Aa
Debilitating symptoms - Only GAD
I´ve been having serious problems with GAD for years now, and it has always been charactarazied by lots of psyical symptoms. As of late things seems to have escalated tremendously, and I am now at a point of more or less not being able to get out of bed.
For some reason my physical symptoms seems to be worse on my left side (non-parkinsonian tremor and stiffness of fingers).
Although, the most debilitating symptoms is a stiffness in almost every set of muscles, but most notably in my calves, shinbones (the support muscles there) and lower back. This has also resulted in really poor ankle mobility, especially in my left foot, and severly reduced dorsiflexion (that too in my left foot). My left foot also tends to fall inwards.
Years ago, before developing all of these symptoms, I underwent a rather thourough Neurexamination (because of functional weakness, numbness etc, mostly prominent in the left side of body).
Several Doctors concluded that I suffer from hemsensory conversion disorder or something along those lines.
My question now is, can a constant GAD (and severe hypochondria from my OCD) really cause tremors (intermittent, mostly during high stress/anxiety) and severe muscular tensions that severly restricts movement?
If so, what can I do to regain control of my body?
I am an sligtly overweight (+65lbs from ideal weight), inactive 27 year old male. My current diagnoses is GAD/OCD/Depression/hemisensory conversion disorder. My only medications now is Lyrica (300mg/day).
Please help me with this, it is literally killing me
For some reason my physical symptoms seems to be worse on my left side (non-parkinsonian tremor and stiffness of fingers).
Although, the most debilitating symptoms is a stiffness in almost every set of muscles, but most notably in my calves, shinbones (the support muscles there) and lower back. This has also resulted in really poor ankle mobility, especially in my left foot, and severly reduced dorsiflexion (that too in my left foot). My left foot also tends to fall inwards.
Years ago, before developing all of these symptoms, I underwent a rather thourough Neurexamination (because of functional weakness, numbness etc, mostly prominent in the left side of body).
Several Doctors concluded that I suffer from hemsensory conversion disorder or something along those lines.
My question now is, can a constant GAD (and severe hypochondria from my OCD) really cause tremors (intermittent, mostly during high stress/anxiety) and severe muscular tensions that severly restricts movement?
If so, what can I do to regain control of my body?
I am an sligtly overweight (+65lbs from ideal weight), inactive 27 year old male. My current diagnoses is GAD/OCD/Depression/hemisensory conversion disorder. My only medications now is Lyrica (300mg/day).
Please help me with this, it is literally killing me
Best Answer
You say you're only on Lyrica now, but were you on other meds before, particularly antidepressants? I ask because you might have a magnesium problem. I don't obviously know anything about your diet, but medications that target brain neurotransmitters tend to deplete magnesium. Lyrica and its predecessor Neurontin (which is better, I hear, at dealing with anxiety along with pain control) along with other brain drugs also tend to work on the same route into the body as magnesium. This causes two problems, therefore: interfering with magnesium metabolism on the one hand and depleting it on the other (magnesium can also interfere with drug metabolism if taken at the same time, so it work both ways). This is important because magnesium is partly responsible for relaxing the muscles. When I went on the first antidepressant I was on I started getting muscle cramps when I was trying to sleep, so I started supplementing with a high magnesium to calcium ration supplement and the cramps stopped, so I've personally been through this. Another problem is that Americans don't eat their green leafy veggies, which has the proper balance of magnesium to calcium and tend to do a lot of dairy, which is very high in calcium but very low in magnesium; these two are in electrical balance in the body and too much of one depletes the other. Most Americans get a ton of calcium but not enough magnesium partly because they've been told to do so erroneously to prevent osteoporosis (erroneously because you need magnesium as much as calcium for strong bones). This is just an idea, I have no idea if it will help, but it's something to consider.
The only reason to pair them with magnesium is to ensure you don't deplete your calcium with the magnesium. Since it's really hard to accurately test for this unless you test regularly over a period of time to rule out peaks and valleys that occur naturally I just do it that way to make it less likely I'll take too much magnesium. If you take a low potency magnesium supplement and are sure you're getting plenty of calcium you probably don't need to take both, but it's how I choose to do it.
Thank you so much for your answer. Actually, Mg might be part of the problem. I had my Mg-levels checked just a couple of weeks ago, but my dr. said the findings were within the normal range. Although, I heard that Mg-levels could be hard to actually pinpoint by using only blood serum tests as a guideline.
I was on Anafranil (maximum rec daily dose) for 14 months so perhaps that could have disturbed my mineral balance, as could probably stress and depression to a certain degree=)
If I were to try some Mg-supplements, do I need to pair them with Calcium too for them to have desired effect?
I was on Anafranil (maximum rec daily dose) for 14 months so perhaps that could have disturbed my mineral balance, as could probably stress and depression to a certain degree=)
If I were to try some Mg-supplements, do I need to pair them with Calcium too for them to have desired effect?
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Anxiety Community
Find out what can trigger a panic attack – and what to do if you have one.
A guide to 10 common phobias.
Take control of tension today.
These simple pick-me-ups squash stress.
Don’t let the winter chill send your smile into deep hibernation. Try these 10 mood-boosting tips to get your happy back
Want to wake up rested and refreshed?
