The anxiety that feeds on itself...

No tmj or brain tumor, but I can get 1 and 4 This is stress stress stress. I'd bet my ass that basically everything here except possibly the initial tmj pain is stress feeding stress. I have hypochondric tendencies and in the past have had headaches lead to a conviction I had a tumor/slowbleed in my brain which stressed me out which lead to brain fog (all that confusion and dizziness you mention exactly) which further made me think I had a brain problem, and so the cycle continues. How to deal? Try talking aloud to someone about your fears. You'll hear how ridiculous they sound (for some reason a brain tumor didn't sound stupid to me until I brought up the idea aloud). Eventually you'll get over the idea and the stress will fade. Then the next time you feel hypochondria coming on remember this incident and how it all turned out fine. You'll get better at dealing

Some common stress symptoms, that I happen to have noticed: 1. vague nausea (took me forever to figure out why I always felt ill around finals) 2. sleeping badly, or symptoms thereof (grouchy, trouble focusing) 3. lack of appetite, or excessive appetite 4. twitchiness. I mostly notice this with coffee; if I'm feeling anxious then I can. not. have caffeine because it will make me feel tingly and hyperventilate. "Feeling weird" more generally. 5. headaches 6. unusually light or late period 7. acid reflux or symptoms thereof (sore throat) 8. grinding teeth or symptoms thereof (sore jaw or teeth) 9. tense muscles or symptoms thereof (sore muscles, kink in the neck, headaches, etc) 10. stomachaches "I don't normally have social anxiety": There are certain things that inherently cause stress. House guests are one of them. Exams, family trouble, illnesses (in yourself or in loved ones), relationship breakup, major purchases, and looking for, starting, or losing a job, all cause stress. Whether you consciously perceive that stress or not, or whether the stress is a problem for you or not, are separate questions. I find that when I'm stressed, I don't notice it consciously. I feel like I have my final exams under control. I'm excited about seeing an old friend for the first time in years. I'm in love with the new job I'm starting. But meanwhile on the side I'm starting to have stress symptoms. (Nausea. Snappishness towards my loved ones. Overwhelming levels of anxiety about something else that is out of my control.) So even if you aren't thinking "wow, I am so stressed out right now," it's good to be able to look around and say, "Oh yeah, I had to go see the dentist and thought something serious might be wrong, and then he told me I have an ALL NEW problem. That's probably stressing me out a bit." What makes the hypochondria go away: Talking to someone sensible who goes "Oh, yeah, that's totally (ordinary, typical ailment that I've just never noticed before, or never had in this way)." Being young, you don't know what's normal. A lot of the time what's happening with me is that I just plain DON'T KNOW what sort of innocuous thing could be going on, and so I jump to the thing I've heard of. And no amount of even myself saying "hah, hah, I know it's not a brain tumor!" is going to help me, until I hear someone say something I can seize upon as the ACTUAL reason. Even if the reason is just, "dunno, sounds like ordinary stress headaches to me." (me: "wait. you can get headaches just from stress?")

My vote is that the steroids made you crazy. I have some anxiety and mood issues, and a run of steroids will send me into a pseudo hypomanic state, if not panic attacks.

