weird neck/head/brain sensations?

Mental health
1

hi, this is my first time using a forum like this but i just want to see if anyone knows what this is and/or is going through the same thing. 

my name is lily and i am 17 years old, but almost 18 in a few months. this is going to be hard to explain so i'm really gonna try my best. but for a long while now, i've had anxiety. most of it stems from so many intrapersonal fears like the fear of thinking nothing in life is exciting or the fear that i'm "gonna go crazy" and stuff like that. i also have health anxiety, so whenever i have a strange symptom i get scared that it's something horrible and/or something nobody has had before so nobody can help me. i wish i didn't have this but at this point i at least have learned to deal with it a bit better than a few years ago. 

my anxiety's physical symptoms that i know of, when it's in full swing, i will feel my stomach flip and knot up in a specific way that i can recognize easily by now. it pretty much feels like when you get scared suddenly or when you go down a huge drop on a roller coaster. my heart beat goes up and my stomach churns. to my knowledge, those are my only anxiety symptoms.

so to the actual issue. there are times where i feel like my brain feels like a jumbled mess. if i focus on not thinking and just amplifying this strange, foggy sensation almost like that feeling when you need to twitch a muscle or something. almost tingly and muddled? i'm sorry it's so hard to describe this with words. but anyway, it scares me that i'm somehow going to damage my brain? i don't know, like if i try hard enough i can actually feel my brain as a part of my body like touching my skin? that sounds so weird but it freaks me out so bad. 

added to this, ever since about two or three years ago i often get strange pains around my head. the most painful ones have gone away recently but they would feel like a sharp pinching feeling in one specific spot lasting from 5 to 20 seconds. it always feels like a pinched nerve, and i've also gotten random dull pains in specific spots. of course, i would be so afraid that i have a brain tumor or brain cancer or something awful like that. 

sometimes i would cry to my mom and tell her that, and she would assure me there's nothing wrong i don't have a brain tumor. and  i could never feel satisfied with that since i assumed she's just telling me that because she's my mom and she wants me to feel better. 

and, the real reason why i suddenly decided to write this out is because i went to bed last night with a weird sensation spread across the side of my neck and up into the bottom side of my head. it was like some weird muscle tension but it doesn't hurt at all, just almost tingles? i can't explain it well again i'm sorry, but it's a sensation weird enough to make me hyper focus on it and constantly wonder what's wrong and fear it will never go away. 

so about 10 minutes ago i woke up randomly from a dream, and when i turned to lay on my other side, with the side of my neck that felt weird now not against my pillow, that sensation came back. for some reason it felt worse than before and i just fixated on it and all up that side of my neck and to the back of my head felt super fuzzy and almost?? ticklish in a way?? and i felt like fixating on it was making it worse and worse and i was scared something would just accumulate and then burst so my "anxiety tummy" came in tenfold and i quickly turned on my tv to put a cartoon on just to distract myself. doing that and grabbing my phone helped a little, but i know if i stop focusing on my phone and focus back on my brain/neck the sensation comes back and i absolutely hate it. is it all just anxiety? has anyone else had this symptoms?

ill also add that i don't do drugs and i don't drink alcohol. i haven't been to the doctor about this because as i've said the symptoms and sensations are hard to explain, plus i'm sure my family doesn't have the money to afford a brain scan or anything like that. and i often have caffeine, either coffee or tea. and some days if i don't have caffeine i will get a headache. i get headaches very often but i think that's just genetics because so does my mom and we both enjoy coffee and will take pain medication for headaches that contain caffeine. so... anyway i do however use electronics often especially since i'm on summer vacation im almost always on either my phone or playing video games. could that be what's messing me up? i even will set a timer on my ps4 and fall asleep to a show on netflix or something. it sounds unhealthy but with my anxiety comes a brain that won't shut off when i want it to, especially at night my thoughts tend to go wild and into extremes that just amplify any anxiety or icky feelings i get. so with a show playing on my tv, i focus on the sound, i focus my brain solely on the dialogue between characters/music/effects etc and that helps me fall asleep. it's also sort of a way to soothe me. for some reason it reminds me that the world is still going on around me even after i fall asleep. drifting off to the sound of people talking and going about their own business is a comfort to me, i know that kind of sounds weird but it really is. 

so! i know this is a lot im sorry but if you read this and maybe responded i would be incredibly grateful. 😇

2

Hiya , first of all I want to tell you that you are not alone with this. You did right by telling your story on this forum. People here are very kind and supportive and going thru the same thing as you are❤ what you might expierence is tension headaches, tension muscles cause of anxiety and overthinking. Caffeine isnt good for you when you suffer with anxiety. Ive noticed this myself that its better to avoid drinks high in caffeine as they seem to trigger my anxiety, make me high and give me heart palpitations. And you are taking painkillers with caffeine as well, thats what can give you headchae itself. So dont worry, limit caffeine and you are going to feel much better. And I bet you get muscle spasms as well. I do cause Im constantly sressed. Its totally normal xx

3

Lily,

 anxiety can cause hundreds of different symptoms in the body. When I was in my 20s I had all the symptoms that you have and I was scared I had some terrible disease. But all my test came out normal at the doctors . 

