Anxiety

[Guest]

Hi Doc,

My GP and his intern both have told me I am suffering from anxiety but somehow I just don't want or cannot believe them. This is my story (I'll try to be quick).

In April, I had a tough experience at work - was subjected to a verbal beating during a big presentation (honestly, it was undeserved). I am in a high pressure job, but I was never really bothered by the stress. In fact, I never believed that stress could do anything more than cause a headache or a stomachache. Boy, was I wrong. Anyway, a month or so after this presentation, I started getting this really wierd headache, more of a pressure really, in a semicircular band above and around my right ear. After it didn't go away after 1 month (it was a constant, dull pressure 24/7), I started to think the worst. I thought maybe I had something serious like a tumour, or some vascular problem, etc.

I started to really worry, I mean really worry. Then, a bunch of other physical things started happening which worried me even more:

1. Aches under my rib cage at the bottom oustide edges, both sides - like cramps - migratory to back. Not unbearable, but constant.
2. Stomach pains, burping and nausea
3. Feelings of unreality
4. Panicky feelings about thinking I might be dying
5. Jaw locking up during the night or quivering up and down. Also, biting my tongue.

All these things were new to me. I'm 39 and have always been totally healthy, never any big problems, and I didn't handle these pains very well.

I started to avoid people, events, work meetings, all from this damn anxiety and being stressed about my physical symptoms.

Meanwhile, my GP continued to say that there were no organic problems (no MS no ALS no pancreatic cancer, no brain tumour). As you can see, I was concerned about the some of the worst possible ailments. A yearly physical earlier in April had found no abnormalities, just slightly high BP 130/85 and elevated triglycerides (first test showed 650! but retest showed 335). CT of the head was negative. Upper GI showed mild GERD (was treated successfully with 4 weeks of Nexium). Ultrasound of upper right quadrant showed no problems with gall bladder and no swelling of liver. Subsequent physical and neurological examinations have all been ok. No fever, as well.

I was prescribed zoloft for OCD and panic attacks, which I took for 3 weeks but had to get off of because of sexual reasons (my wife and I are undergoing fertility treatments, which are stressful and costly). The zoloft hindered my performance, so to speak. I was given Xanax as well to calm down.

So why am I still thinking something is wrong? Well, possibly because I read too much on the damn internet about diseases and I continue to keep myself worked up. And, I've also been experiencing the following new, wonderful symptoms:

1 - parasthesias in fingers, arms
2 - fatigue all over, the kind that makes you sigh, because you feel bone tired
3 - jaw clicking (TMJ)
4 - lower jaw trembling and chattering against upper jaw - like you're cold, but your not. It cannot be seen it is so fine. It almost feels like my tongue wants to come out of my mouth.
5 - insomnia - I wake up 4 to 5 times during the night
6 - shakiness in knees
7 - dizziness
8 - sore shoulder muscles
9 - stiff neck
10 - slight dysphagia
11 - fasciculations, all over - legs, arms, lip, eye, chest.

All the above symptoms are transient, and they almost seem to work in a cycle. None of the pain is excruciating, just annoying. The fatigue and the jaw shakiness bother me the most.

Doc, I need some reassurance. Are all those things I listed from anxiety? If my exams, blood work, scans have all been ok, is there any other organic problem that could be doing all this? I can't stop ruminating about having a serious medical condition. I need somebody to kick me in the ass and straighten me out.

Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for the novel.

[Guest]

You can never prove that someone is totally healthy. On the other hand, the complaints that you list are symptonmatic of five or ten diseases that all the tests have missed, or one disease==anxiety. Logically, it is hard to believe that your doctor missed five or ten diseases and it is easy to believe he diagnosed the proper one.
[quote] Hi Doc,

My GP and his intern both have told me I am suffering from anxiety, but somehow I just don't want or cannot believe them. This is my story (I'll try to be quick)... [/quote]