Aa
Looking for answers
at the risk of asking a question that may have been asked to death, I'm inquiring as to whether or not what I've been feeling / going through resonates with anyone else and if it can in fact be largely anxiety.
a bit of basic info: I have sleep apnea, and use a CPAP nightly to control it. I do still feel fatigued during the day however. I also have a history of anxiety, likely GAD. been something of a hypochondriac my whole life, but went to the ER in 2005 with a panic attack. Its a much more generalized thing now, as the panic of that experience (racing thoughts, hyperventilation, fear of impending death) doesnt really manifest itself now. but i do worry about my health nearly constantly, and nearly all of my anxiety is about my health. I would also say that it flared back up last summer (when I started seeing a therapist) after I tried marijuana for the second time. The first time I had a bad experience on it, that I attributed likely to trying it while drunk. I had stayed away from it but decided to give it a try again since I'm friends with so many people who regularly partake. I ate two brownies and had an absolutely terrible experience marked by extreme levels of panic (I was restrained from calling 911 multiple times) and needless to say I'll never go near it or any other drug again (friends have said that it was only marijuana, no one else had a similar reaction). I've never been diagnosed by a psychiatrist but I have seen a therapist concerning it (though I am seeing a psychiatrist for the first time in a couple weeks to get an opinion, as well as resuming my therapy after a few months of discontinuation for multiple, school ending -related issues).
I have complained about this condition in question to my GP (and my pulmonary guy who did my sleep study). checked for (in the last 2 months): chest x-ray (negative), mono and strep (neg), thyroid (initially high, then a second test normal), white blood cell (i believe this was drawn as well, and normal), breathing test (normal). b12 blood draw normal. I had an MRI of the brain performed in summer '05 which came back normal. I've also had blood glucose fasting draws (the incredibly annoying test where you drink the glucose drink and get drawn over a ~3hr period) twice. I believe these were normal, but they were done back in 05 as well. I seem to recall my GP telling me that one of them showed the possibility of metabolic syndrome, but when i asked about glucose at a recent visit he said that it was fine.
I had been feeling incredibly fatigued since the beginning/ middle of march. It started as feeling more tired than usual at night, but grew to be so bad that i got to be worried about it. I would sometimes feel alright in the morning, but as the day went on, i would just get so incredibly mentally exhausted that i would feel completely out of it. this seemed to happen (if at any particular time) around dinner time. There were some days that i would just feel like mentally i was never present all day. really kind of a zombiness. I still felt like i was interacting with other people in a normal way, but just didnt feel there at all. headaches sometimes accompanied this, mainly in the forehead between my eyes, or in my eyes. occasionally in the temples or the base of the skull but not as often. I thought perhaps that anxiety/depression could be causing this, but it really felt much more like it was something that i was anxious about as it was occuring, if that makes any real sense. And at any rate, I had never really felt that level of fatigue before. later in the month i developed chills and felt weak, and then a fever and cough which have been persistant since then (treated with a cough syrup with acetaminophen). I actually had to have the x-ray done at the hospital due to my insurance, and was seen briefly in the er with fever. thats where the mono/strep testing were done as well. the fever went away, and I was left with an insanely stuffed nose / congestion, which has also abated some over the last 2-3 weeks but i am still feeling some of the earlier symptoms strongly, notably:
-brain fog
-heavy head (especially right between the eyes in the forehead; pressure here initially made me think this was a sinus infection caused by the virus/fever i had. it is incredibly potent here at times. I feel like laying down can actually help at times, and it tends to be worse later in the day)
-neck tension
-achy eyes, with flashes of light and floaters (the latter isnt particularly new but seems aggravated)
-pressure on the very top and center of my head, and less frequently on the back of my head around where it meets the neck
-fatigue (just mental dullness and tiredness)
-feelings of unreality / never fully alert (I never feel like I don't know that I'm awake, but just that I'm not fully present. kind of goes along with the brain fog I'd say.)
-irritability and feelings of despair
sorry for the novel, but if you've managed to read through this all id appreciate some insight! I tend to be able to recognize when I am being anxious / getting caught up in thoughts that tend to lead in circles, and I am very aware that depressive thinking can make me feel much worse on top of whatever is going on. I took azythromycin via prescription from my ENT dr approx 3 weeks ago, while i was on it was when my nose flared back up (to the point where I felt it had to be huge cause of my discomfort), and around a week after the pack was finished it cleared up. I just saw him on a follow up and he prescribed cleocin 150 mg 4x daily, and prednisone 60mg taper to be started a few days after the antibiotic (which started today), and a CT sinus followup if i still dont feel good after that. so hopefully that will help, I'm just afraid of things like a sinus infection spreading to my eyes or my brain, or a brain tumor. I can recognize that's probably irrational, and that all the times ive been tested in the past should indicate that, but its hard to not be anxious when I feel like the fundamental experience of living that I'm having is altered by this. at the same time, I got incredibly anxious to the point of ridicule when I brushed my tongue too hard and I spat out a decent amount of blood, so I know I am perfectly capable of overreacting. It's just kind of annoying because I feel like I always get rushed in and out of doctor appointments, especially now with my GP since I have such a long history of "crying wolf" (though it certainly doesnt feel like it at times). Anyway, novel over, and thank you in advance to anyone who is willing to respond!
a bit of basic info: I have sleep apnea, and use a CPAP nightly to control it. I do still feel fatigued during the day however. I also have a history of anxiety, likely GAD. been something of a hypochondriac my whole life, but went to the ER in 2005 with a panic attack. Its a much more generalized thing now, as the panic of that experience (racing thoughts, hyperventilation, fear of impending death) doesnt really manifest itself now. but i do worry about my health nearly constantly, and nearly all of my anxiety is about my health. I would also say that it flared back up last summer (when I started seeing a therapist) after I tried marijuana for the second time. The first time I had a bad experience on it, that I attributed likely to trying it while drunk. I had stayed away from it but decided to give it a try again since I'm friends with so many people who regularly partake. I ate two brownies and had an absolutely terrible experience marked by extreme levels of panic (I was restrained from calling 911 multiple times) and needless to say I'll never go near it or any other drug again (friends have said that it was only marijuana, no one else had a similar reaction). I've never been diagnosed by a psychiatrist but I have seen a therapist concerning it (though I am seeing a psychiatrist for the first time in a couple weeks to get an opinion, as well as resuming my therapy after a few months of discontinuation for multiple, school ending -related issues).
