HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Stupid health anxiety! ARGH.

Support Forums
>
Anxiety & Panic Disorders
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 8/23/2012 3:35 PM (GMT 0)
I always think I've got a handle on it, then BAM. 

*Sigh*

There's this weird vibration/tingling/flutter going on just above my right knee when I move my leg, or when I get up from sitting.  So... the reasonable answers: I have fibromyaglia.  That knee does tend to hurt with activity like the joint is just sorta worn out. I rarely drink enough water. Also, I have sciatica. 

But this is a new symptom entirely!  So of course my brain doesn't like the logical path... it likes the "let's assume it's some weird heart and circulation issue so you can freak out for the rest of your day!" path.  Then I start paying attention to my heart again... as usual.  I have pains all over my body, hands, feet, yadda yadda... nothing that seems all that abnormal for me, but I inevitably starting linking all of these things together into one big massive health problem. 

I googled it (BAD RISA!) and all I saw was stuff about pinched nerves, sciatica, that kind of stuff, but stopped before I saw something that might scare me.  So I still have no real idea.  I know better than to look.  I just want to not be spazzing out before I can get to my ortho appointment on the 5th. 

*Thumps head against desk a little*

 

Post Edited (RisaA) : 8/23/2012 9:39:52 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/23/2012 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Risa:)

Good to hear from you again, although I am sorry for the recent health anxiety rearing its ugly head again!:(

I understand, and I have had a fluttery/jumpy/vibrating muscle in my upper thigh lately. I am actually working out less than I ususally do because I am on break from classes right now...so my brain is trying to attach something else to it as well...since I can't really blame muscle fatigue!

I am not letting it get a hold though! I keep reminding myself that those of us with a tendency towards this type of anxiety see red flags in every little twitch and twinge...where other people would hardly give it a second thought...and therefore the symptoms just disappear.

We on the other hand tend to exacerbate the symptoms with our over attention to them. Silly us!;p

We are both going to be fine. I hope that everything else is going well.:) Work? Family, ect.?

Keep posting, we've missed ya.:)

S.C.
Posted 8/23/2012 4:32 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Cat!

Yeah, we're crazy sometimes. I mean it affectionately, of course. :D

I'm mostly good, family is good... I'm getting my beloved Cadillac fixed finally (after being out of commission for a year), so while it is a financial pinch, it's also a relief to get it done.

Work is... so/so. A lot of changes going on with it and I'm definitely feeling some stress. I try not to bring it home with me, though, and just deal with it while at work.

Believe it or not (as awful as it comes off), I'm almost glad you're experiencing the same thing. Lol. Not that I want your pain! But it seems to make it easier knowing that this stuff happens to other people inexplicably and it just makes it less likely to me that something is actually wrong. Humans just have weird bodily ticks, I guess. I've actually been working out as well, but haven't in the last five days or so. *Shrug* Who knows? Maybe it's the break from activity... doing too much sitting or something.

But you know... it's always nice to hear just that--"We're both going to be fine." Amazing that such simple words help.

Thanks, Cat. <3

And how are you?

Posted 8/23/2012 5:11 PM (GMT 0)
Doing well thanks! The school year just started, so we are busy with the new routine! Summer went way too fast.:(

I am glad that you are getting your wheels fixed! My sister has a cadillac and loves it.:) (don't want to meet your daddy...just want you in my caddy, oh-oh...lol!)

I think that you are on to something about the too much sitting! All of our muscles are confused and not sure what to do with the inactivity! Seriously that makes sense to me;p

We have had lots of new members lately, but not a lot of people sticking around for long, so it is good to see you back again.;)

Talk to you soon,

S.C.
Posted 8/23/2012 5:27 PM (GMT 0)
LOL. I love that song.

And you know I'll always pop back on here and there! I love this place. When I'm feeling a little down, it's like therapy without the copay. :D

Also, I like to try and help out when I see other members experiencing things I can relate to. I think it also helps me put things in perspective for myself. So much easier to see logic in these things from the outside.

Yeah, summer went quick, but I'm a big fall person, so I'm welcoming it. Lol. We're big Halloween and Thanksgiving people in my house, so it's my favorite time of year. I'm already out hunting around for Halloween stuff and working on my costume. So excited!
Posted 8/23/2012 6:39 PM (GMT 0)
My number one rule is no Googling anything health related. I'd be in the docs office daily! But I still panic about this or that when I have a weird feeling here or there. Then I start talking to myself..hey dumb dumb breathe you're overreacting. Sometimes it works...sometimes not.
Posted 8/23/2012 7:34 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the reply, lucky. :D

Yes, usually, that is my policy, as well. Definitely a harder compulsion to resist in some instances, but yeah... looking stuff up just makes us worse and perpetuates the cycle. I made the (foolish) assumption that something like this had to be innocuous and not related to anything that would make me panic. Don't know if I was right, since I decided I was doing a bad thing and stopped reading. Heh.

I find what helps me the most is just trying to engage my brain in something else. When I'm not actively thinking about it, I don't usually notice any symptoms out of the ordinary and I can be a little more objective. But then, you know... I start thinking about it. Lol
Posted 8/24/2012 2:34 PM (GMT 0)
Weird morning. I'm not usually one for morning anxiety (though I've had my episodes), and am in fact a real morning person. I get up at 4, then get to work by 6:15, and have my most productive hours before 11. My anxiety seems to hit whenever it feels like it, really.

But this morning was off. I woke up with a monster migraine, and it feels like the right side of my head/ear/sinuses are all plugged up. I'm doing what I can to fight it off and it's easing slightly, but I usually only get these when I've slept in or when I've just been laying around and not drinking water. I fell back into a light sleep for a few minutes, to find that my chest was feeling all weird and tingly, much like my leg has been. I was half asleep, though, and thinking about all of my anxiety. When I really woke up, it was gone. Did I imagine it?

Anyway... all of these things are pretty classic anxiety symptoms, though it always freaks me out when it's localized to one spot on my body out of the blue. I get headaches often, but it irritates me that I'm now so quick to link it to something else that might be serious.
Posted 8/24/2012 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
How are you feeling now? Did you stay home or go to work?

I have the tingly falling asleep thing a lot while I am sleeping. In fact I just had a two week period of numbness and pin and needles (alternating) in my left arm and hand.

I changed my pillow...had to give up my beloved 'smushy' for an ergonomic foam nightmare...but it worked.

Sometimes we are compressing nerves and a switch in sleep positions is all it takes. Do you have a good mattress? Maybe you should consider a new one ($$$, I know!) or a pillow top?

I hope that you are feeling better now...

Talk to you soon,

S.C.
Posted 8/24/2012 6:39 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Cat. :)

I went to work today, and I'm feeling a bit better. Headache began to wane about two hours ago, thankfully.

It makes sense to me that I would experience a lot of tingling and numbness--I mean, I have spinal problems and have since I was a kid. My upper spine is kyphotic (hunched) and my lower spine is scoliotic (curved sideways), so it's not unreasonable to assume this is the cause of my frequent tingling issues and such. It causes pain and sciatica (pinched sciatic nerve), so why not this too?

It also occurred to me that I did some exercise yesterday that was a little harder than I'm used to, so that could be part of today's issues, as well. I'm definitely feeling a bit calmer and more objective about the whole thing.

There's some work stress today-- we have new manager making a lot of changes that will make life harder, so hey... maybe it helped to take my mind off of the health issues. :D

And, for the record, I definitely need a new bed! One day, when I can afford it... lol. I switch pillows around a lot to see what helps, but I think with this condition... nothing is ever going to be all that comfortable no matter what. Nature of the beast, I guess.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply