Burning skin that feels sore but dosent look sore

[kozza 6]

Okmom  I have found that since mine started in June 14 I have had different feelings. At the moment it is only my hands/wrists that are itchy, achy and sometimes yes like stinging. Before it was more like numb, cold sensations which looking back I prefer

 

I do feel that you are getting yourself into a panic which is just creating more worry which in turn creates more symptoms. You have seen far more doctors than I have so maybe you should have more belief in them.

 

I have also read that your physical symptoms take a while to calm down after you have been so wound up. it is hard therefore as you have to believe they are stress related in order to calm your mind and body down, whilst waiting for an improvement  in symptoms.

 

Jonathan, I am not sure why I haven't rang yet. It just takes a braveness to ring, a braveness to expose yourself. Plus, I worry I will get a counsellor who doesn't buy in to the symptoms  I have had being anxiety related. I am worried they will label me with fibro and that is a route I don't want to go down. For me, even if it  is fibro, I have read so much about the role of stress and lifestyle in causing it that I wouldn`t want to have someone say this is what you have and this is how things will be forever. My own doctor is sure it is stress and is adamant that when I learn to be less anxious then physical symptoms will be relieved, that is what I need to hear. But, maybe I should dip my toe in and try

[Okmom 9]

Thanks Kozza

I am completely freaked out .. My symptoms seem to be all over. My legs, arms, back etc. And if they aren't burning and stinging they are itching. I have 2 little boys to raise .. How am I going to raise them like this.

Everyone else's symptoms seem to be in one general area.. Did anyone else's travel all over the body.

I'm scared for my family and me

[kozza 6]

OKmom  Mine started across my shoulders and down my arms. I have also had them in my feet and shins. Only now they are confined in my hands/wrists so it has travelled around and hopefully is on way out. . Plus they have been different feelings. Every one is different. Hope that helps.

[Okmom 9]

Does it go between burning, nerve stings, horrible itching...

I just can't stop crying today.. I feel like my life is over and I'm only 41.

[kozza 6]

Yes, it can change like that.

[Torontogirl 73]

Kozza, what were you doing when all your symptoms began? We're you under stress?

[jonathan123 2368]

Whoa, Okmom. Slow down. I get the impression of someone running frantically trying to find a way out of a maze. THERE IS NO MAZE. All the symptoms you describe are anxiety. You have been checked out and are physically OK. Symptoms take time to go even though, as you say, you feel better. You are like a big bell that has been hit hard and the vibrations take time to die down. Can you see that? You are working yourself up without cause. The more you fall into the trap of wondering about this and that the more adrenaline you create the more fearful you become. There is no Tiger chasing you as happened with our ancient ancestors, but your body is reacting to fear as did theirs. The fear is not now the Tiger, it is the fear of your own feelings and emotions. Your mind is telling your brain DANGER! and the brains says pump more adrenaline to help you to run faster. But in modern society there is nowhere to run, so we turn in on ourselves and run in our minds.Can you see  this sequence; fear/adrenaline/fear? On and on until it dies down as it will if you accept it as part of the recovery process. Honest, it will die down if you slow down and stop looking for a way out of that non existent maze.  Keep in touch.     Jon.

[jonathan123 2368]

And Okmom; no good counsellor will ever tell you that you have to live with this for ever. That is not what counselling is about. And no good counsellor will 'label' you. Labels are not you. The menu is not the meal. You are a human being in trouble and labels help not one bit.  You really need to talk to someone because we are limited on this site by distance. Face to face counselling, although difficult at first, has no substitute. We can only point the way; we can't do it for you. Take the plunge and go. I don't get the symptoms you describe but then you will not have the symptoms I have. There is no fixed pattern in anxiety, it is very much an individual affair.  Jon.

[Torontogirl 73]

Jonathon, it was nice to wake up and read your two posts. They are uplifting and give hope. Thank you!

Can I ask you one question? Do you think that a symptom that does not move around and has been present for a very long time can still be anxiety related? I have been tested extensively and no damage or cause has ever been found.

[Gilly 1086]

okmom, I'm sorry you are having such a bad time but it is not going to be forever, you are going to feel better again, happy, enthusiastic and symptom free!

 

Jon is right, slow down, slow it right down. When my symptoms were bad the only time I didn't feel them, when I was awake, was in a hot bath. So I had a bath every day, sometimes if I needed it, 2-3 a day. I found that spot, that me time, that time where I slowed it all down, I got some peace, if only for 20 minutes, it was so important looking back. I used to smear my legs with aloe vera gel when I got out of the bath, then paint my nails, every single day. I honestly believe doing that helped me through the roughest time I had. When the burning and tingling was real bad, I would tell myself, soon, soon I will not feel it, even just for a little while in the bath, it was just enough to help me through the day. The symptoms were bad for all of 2010, and the first few months of 2011 but then they got a little better, and a little better some more until eventually they went away. I do believe time helped me heal but also getting better coincided with getting online, meeting people who understood, I wasn't alone and I wasn't going to have to deal with it all alone again. The 2nd neuro exam I had sealed it, I actually believed it then, that stress triggered it all and the fear and anxiety fed it and made it all much worse. You will get there too I just know it! (((hugs)))

[Torontogirl 73]

Gilly , I love your post. It is funny, I feel good in a bath and when I get into bed at night with a book. Other than that blahhhh!

You and Jonathon are wonderful. xo

[jonathan123 2368]

Hi Torontogirl. To damn right it can!! . When I was well in the throes of GAD I had constant backache. No diagnosis other than 'It's all nerves'. Very helpful! It went on for months. I went Osteopaths, Chiropractors etc. to no avail because I could not believe it was all 'nerves', but it darn well was. . When I tackled it from the other end, the mind, then, wonder of wonders, it began to go. Honest, when I look back I almost get embarrassed at what a fool I was, but hindsight is all very well. At the time it is a real pain. (In more ways than one!). If you have been declared OK then try not to worry about anxiety symptoms. They are liars, all of them. .               Jon.

