Can't handle the pain....doubting its anxiety

[Izzy den 1]

Hi ave been posting on here but I am really really struggling..2 doctors and my family and ppl have told me my symptoms r all because off anxiety. 

I have these all day and all night and the change area and sensation.

tingling arms/leg- this began 3 weeks ago...then sore muscles on legs. If I prodded my skin it would hurt. Now a burning sensation as began as well as the above. I wake with heart racing everyday.

i have deleted my google app so the temptation to look up my symptoms is not there. But as much as I get reassurance I still believe I have a underlying condition...MS...ME..Fibromyalgia...I just feels to painful to be anxiety. My bloods were done and all normal, docs refused CT Scan as there was no obvious reason to do on..?

Am so lost and in so much pain I feel like giving  up!!!

 

Edited October 31, 2015 by Izzy den

[Mark G 1187]

I just feels to painful to be anxiety 

Izzy,  this thought is erroneous.   There is no way that you could know this without knowing the limitations of anxiety and it's workings intrinsically.   This is anxiety speaking.   Anxiety is capable,  more than capable.   Your mindset is keeping it locked in,  keeping it going.   You are banding around serious conditions as self diagnostics without any real knowledge, just the nonsense that you have read on Google.   Anxiety has control of your nervous system.   Pain comes from the nervous system.   Therefor,  anxiety has control of pain and it's doing a good job about it.   The mind is more powerful than you could ever imagine.   Take people who have lost an arm for example.   Their mind can not only replace the sensation of their missing arm,  but also install touch,  pain and sensations like cramp etc.   THAT is how powerful the mind can be.   You need a fresh viewpoint,  you need to start distancing yourself from anxiety,  not allowing these thoughts and subsequent pains to envelope you.   No one said this would be easy and if you maintain the "anxiety is not powerful enough" pattern,  anxiety will continue to inflict this horrid pain at you.   As soon as your thought pattern starts to change,  so will the pain level but like I said yesterday, you have to do it willingly.  

[Izzy den 1]

I just can't function...I break down every 5 min and I don't usually cry, I miss my mum as she was up staying with me but has now gone home, I felt safe with her here. I really can't cope anymore. I know u say it's just anxiety but fibro is the same symtoms and how can I possible know for def it's not. My body is sore from head to toe. I would giv anything to feel normal. You are all so strong...I really wish I had your courage. My partner has suggests in go in to my local mental health hospital for some time but I know I wouldn't benefit. I work there and I see patients day n day out just sleep..eat..bed...repeat. 

[Mark G 1187]

I'm not strong,  not really,  I just have developed a plan and I'm sticking to it.   Your are terrified by fear,  the worst thing you did was read up on fibro.   Like all anxiety sufferers,  you have been tricked in to thinking that you are an expert in fibro.   Like Jon said yesterday,  you have merely scratched the surface and will not have a deep understanding of it,  yet,  you have self diagnosed.   Your showing all the signs of fibro you say,  yet,  you're also showing all the signs of anxiety.   Which is the more likely.   You're letting fear control you.   All of your burning,  tingling,  numbness,  pain is the direct result of adrenalin amplified by sensitised nerves.   Fear creates adrenalin so remove the fear,  remove the adrenalin.   If your legs are burning,  let them burn,  let the burn away without panicking and becoming fearful.   This idea of fibro is a dark alley,  it's a dead end.  

Edited October 31, 2015 by Mark G

[Izzy den 1]

Yes I know but Google is still deleted. U must be sick off me complaining. I think my fear of fibro comes from that a friend has it but docs fobbed her off saying it was anxiety...after that my anxiety symptoms off heart palpitations started and crying.  I really hope everyone is right, 

[Mark G 1187]

Absolutely no Izzy,  I want to help and your not complaining,  you're frightened,  it's only natural.  You are showing empathy to your friend,  again,  normal in anxiety.   We always think that we have the same ailment that someone else has,  we put 2 and 2 together and make 5.  The fact your friend has it and the fact you have read up on symptoms,  gives anxiety all the fuel and info it needs.   Your suggestable mind has seen to that.   Take a deep breath,  try to step back for a second.   Like I said,  if the symptoms are there,  let them be there,  don't fight them,  acknowledge them certainly but don't engage with them.   When these concerned thought come in to your mind,  let them pass by without mentally running up to them and engaging.   

