Hello guys! Finding and browsing through this forum has given me a lot of reassurance that physical symptoms are quite common, but I think the time has come for me to ask you about advice, because I've never read a lot about my own symptoms. I'm sorry about the wall of text in advance
I was trying to write down as many details as possible.
I have struggled with health anxiety since I was 15 (I'm 20 now.) Usually I would feel a psychical sensation, start obsessing and googling it, the symptom would persist, but after 1-2 weeks I would forget about it and everything would come back to normal.
In April 2019 I felt a veeery light tingling sensation in my knees when I lied down in bed, and obviously I started obsessing about it. One day I woke up with pain in both of my legs which lasted only a day. Then came the constant tingling, buzzing, vibrating - in both of my legs at the same time, mostly in feet and calves. No weakness, no changes in sensation, no sensitivity to touch.
What is also interesting, I only felt the tingling when I sat or lied down, the moment I started walking it was gone.
I think that my obsession reached its peak at the beginning of May. I spent it at home and for a whole week I felt a dull ache in both of my legs along with the tingling. Again - only when I was sitting and lying down.
When I came back to university, I was busy with schoolwork, the pain was gone and the tingling became less severe, but I still had it at the back of my mind. Now it's hard to remember exactly how it felt then, but I didn't worry about it too much, so maybe it wasn't the worst. During June I was trying to figure out what triggers the pain in my legs, and I thought that it could be hard physical activity. Now I'm not sure if it was for real or if it was just my brain acting on the suggestion, but after every physical education the pain would come and last only for a day (it happened overall 3 times.)
I went to the doctor, told her about my symptoms, she checked my heart, did the bloodwork, and everything turned out OK. Nothing that could cause the tingling.
Another interesting thing that happened - in the second part of July and almost the whole August I was constantly spending time with my good friend (we went for vacation together), and we were busy every day. During that time I forgot that I ever had the tingling, and, of course, there were no physical symptoms present.
Then I went to the countryside, where I didn't feel very safe, especially during night (heavy thunderstorms, in the middle of nowhere, only one person with me.) One day I went to play tennis, and after coming back I had a thought "What if a lot of physical activity will cause my legs to hurt again? Oh my, what has happened to my constant tingling!?" And yes, you're right. The tingling came back the very same day:-D But this time it brought friends.
Apart from the tingling, in the evening when I was the most stressed about sleeping, I also experienced weird cold chills that went from my torso to my legs. I could wake up two times every night and go to pee. Of course, I had to google the symptoms, and multiple sclerosis that popped up didn't help. At all. The last day we went to thermal waters where I was supposed to relax, but I couldn't - the weird cold chills kept coming. It was frustrating. By then I was very anxious. In the afternoon I suddenly felt so weak that I could barely pack my things. I thought I was going to faint any moment, I also felt slightly nauseous. When I reached home, it was better, because I felt much more safer, but thoughts about possible multiple sclerosis kept haunting me. There was also one incident that scared me a lot. I think it was the very same day or the next that I went to sleep and I could fell the tingling, buzzing sensation also in my arms. It was terrifying, but I was so tired that I fell asleep. It was gone in the morning.
The next 2-3 days I was also a bit nauseous, the tingling was of course constantly present, very strong, and my arms sometimes felt weak. Just felt like that, because I was able to carry weight and use them for everything. I even did yoga just to prove myself that there's nothing wrong. While googling symptoms, I found the link between them and anxiety. Thanks to that the symptoms are gone, but the tingling stayed. Since last week I have been cheering myself up that it's just anxiety, and the tingling started becoming less and less severe. Now it's here only when I sit, not so strong, the only thing that changed is that it no longer affects my feet and calves, just my knees and thighs. Also, it's not a spine problem because my physical therapist ruled that out.
Every time I sit, I expect the tingling to start, it's always on my mind and I can't forget about it. Last week I met with my cousins, we had a lot of fun, and I didn't feel any physical sensation! I simply forgot about it.
Another thing that stayed are the weird chills that sometimes go down my legs. I tried to figure out what triggers them: yawning, sometimes intense sounds when I'm watching something, and sometimes scratching myself. When I go from cold to warm and vice versa (it also applies to cold/hot food.)
I'm trying to tell myself that it's just anxiety, but it's hard for me to believe that it's just that??? I mean, the tingling has been lasting for so long! How is it possible that my brain created that? On top of that, in the back of my head I'm still scared about the possibility of MS.
Most people in here describe multiple symptoms, but I have just this one (well, two now.) Is it possible for a symptom to last so long and be so strong? And for it to disappear when I move? Do you think I should go to my GP and ask for more tests? Or I should go to a psychologist instead? I need some reassurance.
