no ideas... except anxiety?

[DeJay]

Hey all,

This is my first post, as I've been lurking around here for a while.

The past four months have been the worst of my life. Constant achiness all over, electric-type jerks and jolts whenever I try to sleep, stomach upset after nearly every meal, constipation, and ubiquitous headaches. I've had bloodwork done a couple times, EKGs, a headscan. I've spent three months trying to eat better, eliminating caffiene, exercising regularly, and trying anti-depressants and massage. Nothing has helped - everything keeps getting worse. And NO ONE will listen.

All anyone can tell me is that I suffer from anxiety. This is hardly news. Wouldn't the more alarming development be if I had experienced all these things and WASN'T anxious?

I guess I'm just curious if this combination of symptoms sounds familiar to anyone else - and if some kind of latent anxiety could conceivably cause any or all of these things... ?

Desperate in KY,
Josh

[GD2005]

Hi Josh,

I have actually been experiencing incredibly similar symptoms to you and have also been diagnosed with anxiety (despite several of the symptoms occuring when I am resting or relaxed).

Like you, I feel that anxiety is more of an effect rather than a cause. I posted to this forum last week and several individuals recommended that I look into autoimmune diseases such as thyroid problems and celiac disease. Most autoimmune diseases present in bizarre symptoms affecting multiple body systems.

What type of specialists have you seen (neurologist, rheumatologist, etc.)?

I wish you the best in your search and I will be sure to post if I find out any more information as well.

[GD2005]

One other thing...have you been monitoring your temperature? My "normal" temperature in the past (prior to any of my symptoms) had always ranged between 96 - 97 degrees F, and I have noticed that I have been running a low grade fever (99 - 100 degrees) for the past 5 days. It may be something you might want to keep an eye on since either steady low or high body temperatures can signify a problem.

[DeJay]

Hi GD,

So sorry to hear you're in the same spot. The symptoms are maddening enough, it seems, without feeling ignored or written off by physicians. And yet, here we are with this nebulous "anxiety" diagnosis.

I haven't seen any specialists yet - just my primary doctor, a psychiatrist, and the doctor who attended to me during my one ER trip (due to major dizziness and head pressure). I'm slated to get an appointment with a neurologist next week.

Thyroid occured to me as well, because I have a family history of hypo-thyroidism. So far all blood tests have shown my TSH and T4 to be within what my doctor's office considers "normal range." I'd been secretly wishing it would be nice and elevated so we could begin treating something. For now I'm just stuck in a holding pattern.

Psych gave me Cymbalta (tried it for over 2 months and kinda felt worse, so we decided to move off it). Right now I take Trazodone to sleep (it's the only thing that dulls the electrical shock feelings) and Klonopin on my really bad days.

Haven't looked into celiac disease. Will have to get more info. Have you have further tests - like MRI or anything? Are your symptoms accompanied by pressure or a wobbly feeling in your head? It seems to be a constant feature for me.

If you want to keep in touch, email me at Derridean1@hotmail.com. I'd love to have someone who is battling the same thing to chat with and bounce ideas off of.

All the best,
Josh

[Joan5555]

If you were a woman I would say menopause....so similar...but you are not ...so here is one thought that has nothing to do with meno but does with the enodcrine system....adrenals...you may be have adrenal surges and that may be labeled as anxiety and could be because of anxiety or "causing" it...so you may also want to get blood work for cortisol (morning, noon and PM...can even do it by salvia tests yourself through online labs) and the other thought is thryroid ....perhaps an autoimmune thryoid problem where your thryiod hormones may be fluctuating....called Hashimotos or Graves disease. Looks these up and see if you may find a match...for adrenals, and thryoid blood work would check it. Joan

[DeJay]

Thanks for the ideas Joan.

So far my thyroid levels have been normal. I have no idea about cortisol, though I looked up the diseases that accompany high or low levels and they don't seem to match my symptoms very well. Though I have wondered about andrenal exhaustion or something of the sort. Do you know of any other endocrine-related tests one might take?

