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24:7 Physical Anxiety Symptoms

Hiya Guys

I've really been struggling with the Physical side of things, it really helps to see that people have had similar experiences as at the minute I really don't know what to do.

I wen't to see my GP yesterday and he said that I'm a ''MYSTERY'' as I've been seeing him weekly now for the past 3 Months, He's pushing for me to see a cardiologist now as he can see my anxiety has improved ten fold since the start and wants to rule any serious medical issue out before sending me to see a psych.

Tests I've had so far:

Brain MRI

Multiple Blood Tests

More ECG's than I can count

Eye T

Tests I'm waiting on

48 Halter Monitor

Heart Echo

I can appreciate that anxiety can bring on a whole cluster of symptoms, but what I'm most concerned about is mine are 24/7 with barely any windows so I'm convinced something sinister is going on... even my doctor is starting to believe it could be more than just anxiety

Here's my long ass list of symptoms -

Head:

Pulses

Vibrations

Bubbling Sensations

Tinnitus

Heart Beat feeling in ear

Head aches

Hair Loss

Sinuses:

Crackling and popping noises

Pressure

Chest:

Vibrations

Buzzing Sensations

Irregular heart rate jumps between 85-120 when resting, 120-150 when walking

Air Hunger

Burning pains around heart and lungs

Pulled muscle feeling type pains too

Shortness of breath

Noises from lungs when laying down

Bounding Pulse

Arms:

Numbness

Joint Pain

Elbow Pulses

Hands:

Numbness

Pins and Needles

Feet:

Buzzing & vibrating sensations

Numbness

Pins and Needles

Legs:

Buzzing & Vibrations

Joint Pain

Shin Pain

Numbness

Joints crack alot when walking too

Stomach:

Never feel hungry but can eat as normal

Buzzing and vibrations

Weight gain

Bubbling

Not needing the toilet as much

Churning feeling in left side

Eyes:

Floaters

Visual Snow

Flashing lights and kaleidoscope patterns when I close my eyes

Extreme Insomnia

Constant awareness of heartbeat

I'm only 25 but my body feels about 70 haha

Mental:

DR/DP

Anxiety around the symptoms I have

Medications:

All this started when I had a bad reaction to Citalopram but got took off them 8-9 weeks ago and haven't been on a SSRI since

1MG Lorazepam (Ativan) For sleep as I can't physically sleep without them

I really didn't know something psychological could cause all this and I just feel lost as I don't know how to fix it

The main things that scare me is the constant body buzzing and vibration, I dont feel real

I still work full time and the whole time I'm not focused on what I'm doing, I'm just inside my own head thinking about whats going on

Can anyone relate?
4 Responses
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Avatar universal
I'm going to suggest something that you maybe haven't heard before.  I had the same issues going on, and it turned out to be excess stomach acid for which I was prescribed Esomeprazole, or generic Prilosec.  No one could figure out what was wrong with me, and I researched until I came to this conclusion.  My doctor ordered an upper GI and it was found that I had stomach inflammation.  No one, out of the many ER docs and even my regular GP or Cardiologist could figure this one out.  The anxiety and vibrations are all but gone, along with almost all of my other symptoms.  I've been on this journey for over a year and half and started out with an ambulance ride from my job because the stomach acid shot my blood pressure through the roof.  I didn't think my stomach issues were that serious until all this.  Something to think about.  
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4 Comments
That's interesting.  So you are all better now?  Do you also have anxiety or that is gone?
But do know, taking Prilosec for a long period of can make your stomach acid problem worse.  The digestive system has to make acid in order to break down minerals and especially to digest protein.  When you suppress it, it will make more and more, because it has to.  There are a ton of reasons why someone might get inflammation in the digestive tract.  If Prilosec works, it's probably your diet or anxiety or from medication.  At some point you have to figure out why it's inflamed, not just suppress the acid.  That med isn't supposed to be taken for long periods of time -- it's basically a 14 day course and beyond that you're past the research and on your own.  There are many natural plant remedies that actually deal with the inflammation, not the acid production, so at some point you might want to consult a nutritionist or naturopath or research this on your own and see if you can't fix it rather than suppress it.  All the best.
Yes, all better for the most part.  The anxiety is gone as well, along with the vibrations and high heart rate.  Paxiled; yes, I'm aware of the consequences of the stomach medicinces and know that they are only intended for short term usage until your body has a chance to heal itself.  I'm looking into other ways to get my gut well in the interim.  I'm just relieved to have some answers thus far
That's really great.  It's awesome to get some relief and I'm happy for you.  Appreciate your sharing that with people.
1616953 tn?1443835511
Have a detailed heart check.  Maybe request a Holter that monitors you for 24 hours?  The bubbling is what I remember from my heart attack not the normal chest pains or numbness.  Anyway rule that out this is where getting it confused with Anxiety can get you killed.