[rainbow 333]

hi izzy

totally agree with everything Mark has said....i used to ruminate on every ache or pain i had, i don't know how old you are but back when i was 18 or 19... i had a ticking noise in my head, i thought Brain tumor, in fact i convinced myself i had it.... and WHY because i kept focusing on it... and the more i focused on that ticking noise in my head the worse it got.... i didn't have the coping tools that i have now.... yes now and than i still get some kind of sensations in my body.... i am pre-diabetic,,,MY FOOT STARTS TINGLING...oh no i have full-blown diabetes, than i challenge my thoughts, what evidence is that i have full blown diabetes, did my doctor say Amber you have full diabetes...NO... that's Amber tellling herself that... than the tingling feeling goes away once i focus on something else. 

like Mark said... we all suffer but we are learning technqiues and coping skills.

you really need to relax you mind and distract yourself if you can. 

Hang in there it does get better.... promise... here you can have virtual hug from me since your mom is not around ((hugs)) 

Take care

Amber 

[Shawn m 4]

You don't need to be strong and courageous to beat this, you just have to start reassuring yourself and not keep looking for other people reassuring you! You have the power to beat this thing and it all comes down to positive thinking instead of the "what ifs". I'm only a teenager and was having some horrible heart palpitations, heart racing,chest pains the lot, started reading Google and found out jaw pain was a symptom of a heart attack and what do you know the next hour are so I started getting jaw pain,the mind is so powerful and can create any amount of pain if you give it enough attention and power!? iv had all the tests done and realised all these people can't be wrong,so I started challenging these anxiety thoughts and this resulted in my palpitations cutting in half, no more chest pain etc. sure I still have some anxious days and some niggling doubts but I just let them pass over me, all them times I thought I was dying what happened? I woke up the next day fine. Just try to accept it for what it is and I'm sure that you will be able to move forward with your life?

[Izzy den 1]

I know mark I try and ignore them but I seem to focas on them, I try to distract my self but it's very hard. What's worse is thinking how long and how much more I can take, Christmas coming up and I really want to be better.

[Mark G 1187]

You're catastrophising future events Izzy,  another common anxiety symptom.  Thinking how much more you can take is fear,  it's more fear,  it's nervously anticipating.  You cannot ignore these thoughts,  I'm not asking you to ignore,  it's completely impossible.   You have let the thoughts come..  Not with gritted teeth, not tense,  let them come naturally and just done fall for them.   When a thought comes in think 'ok,  not this time,  I know you are there but I'm not going to rise to it'  and go and make a hot drink,  go for a walk,  do something normal.   Walking is a great way to de stress.  Your house is full of memory at the moment,  every room evokes a memory of suffering because you are attaching fear to these memories.   A walk takes you away from them memories giving you a rest from it.  Listen to the peeps above,  they are going through the same thing and are learning how to accept it.  We can only impart our advice,  we are all in the same boat and are here to support you,  but in the end,  the person who will fix this is YOU.  You have to do this willingly and with determination.   No fear,  even though it's Halloween ? 

[Izzy den 1]

Lol I know happy Halloween...1 year today I had my little boy....then was tears of joy and pain. Ok I will try my best, I seem to be staying in all day and night and like you say that is prob making things worse. I hope to one day say...hello mark feel great...no pain and no worry....?

[Mark G 1187]

No hope about it Izzy,  you WILL,  trust me.  A walk a day will help. 

[rainbow 333]

Awww izzy put your focus on your baby I know it's hard but babies can bring you so much joy and happiness too because they are so innocent. Sighhhhh my kids are older now but still young enough to enjoy them. When they aren't driving me bonkers . Lol 

 

[Izzy den 1]

Yes I will try and get out and about. Rather have a broken leg..least then you would know how long it would take to heal. 3 weeks on Wednesday my physical symptoms started which started before the mental symptoms...very strange. How long roughly should I take to recover, I am on meds and starting acupuncture 

 

[Mark G 1187]

The physical symptoms came before that mental ones, but that does not mean that the mental symptoms ie Anxiety were not festering.  Very important.  Recovery time will take as long as it takes, but recovery time is linked to your thought patterns.  If your thought patterns remain locked in the same way they are now, recovery will stall.  It's all about mind set.

[Izzy den 1]

Yeah and my mind is hard to change...lol I need to keep telling my self it's anxiety. Can you mange to work and lead a normal life with this illness.

