Do I have really bad anxiety or is something else going on?

Hello all-I'm new to this group so please bear with me. I need some information and or opinions on if you think what I have is anxiety or not? I even went to the emergency room a couple weeks ago for symptoms I was having. Lately I just feel like my head is in the clouds, i don't feel my normal outgoing self. I have night sweats, I'm shaking internally (which just started a couple weeks ago) I can feel the shaking in my hands and in my legs, i feel off balance, I also feel twitches and feel shaking in my lips and feel my teeth chattering a little bit but you cannot see it from the outside, its really odd. I get dizzy and vertigo, get headaches really bad and stomach aches. My rheumatolgist said I have fibromyalgia but I don't know if those things are related to this. I also saw a neurologist who stated that nothing was wrong with me neurologically and that I should seek mental help, well thanks alot buddy. I've been to so many dr's I though I had an auto immune issue going on but they tell me all is normal, I've had every blood test under the sun and all normal? Why do I feel this way? how do i get this to stop? monday I'm calling to set up an appt for a mental health evaluation. my dr. prescribed me the generic form of Celexa and a sleeping pill but Im afraid to take either from side effects and gaining weight. I tried cymbalta and that put me in the er department! it was horrible. can anyone help me? can all my symptoms be anxiety? i wake up an night with heart palpatations...my heart was checked at the ED and they said it was normal. I thought it was going to jump out of my chest. I do have a ton of stress for a long time as my husband is incarcerted, money issues, job issues, etc etc no child support. I constantly worry about how I will pay bills. any insight would be helpful. I feel so run down also and tired, my muscles hurt too.

That sounds like a horrible place to be in, and I think it's really good that you're continuing to seek help for it, and considering other possible causes. If you mention to your doctor that you're worried about drug side effects, they should be able to work with you to find ones with minimal effects, and even if that takes a while it's worth doing. I'm not a doctor, so I couldn't say if it's all down to anxiety, but I've had various physical symptoms from stress so wouldn't underestimate the power of the mind to affect the body. It could also be anxiety interacting with a physical cause, but that might be hard to work out. Keep posting updates, or just around the forums in general, though. If it's helpful for you.

I have had the majority of those symptoms you are describing. I always thought I was going crazy. But the fact of the matter is...it's anxiety. I'm 24 and am healthy other than being a smoker. The best way to combat those feelings is to say to yourself "I've felt this way before and nothing happened". I find that distracting myself (ie: trying to remember all the lyrics to The 12 Days Of Christmas) helps a lot. When you're anxious and at your wits end...think of something you love or distract your brain with some kind of puzzle or something that requires a lot of thinking. It helps, trust me.

Hi, Ami,

However anxious you may be (and the issues you mention are enough to make anyone anxious) the physical symptioms you describe could still have a physical cause, (as well as making it harder to deal with the actual stress). A lot of so-called craziness is not just in patients' heads, in fact advances over the past decade are finding physical causes for more and more cases of anxiety and depression. Sigmund Freud's first analysis patient, whom he confidently diagnosed as being a basket case, was in fact suffering from multiple sclerosis.

This is from the Merck Manual http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/hormonal_and_metabolic_disorders/hypoglycemia/hypoglycemia.html:

The body first responds to a fall in the level of sugar in the blood by releasing epinephrine from the adrenal glands. Epinephrine stimulates the release of sugar from body stores but also causes symptoms similar to those of an anxiety attack: sweating, nervousness, shaking, faintness, palpitations [...] dizziness, fatigue, weakness, headaches, inability to concentrate, confusion...

Merck lists these as possible symptoms of hypoglycemia, (suggesting unbalanced insulin levels. )

Imbalances of the thyroid or adrenal glands can also cause palpitations and shakiness, as well as many of the other symptoms you mention.

Sometimes there are autoimune issues involved (you mention the possibility of rheumatoid arthritis, and sadly a 'negative' blood test is not always conclusive. 20% of officially diagnosed RA suffers never show a positive reading, and for many others it takes years, with doctors tending to withold diagnosis and treatment and allowing the condition to worsen in the meantime). As you may know, autoimmune disorders tend to travel in packs, and so a person with one, may be at risk of getting others. And even when diagnosed, many doctors just prescribe treatments which suppress the symptoms while neglecting the underlying causes.


When money is tight, most of us instinctively tend to increase the more budget-friendly, filling, and comforting, carbohydrate items in our diets -- but this can be a false economy.

Such foods are generally very high in gluten (a trigger for many) and they also cause insulin levels to spike -- potentially triggering the hypoglycemic reactions described by Merck. Search for Gary Taubes on Youtube, and if possible read his book, Why We Get Fat: And What to Do about It. This has a full explanation of the insulin issue (this is far more than just a diet book).

The related book, Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD carries some fascinating and disturbing information about how this staple food can be damaging our health (the wheat on our tables today, is not the same as the wheat our grandparents ate; it contains only a fraction of the protein and high levels of toxins). William Davis can also be found on Youtube.

Tragically with thyroid and endocrine issues, especially where there is autoimmunity involved, standard blood tests often fail to detect the problem, and it has been estimated that millions are being left untreated. Check out http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com This site details a 'long and pathetic' list of so-called mental health problems that result from improperly treated hormone issues (not just thyroid), as well as exposing some of the typical problems caused by ill-informed doctors and consultants.

For information on fibromyalgia and the connection with thyroid, check out this article on the work of Dr. John Lowe:http://www.prohealth.com/fibromyalgia/library/showArticle.cfm?libid=16826&B1=EM022212F&utm_source=EM022212F&utm_medium=em&utm_campaign=FM&slvor=10807.1059102.0.1.0.65109&eid=kyness%40mindspring.com

The research of Dr. David Clark on autoimmune/thyroid/gluten, is also very informative
http://dallasthyroiddoctor.com/fibromyalgia-and-hypothyroid-low-thyroid
Dr. Clark (who is gluten intolerent himself) can also be found on youtube. Although he has his own clinic, the main thrust of his research is that a gluten-free diet will control most of these conditions.

Also google Dr. Joel Wallach of Dead Doctors Don't Lie. His research shows that the modern diet is severely deficient in minerals because of changes in food production methods, leading to many serious health issues. He has charts online which list the minerals to supplement for a wide range of conditions, and much material on youtube.

Another common deficiency in modern diets -- more so for anyone under stress -- is vitamin B12. See Could it be B12?: An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses by Sally M. Pacholok and Jeffrey J. Stuart.

Also check out Dr. Peter Breggin on the neurotoxic effect of psychiatric drugs, before letting any doctor persuade you to take them as a quick fix.

Anyway, hope some of this helps, and good luck!

Also check out Dr. Peter Breggin on the neurotoxic effect of psychiatric drugs, before letting any doctor persuade you to take them as a quick fix.

While checking out other possible causes is a good idea, and a gluten free diet has helped many, let's not rule out medication. It helps many people, myself included. It's a personal choice that everyone needs to make for themselves. It's not a "quick fix". Medication combined with therapy has been found to be the most effective treatment for mental health disorders. Everyone needs to decide what works for them.

amicrazy12, I experience really bad heart palpitations, night sweats, and shaking when I'm having an episode of really bad anxiety.