Could this really be stress/anxiety?!


Question: Could this really be stress/anxiety?
Hello. I am a 22 year-old male who has been very ill for the last two months. I have had such a long list of symptoms, including GERD, heart palpitations, dizziness, cold sensations and tingling in the hands and feet, and headaches. I have been to the ER four times in the past two months, as well as two different G.P.'s and an internist. Most of the doctors told me it is anxiety. I have problems believing this for two reasons.

One is because the severity of the symptoms. These are not minor annoyances, but debilitating symptoms. I have literally done nothing but lay in bed for the last two months. There are times where I really feel like I am going to die. The second reason I do not believe it is stress is because I have never had this problem before, and when all of this started I was, or at least felt, happy.

Yet, even after telling multiple doctors this information, they still insist that the underlying cause of this all is stress. Part of me wants to believe them because they have ran a decent number of tests and found nothing. However, I still have two questions to ask. One is, is stress *really* capable of producing severe enough symptoms to basically incapacitate a person? My second question is, why would this hit at a non-stressful part of my life instead of a time when I was under a great deal of stress?

Answers:

Anxiety can be extremely debilitating and can cause all of those symptoms described. When I was 20, I had such severe anxiety I could not leave my home for several months (agoraphobia) and could barely get out of bed. I still suffer from occasional bouts of panic and anxiety but I have learned a lot of ways to try to temper it.

So yes, it absolutely could be anxiety. It could be caused by the release of stress--if you have just gone through a very stressful time, or there could be other things in your life that are worrying you or even serious past issues--like say, if you were in the military, traumatized or abused, you might be suffering from PTSD (post-tramatic stress disorder).

You may want to ask around for a therapy recommendation and even consider talking to your doctor about some medication you might be able to take to get yourself up and going again.

Have panic/anxiety disorder




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