Nausea, head pain, etc. please help me feel better.

[FeelingBad]

I have posted on here a few times, I am an 18 year old male. I constantly feel like I have many symtoms all the time. They come and go, and this certain feeling again I have had for the past two days is concerning me again, since I worry about everything. I am currently on Zoloft, 150mg for anxiety and it has helped for the most part. Now again for the past two days I have felt quite nauseated, also in one certain spot on my head, a weird pressure/empty/ache feeling. Not pain, just a weird feeling, and I get kind of a tingling on my right side of my face. I have my eyes bothering me quite a bit, a weird feeling of them just kind of floating. I also am on Nexium for acid reflux. I also feel tired alot most of the day, yet I don't know if it is being tired or just my eyes being tired, I have had episcleridis, a redness in the eyes becoming inflamed, and take drops which help that. I also started to take vitamins, I felt better for a few days, now feel bad again. It seems with head/eye related things are on the right side, right eye occaisionally blurry or worse then left eye. Last night I came home feeling very sick to my stomach, kind of dizzy, a wave of ill feeling came over me. My g/f and parents swear its all anxiety stress related, but I am constantly concerned about cancer, brain tumors, and brain anyeurisms. I had a complete CDB done in Oct. as well as a CatScan. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciate to put my mind at ease. Thanks so much.

[claude_zachary]

also... all of these pills in the same "family" have the same issues. So, the last thing u want is for the doctor to take u off nexium and put u on prevacid. u will have the same issues. u can find a lot of the issues with many of these meds here:

http://www.heartburn-help.com/messageboard33/Default.htm

i just found that link and havent read most of it, but some. u will find some of ur issues there. its the pills. id bet my paycheck on it. i found these 2 links interesting...

http://www.heartburn-help.com/messageboard33/_disc13/0000042e.htm

http://www.heartburn-help.com/messageboard33/_disc13/00000017.htm

[claude_zachary]

Ahh yes, some of this does indeed sound familiar and i might be able to help u. I am a former nexium/prevacid patient, or perhaps victim is a better term. So u have a burning in ur neck, nausea, weakness, etc.... eh? Yeah, ur definitely taking a one of the new miracle stomach pills. Hows ur skin? Thats the one symptom i had that u arent mentioning. I had burning stiffness in back of the neck too. It was more along the vertibrae in the neck. It was horrible. The skin problems were the worst. From bright pink little hives to purple boil type things on the back of my legs, swollen skin, dizziness. Yep, u sound familiar buddy. Why cant doctors link the symptoms with the condition? Well, thats quite easy. Any medication is tested b4 release and any and all problems r reported so ur doctor is aware of them. However, sometimes these things take longer than the study period to show up. After they have been on the market for a while and these god awful things show up, something is put out know as a post-marketing report or an after market report. That is what u want to see. It will clear things up for u and ur doctor. U can tell what is post marketing symptoms cuz it will be listed under "incidence not known". Lets look at some of the post marketing report for nexium shall we?

(Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur:

Incidence not known

Blistering, peeling, loosening of skin; bloating; chills; cough; darkened urine; difficulty swallowing; dizziness; fast heartbeat; fever; hives; indigestion; itching; joint or muscle pain; loss of appetite; pains in stomach, side, or abdomen, possibly radiating to the back; puffiness or swelling of the eyelids or around the eyes, face, lips or tongue; red irritated eyes; red skin lesions, often with a purple center; shortness of breath; skin rash; sore throat; sores, ulcers, or white spots in mouth or on lips; tightness in chest; unusual tiredness or weakness; vomiting; wheezing; yellow eyes or skin.)

I grabbed that real quick on a search here http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR500275

And there u have it.

Contact a very competent PHARMACIST for the latest post marketing report and take it to ur doctor. This is very serious. It is my opinion based on the effects of these meds on me and even now that im off them, that these things r potential killers.
One more thing..... ur not crazy, its the pills. Really, it is. I suspect from reading ur posts and thinking back to what i went thru, i thought i was going insane and couldnt figure it out for the life of me. Im betting that a month off of those stomach pills will make a world of difference to u. If u get a burning in ur esophagus after u quit the nexium, it will pass in a couple weeks. Good luck to u.

