Severe Anxiety Symptoms?

[jayrhodes532]

For the past 2 days I have woken up with partial numbness (lack of sensation) in my whole head, mostly on the left side. This only lasts until i fully wake up, and then it is fine. Throughout the past 6 months Ive also been suffering from a range of other symptoms such as:

Numbness in the left of my head
sudden feeling of panic followed by fast heart beat and more symptoms.
fast heart beat
crawling feeling on left side of my head/face
tingling in head
random twitching of body parts
numbness down left arm and left leg (RARELY)
pressure on one side of my head (it can vary which side it effects)
headaches or sharp pains in head (can effect either side of my head)
Feeling that I am unbalanced
Sense of impending doom (Obsession that I will die on a particular date)
heart palpitations
Numbness accross my chest (both sides)

I have suffered these symptoms for quite a while now, So i was referred to a neurologist who assured me that there was not a brain tumor, because if there were, then the symptoms would only affect One side of my body, which they dont, it can vary which side they affect. The neurologist diagnosed me with Anxiety and gave me some general health tips and told me to listen to medical hypnosis to calm down.  Since the appointment, the symptoms have extremely slowed down, and I hardly suffer full blown "episodes" or the majority of the symptoms any more. apart from the tingling, numbness in head and chest, unbalanced feeling, sense of impending doom and panic feelings.

Also, the symptoms never seem to happen when I am busy or having fun such as when swimming or playing video games, they ONLY occur when i seem stressed, in a public place, crowded places etc...

Is this anxiety?

If it helps, I am a 16 year old male suffering from ADHD, 5ft-3inches tall, weighing 119 pounds.

[lilpersianangel]

I've had PTSD for years that also can make me prone to anxiety and a low threshhold for stress of any kind, but what I am curious about is if you also have any kind of tension in your spine, especially your upper neck. Vertebral subluxations (when spinal vertebrae come out of place/alignment from muscles pulling on them or past trauma, which literally puts pressure on the spinal cord, which affects brain signals to and from various organs, as well as numbness) can happen if someone gets really tense or stressed. Like in a crowd if you feel people are bumping into you and it upsets you, since you mentioned crowds...try going to a quality chiropractor to check your spine?? I hope that might help you. Take care.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
The symptoms could be due to anxiety, especially since the treatment has dimmed the episodes. However there is one thing that must be looked at and this is benign intracranial hypertension. This happens due to impaired CSF absorption. A generalized throbbing headache worst felt in the morning and last thing at night. This headache is generally relieved on standing (consistent with raised intracranial pressure). It is aggravated by straining, coughing or a change in position. You have a similar headache. This headache is accompanied by various neurological symptoms such as dizziness, numbness, loss of vision, loss of hearing etc, all of which are temporary.
Antianxiety medications are helping you; this again goes in favor of this problem.
You need a prompt evaluation by a neurologist. Hypothyroidism, hypoparathyroidism, adrenal insufficiency are a few things I would recommend you get investigated for. These can precipitate BIH. A spinal tap is a must both to diagnose the condition and to treat it.  
However it could be due to TIA or transient ischemic attack or mini stroke as it is called. This can result in tingling, weakness, spasms, loss of sensation and other such symptoms either on one side of the body or on the whole body. Again this is due to low oxygen supply to brain where the blood supply to brain is temporarily cut off generally due to a spasm of the arteries, or a clot or high blood pressure causing micro leaks in the brain.
It could also be a compressed nerve in the cervical spine region.
Ofcourse! If it is none of the above mentioned problems, panic attacks are a plausible explanation.
Hope this helps. It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage. Do consult your doctor. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!