Also, GD - I haven't been checking my temperature, but it has felt like I've been running a low fever for the past few days. I'll start checking that.

Thanks for the suggestions. They're much appreciated. This thing is literally ruining my life.

[Writer53]

Hi Josh,
Sorry to hear you're ill. I've seen almost every specialist there is, and know what you're going through. I don't know if any of the information below can help you, but maybe it can save you some time.

Out of over 10 specialists I saw, the ones that helped and actually listened to me were a rheumatologist, and naturopathic doctor.

The problem that I had going to a different specialist for each symptom was that no one was putting the whole picture together. You might not initially think to see a rheumatologist, since they deal with joints and muscles, and that isn't your main problem. But, they are the doctors that people go to when they can't get a diagnosis. Some are better than others (if they try to give you a fibromyalgia diagnosis in 5 min without running any tests, you might want to go elsewhere), BUT, they look into problems that affect multiple symptoms, like autoimmune disease.

Also, seeing a naturopathic doctor doesn't necessarily mean you have to go natural in your approach, etc, but they can help diagnose you and really listen. http://www.naturopathic.org/findannd.php They think outside the box, and can run more exhaustive tests for you that regular MD's won't run. (For example, I had a ton of digestive problems and had to go through specialty out-of-network labs to find out what was wrong with me- these labs caught problems in multiple organs, even when my gastroentrologist told me I was fine: http://www.genovadiagnostics.com/, or http://www.diagnostechs.com/main.htm. Again, most MD's don't use these labs, unless they're open minded)
If all your autoimmune tests seem to be fine, things like toxins, allergies, infections(like lyme, candida infections, etc) can affect your whole body and cause all kinds of crazy symptoms.

Hope this helps. Good luck with everything!

[taniaaust1]

Hey all,

This is my first post, as I've been lurking around here for a while.

The past four months have been the worst of my life. Constant achiness all over, electric-type jerks and jolts whenever I try to sleep, stomach upset after nearly every meal, constipation, and ubiquitous headaches. I've had bloodwork done a couple times, EKGs, a headscan. I've spent three months trying to eat better, eliminating caffiene, exercising regularly, and trying anti-depressants and massage. Nothing has helped - everything keeps getting worse. And NO ONE will listen.

All anyone can tell me is that I suffer from anxiety. This is hardly news. Wouldn't the more alarming development be if I had experienced all these things and WASN'T anxious?

I guess I'm just curious if this combination of symptoms sounds familiar to anyone else - and if some kind of latent anxiety could conceivably cause any or all of these things... ?

Desperate in KY,
Josh

It is possible for anxiety to cause all kinds of symptoms. Headaches and tummy upsets are very common with anxiety. My sister had depression and she suffered severe body aches with that. Also one can get things such as restless leg syndrome (i thou get it all over my body) ..with anxiety.

Other things of cause could be causing your symptoms too... anxiety and other issues as another said, can be caused by adrenal/cortisol problem.

Constipation may cause headaches....

Are you still having problem with constipation when you are eatting a high fibre diet and drinking plenty of water?

Sounds like you have a food issue going on? You could have something like celiac disease etc . Food issues can also cause headaches, body pain etc. It may pay to try to work out if you are intollerant to any food eg milk, gluten, nuts etc. Im sensitive to milk, it dont affect my bowels badly but it gives me a headache so I cant have much of it.

[LINENUP]

You might want to take a look at supplementing w/ magnesium, a vital and necessary mineral that controls 350 enzyme functions including adrenal response, bowel health, immunity etc. You can google "magnesium anxiety" and see countless articles. Any positive dietary change would be helpful in any situation.

I wonder if you have had any exposure to toxic chemicals and/or toxic metals (mercury, lead, aluminum, cadmium etc.)? Hair Analysis and a Heavy Metal challenge may be helpful. See this link from the CDC on lead exposure (gastointestinal issues, joint pains and anxiety)

[Monsterlove]

I am wondering if it may be related to a shingles like disease. I believe you can have shingles without the break out and that creates a lot of grief and makes it very difficult to diagnose those electric nerve pains.