I have complained about this condition in question to my GP (and my pulmonary guy who did my sleep study). checked for (in the last 2 months): chest x-ray (negative), mono and strep (neg), thyroid (initially high, then a second test normal), white blood cell (i believe this was drawn as well, and normal), breathing test (normal). b12 blood draw normal. I had an MRI of the brain performed in summer '05 which came back normal. I've also had blood glucose fasting draws (the incredibly annoying test where you drink the glucose drink and get drawn over a ~3hr period) twice. I believe these were normal, but they were done back in 05 as well. I seem to recall my GP telling me that one of them showed the possibility of metabolic syndrome, but when i asked about glucose at a recent visit he said that it was fine.
I had been feeling incredibly fatigued since the beginning/ middle of march. It started as feeling more tired than usual at night, but grew to be so bad that i got to be worried about it. I would sometimes feel alright in the morning, but as the day went on, i would just get so incredibly mentally exhausted that i would feel completely out of it. this seemed to happen (if at any particular time) around dinner time. There were some days that i would just feel like mentally i was never present all day. really kind of a zombiness. I still felt like i was interacting with other people in a normal way, but just didnt feel there at all. headaches sometimes accompanied this, mainly in the forehead between my eyes, or in my eyes. occasionally in the temples or the base of the skull but not as often. I thought perhaps that anxiety/depression could be causing this, but it really felt much more like it was something that i was anxious about as it was occuring, if that makes any real sense. And at any rate, I had never really felt that level of fatigue before. later in the month i developed chills and felt weak, and then a fever and cough which have been persistant since then (treated with a cough syrup with acetaminophen). I actually had to have the x-ray done at the hospital due to my insurance, and was seen briefly in the er with fever. thats where the mono/strep testing were done as well. the fever went away, and I was left with an insanely stuffed nose / congestion, which has also abated some over the last 2-3 weeks but i am still feeling some of the earlier symptoms strongly, notably:
-brain fog
-heavy head (especially right between the eyes in the forehead; pressure here initially made me think this was a sinus infection caused by the virus/fever i had. it is incredibly potent here at times. I feel like laying down can actually help at times, and it tends to be worse later in the day)
-neck tension
-achy eyes, with flashes of light and floaters (the latter isnt particularly new but seems aggravated)
-pressure on the very top and center of my head, and less frequently on the back of my head around where it meets the neck
-fatigue (just mental dullness and tiredness)
-feelings of unreality / never fully alert (I never feel like I don't know that I'm awake, but just that I'm not fully present. kind of goes along with the brain fog I'd say.)
-irritability and feelings of despair
sorry for the novel, but if you've managed to read through this all id appreciate some insight! I tend to be able to recognize when I am being anxious / getting caught up in thoughts that tend to lead in circles, and I am very aware that depressive thinking can make me feel much worse on top of whatever is going on. I took azythromycin via prescription from my ENT dr approx 3 weeks ago, while i was on it was when my nose flared back up (to the point where I felt it had to be huge cause of my discomfort), and around a week after the pack was finished it cleared up. I just saw him on a follow up and he prescribed cleocin 150 mg 4x daily, and prednisone 60mg taper to be started a few days after the antibiotic (which started today), and a CT sinus followup if i still dont feel good after that. so hopefully that will help, I'm just afraid of things like a sinus infection spreading to my eyes or my brain, or a brain tumor. I can recognize that's probably irrational, and that all the times ive been tested in the past should indicate that, but its hard to not be anxious when I feel like the fundamental experience of living that I'm having is altered by this. at the same time, I got incredibly anxious to the point of ridicule when I brushed my tongue too hard and I spat out a decent amount of blood, so I know I am perfectly capable of overreacting. It's just kind of annoying because I feel like I always get rushed in and out of doctor appointments, especially now with my GP since I have such a long history of "crying wolf" (though it certainly doesnt feel like it at times). Anyway, novel over, and thank you in advance to anyone who is willing to respond!
yea i mean i included the information about the marijuana in the interest of completeness but I haven't been around it in nearly a year and have absolutely no interest in it whatsoever. I don't think it feels that relevant anymore, but then again I could be wrong
Well you might want to post more in the neurology forum. I'll just summarize it this way. People who say marijuana is "harmless". Basically its untrue. Its certainly not fatal but it can have long term side effects. Including exacerbating any pre-existing psychiatric disabilities such as anxiety disorder. The best thing is a dual recovery group for a person with a psychiatric disability and a substance abuse issue. Abstain from marijuana in any form or alcohol. Work with your psychiatrist to find the right anti-anxiety medication (obtain a referral from your therapist). And if there are some long term cognitive or respiratory effects (that should improve over time) speak to a doctor and perhaps obtain a referral to a neurologist on how it could be treated. Its best to take this one step at a time but start with the recovery group and any physical follow up.
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