I was trying to write down as many details as possible. I have struggled with health anxiety since I was 15 (I'm 20 now.) Usually I would feel a psychical sensation, start obsessing and googling it, the symptom would persist, but after 1-2 weeks I would forget about it and everything would come back to normal.
In April 2019 I felt a veeery light tingling sensation in my knees when I lied down in bed, and obviously I started obsessing about it. One day I woke up with pain in both of my legs which lasted only a day. Then came the constant tingling, buzzing, vibrating - in both of my legs at the same time, mostly in feet and calves. No weakness, no changes in sensation, no sensitivity to touch.
What is also interesting, I only felt the tingling when I sat or lied down, the moment I started walking it was gone.
I think that my obsession reached its peak at the beginning of May. I spent it at home and for a whole week I felt a dull ache in both of my legs along with the tingling. Again - only when I was sitting and lying down.
When I came back to university, I was busy with schoolwork, the pain was gone and the tingling became less severe, but I still had it at the back of my mind. Now it's hard to remember exactly how it felt then, but I didn't worry about it too much, so maybe it wasn't the worst. During June I was trying to figure out what triggers the pain in my legs, and I thought that it could be hard physical activity. Now I'm not sure if it was for real or if it was just my brain acting on the suggestion, but after every physical education the pain would come and last only for a day (it happened overall 3 times.)
I went to the doctor, told her about my symptoms, she checked my heart, did the bloodwork, and everything turned out OK. Nothing that could cause the tingling.
Another interesting thing that happened - in the second part of July and almost the whole August I was constantly spending time with my good friend (we went for vacation together), and we were busy every day. During that time I forgot that I ever had the tingling, and, of course, there were no physical symptoms present.
Then I went to the countryside, where I didn't feel very safe, especially during night (heavy thunderstorms, in the middle of nowhere, only one person with me.) One day I went to play tennis, and after coming back I had a thought "What if a lot of physical activity will cause my legs to hurt again? Oh my, what has happened to my constant tingling!?" And yes, you're right. The tingling came back the very same day:-D But this time it brought friends.
Apart from the tingling, in the evening when I was the most stressed about sleeping, I also experienced weird cold chills that went from my torso to my legs. I could wake up two times every night and go to pee. Of course, I had to google the symptoms, and multiple sclerosis that popped up didn't help. At all. The last day we went to thermal waters where I was supposed to relax, but I couldn't - the weird cold chills kept coming. It was frustrating. By then I was very anxious. In the afternoon I suddenly felt so weak that I could barely pack my things. I thought I was going to faint any moment, I also felt slightly nauseous. When I reached home, it was better, because I felt much more safer, but thoughts about possible multiple sclerosis kept haunting me. There was also one incident that scared me a lot. I think it was the very same day or the next that I went to sleep and I could fell the tingling, buzzing sensation also in my arms. It was terrifying, but I was so tired that I fell asleep. It was gone in the morning.
The next 2-3 days I was also a bit nauseous, the tingling was of course constantly present, very strong, and my arms sometimes felt weak. Just felt like that, because I was able to carry weight and use them for everything. I even did yoga just to prove myself that there's nothing wrong. While googling symptoms, I found the link between them and anxiety. Thanks to that the symptoms are gone, but the tingling stayed. Since last week I have been cheering myself up that it's just anxiety, and the tingling started becoming less and less severe. Now it's here only when I sit, not so strong, the only thing that changed is that it no longer affects my feet and calves, just my knees and thighs. Also, it's not a spine problem because my physical therapist ruled that out.
Every time I sit, I expect the tingling to start, it's always on my mind and I can't forget about it. Last week I met with my cousins, we had a lot of fun, and I didn't feel any physical sensation! I simply forgot about it.
Another thing that stayed are the weird chills that sometimes go down my legs. I tried to figure out what triggers them: yawning, sometimes intense sounds when I'm watching something, and sometimes scratching myself. When I go from cold to warm and vice versa (it also applies to cold/hot food.)
I'm trying to tell myself that it's just anxiety, but it's hard for me to believe that it's just that??? I mean, the tingling has been lasting for so long! How is it possible that my brain created that? On top of that, in the back of my head I'm still scared about the possibility of MS.
Most people in here describe multiple symptoms, but I have just this one (well, two now.) Is it possible for a symptom to last so long and be so strong? And for it to disappear when I move? Do you think I should go to my GP and ask for more tests? Or I should go to a psychologist instead? I need some reassurance.
