Hypochondria

[messtafarian]

So...

Two years ago, I developed hot flashes and I was bleeding very heavily menstrually. Otherwise I felt like I was fine but I was getting worried. I had also had a pretty serious head injury a couple months prior to that. Now, two years later, that I have seen my MRI and my cervical spondylosis and yet ANOTHER herniated disc, I am starting to wonder if the "hot flashes" were actually a CNS response to a sprained neck.

About three months ago I became *very* ill. I had meningitis, an ear infection, somehow another herniated disc, my sacroiliac joint dislocated, stomach problems so bad I would double over...etc. And the thing is I had been reading all this other stuff about how to fix your hormones and your thyroid and so on, so when I became seriously ill I tried *everything*. EVERYTHING. I developed a tremor, vertigo, I had terrible pain from the new herniation...started getting tests, suddenly I was told I had an autoimmune disorder and now I find myself at 10:30 in the morning in my house with a warehouse worth of supplements and no idea anymore what I am trying to cure.

what is left: I have slight diplopia ( double vision, my left eye seems a bit weak)), still a touch of vertigo, a fine tremor and something I guess I would call a "reachy" feeling -- it's like my fingers and toes want to reach out, or spasm, something like muscle tension only at the very end of my nerves.

I've done three courses of antibiotics, been on ativan, flexeril, prednisone, and I just filled a prescription for Cymbalta.

So this is what I think. I think somehow what really happened is that I had a nervous breakdown. At this point I feel a sort of internal tension and sort of a mistrust of my body -- I feel unsteady, and weird. But I also seem to notice *every* single message my body is sending me every second of every day. I think I've just now become so hyperaware of "symptoms" that I am freaking myself the hell out. I can't concentrate on anything else at all.

I wonder if I could just calm down if all these "symptoms" would stop. I think what I really have now is an *anxiety* problem, which is what the Cymbalta is supposed to cure, plus peripheral nerve pain which I do not have anymore.

Does anyone have any suggestions for nervousness? I am not calling it anxiety because I think my actual nerves are involved. I am NERVOUS about my health at this point. And anxious generally.

 

[haidut]

So...

Two years ago, I developed hot flashes and I was bleeding very heavily menstrually. Otherwise I felt like I was fine but I was getting worried. I had also had a pretty serious head injury a couple months prior to that. Now, two years later, that I have seen my MRI and my cervical spondylosis and yet ANOTHER herniated disc, I am starting to wonder if the "hot flashes" were actually a CNS response to a sprained neck.

About three months ago I became *very* ill. I had meningitis, an ear infection, somehow another herniated disc, my sacroiliac joint dislocated, stomach problems so bad I would double over...etc. And the thing is I had been reading all this other stuff about how to fix your hormones and your thyroid and so on, so when I became seriously ill I tried *everything*. EVERYTHING. I developed a tremor, vertigo, I had terrible pain from the new herniation...started getting tests, suddenly I was told I had an autoimmune disorder and now I find myself at 10:30 in the morning in my house with a warehouse worth of supplements and no idea anymore what I am trying to cure.

what is left: I have slight diplopia ( double vision, my left eye seems a bit weak)), still a touch of vertigo, a fine tremor and something I guess I would call a "reachy" feeling -- it's like my fingers and toes want to reach out, or spasm, something like muscle tension only at the very end of my nerves.

I've done three courses of antibiotics, been on ativan, flexeril, prednisone, and I just filled a prescription for Cymbalta.

So this is what I think. I think somehow what really happened is that I had a nervous breakdown. At this point I feel a sort of internal tension and sort of a mistrust of my body -- I feel unsteady, and weird. But I also seem to notice *every* single message my body is sending me every second of every day. I think I've just now become so hyperaware of "symptoms" that I am freaking myself the hell out. I can't concentrate on anything else at all.

I wonder if I could just calm down if all these "symptoms" would stop. I think what I really have now is an *anxiety* problem, which is what the Cymbalta is supposed to cure, plus peripheral nerve pain which I do not have anymore.

Does anyone have any suggestions for nervousness? I am not calling it anxiety because I think my actual nerves are involved. I am NERVOUS about my health at this point. And anxious generally.

Your cortisol and adrenalin are probably trough the roof as a result of the anxiety. Have you tried the amino acid theanine? Even in small-ish doses of 100mg-200mg a day it may reduce the stress hormones and put the brain back in the calm, alpha-wave state. It is harmless and can be consumed in any amount you can afford. The studies show best effect from 600mg-1,200m daily, and it will also lower serotonin thus avoiding the learned helplessness situation.
A pharma drug to try would be clonidine, but your doctor likely will not prescribe unless you get tested for ACTH response, adrenalin and 24-hour cortisol. I would avoid any benzo drugs that the doctor will likely recommend for anxiety. All of them are addictive and have pretty nasty withdrawal symptoms virtually identical to what you are describing as feeling right now. Of all these Klonopin is by far the worst poison to ever come out of the anxiety-treatment industry. Avoid it like the plague!
High dose magnesium may also work but at doses of more than 1,000mg daily it becomes very sedative and even gives you dissociated feelings like ketamine (both are NMDA antagonists), which freaks some people out. Magnesium is also shown to quickly reverse untreatable depression, just like ketamine. Not saying you have that but high stress (cortisol) and depression are to each other like clouds and rain.
Once the stress of direct illness is gone, it typically takes 2-3 months for the brain to recover fully, with about 40% of the recovery occurring in the first month. So, the good news is that in 1 month you should be almost half way there