[Izzy den 1]

I actually never thought anxiety could turn in to an illness 

[walkingwithGod 169]

My first panic attack came out of the blue with chest pains, racing heart, other pains in my legs,dizziness the works.. i thought it was a heart attack and ever since then i got focused on me having an issue with my heart. .. it used to be everytime i got any twinge of pain or discomfort in my chest, my mind due to my thought process went straight to thinking it was my heart and i was gonna die. Im better now. I do still have occasional set back but when I do my friends on here help remind me that my thoughts are irrational and they help me to think rational. Fear is the root of anxiety. The more we fear our symptoms, the more anxiety rises. We have to learn to turn our focus away and give those fears less energy. It can be done, just take things one day at a time. I suggest journaling your thoughts and feelings. .sometimes writing them down helps sort them out. Dont put a time frame on your healing. It will come. Remember too that anxiety cant hurt us, just let it come, dont give it energy and then it will go. Praying for you!

Wendi

[Bones0013 43]

Hi Izzy! Trust what everyone is telling you! I have health anxiety also. I will wake up with some kind of symptom almost every day. If there is something I need to do that day I'm sure I can't do it. I push my self to do it any way. BAM, my mind wanders away from that pain without me even realizing it. If I stop and think about it, yep, pain comes back. I've taught myself to get busy and pains go away. I can sit down and I realize my heart is racing. Yea, I will be honest. It scares me but I immediately start my breathing techniques and it will slow down. Health anxiety is tough but once you accept it you will be amazed what it has done to you mind. Hang in there and remember what everyone has told you. We have all been there and some of us still are.

[Mark G 1187]

Anxiety in this state is an illness, it's an over reaction to normal fight or flight response which then gets locked in by fear.  How do we continue living your life with it?  By accepting it, thats the thing, you have to accept it for what it is and lose that fear of it.  You will be surprised at the improvement in your condition if you do this and follow our advice. 

[Mark G 1187]

Bones, that initial fear of the realization of a racing heart if your 1st flash panic, that is normal, no one can stop that.  It's the second fear you add to the first which causes the real panic.  You stop that second fear by your breathing technique, and your knowledge that it IS anxiety. 

[NickOfTime 0]

Hi izzy, idk if this will help you at all right now but I'm going through the same exact thing you are right now except with my eyes. I had a huge panic attack about 2 weeks ago and it put me into a major depression and what feels like uncontrollable anxiety now. My doctor also told me I was having anxiety and depression and I still doubht him. You spend so much time thinking about your symptoms that it's locked in your brain. Same thing with me right now. I'm focusing so much on my eyes right now I'm seeing every little thing like shadows, reflections, glares, light streaks from lights which normaly your subconscious would block out but I'm focusing on it so much it's making it very hard to block out. I know how much you just want reassurance that it's just anxiety because that's all I want to. I can't sleep normal anymore either and wake up and panic is the first thing I do. I just want you to know you're not the only one going through this right now. If you just need someone to talk to and release you're thoughts just message me. Thats been helping me. Who knows maybe we can get through this together. It's always a good feeling when you know your not alone. Trust me when I say I'm going through the same thing you are right now. Everything you said is exactly how I feel right now. We're just having anxiety over different things. 

[Mark G 1187]

Hi NickOfTime, that is classic introspection with your eyes, the seeing and noticing everything that you normally wouldn't.  It's amazing how the brain tunes in isn't it, it's enhancing your fear which in turn, makes that gaze stronger.  Keep trying to distance yourself from the thoughts, don't act on them, i know it's tough, i have the same thing with my tinnitus sometimes.  What i tune in, the ringing get far worse.  Hang in there, keep practicing and you will get there.

[NickOfTime 0]

I know I have to take this 1 day at a time. My fear is that their so many things out their where your vision is a symptom of something worse. I even cancelled my eye appt this morning because I was to afraid. It's so hard not to think about my eyes because I have to use them for everything. I can't do nothing it seems like. I can't watch TV because I concentrate on every motion instead of watching it as a whole. I know all this sounds stupid but I was living life normal just 2 weeks ago and now I feel like this. It's all so hard to wrap my head around.

[jonathan123 2368]

Hi Izzy. I wonder if it has occurred to anyone that we are always fearful of KNOWN diseases. I mean those that gain the most publicity. We are never guilty of having Mongolian Swamp Fever, or Beri Beri or suchlike. Why? Because when we turn on the TV you can bet there will be a long discussion about MS, ALS or some known disease. We are are so susceptible to suggestion. You said earlier that you didn't know anxiety was an illness. It is you know. A mental illness. Now don't let that scare you. It's a neurosis and nothing more. It's not any other 'osis' and is not even close to them. You are NOT going crazy, far from it; you might even be coming to your senses. Suffering often makes us sit back and look at our lives because there is always a cause. How we live; something that happened in childhood, anything. Present sensitisation is to be healed and the only real way is acceptance. No fighting or struggling with 'IT'.   Jon.