Anxiety? Not sure...

Mental health
1

Hi everyone,

Wanting some insight, as I'm not really sure what to make of things...

Around 6/7 weeks back, I was diagnosed with pneumonia, having gone up to A&E after I felt my resting heartrate skyrocket and chest tighten up. Everything showed that what I had was pneumonia, but here's the thing... I had convinced myself it was a heart attack. Didn't matter what anyone else said, over the next few weeks I was convinced it was my heart, just given how it felt that night before I was told it was pneumonia. Cue then weeks of constant googling, assessing symptoms, obsessing over how I felt, etc. I got very worked up over it. Then, around 3 weeks ago, pneumonia had cleared, but I suddenly developed this weird full body tingle/itch... Absolutely every bit of me feels it- tip of my toe, then my scalp, then my knee, then my arm, etc. Couple days later, my eyes developed a constant feeling of having grit stuck in them. This has continued for the past 3 weeks, coupled with nausea, fatigue, heart palpitations, and pins and needles in my hands/feet. I continued on with google searches only to see everything from neuropathy, MS, fibromyalgia, etc- so have been even MORE worked up from this. I have been to A&E 5 times in the past 2 months, as well as my doc, and everything has come back clear and normal- heart, bloods, allergies, etc. That was when I was told it was anxiety, but I don't know what to make of that... I am generally a high-stress person (a stressful job, but one I love,) and an overthinker, but never been told I have anxiety. I don't know if this health scare just pushed me over the edge and brought on these physical symptoms. They are the strangest symptoms, and I just don't see how they can boil down to anxiety? I don't "feel" anxious, but these symptoms are distracting me from living my normal life as they are so uncomfortable! I would've thought they'd have settled after 3 weeks but no luck... Has anyone ever experienced similar symptoms from anxiety? Or should I pursue this for perhaps another diagnosis??

2

Yup. Anxiety can cause nearly every physical symptom you can think of. It's all to do with the body's fight or flight response and chemicals released to prepare the body.

In the years i've had anxiety disorder, I've had things such as:

- Palpitations

- Dizzy spells

- Chest pain

- Breast pain

- Tight throat / lump sensation

- Vice/strandling feeling around my neck

- Left arm pain, shoulder blade pain

- Pins and needles in my right side face, arms, legs, toes, fingers, hands

- Weak arms/limbs, feeling kind weighed down

- Nausea

- All manner of head pain

- Lower back pain

- Gut issues

- Sore eyes

- Sore spots on my temples

- Knot in chest/back

- Hot/cold spells and sweating at night

There's probably more i'm forgetting but you get the drift. You're right, it's probably stemmed from your health scare with pneumonia.

Please please please don't google symptoms. All that happens is it feeds the cycle, triggers more symptoms ansd your mind convinces you the worse. I've had a 2 year spell of health concerns, tests and nothing major other than anxiety come out of it and a slightly abnormal thyroid that may develop later in life.

There's a great book you can read if these are your main concerns right now, it's called 'Help me i'm a hypochondriac' by Philip Martins. Really relatable. Try this, trust in your doctor/the test results and try to remember alot of the diagnosing is in your own thoughts, not facts. Best wishes.

3

I've had all of the above too, and my only diagnosis (so far, seeing some specialists to make sure) is anxiety.

It does some terribly weird things to your body! Sucks I know, but if we can beat the anxiety we can beat the symptoms.

Also, I had a friend who had pneumonia. This is what she woke on her Facebook page:

"So it was pneumonia, I thought I was having a heart attack" Sound familiar? 

4

* wrote.

5

Ah, let's call it "anxiety"  and stop looking for the actual cause why your body experiences extreme anxiety with the symptoms that go with it. Maybe your body is indeed in a constant struggle and is setting off alarmbells 24/7. Ever thought about why it has increased over the years? Any idea what has also exploded, surrounding you day and night? I do.

6

"Ever thought about why it has increased over the years? Any idea what has also exploded, surrounding you day and night? I do."

Yeah I do wonder! I'm kinda freaking out about it to be honest, so many symptoms are troubling me and making me think something more serious is going on.

I keep searching for answers, if I find any I'll be sure to post them!

7

Hang in there!!! Yes, I have said for years that I don't even feel "anxious", you can have all kinds of physical symptoms and sensations because of anxiety disorders and nothing else. I am going to tell you from experience of over 20 years, starting getting treated for the anxiety now and worry about any underlying health issues later. You have had tests and been given the all clear except for your bout with the pneumonia which you said is gone now, so you have a pretty good chance that you are perfectly healthy and the pneumonia caused chest pains/symptoms kicked in your anxiety. Now I know there are many different ideas on treatment for anxiety, medications, therapies, alternative medicine, but you need to find whatever works for you. Find a good psychiatrist/psychologist and see if they agree with the anxiety diagnosis. Health anxiety is a very real, very crappy thing but there are ways to treat it. Best of luck!!!!