Oh, my dear, this sounds like a very strong anxiety/panic thing. Bluespark25 nailed it. When I'm having what I call a prolonged panic attack (hours to days long), I will become almost obsessed- fixated- on one specific fear and 99% certain that it must be true. The 99% is important because it's that 1% of uncertainty that sends me into a flurry of panicky not-knowing-how-to-cope. Like, I'm sure if the doctor scanned you and said you for sure have a brain tumor, you would just deal with it. But the not knowing and thinking "maybe- probably- ohmygodwhatdoidoithinksomethingbadishappeningahhhhhhh" is making you nuts. And then your very active imagination starts feeding you scenarios and you start having emotioal responses to the scenarios even though some small part of you knows that what you're reacting to is nothing. Unless- except- except what if it's not!? This is going to drive you bananas and exhaust you, making you less able to cope and more prone to anxiety. Bear in mind that any stress- good or bad- gets the adrenaline going, and the adrenaline can trigger anxiety or upset. So even if social stuff is usually ok, for example, sometimes you'll have a weird reaction. And sometimes it doesn't come out how or when you'd expect. This is what I do: Get in a good environment. I like warm heavy blankets or hot baths, your personal preferances will dictate. Don't try to fight the fear. Go somewhere that you can be alone, no sudden noise, no interruptions, where you feel safe. Treat yourself the way a loving parent would treat a small child who was terrified. Ask yourself what you're afraid of. When you answer, just accept the answer- don't try to talk yourself out of it, or figure out if it's valid, or be rational. Just listen. Then I say (mentally, in a loving, gentle mom voice): it's ok to be afraid of that. It's ok to be afraid. Why are you afraid of that? Then I go off on my rant about the ten million reasons I'm scared. Then I say (mom voice?) "ok. What else is going on, sweetie?" And I kind of repeat this pattern/style of self-interaction until I a) reach some kind of catharsis or b) figure out what I'm actually dealing with or c) just am kind of tired and don't care too much any more. If the same feelings come back, I do it again. And again. And again. Until it looses its power. Some of my physical manifestations that warn me I may be approaching stress, depression, or anxiety problems include: Heat/blushing/prickling/burning feelings on my face, neck, chest, tongue, armsand shoulders. (Not pins-and-needles prickling, but skin prickling) Soreness or weight or a lump in my throat (not like being sick) Pressure around the area of my jaw, tmj, sinuses, and chin (again, not like being sick) Fast heartbeat, trembling, extra clumsiness Difficulty controlling volume, pitch, and tone of my voice, voice breaking or squeaking (these also happen when I feel normal but I become really aware/it gets worse of I'm stressed) Headaches, tight stomach, dry mouth, difficulty swallowing hat makes it difficult to eat Trouble listening to people, following conversations, and articulating my thoughts. (Trouble having articulate thoughts, except maybe something very specific- like a fixation) Difficulty sleeping, waking up easily Trouble staying focused on the real/external world and a tendancy to space out/ daydream, almost involuntarily, even while holding a conversation. Getting lost in my head. More sensitivity to aches and pains. Sore teeth and gums. Heavy (smelly also) perspiration. This might be TMI but I also find that my ladybits sometimes get... ready for action too. Even if I don't actually want sex. Which I think is why I have confused being afraid of certain people for being attracted to them, and vice-versa. The room suddenly going "off-kilter". A little hard to describe, but it's like being dizzy and the room spinning, except that it lasts half a second and the room only turns a quarter-spin. I want to point out that many of these happen whether I am experiencing good syress or bad stress. So I try not to assume that if I'm having a bunch of these symptoms that I must be anxious and avoid the activity. Instead, I use them as cues to monitor my emotional state, level of arousal, and need for self-care. If I am feeling several of these, I might need to excuse mysef or even take a few days to recover from the activity. It doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the activity or that I have to be scared. On the other hand, if I AM scared, I'm probably feeling a lot of these things, and that's ok too. Once I know what is scaring me, I can deal with it. I have found zoloft, therapy, focusing, and elaine aron's book "the highly sensitive person' helpful. Hope this helps- best of luck to you!

