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I have had a weird problem. My right hand feels like someone put menthol on my whole thumb and palm. It feels like it has menthol on it, literally no other way to describe it. I do not know what the heck the problem is... All I know is I went to see a doctor and he told me it was a swollen tendon causing pressure on all branching out nerves... Hence the weird feeling. I have a brace they gave me, but I am scared it is something quick and deadly. I have been wearing the brace, but it makes it worse on my whole palm. I don't think this is helping my health anxiety. I also have my thumb tingling which drives me nuts. I don't know what to think. One thing about me is I am scared to death of contracting rabies.

Hello Everyone! I have been dealing with anxiety for as long as I can remember, although I did not know what it was. I am almost 33 years old and it is worse than ever. I am confined to my house and the only time I get out is to go grocery shopping, doctors appts, ect. I have a constant need for my husband to be with me. It is terrible and extremely unhealthy. I go to school online to get my masters degree in social work. That seems to be the main reason for my stress. I used to love writing papers but now homework makes me so anxious. Last week I had to write three. Needless to say, I felt an onset of worse anxiety than normal. I haven't been hospitalized in three years and I would say that I was relatively okay. I deal with anxiety as a part of life. Some days are better than others. Now the anxiety is not stopping. I am having really bad "ear worms" where I have a group of lyrics from a song stuck in my head. It is maddening. I also am hypersensitive to sounds and feel hyper vigilant. I am sleeping poorly. I wake up every hour on the hour and am greeted by the ear worms every time I wake up. I am on the verge of going inpatient but I am fearful that I will miss school and I can't. I know that is a poor way to think about it, as my health should come first. I found this website and I am hoping that I can find people that relate to my situation.

I'm new to this this but I figure this beats meds a talking to a doctor my anxiety is stress induced for the most part I've been dealing with it for year and never really knew what it was and couldn't explain my moods nothing made since but I've talked to a doctor and I've still not been able to come to grips with with I've shot down meds but I've been held up in my house for three days now and I told my girlfriend I'd try soemthing please help

Any thought that I have, my brain brings up the topic of death. For example, ill be having a heart palpatation and my brain tells me im having a heart attack and dying right now. Sucks because it got so bad i dont even wanna take any medication because i think im gonna die if i take it. Anyone else have anything similar?

Hello, My name is Carlos and I recently turned 26. I'm new to the forum so bear with me. About a month ago I was getting hit with some headaches. The pain was pretty much everywhere. Some days it would just be on one side and other days on different sides. Then one day I when for a run and got hit with a pretty big one when with the movement. I went to urgent care and the doctor didn't think too much of it so i felt fine. But that's where my health anxiety started and I haven't been able to recover. My biggest fear is having a tumor or aneurysm and I'm struggling. I can't seem to get away from googling symptoms. My headaches have slowly gone away but i've had some other symptoms that freak me out. the one I'm currently struggling with is this feeling like small pressure in my head at night when I'm trying to sleep. I'm not getting a headache but i just feel a pressure by neck and forehead. there's times i feel it at my nose too. I haven't been able to sleep more than 4 hours in a few weeks. I do fall asleep but then wake up in the middle of the night feeling scared because of my fear and can't fall back asleep right away. I also tend to feel confusion during the day now. i assume because i haven't slept well in so long? I really have no idea what's going on. I do have a trip coming up this week and freaking out i won't be feeling well for it. I'm hoping someone else can help ease me. I don't have many other symptoms.

I am new to this site. I am hoping that I can find some relief by speaking with other people that suffer from anxiety. It has taken over my life. I haven't been hospitalized in over 3 years now and thought that I was doing well. Now I am on the brink of a breakdown. I am going to school online for my masters in social work. Last week I had to write 3 papers. Needless to say, it triggered the onset on my anxiety and I am doing very poorly. I am unable to sleep. I am hypersensitive. Sounds are amplified and it is terrible. The worst part is the ear worms. I have been plagued by an ear worm for about two weeks now. It is a group of verses from a song that I used to like. Sometimes it switches to another song, but it is maddening. As soon as I wake up, it is there and will not go away. Has anyone suffered from this?

