ALS, Brain Tumors, Ovarian Cancer ... or anxiety?

[Fae]

Hello everyone and thank you in advance for taking the time to read this.

I have always had headaches off and on throughout my life (I'm 25). Towards the end of January I got a headache right behind my eyes that wouldn't go away. It was constant and no pain reliever would even touch it. I went to my PCP who initially thought it might be an allergic reaction. I was convinced that it was a brain tumor. She gave me a nasal inhaler which doesn't seem to have changed anything. After two weeks of the headache that just wouldn't die, I woke up one morning and it was gone. It stayed gone for about a week, came back for one weekend and then was gone again. My PCP has no idea what it is. Her only suggestion is that it's anxiety causing it. I'm still suspicious of a brain tumor.

Then things got even stranger this week. First, I noticed a slight twitching feeling in my left groin. It wasn't painful ... just twitchy. I've been taking birth control for about a year now and on Wednesday I noticed spotting while on my active birth control pills, accompanied by a weird cramping that I don't normally experience. I still had three days left of active pills in my pack when my period started. So then I became completely convinced of ovarian cancer. I called my OBGYN who said it was nothing to worry about unless it continues happening but I do have an appointment scheduled next week just in case.

This past Friday, the day after I spoke to my OBGYN I noticed that my heart rate seemed very fast. I also started experiencing sharp pains in my ribs and my chest. I called my PCP to see if she thought this was something to be concerned about and she told me to come in ... immediately. My resting heart rate was recorded at 140 BPM and my doctor ordered an EKG which came back completely normal. Blood tests also came back normal. Her diagnosis was, once again anxiety and she told me that I had had a panic attack. I left the office with a prescription for citalopram and lorazepam.

Saturday morning I woke up and felt like I had been hit by a bus. My limbs ached, my whole body was sore and I felt weak and shaky. Initially I assumed this was a result of having such an abnormal period and the stress that the anxiety attack had put on my body. I took my first dose of Citalopram and laid low for the day. Saturday night, I was sitting at my computer and I noticed a muscle twitching in my left thigh. Naturally, the first thing that I did was Google what might cause the twitching and the first thing that popped up was ALS. The more that I read about muscle weakness and twitching muscles the more that I became convinced that I have ALS. To be completely honest, I'm not entirely convinced that I don't. My best friend pointed out that twitching is a side effect of many anxiety medications. My roommate has also been trying to explain to me that anxiety could be causing the twitching. The twitching was strong last night and then died down a bit. Today it's hardly noticeable but it's still there. It feels a bit like a list vibration.

Bottom line: I'm freaking out about all of it. I'm not convinced that I don't have any of these horrible conditions. The most concerning thing is just the overall feeling of weakness. Just typing this is making my hands feel like jelly. I was curious to see if anyone else has experienced anything similar either as a result of anxiety or from medication. It seems much easier for me to convince myself of these life threatening medical issues than it is for me to talk myself out of them. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[trainwreck]

1- Brain tumors dont come and go.
2- Twitching is something everyone gets.  If there is someone on this forum who has never had a muscle twitch, let me know. (I have an aggravating twitch in my calf right now)
3- It is pretty normal to feel physically bad after a bad panic attack.  You released a ton of adrenaline into your muscles with the fight/flight response.  They will feel it the next day.  A feeling of weakness is one of the more common symptom of anxiety.  Your muscles get keyed up and they become fatigued.

You have talked to one doctor and seen another.  Neither seems to think there is anything sinister going on aside from anxiety.

 Accept the diagnosis and use the meds she gave you the way she told you to use them. 

[HereIGoAgain]

Hey!  I totally agree with the points trainwreck said.

Anxiety (and the side effects of the medication we take for it) can do some pretty strange things to our bodies

P.s I twitch pretty much every day and have even posted here about it and been reassured its all part of anxiety

[MrMoleHill]

Saturday morning I woke up and felt like I had been hit by a bus. My limbs ached, my whole body was sore and I felt weak and shaky.

This pretty much describes the way I've been waking up for the last ten years or so. I literally used to ask myself upon waking, "Why do I feel like I got hit by a Mack truck?"
I've chalked it up to anxiety, because I know how it wreaks total havoc on our bodies - especially after a panic attack, or during an anxious phase.

People with fibromyalgia can wake up that way too, and probably feel that way throughout the day. It's all benign, so I'm not worried about it.