Hi everyone, I need a bit of advice. I've been suffering the last few months with health anxiety. Doctors have done all the routine blood tests and have said I'm okay and all my symptoms are anxiety related. I'm waiting for CBT but on a long waiting list and am on no medication whatsoever as I'm trying to avoid it. I'm now able to identify with a lot of my symptoms and deal with them, some days are good and some are pretty awful but I'm getting through it.
Last night however I had something new and it sent me into a panic again. A few weeks ago I was getting some sharp pains in my head, on the crown area and slightly to the left. Sort of dull aches and then the odd shooting pain. Anyway, putting it down to just another symptom of anxiety I've tried to ignore it. But as I laid in bed last night I started to get this tingly sensation, not painful but really noticeable and in the exact same position I sometimes get these head pains and it then spread across my head and my face. Then my head started to ache in that same spot. This morning I've woken up and it's still there. My brain likes to tell me that it's a brain tumour as it feels in such a specific part of my head but I'm really hoping it's just another normal symptom. Has anyone else had this? It just feels very unnerving!
The annoying thing I can't seem to process is that I'm 34 years old, have never suffered from anxiety and then one day I changed for no apparent/obvious reason and I can't seem to get back to my normal self. It just fuels the worry that there is something really wrong with me. Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
This was me for a good year and is still me alot of days. I was getting one-sided headaches daily. The pain was not debilitating but it would mix between a throb, an ache, a stabbing pain, a quick shock, a hot feeling, etc. Every once in awhile it would feel really weird and I would think, its a tumour for sure or, a brain aneurysm is going to burst. I got terrible health anxiety that just spiralled out of control. I got blood work and all was fine, and I had a head MRI 4 years ago with no issues so no one wanted to do another. I have been seeing a neurogist who calmed me down and said I have no signs of either health issue.
During all this I developed an anxiety disorder that made me nauseous, dizzy, tingly, weak, shaky, off balance, hot/cold, etc. DAILY. I am 27 and have no other issues and have never suffered from anxiety..it's very different from plain worry/nervousness. When an attack strikes, I am debilitated and convince myself I am dying each time.
I had to pester my doctor for a year and go to the emergency room twice to get properly diagnosed and am still trying to get on a medication that works (currently on amitriplyene).
You are not alone!
I just can't believe that anxiety can attack you in many different ways. I thought I'd had every symptom, and then this happened and the panic started all over again as I was thinking this was the end of me, you know? Now my whole face is just tingling, I spoke to the doctor and he just wants to put me on tablets but I'm worried it will bring with it a whole other set of problems!
Do you know I'm scared of knowing but scared of not knowing as I know either way I'll feel this way. I just don't understand where it's come from 
thanks for responding, always good to know you're not on your own x
I know, it took me months to accept that anxiety could cause such feelings. I was in denial and that's why I convinced myself that there was something else going on, something the doctors were missing. I honestly did not think that this worrying could manifest into such anxiety that would always be beneath the surface.
Oh yes I have felt that SO many times! Resigning to the fact that I was going to drop dead. The panic spreads and your body reacts. There are websites that lists all of the symptoms that anxiety can cause and it made me feel better about the scariest symptoms, such as tingling, leg weakness, sharp headaches, eye blurriness, etc.
Going on medication is scary but I was so desperate to be me again that I wanted to try. Sometimes they work, sometimes you have to try a few kinds. I know some people go to counselling but I don't feel stressed about day to day life! Yes, not knowing the cause is so frusterating.
Let me know how it goes the next few weeks,
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Oops it did not allow me to link another website. There are ones out there that list symptoms of anxiety, from weakness, tingles, sickness, vertigo, heart rate, body temp, etc. I have many times convinced myself that something horrible was just undetected and I was sure to die at any moment. It so hard to calm yourself down. I am on amitriplene but due to weight gain, want to try something else. I had months where I felt like a stranger in my own body and it affects your life a lot. You also start to be hyper aware of every single weird feeling and pain, its horrible.
I dont have anything stressful happening in my life but I have done alot of research on panic disorders and it is starting to make more sense.