I am new to this site. I am hoping that I can find some relief by speaking with other people that suffer from anxiety. It has taken over my life. I haven't been hospitalized in over 3 years now and thought that I was doing well. Now I am on the brink of a breakdown. I am going to school online for my masters in social work. Last week I had to write 3 papers. Needless to say, it triggered the onset on my anxiety and I am doing very poorly. I am unable to sleep. I am hypersensitive. Sounds are amplified and it is terrible. The worst part is the ear worms. I have been plagued by an ear worm for about two weeks now. It is a group of verses from a song that I used to like. Sometimes it switches to another song, but it is maddening. As soon as I wake up, it is there and will not go away. Has anyone suffered from this?

Hello All! I've been missing in action for some months now, but I have returned with wonderfully magical news to share with each and every person here! I'll start off by telling you my diagnoses: Major Depressive Disorder, Treatment Resistant, Moderate Degree, Recurring Episodes; Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia; Anxiety Disorder, and Trichotillomania. I have tried about 85% of the SSRIs on the market, various Antipsychotics, Benzos, Mood Stabilizers, and Homeopathic remedies; EMDR Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Meditation, Breathing Techniques, Visualization, Self Talk, Self Hypnosis, Soul Retrieval Ceremony (a Shamanic Ceremony), Massage Therapy, Exercise, Heliotherapy, Adjusting my Diet, and Reiki Therapy...I think that covers it. Last month, I was preparing to elect Electroconvulsive Therapy as a treatment resort to help with my disorders. In the nick of time, my Psychiatrist mentioned Ketamine. I'd never heard of it, and so I did research on the method of this treatment. Ketamine is FDA approved for Anesthesia in surgical procedures. There are also studies on Ketamine being a successful treatment for Chronic Pain. In addition, Ketamine is a street drug, Special K, that has a hallucinogenic quality. Finally, as of recent years, there are studies for using low doses of Ketamine to treat Major Depression (although it is not FDA approved to treat MDD). It wasn't long before I felt the strongest sense of hope and desire to undergo this treatment; just thinking to myself, "This sounds too good to be true!" To make my hope grow even brighter, there just happened to be a Psychiatrist about 60 miles away that offered the treatment! The following week, I told my Psychiatrist about my findings, and he gave me the thumbs up to contact the Psychiatrist that offered Ketamine Infusion Treatments. My first consultation was set, I ended up being a suitable candidate, and had my appointment for my first Infusion scheduled!! BAM! I don't have the words to share with you to express adequately how I've responded to this treatment that is available. My very first Infusion..I was freed from the weight, that heavy, dark, lonely, cloud that followed me for so long. I could breath!! And it only continued to get better as the days passed. Thus far, I have had 4 Infusions, and I have one remaining. I found myself again, because of Ketamine; I feel again, because of Ketamine; I laugh now, because of Ketamine; I have more understanding of what I've been struggling with, because of Ketamine; I see things I've never seen before, because of Ketamine; I hear things that I've never heard in my life, because of Ketamine; I'm as goofy as ever (and not afraid to show it), because of Ketamine; I want to LIVE, because of Ketamine Infusion Treatments!! In closing, I must stress that I am NOT recommending anyone to make any attempt, whatsoever, to treat themselves with Ketamine in an uncontrolled, unmonitored environment!!! You want to live, not die!!! Also, there is not such thing as a "Silver Bullet" in treating everyone. I just wanted to share my success story, because if this story help even a single person, then I would be so, so happy!

People

Okay, so this is my first time on a health anxiety forum so here we go! I have always been a pretty healthy individual. I rarely get sick and always have a lot of energy. Sometime anxiety can change those things though! I'm sure we have all been there. I noticed a new mole about a year ago. I said something to my boyfriend about it at the time since I was freaking out and beginning to have a panic attack. He swears up and down that I have had this mole for as long as he can remember (we've been together for 3 years). I am 21 y/o so I think its relatively normal to still develop new moles at this age. I never noticed it before in my life! Perhaps it was just in a difficult location to see? It is on my left breast under my areola. (sorry for anyone grossed out by boobs) ((don't know why you would be but you never know these days))... So I guess without really lifting my breast up to purposely look under it I probably would have never noticed. Anyhow, I sort of continued to freak out about it since it is slightly raised, has two darker spots in the middle and has sort of an "egg- like" appearance. It is smaller than a pencil eraser and hasn't appeared to grown or change in the last year. I went to my family doc about 6 mo ago and she looked at it from a distance (clearly not concerned) and said I was fine and shouldn't worry. So what did I do? I worried. I decided to see another doctor in that office and she thoroughly examined it and measured it for me. She said it seemed like we were in the clear but she wanted to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't grow or change. That was about 2 mo ago and here I am freaking out again!! Typical health anxiety. Sometimes I don't know what to do with myself. Medication makes me a zombie and counseling never worked, but that's for another topic. Anyhow, the point to this insanely long post is that I need help identifying whether I should be scared or if anyone else out there has similar issues or anxieties? I think I really just need some support from some fellow anxiety sufferers! Thank you for replies in advance.

