So over this!

[aggie2007]

Hi all! I have been reading the forum for a while, and it has been easing my mind to some extent. I am a 22 year old active, healthy eating female college student. Basically every member of my family on my mom's side suffers from anxiety. August ended up being a really stressful month for me. So much that I ended up in the ER thinking I was having a heart attack (im sure many of you can relate). I was told it was anxiety and all was ok. I still had severe chest tightness after that and occasaional hyperventialtion. One weekend I decided to drive home for the weekend and as I was driving I felt some pains going down my legs. This of course scared me so I had a panic attack and ended up having to turn around and go back and it has all been downhill since then! Here are the symptoms I have had since about beginning of Semptember and in order of their progression.

tingling feeling in my arms and hands
arms and hands felt heavy and week
pains down legs and down arms into fingers
bad back and neck pain
upper back and right calf had a burning sensation

.....Mom thought it was a pinched nerve since I had been sleeping on a futon since August. Went to a general practioner who prescribed me a Medrol pack to see if it could reduce any inflammation on any nerves. Did bloodwork for hypothyroidism or vitamin deficiences..all came back normal. Took the 7 day dose of Medrol, went to get a massage, had a nice relaxing spa bath. Then then pain got worse

started getting cramps in my feet and calves....not the the point of charlie horse but achy tight feeling
started getting twitches mainly in calves
tingly crawly feeling on tip of my nose and around my right eye
legs felt achy like a  growing pains type of feeling
still getting pains in arms and legs
pain worse when first wake up in morning and lay down at night
legs feel restless and like i have to move them when sitting down or laying down
pain in neck, shoulder, and arm on side I lay on in bed
feeling spacy and "out of it"
upper back sore


...freaked out and did WAY too much looking online. Got scared that I had MS. I went back to my GP who suggessted I see a neurologist and get an MRI. I got got a brain and C spine MRI..all came back normal. Went to the neurologist who did all kinds of weird tests...said my nerves were not damaged and everything looked fine and he saw no signs of MS or neurological problems. He suggested I get some bloodwork done to test for any rheumatological diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthrits. This of course freaked me out and basically the day he said that I started getting pains in my joints and Im still getting the pains and achy feelings in my arms and legs!


Im so tired of living my life like this...it has drained me to the point that Im not myself anymore. Its the only think I think about. I definitely feel like a hypochondriac. I keep telling myself if the rheumotological bloodwork comes back fine then Im going to move on and accept that this is all anxiety...but when will i really stop! I have been researching online about lupus....i don't really have any of the other symptoms other than joint pain and muscle pain, so I am trying to ease my worries with that fact.


Im so scared! Can this really all be in my head? I sure hope so... except that ill feel like im going crazy! No one seems to understand :( I know some symtpoms can be caused by anxiety...but can muscle pains and join pains also?? Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated....sorry for the novel!

[aggie2007]

I have wondered that...before all of this I was very active and would work out about 3 times a week. But since all this I  have been so scared to make anything worse that I have definitely not been active like I used to be

[mrworryguts]

I go for a four mile walk every day, even when i have leg aches and it never seems to get any worse. In fact my legs often feel better when i'm walking. This is another reason i think it's just caused by stress and anxiety.

[lost_myself]

I can sympathize with almost all your symptoms at one time or another ...check out my post under "good info for all" I am gradually regain my life  God Bless

[aggie2007]

I feel like they are there all the time...but to different degrees. When I focus on them they definitely get worse. However, there have been a few times that I have been really focused on what I was doing or having fun and I realized afterwards that I didn't notice any of the symptoms at that time. Wish I could be back to my old self!! Is it possible to ever be who you once were after anxiety takes over your life like this??

[mrworryguts]

I get very similar symptoms to some of yours, such as the achy legs and slight cramping in the calves. Sometimes my feet and hands will ache. My symptoms come and go and never seem to get above a certain level, although on the odd occasion it can feel quite bad, but not in an agonising sort of way.  Some days i can be pain free, but then i usually get the spaced/dizzy type feeling in my head. It seems to be either one or the other with me, rarely both at the same time, thankfully.

Because they come and go i've just put it down to stress and anxiety.  Do yours come and go or are they there all the time?

Stress and anxiety can cause debilitating pain for some people, even when they are'nt particularly feeling stressed or anxious.