I would only take Benzos for anxiety attacks.  Daily use is just too addicting for most people (My opinion)  Maybe ask about Ambien or Lunesta.  Those seem to have gone from a bad idea to a good one if you can't get and stay sleeping.  Celexa might not work but I would for sure look at other meds before ruling all of them out.  Perhapes Wellbutren for depression?  Or Buspar for Anxiety?  Buspar doesn't work for everyone but its got no baggage and doesn't sedate you.  And if you do have a benzo for anxiety that you take as needed try to figure out what the lowest dose is that takes you from non functional to functional.  Not more where your getting a buzz and not less where it does nothing.  This is just a non doctor opinion so run this by your doc if anything I say sounds good.
Helpful - 0
5 Comments
Besides not actually working in clinical trials. BuSpar isn't baggage free.  It does affect brain neurotransmitters.  Sleeping pills are not baggage free, either -- use them regularly and you won't be able to sleep without them.  No drug is baggage free.  Wellbutrin is the most stimulating antidepressant, and so if the main problem is anxiety, it's not going to probably be your choice.  This stuff is very individual, but for everyone here, this poster is reporting a host of symptoms, not just one or two.  The poster is reporting that it all started when he started a particular med.  Unless we're all assuming this poster isn't telling us what actually happened, it appears to be more complicated than just an anxiety problem, at least to me.  Peace, all.
Hi james Yeah I'm awaiting a 48hr holter monitor I'm having that this friday and going to see a cardiologist shortly after as I keep having SVT and Tachycardia
The Holter test was what helped me.  It showed I was having something like 5000 cardiac "blips" that my doctor said were not harmful if I was having them like a normal person.  A couple times a day etc.  Anyway I had a procedure done where they burned out a tiny area of the heart that was giving off these bad blips to my heart and its been GREAT!
Since your into "alternative meds" I guess its pointless to argue a point about buspar but compared to benzos (for example) it doesn't come with the baggage of abuse, dependence or protracted discontinuation symptoms.  Whatever trial your speaking about it failing its approved for treating generalized anxiety disorder and I think its helped me.  I understand that its a drug thats hit or miss.  Some people have positive results others get nothing.  And while its tiring to argue over drugs I don't claim that Ambien or Lunesta are problem free only that in the latest round of how to deal with insomnia the crew that was saying these were not to be used any longer then a couple weeks now are saying that long term use is better then this weeks current contenders.  I tend to think that with drugs the official line changes on a regular basis depending on what the results of the latest trial were.  *Correctly done or not.
Trials never tell us anything about the long-term use of drugs.  Too expensive, and not the point.  The point is to get a drug approved and making money.  After that, there are panels that are convened to see what actually happens to people who take these drugs, and it's pretty much never what the short-term trials showed.  That's how you get those long lists of side effects on the drug website -- it's not from the trials, it's from what's learned from the guinea pigs (us) who use them for awhile.  BuSpar has failed all of its clinical trials.  It has been around a very long time, and for all that time it has been a drug seeking a market.  At this point it's main usage is combined with an antidepressant when the antidepressant doesn't work quite as well as you'd like but works well enough to stay one it.  That doesn't mean in any way that for a particular person BuSpar isn't a great remedy, as it has been for you.  It means it doesn't work well for most people who take it, and in trials, placebo pretty much beat it.  It did get approved, and it's out there.  As for alternative medicine, I say this a lot, but the alternative medicine is the medicine doctors practice.  That's the new kid on the block.  Natural medicine, which often isn't all that natural, has been around a lot longer, so we have a long record of anecdotal usage.  With drugs, they're all pretty new to us, and the body has a hard time processing them because they aren't food and food is what the body evolved to consume and break down.  I take medication, so I'm not anti-medication at all, but I do say don't use it if anything else will work because like surgery or any other invasive procedure, if you can fix it without medication you're always better off.  If you can't, the mediation isn't going anywhere.  For some things, though, medication will usually make things worse.  Sleep is one of those things.  Digestive problems are another.  If nothing else works, you do what you have to do.  But to not try things that might fix a problem instead of suppress it and force the body to compensate for that, over the long-term the body may no longer be able to do that.  My argument isn't don't take meds, it's be cautious and make sure your doctor knows what he or she is doing because quite often they just don't.  Evidence proves that, as studies are always being done about medical outcomes and they aren't very good.  Yet.  I'm sure we'll get better and better at it, but right now, it's a profit driven business and those who chase profit really don't care about us.  So we have to be vigilant.  That's all I'm saying.  For you, BuSpar is the thing that helps, and that's great.  Don't change a thing.  Peace.
Avatar universal
If this started with the Citalopram, and didn't exist before the Citalopram, then that's what it is, most likely.  I'm wondering, then, about your medication history.  I'm assuming you decided to try Citalopram because of your anxiety.  Is this right?  If so, what symptoms of anxiety were you suffering that made you decide to try medication?  