Everyone of my symptoms was due to years of stress and anxiety.

 many people have those same symptoms with anxiety, actually millions of people. I know it's hard to explain to a doctor or anyone else because they cannot see what we are feeling like they can see a broken bone. 

 I would suggest staying off of the caffeine for a while because that will intensify your anxiety.

What you are  doing to relax is a good idea. There are some great audio meditations on YouTube for anxiety .  They completely relax my mind and body. Just search for guided meditation for anxiety and if you have earbuds to listen it's a better effect. There are many meditations to choose from .   There's even some for guided meditation for breathing. It's important to know the proper breathing method when you have anxiety. 

 I always do suggest visiting your doctor just to get things checked out and get peace of mind. 

 all anxiety starts in the brain so it's very important to calm down your mind because that will then calm down your body. 

 The worst thing you can do is think too much about all of this because that will increase your anxiety as well as your symptoms. 

and yes, I have definitely had the weird head symptoms,  The fogginess,  and odd sensations that are hard to describe. 

 I don't believe your use of cell phones or electronics has anything to do with this. 

 once your doctor says everything else OK, then it's time to learn how to manage your anxiety so that the symptoms reduce or go away.

If there's anyway Your parents could arrange for you to speak with  A counselor who deals with anxiety, that would be very helpful. It's great to speak with someone who understands what you're going through and help you figure out what the underlying anxiety is all about and how to manage it. Some communities have Free  or low-cost counseling. 

 you will be fine once you get this under control. 🌸🌸🌸

4

thank you so much for your response! just knowing i'm not alone makes me feel better in itself! about cutting down on caffeine, i'll try that! although i do get migraines that are absolutely terrible to deal with unless i take medicine are there any other effective pain medication that doesn't have so much caffeine? i have no idea 

5

Aww bless you. You probably getting migranes from stress and anxiety. What about paracetamol and ibuprofen together? Or codeine and ibuprofen? There is loads of diffirent painkillers not containg caffeine. And cold compresses help like ice bag or cooling forehead pin? They make all sorts of stuff to bring relief. I used to suffer with bad migraines. I know how awful they can be. Laying in dark room with ice bag was helping me a lot. Its worth a try😙😙😙

6

i usually take ibuprofen actually! and yeah maybe it's from stress and anxiety but sometimes it just feels like i get these migraines out of nowhere even if i haven't felt very anxious lately. i think it runs in the family but i'm not sure. and yeah cold compresses are great they really help! my mom also tells me to run a drop of peppermint onto my temples because she's all into essential oils and what not

7

Essential oils are really good advice ☺☺migraines can be horrible. Sometimes changes in the diet help. Like stop eating chocolate or drinking wine and smoking ciggarets 😎

8

thank you very much for your response! it helps knowing there's many more people that go through the same stuff. it's just, when i don't really realize that or remember it after a while it just feels like i'm the weird one. my anxiety is less nervousness and more just fear. it's a lot of what it's that pop into my head that make me afraid and afraid if they are true. it's really silly and i know it is and i wish i could just brush it off and not get the symptoms but sometimes i can't help it. i'll definitely look into those meditation videos! 

also the counselor idea, i might try that once i go back to school. i also think that not being in school causes my brain to kinda laze around and not train and learn and it tends to just trail off and cause me problems sometimes. when i'm in school i feel like my anxiety goes down a bunch. and that's great, but then of course i end up thinking what will i do when i'm done with my education? how will i function properly? will i always feel like this? it really sucks but i try to stay positive when i can. 

i think i'm a very social person. when i was a younger teenager i would have said the opposite but i now realize i thrive on interacting and being close to others and i fear i'll be nothing without someone else.  not necessarily in a self conscious / confidence way but just living everyday life. i'm scared of the thought of living on my own when i grow up and the thought of not being with my parents but at the same time i know everyone feels like this at some point and i think when comes down to it knowing i'm not alone with my fears is a good reminder to not let them control me.

9

yeah maybe i do finally need a diet change! i mean i don't eat super unhealthy but my dad's house tends to have more unhealthy snacks and soda while my mom is super healthy. but i'm gonna try to cut out caffeine, especially coffee that's what usually makes things worse. when i have tea, though it's not usually that bad. maybe i'll just start drinking only tea i really like green tea and berry teas. 😇 thanks again really for talking with me it's very kind of you

10

Awww its okay 😘😘we are here to help and support each other. We all going thru the same thing and it really helps to talk to others ❤❤

11

finally i found someone like me all these weird feelings all these symptoms

And what i feel the most this mess in my brain when i focus on somthing like studying i get this feeling like there’s noise and mess i just feel it and it’s very annoying

12

Thank you so much for sharing. I’ve been having anxiety and panic attacks for about a year now and I was feeling the same way about my head and as I started to google my symptoms which only makes it worse because it tells me there is something deeply wrong but I stumbled on your post and I am glad I am not the only one who feels this way. It reassures me that it’s all in my mind and I need to figure out better ways to cope. Thanks so much !

13

Hi

I've been suffering with anxiety for a number of years. But I have never experienced anything like this 😔 my head feels like it's tingling on one side. Is this normal to feel like this?