[FeelingBad]

Thanks, I think I should switch. I have had two specific incidents that have made me want to go the hospital. I have a burning sensation up and down the back of my neck, a bad taste in my mouth, feel off, and upset stomach. I have had two of these, attack, sort of things. I was told either panic attack or something to do with acid reflux. The first time the one happened was at a party, I was sitting talking and my neck had this weird burning sensation on the back. It freaked me out big time. This was before being on medicine for anxiety. I went outside and was gagging, then had to leave, as I was headed out I got a nasty dizzy spell and had to sit down. I made some calls, no one seemed to know what was going on and I ended up just going home. I felt somewhat better at home, but still very off, then threw up about 15min later. I had not taken my nexium that day and hadn't really eaten anything but some snacks at the party. It was the strangest feeling. After that I went on zoloft and have been on it since, but this Sunday it happened again. After I ate a buffalo chicken sandwich, I was sitting and had a terrible burning feeling on the back of my neck, bad taste, nausea, feeling bad. I immediatley took a xanax to calm myself down. I never threw up that day, but the feeling is not really heartburn like on the front of my chest of in my throat, it is in the back left side usually of my neck. Any ideas on this, it is a constant concern to me. Thanks so much.

[amberch]

oh and cancers, aneurisms, etc. are highly unlikely especially at your age. You may have a mild form of OCD; my best friend is obsessive compulsive and she is always worried she has lung cancer

[amberch]

switch antidepressants this is definitely not controlling your anxiety- maybe even making it worse- and people with anxiety and depression have many somatic complaints
if your anxiety clears up but not your physical symptoms then see a doctor- but all you've mentioned relates to side effects from zoloft and/or anxiety

[Pum]

Well, I had a headache like that for ages but it has gone so it can't have been a tumor.  I am a woman though and I think it was from tying my hair back or my hair being too long.  If you have been rubbing the area you could have made it sore.  So don't touch it for a week.  Also, if you think about a spot on your body long enough it tingles and gets a dull soreness.  Another thing is coffee or caffeine.  I find that gives me a fixed spot headache in my left temple area.  TMJ can do it too so just relax.

Tumors cause other symptoms than headaches and the headaches are worse in the morning or if you bend over or hold your nose and blow hard (don't pop your eardrums trying this). The headaches have nausea and vomitting associated.

If it's an annuyism (not sure how to spell that) then I doubt there is much you can do about it so just enjoy the time you have left.  Seriously, you are so young please try to live your life to the full, not within the box of worry.

Box on.

[FeelingBad]

Thanks again for your kind words and help. I will certainly discuss that with them, and thanks for information on the medicine. Just one question, and this is what always bothers me the most. The headache is a dull localized headache. It is not a sharp or stabbing pain in a spot, more like a dull ache pressure feeling. It is on the same spot on the top right side of my head. I could point it out, usually with a normal headache it is all over correct? This is what causes my worries about a tumor or anyuerism. So I just would like to feel more confortable about knowing it isn't something seriuos. Thanks.

[FeelingBad]

Thanks alot, that makes me feel better. I just feel bad asking my parents for blood work and an MRI, then I worry more that something else is wrong that won't show up. It seems I am constantly concerned about my health, even though the Zoloft was supposed to help that. I also find my memory has been foggy too, it just seems the symtoms go on.

[Pum]

How about asking your parents for some cognitive behaviour therapy instead of blood tests.

Anti-depressants take a while to work. 3 -5 weeks.  Give yourself some time.  If might take a few months to stop obsessing about health.

Just think back to all the things you have worried you had.  Surely you couldn't have had one thing then another then finally the latest thing.  I mean what are the chances?

If you find your symptoms change that's just because your brain can only create a few at a time.

[Pum]

Nausea is one of the most common symptoms of the medication you are on.  Head and eye symptoms are also very common.  If you miss a pill or take it late or even don't have it with food you can get all these symptoms.  Hyperventilation, poor sleeping, or poor eating can make all these things worse or more noticeable.

Please try and believe your doctor that you do not have any of those things you are worrying about.  You are suffering though, possibly just as much as if you did have something organic.

Be kind to yourself. Try to do things for other people and keep busy so you stop focussing on your physical symptoms so much.

You are not alone.  

Good luck.