multiple MRI's, blood work, a spinal tap, EEGs EMGs and came up with nothing. I resolved myself never to know but the symptoms still weren't going away and it started making working as a teacher very difficult. My neurologist finally put me on Xanyx and the symptoms went away over night. Finally, I was elated that I got some relief. So the neurologist says he thinks it's anxiety. Even though, as a teacher I still was experiencing symptoms in July when I was relaxing pool side in the sun. I don't feel anxious. Maybe I'm suppressing it so much that my body is trying to find a way to express it. It's mysterious and confusing. All I know is that I can not control it or think my way out of it.  Anyways, my husband and I want to have another child but you can't be on Xanyx while you are pregnant. My neuro said he couldn't prescribe anything else because it was out of his realm of expertise. So, in a couple of weeks I'm going to go to a psychologist. What do you all think?

[supermum_ms]

Hi,

I just love a mystery, didnt want to be one though lol! I've just read a web site that has me a little uncomfortable for anyone in the early stages of RRMS etc. Its written by a neurologist about symptoms that are due to functional or dissociative disorders, it states "Most people with functional or dissociative neurological symptoms have a combination of symptoms like "weakness, numbness and fatigue" or "blackouts and sleep problems."

There are even testimonies of people with neurological sx that where dx with functional disorder in a 30 minutes neurological appt that just looked at their history. One lady with dx TIA seemed most concerning to me (RRMS?) but i think she was happy that she had a dx of something and was given some 'tools' on how to handle these episodes, it made me cringe!

www.neurosymptoms.org

One thing for sure this neurologist has an explanation of sorts that fits all MS symptoms into functional or dissociative disorders, i did notice nothing to indicate where the proof was but it looks impressive enough, oh oh!

Cheers........JJ