Hello everyone. So, a little while after leaving the gym today the middle and outer part of the arch on my right foot started aching. I didn't think much of it until I got home and took my shoes off and it started hurting more and it would hurt a little but not too much to walk on that foot. My other foot feels fine and I didn't notice any pain while on the treadmill today. I'm just a little worried and I did a bad thing and looked online even though I've been doing good at staying away from Google. Of course I came across all the awful things that could be wrong with me and I convinced myself I'm going to have to have my foot amputated. I'm just scared and I guess I should mention that I did some feet stretches/yoga and it did make my foot feel better but not completely. I don't know if that says anything though.

Hey there, I'm Topher and I'm 32 years old. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety when I was 18, which lead to me not wanting to leave the house for a long time. As the years went on it didn't get much better. I did end up leaving the house but only for things like work, or doctors appointments. It's odd the way we feel when there is an obligation to do something. That's in the past for me now. I've changed my life completely. Today, I don't want to stay inside. In fact, I get a bit sad when I have nothing to do. My social life is hectic with a new friend every month, at least. I've turned my life around. I want to say this is not an advertisement or any kind. Why would a no longer agoraphobic want to join an agoraphobia forum? Because I know how you feel. I know the anxiety, the depression, the loneliness. I really want to help in any way I can, and this is the best way I know how. By giving advice, encouragement, and general information on what our sickness is. I am a survivor and I want to give hope to people who think there is no hope. I look forward to talking with as many people as I can talk to. See you around.

Hi, when I first joined I made a post about my health anxiety and how my toes were numb after one of my long walks. I posted about how I went on Google and read about all these different horrible things that could be wrong with me and how I was so upset and anxious. Well, that was about 2 weeks ago and I was thinking that I must have damaged a nerve when I was walking and that's why my toes went numb. My toes are pretty much all better now and most of the feeling in them has returned so I'm guessing that must have been it because if it was something worse the feeling wouldn't have come back and my toes would have just gotten worse right? Well anyway, lately over the past few days I've been experiencing a few different things. I've been having some anxiety because of what I've been feeling but then I'm not sure if my anxiety is causing these things. First of all, I've been getting this warm sensation feeling under my skin mostly on my left arm and the calf on my right leg. It comes and goes throughout the day and also I've been feeling short of breath and feeling like I'm being suffocated almost. And lastly, a couple fingers but not all on my left hand have been hurting a little. Not all day just a little bit at some points during the day. I noticed they hurt most after I've been holding my cell phone for a long time though so that might just be why and it might not be anxiety related. I'm still a little new to anxiety and it can be overwhelming having all these different feelings and not knowing if they're caused by my anxiety. Has anyone else here felt these same things I'm feeling? Am I feeling these things because of my anxiety? I'm trying hard not to worry something is wrong with me since I am a big time hypochondriac. Any responses are appreciated.

Hello, I am a new member of anxiety central and I thought that I would introduce myself. My name is Brooke and I am 21 yrs old from New York. I don't experience anxiety too often just mostly during stressful events and sometimes social events as well. However the worst anxiety I've experienced I just started experiencing recently and that is health anxiety which I posted about on here earlier. I received some helpful advice and am working on getting better. And so I thought that it would be nice to introduce myself and be able to chat and discuss anxiety with other members and to receive and offer support.

