Aa
Where do I go from here?
TL:DR at the bottom
My story is a bit of a long one, so I'll try to keep it short but keep important details.
It all started in high school, general fatigue and what I assumed was anxiety. So I went to my doctors office, told them what I thought, and that was that. They diagnosed me with generalized anxiety disorder without any further questions or testing. Since then my symptoms have gotten worse and more wide spread. I've tried bringing them up in appointments with my family doctor, but get shrugged off and told bandaid fixes like "drink more water". I've taken all the vague advice they've given me with no relief from my symptoms. I was recently diagnosed from a social worker with socialized anxiety disorder, rather than GAD.
I made an appointment at my local CMHA office, but there wasn't anything they would offer me besides being put on a waiting list to see a psychologist through Skype at their office, and that's just for a proper th diagnosis, it's been months already and no word back. There is nothing they can do for me regarding my physical health deterioration either.
I recently made an appointment with my family doctor to get to the bottom of things, because no one should feel this sick all of the time regardless of mental health, but my doctor upon seeing my list of symptoms I made to make things easier, told me that he didn't have time for that. My doctor also tried to tell me I was making things up because of my anxiety, but I can be anxiety free for days and still have all of these symptoms, no one should feel this sick. I left feeling defeated and like I will never get the help I need, or even some basic tests done to rule things out.
I had basic blood work done while I was seeing a dietician to gain weight and everything came back normal.
I've had chest X-rays and echocardiograms done for my chest pain and dizziness, everything came back again, normal.
That's the extent of my tests, none of which have been referred from my family doctor. So what can I do? I'm located in Canada, so my family doctor is my main way of receiving help besides the ER, and both the doctors at my disposal have shrugged me off as an annoyance. I just want to figure out why I feel so sick, and work on feeling better.
For anyone interested or who may be able to provide some insight:
List of symptoms: (ongoing for years, but most newer within the last couple of years)
Poor sleep
Fatigue
Headaches (6+per month)
Diarrhea and horrible stomach cramps, usually brought on by stress and hormone changes
Muscle cramps, twitches, and weakness
Numbness, pins and needles usually in extremities and face, but not limited to them
Aches, especially in my left rib cage, and lower right abdomen, but again not limited to those areas
Skin problems, light rashes, painful goosebumps, itchy and dry, all of which gets worse with any kind of heat
Hot flashes with prickling skin sensation and excessive sweating, will go from feeling very hot to very cold in a matter of minutes
Vertigo/dizziness
Tinnitus
Ears will get red and very hot to the touch
Blurred vision, almost like looking through a cloud
All sorts of palpitations
Dry mouth
Easily bruised, unexplained bruising
Head fog and memory problems
Weird sensations in the throat, like the feeling of a thumb being pressed down or a cold sensation.
TL:DR - I've been sick for years, and my doctors at my family doctors office won't listen or run any tests, CMHA cannot help either, Where can I go to seek help?
My story is a bit of a long one, so I'll try to keep it short but keep important details.
It all started in high school, general fatigue and what I assumed was anxiety. So I went to my doctors office, told them what I thought, and that was that. They diagnosed me with generalized anxiety disorder without any further questions or testing. Since then my symptoms have gotten worse and more wide spread. I've tried bringing them up in appointments with my family doctor, but get shrugged off and told bandaid fixes like "drink more water". I've taken all the vague advice they've given me with no relief from my symptoms. I was recently diagnosed from a social worker with socialized anxiety disorder, rather than GAD.
I made an appointment at my local CMHA office, but there wasn't anything they would offer me besides being put on a waiting list to see a psychologist through Skype at their office, and that's just for a proper th diagnosis, it's been months already and no word back. There is nothing they can do for me regarding my physical health deterioration either.
I recently made an appointment with my family doctor to get to the bottom of things, because no one should feel this sick all of the time regardless of mental health, but my doctor upon seeing my list of symptoms I made to make things easier, told me that he didn't have time for that. My doctor also tried to tell me I was making things up because of my anxiety, but I can be anxiety free for days and still have all of these symptoms, no one should feel this sick. I left feeling defeated and like I will never get the help I need, or even some basic tests done to rule things out.
I had basic blood work done while I was seeing a dietician to gain weight and everything came back normal.
I've had chest X-rays and echocardiograms done for my chest pain and dizziness, everything came back again, normal.
That's the extent of my tests, none of which have been referred from my family doctor. So what can I do? I'm located in Canada, so my family doctor is my main way of receiving help besides the ER, and both the doctors at my disposal have shrugged me off as an annoyance. I just want to figure out why I feel so sick, and work on feeling better.
For anyone interested or who may be able to provide some insight:
List of symptoms: (ongoing for years, but most newer within the last couple of years)
Poor sleep
Fatigue
Headaches (6+per month)
Diarrhea and horrible stomach cramps, usually brought on by stress and hormone changes
Muscle cramps, twitches, and weakness
Numbness, pins and needles usually in extremities and face, but not limited to them
Aches, especially in my left rib cage, and lower right abdomen, but again not limited to those areas
Skin problems, light rashes, painful goosebumps, itchy and dry, all of which gets worse with any kind of heat
Hot flashes with prickling skin sensation and excessive sweating, will go from feeling very hot to very cold in a matter of minutes
Vertigo/dizziness
Tinnitus
Ears will get red and very hot to the touch
Blurred vision, almost like looking through a cloud
All sorts of palpitations
Dry mouth
Easily bruised, unexplained bruising
Head fog and memory problems
Weird sensations in the throat, like the feeling of a thumb being pressed down or a cold sensation.
TL:DR - I've been sick for years, and my doctors at my family doctors office won't listen or run any tests, CMHA cannot help either, Where can I go to seek help?
COMMUNITY LEADER
I know nothing about the Canadian health-care system, but I am wondering if you have read the symptoms of Lyme Disease and ruled it out as unlikely?
2 Comments
As things are now, I haven't been able to rule anything out besides anemia. I will have a look into it, thank you :)
I've read into the symptoms and all of them do seem to fit, but I can't recall ever having a tick bite. I've always been pretty adamant on wearing deet bugspray, but there is a wooded park near my house I played in many times as a teenager. Thank you for the suggestion, once I find a doctor willing to run some tests I'll be sure to have it rules out if able to do so.
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