If you know you suffer from severe anxiety (and I do, I surely, surely, REALLY REALLY DO suffer from anxiety), how are you supposed to be able to tell true physical symptoms from those caused or exacerbated by anxiety? For example, I mentioned that 10 years ago I was diagnosed with benign vertigo. It often happens out of the blue - for no discernable reason, however I do often notice it when I'm upset, nervous, angry, or as I mentioned, sometimes if I laugh hard. Can the physical inner ear problem of vertigo affected by emotional stressors? Or is the whole thing anxiety and has it been all along (even though again it appears out of the blue)? How can you distinguish tingling/numbness caused by anxiety to that caused by a nerve issue? I guess the answer is, "See a neuro." ?Anyway, I'm rambling. I'm having a bit more anxiety lately. Despite my promises not to self-test, I went through a battery of self-evaluations this morning that I found on that God-awful internet. The other night I had a dream that I had MS. The night before that I had another dream that my mother told me I had brain cancer. I'm seeing a counselor but we haven't gotten very far yet so it's not doing much for me yet. I may start an SSRI but I'm still breastfeeding my baby and I dont' want to expose her to anything like that. Even though some are considered safe, there are no long-term studies on the effects and it just makes me uncomfortable. If they can have such a powerful affect on my brain how can they not have an affect on hers? Anyway, I planned to wean her at 12 months and I want to stick to my plan. In the meantime, I've got a neuro appt next Friday. FREAKING TERRIFIED. Then we've got a long weekend in Aruba planned for the end of the month. I hope hope hope that it's not ruined by my anxiety or bad news from the neuro.Joanne
Coping with Severe Anxiety
- Thread starter santos271
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SirTrouserz
Well-known member
One of the things I found very confusing about BCFS is that, while in my case I believe it is an autoimmune condition, it is also effected by changes in mood, stress, diet, sleep and illness. Many times the twitching just comes and goes regardless, but when I was first getting my symptoms and they were very severe, anything could set them off. It didn't take much. After a few months, after I was diagnosed and not so anxious, I realized the twitching was still occuring and it wasn't due to anxiety as I thought it might have been due to at first. I think that when your peripheral nervous system is so hyper-allert that it is easily effected by all of the other things I mentioned. It's confusing that way and it takes a while to sort it out. Self testing doesn't ever seem to make us reassured and neither does googling. If you do a search on any one of your symptoms here you will find that someone here has them or did have them and was still diagnosed w/BFS. Today for example I have pins and needles sensations in my hand, twitching and cramping and I'm not the least bit anxious. I have had 2 EMGs, numerous MRIs, you name it and it all comes down to BCFS, so I hope that helps you.I know it's hard, but try to think positively, because most likely you will get good news from your neuro - believe it or not!Take Care,Sir_Trouserz
LeftyCanuck1
Active member
Hi Joannela:If you are asking if some of the symptoms you are having are being caused by anxiety, well darn right, I think some are and I think that all or them are being exagerated by your anxiety, for sure!When I'M not having anxiety things are ok, I still have symptoms but they are managable.Joannela try to find a way to deal with your anxiety today, don't worry to much about tommorrow. Get yourself through till next Friday and the Nuerologist will tell you more about the BFS daignosis. Listen to Sir_Trouserz about your peripheral nervous system being on hyper alert, it gets really compounded by anxiety and anxiety comes from self daignosis and self testing and googling to find made up facts. You have enough facts to calm yourself down some, if you have no clinical weakness you are ok, you have BFS. Now you can start to try to control your anxiety first. You can do it!!! Best Regards, Lefty C
Thanks, for the replies and attempts to calm my nutty @ss down. I'm trying to work on the anxiety. I know a lot of this has to be related to anxiety. I started this whole medical oddyssy last fall with the opthalmic migraines. They didn't worry me too much but for some dumbass reason I started doing searches for "opthalmic migraines" and "brain tumor." (I didn't find anything, btw.) Why the hell would I do that when no one suggested there was any relation? Then my vertigo started getting worse - out of nowhere. I'd had it for 10 years but it started getting more persistent during the Christmas holiday. I worried about that a lot. Was it related to my worry over the migraines or were the two symptoms somehow physically related? I still don't know.Then I had a sore muscle in my right arm. (I'd been carrying my 22 pound daughter and bags of crap through miles of airport concourses, so it probably had something to do with that.) It felt a little fatigued and for lack of a better search term, I searched "muscle weakness." You all know where that led to. Once I saw the "twitching" mentioned as a symptom, I lost it; even though "twitching" was not anything I was searching (b/c it wasn't causing me a problem) and b/c I'd been having it at one time or another for as long as I can remember. (The muscle feels better btw.) When I was in my deep *** panic, I strangely didn't have much in the way of the dizziness. Amazing isn't it? 
Since then I have had numerous vision concerns, tingling concerns. I"ve read others on this site have similar symptoms as mine - it seems weird that one benign syndrome can have so many weird, wild and horrible-disease-mimicing symptoms, but I guess it does. I'm by no means convinced that I'm in the clear - still have concerns about brain tumors and MS b/c I just don't feel right and it seems I'm having a lot of weird stuff going on. Is it for sure a disease process or just anxiety? I sure as hell don't know - I guess I'll find out soon enough, however when I track how all this started I can really see how I did a lot of it to myself. Do I sound a little more reasonable right now? Thanks. I took a Xanax.Joanne
Since then I have had numerous vision concerns, tingling concerns. I"ve read others on this site have similar symptoms as mine - it seems weird that one benign syndrome can have so many weird, wild and horrible-disease-mimicing symptoms, but I guess it does. I'm by no means convinced that I'm in the clear - still have concerns about brain tumors and MS b/c I just don't feel right and it seems I'm having a lot of weird stuff going on. Is it for sure a disease process or just anxiety? I sure as hell don't know - I guess I'll find out soon enough, however when I track how all this started I can really see how I did a lot of it to myself. Do I sound a little more reasonable right now? Thanks. I took a Xanax.Joanne