Can Anxiety really be this powerful, or are the Dr's missing something?

[ProfessorAnxious]

Hello,

Just to be completely up-front, I'm a hypochondriac. My issues began six month's ago when my tongue seem to be swollen, and not working correctly. When I stuck it out it went slightly to the left without me wanting it to. I went to the Dr. and they said it could mean I had a brain tumor! I had a CT scan that day and the results were normal. Three days later I had an MRI and the results were normal. They told me I was stressed and had anxiety.

After that I began to be healthier. I quit smoking, lost weight, began exercising, but still remained  anxious.

Since then I've thought I had lung cancer, heart problems, blood problems, basically you name it and I've thought i've had it. After five months of this I began seeing a therapist and taking anti-depressants, but I'm only in the first week.

So that's the back story-Now, starting last week my coordination has been off. I feel clumsy and off balance. My right arm hurt, and my legs hurt a few days ago. It's hard to concentrate (unless I'm researching MS) and I'm just plain tired and a bit depressed.

I don't know exactly how I came to think I may be showing initial symptoms of MS, but I'm here now and it's hard to push it out of my head. Is it possible that anxiety is just so strong that it can affect my motor coordination and balance, cause me to feel pain and tingles in my arm and legs, and make me feel totally exhausted? It seems that a lot of people with extreme anxiety end up on the MS fears because the symptoms are so similar in many ways.

I apologize for the long post, but I wanted anyone that took the time to answer to have the complete picture. My Dr. will just laugh at me if I ask him because I've been in there so many times with deadly diseases ranging from COPD to Heart Failure, that he kindly reminds me I have health anxiety. My therapist thinks it's all magnification of my mind too.  

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

[supermum_ms]

I would highly recommend you consider getting a second psychiatric opinion on what type of 'anxiety' you are actually dealing with........Health Anxiety (also known as Illness anxiety, hypochondrias, conversion disorder, Somatic symptom disorder) is a more complex type of anxiety than General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), both types in there own way do cause obsessive thoughts and behaviors but it's not the same as the obsessive compulsive ritualistic behaviors caused by OCD.

Health Anxiety is more focused -  an obsessive worry specifically about 'health', so things like constantly checking your body for signs of illness, not being reassured by medical tests and opinions, obsessive online research about the medical condition your currently worried about, overly thinking and talking about your health etc etc are some of the very common behaviors traits of HA.....

Please don't feel embarrassed, be empowered to learn and understand the medical condition you are truly dealing with and change your tomorrows!

[ProfessorAnxious]

I def fit the bill for Health Anxiety. My therapist just mentioned a "bit" of OCD because I can't seem to stop researching disease on the internet. I've made some progress with that, but I'm still checking forums. I know it's unlikely I have MS because my symptoms jump around from my hands, to my feet, to my vision, to my balance. Plus, with a clean (closed) MRI it's even more unlikely. I was actually worried I had parkinson's first because my pinky was shaking one day. The pinky hasn't shaken since, but somehow I switched over to MS. My right arm feels a bit funny, but it's by no means completely numb, so I don't really know what's going on. I've been on an anxious bender now for about 6 months-so It's very likely my body is just completely shot from being constantly worked up. That's why I decided to finally give the medicine a try. Before MS I was worried about COPD, then Lung Cancer, then Heart Issues, then Blood Issues, then Clots, then going crazy, then Parkinson's and then MS. All of that in a 6 month window! I'm just exhausted and blown away that anxiety can cause such a huge impact on so many levels and create so many physical symptoms.

[immisceo]

Just to add to JJ's excellent observations, a doctor who looks at your tongue and mentions "brain tumour" prior to any objective testing needs his licence revoked. I'm not kidding. "First do no harm" They clearly behaved unprofessionally and in a manner that directly contributed to a negative psychological outcome for you. FIRE THEM.

[ProfessorAnxious]

I never went back to that Dr. again. I was absolutely floored when she said that, I've pretty much been in a state of constant anxiety since then. My second kid was only a month away from birth at that point so it hit me really hard.

[supermum_ms]

Hi Professor Anxious and welcome,

The short answer is yes, 'health anxiety' definitely can be "so strong that it can affect my motor coordination and balance, cause me to feel pain and tingles in my arm and legs, and make me feel totally exhausted?" and so much more....

Health Anxiety, Functional or Conversion Disorder etc 'basically' gets you to hyper focus on to a specific medical condition, the more you research and read about the medical condition your mind is fixated on, the more similar the symptoms you'll experience.

Multiple Sclerosis literally means 'many scars', MS causes brain and or spinal cord lesions, and neurologically abnormal clinical signs so in regards to a neurological condition like MS, the MS symptoms you've probably been reading about can't actually develop rapidly, multiply over a short period of time, spread, move from one location to another, appear in all peripherals, disappear with distraction, change from one day to the next, develop after reading etc etc.  

You mentioned you've only just started taking anti-depressants and within the time frame for these symptoms your thinking could be MS.....it might help to know that many mental health medications cause side affects, more so depending on the class of medication your taking, if it's central nervous system delivered there can be 'similar' MS types of symptoms because MS is a condition that affects the central nervous system but i'd also keep in mind that depression may be also playing it's part in what you've been experiencing too.

Hope that helps.............JJ

[ProfessorAnxious]

Supermum. Thank you so much. I'm on Lexapro because the Dr. thinks I have GAD with OCD (due to my constant researching)
Trying to be logical, I should know better than to think my MS "symptoms" could be my vision,balance, tingly feet, tingly hands, heightened anxiety, tingly head, disorientation, and clumsiness. I had a closed MRI three months ago and was told everything looked good.

I read another post on anxiety and the neuro system and it was saying that after prolonged periods of stress the neuro system starts messing up becuase it can't operate like that for a prolonged period of time. I've been like this for over 6 months now, so maybe that's what is going on.

I'm embarrassed to come to an MS forumn and ask questions, but I thought it would be best to ask those who experience or dealt with it rather than google, where it lists 16 simple early signs you may have MS.

I really appreciate you taking the time to provide me with some peace of mind.

Regards,