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Constantly Worried About Brain Tumor (completely disabling)
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CWillis767 posted:
Hello,

I am an 18 year old male suffering from either a brain tumor or anxiety. I am leaning towards anxiety because my grandmother had awful anxiety and my sister had severely disabling anxiety. Both were treated with zoloft and are better. My symptoms scare me into thinking I have a brain tumor. They include:
-Fuzzy vision, eyes unfocuse (mostly when on computer)
-Headache and pressure sensation on top left side of head
-Ears pop a lot
-(Mom and sister have TMJ)
-Lightheaded and unbalanced
-When worrying about a brain tumor I cant do any activity that involves brain usage (reading, learning, playing intellectual games)
-stiff neck
-palpitations (went to ER and had normal EKG)
-foggy memory (most concerning symptom) sometimes I get afraid that I will forget who people are (has not happened)
-hard time putting thoughts into words
-have a poor short term memory (seems to get worse when worrying)
-exercise seems to relieve symptoms for a little as well as sleep
-sometimes i will lose sleep
-when i am not talking to my family or someone I feel alone and helpless even though I have a friendly roommate

A lot of these symptoms started when I moved away from my family to Texas but the memory problem has been lasting. I just passed a major certification called the CCNA but still worry about memory. I have a 3.96 GPA and still worry about memory. I am so worried about this I saw a doctor and he said that "You can have an MRI done but with your symptoms I wouldn't recommend it because its a small chance" he said like .000001 percent chance. I appreciate any insight you guys can give me and thank you for your time.
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Patricia Farrell, PhD responded:
All of the symptoms sound like anxiety and it seems you have been checked out and you have validation that you do not have memory impairment. It seems that stress is your main problem and I would think that you could benefit from both relaxation breathing, exercise and a bit of fun on a regular basis. Yes, fun, it's got to be part of the mix of your life.

Try the breathing, reduce social stress and use positive self-talk to help you when you're feeling less-than-confident.
 
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Ty1964 responded:
hello, so sorry that you are going thru this at such a young age! I'm here to tell ya i know how you feel,i suffer from the same worry/concern but ive been assured by docs that everything is fine! My symptoms however are on the right side of my head,but im told that anxiety/panic can be a terrible thing to experience,and sad but true its a real thing!
My eldest son has it so bad that he can not function when he is having an attack,and some days they last all day,some days for just a few hours,and some days he doesnt have any at all!
He has light headedness,dizziness,tingling in his arms and hands,a shock feeling that starts from the back of the head and goes all the way down his torso,tightening in the chest,nausea,shakes,sweaty palms,palpitations,has passed out,blurred vision,cant concentrate,cant remember things,ive had to literally carry my child into the house from the car b/c is debilitates him. He no longer drives b/c sitting at stop lights triggers his attacks,he cant walk into walmart or stores like it b/c is triggers attacks! he has cried to me saying "mom please make it stop"! and all i can do is rub his shoulders and back and in a calm voice tell him it will be ok and that no matter what MOM IS HERE!! I travel with my husband who is a truck driver and have gotten calls from my son's wife saying he needs to talk to me and she has held the phone to his ear so i can talk to him to calm him down,sometimes 6 states away! My son is 25 yrs old and this has been going on for 7 yrs,docs have tried to give him meds to help but as of yet nothing does! so sweetie you are not alone in this,keep your chin up and get a doc to LISTEN to you and hopefully you will find out whats going on...good luck!!!
 
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Ty1964 replied to Ty1964's response:
forgot to post that ive been told (dont know if its true or not) that anxiety/panic runs in families,but i do know that my mom has it,i have it,my eldest son (25 yrs old) has it,my daughter (23 yrs old) has it,and now my youngest son (24 yrs old) has been diagnosed as being bi-polar. So there must be some truth to it!
I've also been told by many docs that anxiety/panic can mimmick alot of other health problems!
 
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safeaf replied to Patricia Farrell, PhD's response:
this is saif 26 years old, in the year 2003 i get ill and my problem was that i am dying in teen age , and every time i was in deep depression and so on, but unfortuantly since last feb 2011 as i heard the story of one person who had braing tummar and pass away bcz of it. than time to time i suffer from defirent types of headache such as needle headache, heavy one side of head and much more dirty and scarfull headache , although my memory, thinking, talking with my friends, study is fine and also i have no problem with eye vision and listening. during headche some times i feel very embarrassed and confused and just writing about my life as a legacy or something that. Please till i did'nt got engaged because of this blady dirty thinking and Illniss i dont know how keep my self happy and away from this, if any body there can help me plz i am in very hard trouble passing time very hard beleive me i am crying and worry from Braing deseases , plz help me maddam, your guide to me will be highly appreciable in advance. with thanks . note. my CT scan was totaly Normal .


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