Let me know if you find something that works for you,
You definetly have health anxiety. You are not alone. It is exhausting to live in the viscious cycle of it all. One doc. Told me cant do cbt unless the edge is off and i had to leave his office. I thiught thats what cbt was suppose to teach me. Itunes has a cbt book i downloaded the audio. Many podcast and books cinstantly say breathing techniques are so important. When you do them you have only and solely focus on being calm and ignire any thiughts that pop in your mind. Literally be in that exact moment. Im trying very hard to master this or actually do it. All of us with oanic sre overthinkers in a negative way and we self talk ourselves into a bad olace. Our bodies throw themselves inti fight ir flight and the panic sets in, inhave been woken by this which is so unfair cause im guessing its in my subcinscious already, that makes me angry at myself. All you can do is literally live in the moment so you can get through the days and hope slowlt that yiu retrain your brain not to be so negative and live in the future. Very very hard and i wish you and everyone on here the stregnth and suuccess in retraining how you think. I wish so hard that i can just wake up and be all normal and freed from this anxiety. I dont know if people who dont have it can understand as hard as it is on them its ten times harder on us!
Thanks Lisa. What I can't get my head around is that every time I have a handle on it and start to regain my confidence something else happens for no specific reason, like this weird tingling and head pain and then ensues the panic and I'm right back to square one again. If i could just understand what is happening I'm sure I could deal with it better, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason and that just fuels it more as I convince myself there is something wrong.
I'm seeing a counsellor tonight who although won't be able to help me medically may be able to help me process the fear a little better. Good luck to you too x
So went to the doctors, he told me I had neuralgia. Apparently he thinks the anxiety has triggered it so has put me on a very low dose of pregamalin. But then yesterday I had tingling all through my body and my right arm feels numb this morning. I kept waking up with pins and needles in small areas of my legs during the night and I ended up last night being on the 111 helpline (they put it down to the anxiety), but of course now I'm thinking it's MS. If I touch my skin it's very sensitive, it's like all my nerves are super sensitive. God I feel like I'm going mad
I'm 26 and i've never had an issue with anxiety before. Just in the last year i've been over paranoid and have convinced myself of many things. Brain tumor, Ms, Brain bleeding, It doesnt help that when i see a doctor they say its anxiety and thats it just to remain calm and stop thinking so much. For the last year i been to the ER 5 times with all small things. Chest pains and rib pains, headaches and shakyness. They send me home and i feel a bit better. But recently the tingling in my head has gotten 10 times worse things go from a small bump to my mind blowing it up to being like some rare disease. this head tingling and weird feelings is the worse. I've had multiple cts and mris and anything i can think of and they all say the same thing. My mind goes from a sore or something to my body is falling apart and i'm dying. It gets so bad i cant sleep cause i'm terrified of falling asleep and not waking up. Its horrible.
Did you ever figure out a solution I'm having the same problems! I get chest pains but worst of all is a tingly light headed sensation I have almost all the time. It's almost like I'm weak in my head. Doctors don't know what's wrong and it's freaking me out
Hey tallya, jordan and others...
Only reason why I signed up here is because I feel just like all of you. Was in Urgent Care thursday because tingly in my right side of face. Have been dealing with anxiety for 10 years. Im 33. Recently the constant worry has gotten much worse. I am hyper aware of EVERY sensation in my body. A pain, a tingle, a twitch. I always think that it is the worst case scenario. Doctor perscribed my Zoloft but dont want to take it. I want to try other things first. Better diet, meditation, changing jobs (mine is stressful) I feel like im losing my mind. I feel hopeless. BUT, coming on here, and other sites has at least given me a feeling of not being alone. That there are others that go through the same thing. I just wanted to reach out to you and others and hopefully we can bring some type of comfort that we AREN'T crazy. That we AREN'T alone. Ive been feeling constant tingly face for 4 days. I feel kinda blurry, and I dont just mean my vision. I convinced myself I have a brain tumor because all the symptoms are the same. Or maybe I have a seizure because certain thoughts have made me feel tingly in my head. Or I have an infection in my tooth and its traveled to my face and spreading. Or.......a million other things. None, are likely true. Only the worry and anxiety that has partially disabled my life. We can get past this...
Hey tallya, jordan and others...