 

[messtafarian]

I have that! I ordered it accidentally when I was trying to order L-Threonine to somehow fix my neck. I will try it right this instant :)

I have also been using a lot of magnesium oil because I thought it would calm the fasciculations I was having which are resolving now. I have had a sense of dissociation but then again a couple of weeks ago I was nearly crazy anyway; I would have thought it was just part of the rest of what was happening to me.

Okay, Haidut, I just took 600 mg of L-Theanine and I also resolved that perhaps I should cut back on the morning coffee. Peat of course suggests coffee is safe in unlimited amounts but maybe not in my case, for now :).

 

[haidut]

I have that! I ordered it accidentally when I was trying to order L-Threonine to somehow fix my neck. I will try it right this instant :)

I have also been using a lot of magnesium oil because I thought it would calm the fasciculations I was having which are resolving now. I have had a sense of dissociation but then again a couple of weeks ago I was nearly crazy anyway; I would have thought it was just part of the rest of what was happening to me.

Okay, Haidut, I just took 600 mg of L-Theanine and I also resolved that perhaps I should cut back on the morning coffee. Peat of course suggests coffee is safe in unlimited amounts but maybe not in my case, for now :).

So, did theanine help? I could not understand from your post.
I would stay away from coffee for about a month until the adrenals calm down. Caffeine can raise cortisol in anxious people but theanine should block that effect if taken in doses either equal to caffeine or at least 2/3 of the caffeine dose. So if you take 300mg caffeine then you should take at least 200mg theanine to block the cortisol effects. However, theanine will NOT block the anxiety effects of caffeine which seems to stem from caffeine increasing the levels of pregnenolone sulfate in the brain. Pregnenolone sulfate is a GABA antagonist and as such is known to cause anxiety. However, taurine does block the anxiety effects of caffeine so you could try that as well.

 

[messtafarian]

:). yes, I just took 600 mg of l-theanine about a half hour ago and it might be placebo but I felt the fine tremor/jittery thing steadying out within 15 minutes. So thank you *very* much!

I did not know that caffeine had an effect on pregnenolone, which I take already plus lately two consecutive dose packs of prednisone which I actually finished today. I've been drinking roughly six cups of coffee a day, so yeah, that stops :).

In the beginning the prednisone really helped. I think it was probably just bringing the levels of inflammation way down. I was really injured. Now there is not really any pain, just the rest of these "symptoms."

 

[bionicheart]

Your cortisol and adrenalin are probably trough the roof as a result of the anxiety. Have you tried the amino acid theanine? Even in small-ish doses of 100mg-200mg a day it may reduce the stress hormones and put the brain back in the calm, alpha-wave state. It is harmless and can be consumed in any amount you can afford. The studies show best effect from 600mg-1,200m daily, and it will also lower serotonin thus avoiding the learned helplessness situation.
A pharma drug to try would be clonidine, but your doctor likely will not prescribe unless you get tested for ACTH response, adrenalin and 24-hour cortisol. I would avoid any benzo drugs that the doctor will likely recommend for anxiety. All of them are addictive and have pretty nasty withdrawal symptoms virtually identical to what you are describing as feeling right now. Of all these Klonopin is by far the worst poison to ever come out of the anxiety-treatment industry. Avoid it like the plague!
High dose magnesium may also work but at doses of more than 1,000mg daily it becomes very sedative and even gives you dissociated feelings like ketamine (both are NMDA antagonists), which freaks some people out. Magnesium is also shown to quickly reverse untreatable depression, just like ketamine. Not saying you have that but high stress (cortisol) and depression are to each other like clouds and rain.
Once the stress of direct illness is gone, it typically takes 2-3 months for the brain to recover fully, with about 40% of the recovery occurring in the first month. So, the good news is that in 1 month you should be almost half way there

What type of magnesium is best for treatment resistant depression? I'm tapering off benzos, and was just prescribed Cymbalta (which I don't plan on taking) have been considering k therapy but its so expensive... thank you!

 

[haidut]

What type of magnesium is best for treatment resistant depression? I'm tapering off benzos, and was just prescribed Cymbalta (which I don't plan on taking) have been considering k therapy but its so expensive... thank you!

Any type that does not cause much GI irritation. Magnesium bicarbonate is probably best for oral use, as are the taurate and glycinate salts.