Nervous breakdown/exhaustion

[quillswriting]

Can anyone give me information on nervous exhaustion?

Had lots of symptoms, had blood tests, ecgs, x rays, and neuro examination - all normal thus far, but got severe brain fog, can't type properly, have to keep deleting letters and starting again, short term memory is bad, neuro symptoms including tingles and pins and needles, pains, spasms, unequal pupils.  My husband is also now suffering the same - tachy, neuro symptoms.  THought it was carbon monoxide poisoning, had gas appliances checked and they're fine.  

We have a new baby and i have been very stressed, is it possible that we could both have nervous exhaustion?

[Quixotic1]

Hi, hon, I'm so sorry to hear about everything you're going through.  It sounds just awful.  I can't believe your family has deserted you.  It is wrong to withhold love for you and your son because they disapprove of your husband.   Are things okay in your marriage?  I do think the majority of your problems are because of severe stress and depression with anxiety.  Weren't you able to see a psychiatrist to get some help with the emotional part while you sort out the other symptoms?  

I noticed that you stopped posting on our forum.  You told me about this post, but I was having a meltdown of my own and didn't get back to you.  I'm sorry.

You need to stay in touch with people.  We've bonded to you now and care how you're doing.  It is important to be honest about how you';re feeling, but with the uncontrolled anxiety it is so hard to tell what is real and what is just pure terror and fatigue and loneliness.  We can talk here or there.  you can also talk to me by email by sending it to neuroquix at gmail dot com.

I hope you see this.  Quix

[quillswriting]

My doctor thinks it is anxiety, my husband is now prizing the same symptoms though which is concerning me a lot.  

Nothing feels real at the moment, I think they call it depersonalization, I can't feel myself think or talk, I have to concentrate to type.  I am getting so many symptoms, but many doctors that I have seen recently have all said that my symptoms are so random even though they are worsening, that it looks like some kind of weird breakdown thing.  

I can't stress how much stress I HAVE been under.  And I am terrified of what is happening to me.  I lost a lot of weight with this too - lost my appetite, I look anorexic, my heart rate is constantly fast, I have neuro symptoms, panic attacks also.  I feel like I am losing the plot completely.  I feel like I am wasting, my muscles hurt a lot, my head and neck hurt, when I yawn the bones in the back of my neck crack, I yawn constantly too.  My right hand is weak so my typing is weird.

I really thought it was carbon monoxide affecting us, but I have been proved wrong when I had the tests.  My carbon level was high but my blood gas was normal.  All my bloods have been normal apart from one - Red Cell Width.  Which was elevated, twice in the same day.  I looked it up and it is something to do with B12 anaemia.  I have purchased some B complex vitamin pills today.  My doctor was not concerned because my total red cell count was normal.  

I wonder if this is some kind of nervous exhaustion/dysautonomia as they call it.

Before all of this happened, I was scared all day every day.  Seriously scared.  I started with spots in front of my eyes, then I had two infections (wisdom tooth infection and group C hemolytic strep in my womb) followed by a cold, then followed by another cold.  At the same time I developed strange pains - I had severe pelvic pain, lower back pain and hot flushes.  I also developed painful rashes on my thighs which worked their way up my back.  

I saw a doctor about all of them and was tested and treated accordingly.  I then started itching all over, followed by loss of appetite and mouth sores everytime I ate.  I had a coated painful tongue but it did not look like candida.  The doctor was confused.  I then got a red throat and it didn't hurt.  

I lost 2 stone in weight within a couple of months, went very pale, almost transparent, you could see my veins really visibly, then I developed tachycardia, my lips went blue, my nail beds were red, they;re now pale blue/white.  I have had more than 18 blood tests taken and all my levels were perfect.  They kept telling me it was anxiety and post natal depression.  

I then started getting twitching, poor circulation, pins and needles, fatigue, aches, petechiae, more weight loss, my skin dried out I had dandruff on my arms, my legs were scaly looking and i developed some kind of painful rash on my legs, then my leg hair started to come out.  Then my big toenails started coming away.  My temp was normal.  My BP was up and down.  

I had 5 ECG's, 2 Chest X Rays, Blood count, Serum levels, electrolytes, urinalysis, blood cultures, thyroid tests, diabetes tests, heart related blood tests, Epstein Barr test.  You name it, I was tested for it.  It all came back perfect.  I then developed brain fog, feelings of unreality, not getting the right words out, stammering, a tick (back of neck twitching), strange headaches (little sharp headaches), pressure on my sinuses, GI problems like burping and reflux, a lump sensation in my throat, loss of energy, unequal pupils.  The list goes on.  I am now quite a mess and I can't tell what is real and what is not any more.

I looked up so many things on the web which is really silly.  First I looked up the strep when I got it, then when I read about how bad it could get I got scared.  When the other symptoms started I had 3 swabs taken  - the results were fine, the strep had been cleared, yet I still had pelvic pain.  Then I got a rash down there which was itchy, it spread.  So I got given some cream.  It went away.  Then I got pains in my bottom after going to the bathroom, I ended up having 2 rectal exams and they were fine.  The verdict was nerve damage from giving birth.  Then that went away and the other symptoms started.  I was in and out of the GP office daily.  I still felt ill and kept looking things up.  I was convinced that the strep had spread and gave me some kind of systemic infection.  I kept getting turned away.  Then the blood tests were done, they were normal, no infection was found in my blood.  But I was convinced something was wrong.

Thus far all sorts of conditions went through my head, I think i have developed hypochondria.  Because of my fast heart rate I am scared to leave the house.  The weight has dropped off me so fast, I am weak as a kitten and don';t feel real anymore.

But now, my husband has tachycardia and the same neuro type symptoms as me.  I was so convinced it was carbon monoxide, but was told it wasn't.  

My husband and I DO have a strange link and I wondered if I am suffering from nervous exhaustion brought on by the constant panic.  

When I had the attacks they would last for hours, I would get them several times a day, I would tremble constantly, feeling cold all of the time, I obsessively took my temperature because I was always having either chills or hot flushes.  I would pace about the kitchen trembling and in tears desparate to get someone to find the problem and cure it.  When I found out I had strep I remember after being turned away by the doctor, that I sat on the bed shreiking at the top of my voice and sobbing into the pillow.  I don't know why.

What has made it worse was, 2 weeks after the birth of my child the pressure was on me to find a job straight away and i was not ready to leave my child, I would cry and cry while holding him because my husband would not get a job and the owness was all on me.  The bills were all in my name and I was plunged into debt big style.  My best friend died also last year and I had not really had time to grieve, I was pregnant with a miracle baby!  (I was told I could not have kids, then conceived a month after my friend died).   My parents had a grudge against my husband because he wouldn't work and so refused to see their grandson unless I left my husband.  My other friends were not so supportive also telling me to leave my husband.  Then my landlord served me with an eviction order even thought I have NEVER been behind on rent - he sold the house!  It was stress after stress after stress!  I then took ill and could not cope.  I am irritable all day.  I shout at companies down the phone when they ring up pestering for money, I swear at them, threaten the staff.  Then my baby cries aloud and won't stop because he's teething, hubby is starting his own business now, as am I but the stress of trying to work while the baby is kicking off is pretty bad.  Can[t afford childcare or a nanny.  Have no family to help us.

[tostressed]

If all of your tests have come back negative, but what does your doctor think. I have seen your posts from the ms forum and I saw the things that you had wrote. Does your doctor think that it could be anxiety? I know that having a new baby had my anxiety running high. I hope that things get better for you. Stay positive.