Only reason why I signed up here is because I feel just like all of you. Was in Urgent Care thursday because tingly in my right side of face. Have been dealing with anxiety for 10 years. Im 33. Recently the constant worry has gotten much worse. I am hyper aware of EVERY sensation in my body. A pain, a tingle, a twitch. I always think that it is the worst case scenario. Doctor perscribed my Zoloft but dont want to take it. I want to try other things first. Better diet, meditation, changing jobs (mine is stressful) I feel like im losing my mind. I feel hopeless. BUT, coming on here, and other sites has at least given me a feeling of not being alone. That there are others that go through the same thing. I just wanted to reach out to you and others and hopefully we can bring some type of comfort that we AREN'T crazy. That we AREN'T alone. Ive been feeling constant tingly face for 4 days. I feel kinda blurry, and I dont just mean my vision. I convinced myself I have a brain tumor because all the symptoms are the same. Or maybe I have a seizure because certain thoughts have made me feel tingly in my head. Or I have an infection in my tooth and its traveled to my face and spreading. Or.......a million other things. None, are likely true. Only the worry and anxiety that has partially disabled my life. We can get past this...
I personally had a bad experience with Zoloft. It made my anxiety worse. I am currently on lorazepam and a anti depressant I take at night. And it has made my life better almost 100%. I still get my goofy feeling occasionally but I take my med and it goes away. My advice is don't let it get out of hand before you seek medicine that will work for you and help. I went to a psychiatrist
Thanks Jordan. I totally agree that Zoloft isnt the right choice right now. My mom keeps telling me to try some of her Ativan (lorazepam) for those certain moments that its too much. After I posted this earlier, I felt comfort and a small breath of positivity. Im still kinda blurry/dizzy and tingly face, but im forcing myself to just be positive right now. Im ALWAYS negitive and am sick of it. I get chest pains too, even a constant dull pain that I attribute to sleeping in awkward positions. I wake up with clenched fists constantly or numb hands because Im in a werid position. I think its anxiety related as well. Anyways, nice hearing from you.
I have the exact same symptoms! I take lorazepam 0.5 mg 2-3 times a day
I'm having trouble understanding your text, do you read your notes before posting?
I have been experiencing the tingling head, the strange sensations in my head, the electricity in my legs, the burning sensations. I can't sleep at night for the feeling is overwhelming and I am afraid to sleep at night. I been taking vitamin b -12 for the nerves its helped with the tingling in my toes. I don't get them anymore. Some days I don't feel anything and other days it's like what's going on. I am praying for myself. This all started when I was having heart palpitation and my blood pressure was high. What should I don know. I want to get rid of this ill will feeling!
Hello all,
I was very heart broken reading all your comments because I go through the exact same thing as you all are and it's so sad to know you guys are dealing with the same stuff. It really takes over your life and it sucks. I found this thread because the whole day I have had a tingling sensation in the back of my head followed by a migrane.. this is not the first time I have gotten this, but I've always tried brushing it off like it's nothing until today I kind of flipped out wondering what exaclty is going on..which, sadly, my first thought was to check the internet (the place that makes me think I have cancer and brain tumors and I'm on my death bed etc..)but this time in actually glad I looked this up..I now know that I'm not alone (although I wish none of you were going through this! ) ..also, the tingling and headache are both now gone and I feel relieved.. !! thank you guys for helping and i really hope you guys are doing much better than before!!!
Hey Lisa,
Well currently I'm now seeing a therapist because my entire life I have never been able to make friends and was bullied and I became very shy and quiet and that was the beginning of my social Anxiety. I never new that that was the cause of everything and beginning to feel that every one thought I was weird and thought ill of me. I would start to make friends then all of sudden stop talking to them because I thought they thought I was weird or annoying. I'm a senior in high school know and it has gotten a lot worst and I'm scared about everything and I have also become very depressed and hopeless. I have had anxiety attacks before but never really told anyone and my parents witnessed one really bad my sophomore year but didn't really do anything about it. I often feel very fuzzy in the head almost like I have no thoughts or what I'm doing is weird. I have no idea why this happens but it tends to get worse I think when I dwell on everything. I haven't told my therapist about this yet to be quit honest I don't feel i deserve help and I'm just a needy person that should disappear. I don't know but yah.
I'm 23 years old ive been under a lot of stress lately I'm actually going to the doctor tomorrow few days ago I was driving on the interstate and it was really windy I have a little car I started sweating really really bad my feet and my fingers and I had started tingling I started feeling like I was going to pass out while I was driving it was the scariest thing I've ever felt i also have episodes at home where I'm just at the edge of my seat feeling trapt like I gotta get out of here I been knowing something wrong with me but I don't tell anyone because people will think differently of me an I don't want that because I usually don't feel this way I just feel under so much pressure all the time trying to please everyone in my family an I want to do so good that latly I've been always feeling sick and having headaches I just don't know what to do anymore