Lessee... chest pains, left arm tingling, headaches, neck pains, muscle tension, worrying that I'm having a heart attack even tho' I have passed the stress test twice with flying colors and had a heart ultrasound with a diagnosis of, "your heart is very strong, nothing wrong at all!" Waking up worried I have a brain tumor or some other dire illness, many ER visits, chest x-rays (also nothing wrong, except, you know, fear that I have had too many chest x-rays than is healthy for me). I have to REALLY watch my caffeine consumption. Once, we bought some instant coffee because it was cheaper. Bad, bad, BAD idea! That stuff is very strong, and I had the jitters, waking up at night with palpitations, ugh! I used to grit my teeth a lot, unaware that I was doing so. My husband does this thing where he notices his jaw tensing up and he spends a few days focusing on relaxing his jaw, because it leads to throat cramps and tension headaches. Just let it hang loose and focus on that. Exercise: anything that makes you sweat! Anxiety doesn't completely go away when I'm exercising on a daily basis but the really bad symptoms do not manifest when I make the effort to do say, 30 minutes of aerobic walking, vigorous housework, etc. But boy do I really notice it when I'm NOT exercising! It's awful! Also, get your blood sugar checked. I eat a handful of almonds or a bit of whole grain crackers and cheese in between lunch and supper because that's when I notice mine dropping. And make sure your water intake is adequate, as mild dehydration can make you sleepy and headachy. I take a good B-vitamin complex plus a D every day, which my dr knows about. If you can, invest in a professional massage once a week, the times I've been able to do that, it's very beneficial. Unless you have someone who can give you a good neck and upper back rub. I also keep a little spray bottle of rose geranium essential oil, mixed with some veg oil (olive, whatever you have) and if I'm feeing tense, spray a little on my shoulders or just under my collar bone and while it's subtle, it does help. I'd just chalk the grocery store incident up to coming off the steroids, unless it happens on a daily basis.

I am an anxious sort, but, oddly, not prone to hypochondria. However, I have *definitely* experienced severe back and neck problems which were attributable solely to anxiety. Twice in my life that's happened, and it's escalated to the point where I literally cannot get out of bed without help. Makes me reeeeeally not look forward to arthritis, I must say. Anyway, it hurt like hell, my mobility was seriously compromised, and I pretty much had to just wait it out. And eventually it went away with no need for treatment, because it really was just stress. The body can be kind of a jerk sometimes. Hopefully you won't get that far-- I've always tended to carry stress in my neck and shoulders, and I was in an especially bad mental place each time this happened. But it's a fairly normal thing. I also get severely overwhelmed by too much stimulus when out in public places at times. I get distracted, unable to focus, and I start to feel very vulnerable and all I want is to hide in a dark place. Light gets too bright, sounds get too loud. I don't think of these as panic attacks either, just as, well, getting overwhelmed. So, I go sit somewhere a little quieter and have a cup of coffee or something until I can get back up and go outside again. This stuff is unpleasant, but not abnormal. I'm on meds for depression and anxiety now, and the physical symptoms of anxiety I used to get are not a problem anymore, though the overwhelmed feeling still is. I don't know if that sort of thing would be useful for you, though. I needed it for more reasons than just those listed above. On the therapy thing: I've had a couple of totally useless therapists whom I saw for months each, and the sessions never did me any good. Not to say that they were necessarily bad at their jobs, or that they might not have helped other people immensely. They just weren't an especially good fit for me. If it's been a while and the therapist you've been seeing hasn't been helping, you might want to consider looking for a new one.

Thank you all! Just thought I'd tune in to report that yesterday and today I'm feeling much better -- still a little achey, particularly in my shoulders and back, but not so much that it's constantly noticeable and the headaches have finally pretty much subsided. Tiny bit of tension, still, but not enough to qualify as an "ache" and I'm off the ibuprofen. I had alarm bells after two weeks of headaches, but I guess stress+TMJ will do that to a person. I've also noticed lately how sore my mouth is in the morning, making TMJ seem even more likely. I'm getting a bite splint made and hopefully that will resolve the issue!

