TightlyWound

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for being late in getting back, I get no notification of replies. I saw a Neurologist yesterday and he couldn't explain the symptoms at all which was frustrating for me. He just said "I think you're okay." He prescribed me Cymbalta which, after reading the side effects, I am very scared to take. I'm looking into getting another therapist but as the last one didn't seem to help much I'm feeling rather demoralized at the moment.

I have had health anxiety since I was a kid. Don't know what started it exactly but my only fears then were vomiting in public and getting sick while away from home. Now though, it's insane. I've diagnosed myself with everything at least once and my main fear now is neurological disease. I do have an autoimmune disease (celiac) that has me fearing developing another autoimmune disease (right now fearing MS). I know anxiety has caused convincing symptoms in me before (one sided weakness, tremors, stomach dysfunction etc), but it has never caused pain before and that is where I am now. I started having sharp pains in my left hand where the thumb meets the palm and in the webbing between the thumb and index finger that feels like there is a splinter in there and radiates a sort of numb, warm, swollen feeling into the tip of my thumb when touched. Around the same time of the carpal tunnel development I developed persistent numbness in the fingertip of the ring finger in my right hand.Doctors thought I had carpal tunnel in the left based on other concurrent symptoms and when conservative management failed to give lasting relief I got the release surgery about a month ago. Some symptoms cleared up but that prick-like pain remains. Day after the surgery I started getting shock like pains all over my body, hands, feet, torso, legs, face, you name it.Tried not to freak too much, they're fleeting after all and I told myself they never woke me from sleep so its probably anxiety related. But last night I had a dream wherein I was shocked in my right thumb and awoke to a shock like pain in the exact spot I dreamed of. Couldn't sleep the rest of the night and now the thumb registers a shock like pain when rubbed or when making contact on anything hard. So my query is how can these symptoms be anxiety? Normally, don't people have more generalized bodyside symptoms like sweating, feeling hot or cold, dizziness, traveling numbness etc? But a single fingertip persistently numb? Shock like pains in hands and feet? These seem more serious, no? I'm looking for another perspective that I might be missing, I guess. Beginning of last year, with the one sided symptoms, I was concerned about the same thing (MS) so I sought an MRI from a neurologist who didn't think it was anything but ordered it for peace of mind. It was clear. Should I request another MRI since I have entirely new symptoms?

Hi there, I just turned 40 too and I'm not handling it well at all. I got my first mammogram and they found two cysts in the right breast and calcifications in the left.The radiologist gave it a low possibility for cancer but I was still a nervous wreck until the biopsy, and then waiting for the results (benign). None of the professionals were overly concerned and, looking back, I should've been reassured by that, but we always think we're the "special" case that will prove their expertise wrong. By all means get screened and stay on top of your screening schedule. The good news is BC is more treatable now than ever. Catching it early makes it even more likely you'll have a good outcome.

Thanks for your reply. I got bilateral EMG on my arms and hands and it came back normal. Didn't test my neck though but I don't have any pain there unless my trigger points are active. I was seeing a Chiro a few years ago but stopped when I needed physical therapy for my shoulder and insurance wouldn't pay for both. Maybe I should start again.

I was here a few months ago with fears of ALS. I still have those fears but I'm fixated on MS since I've had slowly progressing numbness and tingling on the left side of may body. I took these fears to a neurologist last year but my symptom set was completely different (no numbness, tingling, pain) and on the right side. Back then I was having a feeling of weakness and dissociation and body wide twitching that changed locations quickly. Neurologist didn't believe it to be MS but offered an MRI for peace of mind. Got it with and without contrast and it came back normal. Now I'm having persistent, nearly constant numbness in my thumb and index finger and palm with prickling, needle/pinch like pain at the base of the thumb and the webbing between the thumb and index finger and pain sometimes in my forearm. This all began in August and has been steadily getting worse. A month later I begin having tingling and numbness in the left foot as well. I've noticed Quick black dots in my vision that disappear when blinking and for the past couple of days quick dizzy sensations that last a couple of seconds and vanish. Could my MRI have been done too early? I already have one autoimmune disease (Celiac) and I've got a lot of risk factors (white, 40s, female, Northern European ancestry, Epstein-barr, not a lot of sun) I'm really worried about nerve damage. I don't know how to function right now.

Thank you for the kind words Marc. You don't know how much I appreciate it!

Hello, Long time lurker, first time poster. Sorry in advance if all of this has been covered already but like many before me I'm at my wits end. I'm 39, female. I've had health anxiety most of my life, always worried about something or other. For nearly a year now I've been having weird sensations mostly on my right side (both arm and leg) that are hard to explain. The best I can offer is a feeling of weakness in the right wrist, triceps, shoulder and the leg above the foot that seems to move around. Its almost like a tingling but not like you get when a limb falls asleep. It just feels weak. I get 'shudders' when I try to lift things, even if my strength seems about normal, as far as I can tell. Also the right wrist has a tremor to it and I swear I can feel a muscle on the ulnar side of the forearm fluttering. It shows up when I do fine tasks or hold a position for a while but not at rest. Basically the right side just feels tired all the time. To add to this I sometimes feel like my jaw is trembling and my tongue feels like its made of rubber. I got two MRIs (with and without contrast) to rule out MS, which the neuro didn't think I had anyway. With those coming back clean I naturally started to worry about ALS because that what one does when one has neuro problems. Again Neuro said 'no way' but offered a EMG to calm my fears so I took him up on it and it also came back normal. He told me I was probably 'somatic,' meaning I'm manifesting anxiety physically, I guess. But if that were true wouldn't it be on both sides of the body equally? Anyway, he suggested a therapist but five months of CBT hasn't helped a bit. The symptoms are constant unless I'm sitting and doing nothing at all. I'm now scared of a whole series of diseases: Muscular dystrophy, Huntington's, Parkinson's. I haven't been able to do antything. I'm not even able to enjoy life because I'm convinced I have or am developing a terrible disease. I keep checking my body to look for atrophy and I'm thinking my wrists are too small and I'm finding dents everywhere I never noticed before. I noticed the 'snuffbox' on my wrist for the first time ever and about keeled over until I realized it was normal. So I guess I'm asking for advice. How do I live with the uncertainty I might have some degenerative disease?