I'm also assuming the symptoms you're describing now are quite different from the ones you were suffering before taking the drug, but which ones were different and which ones are similar?  That might at least help to reduce what might be attributed to your chronic anxiety problem and which are attributed to your bad drug reaction.  

Also, how long were you on the Citalopram, and did you taper off of it slowly or did you quit cold turkey?  If you were on it a long time, everything you're describing is what those who get a hopefully uncommon problem when they stop taking certain drugs that affect brain neurotransmitters.  For example, the insomnia -- this is one of the most common symptoms of a bad withdrawal that just doesn't go away as it does with most people.  I have this problem.  15 years ago I decided to stop taking Paxil, and I did a generalized taper with my psychiatrist of 5-6 weeks.  After a month I was destroyed, and because my psychiatrist didn't acknowledge the existence of this problem it wasn't treated at all.  All these years later I still can't sleep well, my brain isn't the one I used to have, and I've injured everything in my body.  Just like you say, docs can't figure it out at all.  

In your case, this apparently started when you were taking the Citalopram, and unlike everyone else who you'll probably talk to, my experience has led me to realize that there are odd drug reactions that happen to some people, but not most people, and because the drugs we take are very little understood by anyone but the ones who understand them the most, those who create them, are not allowed to talk about their downsides because the companies they work for won't allow it.  In lawsuits, they settle, so little of it gets publicized out of that, either.  Now remember, these odd things don't happen the vast majority of the time, as far as we know, so those of us who get in this kind of situation have few people we can get to who know about these things.  Often there is no treatment for it because nobody knows what happened.  

I know a podiatrist who took statins, which are known to cause terrible joint pain and liver damage in some people who take them.  For most, the joint part goes away if you stop taking them, but for some, it never does.  This podiatrist had to retire because he could no longer do what a podiatrist has to do and could only get around because of a motorized scooter -- he could barely walk.  So here's my take -- explore everything with specialists.  

If you can, get yourself to the best medical institutions that exist, such as Johns Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic, where docs will work in teams and look at everything.  I can't do this because my anxiety disorder was a phobia problem, and it's far worse now and now it's not treatable.  Try to find someone who works in addiction treatment, a top doc, because that's where docs run into the long-term effects of drugs that affect brain neurotransmitters and see if anyone has found anything new about it.  

Now, I'm not an expert, what happened to me doesn't happen much, and bad drug reactions that produce lasting problems like yours are probably rare as well.  It might not be the drug at all, I have no way of knowing, but what I do know is, your docs know virtually nothing about the drugs they prescribe.  Almost nobody does.  They are odd and new to our lives and much of the info about them is secret proprietary info in our economic system where health care is just one more way to make money.  What I am doing is taking you seriously, that if you say this happened because of the drug you took, I'm going to believe you might very well be right.  So exhaust everything else, look into it all, do that CBT because if you're young your brain can still most likely produce new nerve channels.  