Hello Over the last two years I have developed anxiety. Some days it is so bad it feels like panic attacks. After they go away my heart muscle literally hurts. I take .1mg of Ativan and it barely takes them away. I just recently started Lamotragine and have now triated up to 75mg. I take 25mg in the am and 50mg p.m.. I was taking Cipralex 10mg but felt it caused more anxiety. I now take Luvox 100mg in the am. I feel so depressed and anxious that I literally feel like I am beside myself. Just wondering if there is anyone out there that has suffered same side effects of the Lamotragine and if it eventually level out.

Does anyone have any staple foods/teas/supplements to combat health anxiety? I've been experimenting with a few things lately: lavender essential oils, taurine, magnesium, Omega 3 Krill Oil, dark chocolate, green tea. What works best for you?

So over the past couple of weeks I've been really worried about MS. The symptoms I've he are: - cold burning sensations in hand and face, almost like cold needles are pricking me. This is especially aggravated by the wind - feeling tired 24/7 - feeling more depressed than usual - frequent urge to urinate although I have just been. Almost like I never completely empty my bladder ( I also have to run to the toilet ) this one has been worrying me the most - after a hot bath I get tingly sensations all over back Please help or reply I am so scared my parents are away on holiday for a week and I have no one to talk too. I don't want to live like this ? Help

Hi! I am a 41 year old female who has been struggling with anxiety since 1999. My first ever panic attack happened when I was alone in my car one afternoon. My hands were sweaty and trembling, my top lip was paralyzed, I felt like I couldn't see to drive and had to pull over and call 911. Off the ER I went. My mom could look at me and see my top lip was paralyzed, but that was all that was different. At the ER they gave me typical neurological exams in the hallway of the ER..(It was the weekend of July 4th) and sent me on my way to follow up with my family doctor. Since my mom had a history of migraines, he said I may be having auras and sent me to a neurologist. The neurologist did bloodwork and scheduled me for a MRI. The MRI showed nothing, but the bloodwork showed hyperthyroidism. I was sent for more testing and was finally diagnosed with Graves Disease and had radioactive iodine treatment and began the long road of titration for the correct level of thyroid medication. During all this time I drove normally sometimes and other times I was scared to death. I was scared that it would happen again. I wasn't scared of going to the ER, it all boils down to having the panic attack and feeling like I am going to pass out and there is no one there to help...the fear of not being able to control what is going on. Then began social anxiety, generalized anxiety, anxiety over every different thing going on with my body...and the thyroid can cause many different issues! Over the years I have gotten better and I have back slid. I have finally gotten to the point that I can drive 17 miles each way to work, but not without effort. Over the past few weeks, things have gotten much worse. I do have a lot going on in my life. I am planning a wedding, I am having problems at work, my thyroid gets out of whack, life happens....but it has happened before. I went through some of the toughest things in my life and handled them way better than I could have ever imagined. I feel my anxiety taking over again and know that I need to fight it with all that I am, but most days it wins. I am hoping that by joining this community, you guys can give me advice on how to keep up the fight. What helps you? What medicine works best with the least amount of side effects? I am on Celexa and I will admit that I had missed some doses. I also take Klonopin and rely on that daily. I have been so exhausted, anxious, dizzy, all of the normal things that go along with anxiety and I am looking for any ideas that I or my doctors haven't thought about. I'm ready to take my life back! I have an appointment with my therapist and my psychiatrist week after next! Thanks for letting me take this time to vent and I welcome any and all suggestions while I peruse the past posts!

Hi guys, I'm Kai. I'm 21 & from CA, found this place on google & it seemed like a good idea to find people who understand the struggle. Just here to make friends & find things that distract me from how bad I feel, I guess. A little more about me: I have serve depression & general anxiety, plus some other things. I've never gotten any help for my condition, but I've been living in it & have experienced it progressively since childhood. For the past months, my depression has been relentless, prolly cause of a recent ankle injury & cause I caught the feels for this girl ?. I've been very bitter at my circumstances, I've pushed all my friends/family away even tho I get super lonely & have guilt for continually dodging people. My family is very conservative & mental illness isn't real in my house, so I have no idea where to start to look for help. Sometimes, I don't want to be helped tbh.

