I am an 18 year old male that has been struggling with hypochondria and severe anxiety for most of my life. I have worried about such things as heart attacks and appendicitis, however i can assure you this is a bit different.
For a few years now, I have been suffering from several symptoms, such as depersonalization, severe lack of concentration and minor lack of memory, and vision problems (such as floaters and increased sensitivity to light), I have never had good vision though. I have had extreme nearsightedness all my life. Just recently I have been having regular pressure headaches on the left side of my head, about midway back and seemingly deep. Anyway, I have recently been worrying more and more about the possibility of a brain tumor. I am absolutley not a person to be running to the ER at every little sneeze, but one day last year, my DP got so bad (before I knew what DP really was) that I had to take a trip to said ER. I underwent a CT scan, which came up clear, but my symptoms continued.
On one side of the coin, I know how anxiety can affect the physical body, and after spending months online searching my condition, I’ve discovered many people that have symptoms close to mine.
On the other side of the coin, well, I’m a hypochondriac and I am very concerned about the little details- The fact that tumors can sometimes take a long while to be noticed, that CT scans aren’t always accurate, and the fact that i feel just so abnormal that its hard to think that anxiety could cause such persistant physical symptoms. At times I get so paranoid that I do not talk to anyone, and I am just locked alone in this state of horror.
On a side note, I am almost always exhausted. I find it terribly difficult to get up and go to work, and once I get there I feel that I may fall asleep halfway through my shift. Oddly, sometimes after I have been working for about 5 hours, I feel less tired and more motivated. Bear in mind that I do not always "wake up" after working, it is not an everyday occurance.

So, if anybody out there has any idea at all about what I should think, please don’t hesitate to respond.

Thanks in advance,
Nate.

Tags: appendicitis, bear in mind, brain tumor, ct scan, depersonalization, dp, floaters, good vision, headaches, heart attacks, horror, hypochondriac, lack of concentration, lack of memory, severe anxiety, sneeze, tumors, vision problems

I’m 16 yeard old. I’ve struggled with anxiety for years, but over the past few weeks I’ve been showing symptoms of panic disorder.

It all started when I smoked a great amount of marijuana in mid-August. I would like you to know that it was a HORROR experience and I never plan to try it again. It was only my 3rd time and I had far too much. I had a full-blown panic attack, mainly because I was in a state where I couldn’t control my thoughts. I kept seeing myself jumping from the 2nd story of the apartment I was in, and breaking my neck. Or saying something totally uncalled for and inappropriate. And I knew it was a possibility because I kept thinking "You don’t know reality from dream right now. Whatever you’re thinking may or may not be real". So any horrible thought that ran through my head could have been real and I wouldn’t have even known it. I was pacing around and my palms were sweating. I kept begging for someone to take me to the mental hospital where I’d be safe. All I wanted was to go to sleep, and I eventually did, but it was difficult. When I woke up I felt better, but the unreality was still vaguely there.

And it has lingered ever since.

I’ve been noticing my palms sweating quite often. I’ve imagined saying or doing something inappropriate, just like before, except I have full control now. But lately I’ve been having dizzy spells and the unreality hits me often. I also get hot flashes. I’m too aware of my surroundings, and I wonder if everything is real. I get numbness all over and I feel disassociated from my body. I have this feeling like I have to hold on or I’ll just fly up into space.

The main places I feel this in are the car (especially in the dark, like on the interstate, with the windows down), the bus when it’s crowded, and one of my classes where I’m in the back corner and the desks are too close together. It hits me the worst on the bus, since it’s crowded and the people are loud. As a result, I have avoided riding the bus for the past two days. Whenever I’m in an open space, like my house, I can deal with it much better.

Whenever I read up on panic disorder, the symptoms are described as "terrifying". I would say that mine are, at most, disturbing. Therefore, I believe I have a mild version of it.

The worst feelings come and go within a few seconds. I just start breathing deeply, telling myself to "chill out" and reassuring myself that everything is okay, and real. It helps to think of my friends.

I have a hard time talking to people about it, because it seems like when I do, everything becomes unreal again, and I get nervous. I vaguely fear losing control.

I see a psychologist every 2 weeks, but since I can’t talk to him about it, I will probably just type him a paper to read. Also, my mom cannot seem to find a psychiatrist. My dad is studying psychology and he knows a great deal about it. He said that it may be a symptom of my major depression.

Can anyone provide me a possible diagnosis, and let me know what I can do to make these disturbing feelings go away? I would like support. It’s the best anyone can do for me.

Thanks!

Tags: anxiety, apartment, desks, dizzy spells, dream right, fly, horror, hot flashes, marijuana, mental hospital, numbness, palms, panic attack, panic disorder, riding the bus, sleep, surroundings, unreality

I take a supplement called Sam-e but sometimes it’s not enough as I get all worked up over things. I just found out my neighbor has bedbugs and have a horror that they may come over to my condo….friends say I am over re-acting and I probably am as they are just in her mattress now……but I get overly upset over other things that aren’t that bad too….getting ready to go to the gym….I know that will help me. I have had a panic attack 2 years ago and ended up overnight in the hospital as I thought it was a heart attack….the Dr. prescribed lexapro and I gained weight so stopped taking it and started taking Sam-e which is more expensive and he prescribed xanax (the generic one) 0.5mg. and said to take as needed and I don’t think I take it enough as I don’t want to get dependent one it…..got dependent long time ago on valium….the 30 pills he prescribed was last Nov.14th and said to take one half pill as needed and one for insomnia as needed.

Tags: bedbugs, heart attack, horror, insomnia, lexapro, long time, mattress, neighbor, panic attack, pills, valium, xanax