Hey Hubert
Hey Man,
My name is John and I'm 25. I've been through a lot of what you're experiencing right now and beyond. At the end of March I had my first panic attack while riding the metro home from work. I felt fine and didn't feel particularly anxious amd at that time, I didn't know it was a panic attack. I thought something really bad was happening with my heart. I went to the ER amd since then, it has been a rocky road, but has been getting better.
I've in a month and a half time frame, I had more doctor's appointments, ekg's, blood tests, and other things than I count. All were normal. Though, convinced something was wrong, I continued to get more tests. I have had a full cardio workup...EKG, ECG, stress test, 24 hr heart and blood pressure monitor's....I had a neurological workup including an EMG (an uncomfortable, but sensitive test) for the one sided "weakness" and tingling/numbness. All were normal.
In the mean time I started seeing a therapist because all doctor's were saying anxiety. I didnt buy into that diagnosis. It is hard thing to imagine that your mind could be causing all this stuff to
go on with my body. Though, the more tests that came back negative and the more research I did, I found out that 1) my symptoms do logically match anything in the way that all this has occurred. I've gone from worried about my heart, to cancer, to MS, ALS or some neurological disorder. My symptoms and generally an anxious persons symptoms match a lot of things and nothing can truly be pinpointed as the cause....because there isn't a cause. The other thing...anxiety has a lot of psychological issues that arise.
My brother-in-law was recently diagnosed with hodgkins, which didn't help my mind, but anyway...he was actually sick, but yet way more composed than myself. Not to say he didn't have anxious moments, but you and I have abnormal irrational fears
over "symptoms" that in all reality aren't a result of A serious disease. We aren't sick and he was, yet mentally...you and I were much worse off. Anxiety attacks the mind which in turn attacks your body.
The other thing is this...you can have anxiety and anxiety symptoms and not feel that anxious. I wasnt anxious when all this started and don't feel anxious now, but yet I still have symptoms. Anxiety attacks and symptoms start for a lot of people ina moment when you wouldnt expect it or feel ok. The fact of the matter is, we probably have stuff, issues, problems and maybe a sedentary lifestyle where we dont deal with things amd they just get compiled and before you know it, you have an anxiety attack, which pretty much feel like death to me. I havent had one in about a month now. Thank you Lord! My anxiety symptoms are better and worse some days and sometimes I feel pretty normal, but it is a battle. Therapy and exercise help. The more I learn about it the more I'm convinced anxiety is what I have. Many people have these symptoms, but you can also have unique ones too, but don't let that scare you. If something was truly wrong, something would begin to show up. There is a reason it takes so long to be a doctor. We can surf the Internet all day and still not know what they know.
My doc did so many tests at my request and referred me to one of the best neurologist in the area to calm me down. She told me it was anxiety from the get-go. The neurologist basically gavee the option for my EMG, which I took, but the bottom line is...if he really thought something was wrong, I would been made to get this test or an MRI.
Accepting the diagnosis is the hardest part and I have to accept it over and over. I give myself personal neurological test all the time and i function fine and I just have to say...it's anxiety. It's a very hard thing to wrap your mind around. I'm 25 year old male with no horrible personal or family medical history and I was in the Marines for 7 years. This was a horrible amd demoralizing exeperiece for me.
whatever caused this....I have no idea...life changes...work...I don't know, but you will see...that your issue is what they think. I encourage you to get tested as much as you desire to calm your fears and when they keep coming back normal just like mine did, believe it....your mind can cause your body to do some crazy things. Anxiety is a bad but good thing...it's you telling you that you have stress and issues that aren't being dealt with emtionally and physically. Take care of the mind or work the body. It has been helping me. I'm not 100% normal yet, but I hope I will some day. let me know how everything goes. Best wishes!
I can’t possibly cope that long not knowing what’s causing these persistent symptoms everyday 