I feel like I'm losing my mind.....For starters allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jim and I'm new here, I'm 47 years old and I live in the panhandle of Florida. On top of this I have a lot of my plate right now. My life is just not going the way I want it to at this point. That is another subject entirely. I'm like an open book so I have no problem discussing myself and what is happening. I have never had anxiety or a panic attack in my life, but that hd changed just a few nights ago. I had a severe panic attack. I felt like I could not even breathe. I was in the emergency Room twice that night an each time they checked me out and told me I was fine. I drove myself he 2nd time and told my wife to stay an get some sleep because she had to work the next day, she knew I had trouble breathing. She wanted to go with me the the emergency room but I knew she could not miss work and it was already 1 A.M. ..... so once again they told me I was fine and sent me home with 2 adivan's AKA lorazapam and a script of 10....I got home and my wife was awake.I took the adivan when I got home, I tried to lay down bit in out bedroom I felt very clausterphobic. I went in to the living room, I could not relax, so I went outside for a minute then back inside to the living room. I did this a few times and my wife ended up having me lay on her lap while she rubbed my back.Evdentually I fell asleep but I had been up for 2 days as well, so I don't know if the adivan or if it was that I was just so exausted. The next day I woke up in my bed, I don't even remember moving in to there...... It has been a few days, now I have anxiety every single day, well it has only been a couple days but now I'm scared of dying. I used to be a caregiver and I took care of patients that were terminally ill. So i watched many people die and the truth is people do not die peacefully. Hospice loads them full of drugs and when you get right down to it, even though they are on pain medication they end up gasping for their last breathe. Now that is all I can think about. Then I think to myself since they can't tell us the amount of pain that they are in, are they really pain free.....I start to think about this and it totally freaks me out. Since I'm 47 years old and a diabetic I worry. I hear how diabetics do not live as long as normal people and I have never really taken care of myself and eat what I should. On top of everything I have neurapathy from diabetes which i'm sure because I have never eaten like I should of been, so I have this total fear that the majority of my life i over. I start to think about how people at the end of their live gasp for their last breathe, Do thdey know what is going on? Are they really free of pain? In fact I googled this just lat week and I read how 90% of people who die are pain-free but what about the other 10%? I'm extremely scared of being in the situation where I'm gasping for my last breathe. Hoe can I enjoy life from here on? Especially when I know what will happen at the end of my life. When I say how scared iam, words do not even express the extent of how scared I really am......I have never really thought about death until now....and now this is all I can think about. I have not taken an adivan since that first night, I hear hows tired it makes you so I don't even know if it is suitable to take during the day. I hurt y back once and they gave me a muscle relaxer and it put me to sleep so I'm thinking an adivan will put me to sleep too.....i just don't know what to do..... I have heard of people who have severe anxiety who commit s****de and I can understand why they would do this, now let me make it perfectly clear, I would never ever do that, but I can understand why someone would do so, all because they can't cope.....Like I said I just don't know what to do.....I'm just so scared. Plus I'm not sure If I mentioned this or not but being a diabetic, diabetics live less amount of years than most plus I have not eaten Like I'm supposed to, so I'm sure that takes even more years off my life.....I have eaten bad and then I just take insulin to keep my blood sugar normal.....so I would eat, cake or candy, or a big plate of spagetti nd then inject how much ever insulin I needed. ....I'm going to the gtocery store this weekend and I have been looking on the internet for recipes because i'm going to start eating low carb meals with lots of chicken and pork and very much so limit my sweet intake, but at 47 I hope it's not too late, but after 27 years of eating junk....anyway I'm going to start to eat better and get more exercise......I will do my best from here on.....because of my neaurapathy I go thru lot of pain which I'm on pain killers and have been for 3 years solid now and that too takes a toll on your organs.....I'm just scared of dying, more so than words can even describe....I just with there was someone who could save me

So, I can't shake the twitching because I can't stop thinking about it. I do however believe more and more it is anxiety related, especially since I've noticed when I'm busy or waking up in the middle of the night they aren't noticeable, of course I still worry that I'm wrong . I actually had my first panic attack in over 2 years last night so that was the biggest factor in going back on meds. I can't let my kids see me act like that. Also, it seems that caffeine and nicotine are making them more common, the twitching. So, I made an appointment for Monday to get back on an antidepressant. I loved cymbalta as it helped with the tingling and muscle pains but it didn't love me and I gained 40lbs in a year... I tried welbutrin but it makes my heart race, Prozac makes me a zombie and that's all I have tried besides one that starts with a V and it didn't work at all. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I can't keep it up on my own right now. Too much stress in my life apparently.