I am very sorry you're going through this. A lot of us have. These are all common symptoms for anxiety and none of this seems alarming to me (IANAD) except that you should seek help to manage your anxiety - because anxiety fucking sucks and it can absolutely cause all sorts of strange physical manifestations. 1) If you have anxiety, what symptoms did you experience? Did it exaggerate symptoms? Particularly if you've had another medical issue? Many of the same symptoms you experience. They are textbook anxiety. Feeling overwhelmed in public places (places with really high ceilings and bright florescent lights are really awful for me), headaches, nausea. I've had chest pain, shortness of breath, left arm tingling, acid reflux, ear aches. I find that with anxiety, especially when you have tendencies toward health anxiety, will exacerbate or even generate the physical symptoms of whatever medical issue you are afraid you have. For example, I used to (and sometimes still do) become worried that something is wrong with my heart. So I start to experience those signs I know are signs of a heart attack - like a tingling in my left arm. Because anxiety is this infinite regress thing. You talk about not being sure if the symptoms were give you the anxiety or the anxiety was giving you the symptoms - that is exactly how anxiety works. Panic attacks often start out as just an inkling of anxiety and then you start to worry you might have a panic attack and so you start to experience some symptom of an attack, like a sweat or chest pain, which further convinces you you're having a panic attack, and before you know it you've panicked yourself into a panic attack. It fucking sucks. But that's how it works. Because it is a mental health issue. 2) If you've had TMJ, did you have any symptoms similar to these? TMJ is a pretty common way stress and anxiety manifests itself. I used to have wicked TMJ. It can cause all sorts of other problems like ear aches and headaches. If you don't have one, get a night guard because it will keep you from destroying your teeth and will greatly reduce the pain you wake up with. Yoga has been quite helpful in training me to "let go" of my jaw. 3) I suppose, if you're intimately familiar with brain tumors and want to put my fears at bay, I would be happy to hear that. I'm intermittently near-hysterical and very nearly scheduled an appointment with a neurologist. I'm still thinking about it. Brain tumors have been, like, my #1 Medical Fear since I was a teenager. If your doctor says you don't have a brain tumor, you should trust them. One of the classic hypochondriac things to do is to convince yourself you have some disease and then not believe any doctor that tells you otherwise and continually seeking out new doctors and specialists. A brain tumor is among the least likely causes of the incredibly common headache. Also, according to my psychiatrist, fear of brain tumors is the most common anxiety-related medical fear. If you absolutely must and you have the insurance to cover it and you won't be subjecting yourself to unnecessary radiation, sure, you could ask a neurologist if it would put your mind at ease. But you need to go in with the attitude that you will believe them when they tell you you don't have a brain tumor and let it go. and finally 4) If you're an anxious sort that tends to react like a hypochondriac to symptoms, do you have a way of dealing with it or calming yourself down? I'm feeling a little out of control and unhinged with terror. Never, ever under any circumstances google your symptoms. If you have someone very close to you to confide in, talk to them. A parent or sibling or significant other can usually calm you down and they are unlikely to give you the "well, I heard of this one person with this symptom and it turned out to be this incredibly rare thing and now they're dead" thing that you will get from acquaintances and strangers on the internet. Therapy and medication. SSRIs can be a great help (but may worsen your TMJ...). Benzos are something you might want to consider, at least through this period that is clearly rough for you. Either way, see a psychiatrist. Yoga and tea. Understand that most things are out of your control. Someday something will kill you. In the meantime, worrying won't make a difference. When you get sick, know that you will go to the hospital. Other than that, there is little you can do. And the stats are in your favor. It is unlikely, at your age, that you have a brain tumor, or cancer, or most any other Big Scary Disease.

1) My anxiety goes right to my stomach - nausea, lack of hunger, other TMI-type issues. 2) I also have the teeth grinding problem and ended up getting a retainer/night guard to wear at night from my dentist. It seems to help. (I don't get TMJ, just terrible headaches from clenching all night). I'm not an expert on 3, but for 4 - I definitely wind myself up about medical issues a lot more during times of stress. Find yourself a good general doctor and go to him/her when you need to. I am always going to my doctor with a "I know this might sound crazy, but..." if she can talk me down (by telling me why I don't have a brain tumor, etc), then I know it's probably going to be ok.