[Okmom 9]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement!!

It's a blessing to have someone to talk to and to wake up to such encouraging words.!!

Gilly and Jon you both should collaborate and write a book... I would call it "the long way back home"

A story of anxiety, illness, and the journey back to self.

You really have ( all of you) been the only ones who get it and you are a safe place to come to vent, scream, cry and you all understand.

I loathe the look in my husbands eyes when he looks at me whimpering ... He doesn't get it at all and I believe part of the problem is he doesn't even try to.

Thank you all xoxo

[Gilly 1086]

You are both very welcome, I had great people who encouraged me, and still do! We're in this together, for ever how long it takes, strength in numbers! And Okmom, my husband used to do the same, that's why I sought advice online to begin with, I was irritating him. The irony is now, a few years later he has anxiety too, and he is the one who is in a bad spot. Will he see a doctor? NOPE... I have given up trying but I have warned him it is not going to get better until he accepts he needs help. He expects me to fix him and he needs to do it himself. Some days in our house are a little... umm interesting lol We are lucky though, we're best friends too so we are very strong and I know we will get through it. He is lucky to have me tho

[kozza 6]

Hi Torontogirl 

 

When it started I was going through some heavy family stuff but I thought I was coping fine. I had warning signs looking back but at the time it felt like  it just turned up out of the blue, that I wasn't so anxious to cause all the physical symptoms. Last summer was a nightmare but I can see how my worrying about the symptoms, going on Dr Google etc just led me into a cycle of insomnia, worry and further physical symptoms. I was convinced I had ms or a back tumour amongst other things.

 

I am not over it yet but feeling somewhat better most of the time and have just made my first appointment to try counselling, not till mid march though.

 

I don't think I will get back to who I was but I am hoping to have learnt some lessons to cope better. Maybe life will be better once I get over this final hurdle.

 

I do still have the achy. sore hands and sometimes I am on constant look out for more symptoms but I am trying to kick it all into the kerb.

 

Hope that helps.

[Gilly 1086]

People have told me before I should write a book, I even thought of a title "The Crohns Chronicles (plus an anxiety disorder or 3)" It would be more of a trilogy

[Torontogirl 73]

Kozza, I am trying to adopt your attitude. Thanks for answering....

Feel well.

[jonathan123 2368]

I reckon that if we wrote a book on anxiety it would finish up like the Encyclopedia  Britannica!!! Most of it would, of course, be rubbish. .

How about "How to drive the family Mad". .  Or, "How to lose all your friends in one easy lesson". .  "How to make a fool of yourself in the Supermarket". . "How to get everyone to misunderstand you".   "How not to keep a job". . "How to ruin your love life" . And so on. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.     Jon.

[Okmom 9]

Well that about sums it up doesn't it!!

Also add .. How to drive your husband away!

Anxiety is such an awful side kick. It's almost impossible to understand unless you've been there.

I never got it. Not until I turned 41 and it all caved in on me. I'm slowly digging my way out with the help of you good people.

And you know what, I think people who go through things like this and come out the other side to help others are the coolest !!

[jonathan123 2368]

Of course we are. I have always said that everyone I have known who had anxiety were the bravest of people. They may not feel that way but they are. The courage that some show is amazing. I often wonder how some of the critics would cope if they had bad anxiety. When we achieve something it is hard earned, and it takes a lot of time and effort, but the rewards can be great. Not back to the old self; oh no. A better self is what to aim for.      Jon.

[Okmom 9]

I'm stinging a lot today guys.... Hands, fingers, toes, arms, legs.... Did anyone else have stinging sensations all over?

With all the things I'm doing you would think I would be getting better not worse...

Do some people just not get better? Sigh

I just want to crawl and bed and cry but I know it won't change a thing.

[Okmom 9]

Gilly or Jon ... Or anyone for that matter...

Did you guys get stinging sensations in your nerve endings too that also itch..?

[jonathan123 2368]

Hi Okmom. 'Do some people not get better?". In the course of my misspent life I have met many, many people who have recovered. In fact the vast majority of those helped have responded well to  Acceptance and other such therapies. There are those who just hang around in the misery, but it is usually because they don't actually try. I am sorry to say that there has to be effort however bad we feel.  You won't win unless you are in the race, (an old cliché but a true one). Now I know that you are not one of those. In this business one gets to develop a sixth sense about people and I know you are going through a bad time  but, you are the kind of person who will eventually see it all for what it is. One big bluff. Yes, I have had tingling, twitching, pulsating, soreness all over and it frightened the daylights out of me but, IT WAS ALL NERVES. Honest. Last night I had cramp in my legs on and off all night. So what. I shall have a snooze this PM to make up for it and I am NOT going to get in a tizz over it. Give it time. Remember the big bell that has been struck and the vibrations go on and on for some time. That's how you are so try and be patient a little longer. Just seen you last post. YES, again, all nerves. The epidermis, the skin, is the biggest organ in the body. It acts as a thermostat to keep us cool or warm. It filters out harmful germs and is a mass of nerve endings, so is it surprising that it is affected by anxiety? Of course not.

Keep trying to see it all for what it is.                    Jon. 

[Okmom 9]

Jon do you thinking stinging and itching is part of it too.

Sometimes it feels like little bee stings all over

[Okmom 9]

I'm having a horrible day guys. My legs and back are stinging ... I'm at work and I'm trying to fight back the tears.

I'm taking the meds, going to counseling, looking to God for help and guidance but I just feel like I'm sinking.. Down down down....

I have no more fight left!

Sorry to sound so sad but I know you guys get it.