Guys, I'm trying to figure this out but I'm so lost. I've always been an anxious person since I was a kid, growing up I started to notice my attraction towards other boys. When this first happened I freaked out ! I cried and cried and cried. I couldn't accept it or deal with it . I kept it a secret building and building up more sadness, anxiousness, and it ate at me for over five years. I tried changing it , I went through different phases , I wouldn't associate with anyone gay , I wouldn't do things that gays would do things like that . I tried so hard to change it . Eventually around 2010 I had my first anxiety ordeal and panic attack . I also went into a depression. I was mourning my grandmother three years after she passed it finally set in . Eventually this anxiety state went away and I carried on my life again. Well my grandfather got sick back in 2012, and passed in 2013. He was like my father since mine took off before I was even a year old. I tried to tell him about me and my sexuality so many times , but I just couldn't . He was an army man and in my head I was convinced that he would freak and disown me . I hold so much regret now that he's gone that I didn't tell him . It eats at me , and I'm always thinking would he be proud of me in my accomplishments in life ? Would he still love me , would my grandmother still love me ? And I think that's one major thing that has me in this predicament. I always cared what people thought of me and idk how to stop. I never was really self confident , and I'm shy . So I didn't have a whole lot of friends . My good friends I came out to first and in 2016 back came the anxiety and flare up it was a November morning and I was driving and all of a sudden I felt like I was dying the sweating chest pain thoughts of disaster , numbness and tingling you name it , I quick got home and called the ambulance . This was three years after my grandfathers death . I literally feel like part of me died inside that day. I don't feel the same or I'm not the same person. When I look in the mirror I don't see the same person I was . I used to be happy and not worry like I do now , now all I do is be in a constant state of anxiety and depression a little. That prompted me to finally start opening up and so far all the friends and family I've told either already suspected it or weren't shocked and they all love me the same . I was obsessed with my sexuality and I had myself so convinced that I'd be alone and have no one and I'd be dispensed and it all backfired on me . It's like idk how to act or let this all go and just live my life and be myself. I'm pretty much in this depersonalized state since November 2016. I don't feel myself, I feel like part of me is gone , I get all kinds of aches and pains , stomach upset and all the physical symptoms. I'm constantly thinking I'm dying or gonna fall over or things like that . What can I do to help myself with this ? I wanna be ok with myself and comfortable in my own skin but the regret is really getting to me .

So I just started a new job and it's not difficult or anything but it does require interaction with customers and I've never been comfortable in social situations Even though no customers have been remotely rude to me, and have been very understanding about how new I am to the job, my anxiety about social interactions even makes pleasant social interactions very draining. And I know a lot of people have been in situations where they're starting a new customer service jobs I'm curious about any tricks you guys use to help control your anxiety and make your work experience easier.

Hi, I've been suffering from a tingling, pins and needles feeling in my hand for over a month now. It first started after a week long drinking spree I go through due to my anxiety and depression, I use alcohol as an escape sometimes. However, I stopped drinking after the initial tingling, it started very strongly in both hands but after the first night it died down to just my right hand. Just to mention as well I've suffered 2 high trauma events which I'm still seeing my therapist about. So back on topic, after a couple weeks of this tingling in my one hand it spread to the right foot, then to my left foot and has stopped there. I visited my doctor about the tingling in my hand and on both occasions he dismissed it as anxiety and depression which I found it hard to believe. But now it has spread to my feet it's made me feel even worse. I am a very stressful person and i build it up with no release for long periods of time as kind of a defence mechanism as I don't like being in the spot light with my family as I see it as selfish and that I'm bothering them and that they don't care which I'm also working on with my therapist. I just kind of feel like needing some reasurance as I feel like this is going to kill me mentally and pyhsically. I just want to be happy and I'm fed up of all this darkness in my life and now this constant tingling that keeps my mind worrying all night and making me feel like I've got some serious physical issues. Please if you've had these tingling feelings would you be able to let me know if and how long it takes them to go away. I'm already working on improving my diet etc and trying to take any stress out of my life. Sorry if I've rambled I'm just trying to occupy my mind. Thanks for your time. Bkena