If it is the drug, that's probably what's off, your brain neurotransmitters are not going back to normal and your nervous system is sending out all sorts of signals that aren't any good for you.  Again, it might be something else entirely, but if you were already suffering chronic anxiety and did not have this kind of problem going on, why would you have it now?  The only change was the drug.  You said that, I'm listening.  If nothing else fixes this, you have to look at the drug reaction.  All the best.
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2 Comments
Wow thanks for believing my, my doctors don't

This all started 18 days into the citalopram I was told to stop them immediately and try prozac which I did for 4 days the signs got worse, that was almost 3 months ago since I stopped everything but I still battle with all these symptoms every day

I took it because at the start of the year I began having panic attacks in my sleep which led to me having anxiety throughout the day

The worst part is the doctors don't believe it's from the drugs and that it's my mind creating all these symptoms it's literally a living hell
And please, everyone, note that I said don't give up.  I'm an old guy and got really bad  medical treatment.  What I learned is that sometimes drugs go very wrong.  That doesn't mean this is what happened here, just that it might be.  People differ in how they react to things and the ability of their bodies and minds to heal themselves.  That podiatrist was already an old man.  I was already an older guy.  The younger you are, the better able your body and mind to overcome.  The more will you have.  We're all different, I'm only suggesting that maybe we should take seriously that the poster knows what happened to him, and also acknowledge that doctors are lost when the drugs they prescribe act in very odd ways.  Peace, all.
973741 tn?1342342773
That is certainly a comprehensive list.  I do totally agree that anxiety can bring on a whole host of things including worry about each and every thing we experience or feel.  And you know, we ALL have things from time to time.  :>)  And it is not a health concern, just that days oddity of living life in our bodies.

It IS important to rule out medical conditions.  But your list has many things that seem very mental health related. What exactly are you doing for treatment of anxiety?   The list in itself appears  a manifestation of anxiety.  What I'm talking about is that you are tracking shin pain and things like that on this list.  That's likely due to your activity and shoes, right?  That's an every day thing that active people have to figure out.  But it is on a list like this.  

It may be time to work with a psychiatrist rather than your GP and a therapist.  

But do agree to rule out things that would be serious as we all do.  Let us know how that goes and what you've been doing to address anxiety and what the next step is for that.
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4 Comments
And I want to add that I'm sorry you are going through this.  I don't doubt that you have all these issues or anything like that.  But I think your anxiety makes you examine your body and self in a way that is in relation to mental health.  


Hiya

Yeah The shin pain bit was in relation to just the muscle and joint pain i've been getting just tried to break it down cause I've been getting atleast 5-6 symptoms a day lasting all day.

The main concern for me is feeling a constant pulse in my body and the vibrations

In terms of sorting out my anxiety, I'm on a waiting list for CBT been on that list for around 3 months now so looking to go private with it when I get paid

I tried SSRI's and had an adverse reaction to them which put me in hospital thats where all these symptoms started

I've also quit smoking, drinking and started eating alot better now

It's like i've became hyper aware of my bodies functions, especially the pulse i feel it in my fingers / head/ back when sitting etc it creates alot more anxiety for me

I don't even know how I go to work every day

I'm just waiting on seeing a cardiologist now to make sure I don't have a heart condition, all my other tests came back clear
I think being hyper aware of your body IS often anxiety. We see it here all the time. I have some health anxiety and when I'm in the throes of it, I too feel every little thing.  If SSR's aren't a good choice, I'd begin working with a psychiatrist for what might be including therapy with a psychologist.  I think you'll get an all clear health wise (if your anxiety doesn't end up MAKING you have various chronic issues throughout your body system)---  

I'm very glad you've got a lifestyle change going that is pro health. That's fantastic.  
And what were your anxiety symptoms prior to treatment for anxiety.  This is unlikely is to have started only after treatment but perhaps has been a longer term issue for you?
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