Worried This Can't be Anxiety - Anxiety Message Board

chloeGirl33 · 05-22-2005, 04:13 PM

I have been having anxiety problems for awhile. I was having what seemed to be anxiety attacks...chills, clammy palms, shaky feeling inside, lightheaded, felt like I couldn't sit down, I just paced my house. Then it turned into that I felt nervous all day long even when I wasn't having an attack. I became concerned that there was something wrong with my heart because I thought my heart felt funny. I went to the doctor and she did a EKG which came out fine. She said it sounded like anxiety and I started seeing a therapist and I was put on zoloft which I have been taking alittle more than a week. Now that I know nothing is wrong with my heart, I have started thinking that there is something wrong with my brain. I feel lightheaded, weird sensations in my head, Sometimes I feel like a can't walk right, plus I dont have blurred vision but I feel like I can't see properly. I went back to the doctor and she looked at my eyes, and did a Romberg test and said I looked fine. She said I am probably just thinking about my body to much. Now that was almost a week ago. After I saw her I remembered someone telling me that uneven pupil dilation was a sign of a brain tumor so I checked thinking it would make me feel better, but my right looks a little bigger then the left. It also looks worse in dim light, but my pupils still react to light. When I asked other people they said that it does look a little bigger. My pupils also look more dilated than other people, which someone told me can be caused by anxiety. I don't know. I am just really freaked out. Is there any way that in a week my eyes could change because of a brain tumor??

tooanxious · 05-22-2005, 04:58 PM

SSRIs have been known to cause pupil dilation. That could be what is causing it.

maggiekitty · 05-23-2005, 06:20 AM

That's what my doctor says about me, that I pay too much attention to my body. Try not to let your mind get away with you!! I know that my pupils have never been the same size. One is just a little bit bigger than the other one. You have to ask yourself, when is the last time you looked at your pupils that closely? They probably have always been that way, but in your current anxiety moment, you think that it is something new. Trust me, been there and done that many times.

mbarwiko · 05-25-2005, 12:17 PM

I have been having the same problem. When I first started getting my anxiety attacks I thought it was my heart. My chest felt so tight. So I went to the emergency room because I was so freaked out. I just felt something had to be wrong with me. They ran an EKG and it was fine. Then about two weeks later, I kept drinking alcohol and the next day I would get another anxiety attack. Then I got a bad headache in the back of my head and thought it was a brain tumor or an aneurysm. I was checking my pupils constantly!! So then I had muscle twitching and thought I had MS or Parkinson Disease, and ALS. Then I started feeling guilty about my lifestyle and thought I had HIV. It's crazy!! So I did blood tests and everything came back ok. So I don't know what to think. I haven't gotten an attack in a while. I guess it's because I keep freaking about other things instead of getting the attacks! Keep in touch, let me know how you're doing!

Comptons · 05-25-2005, 12:29 PM

You're not crazy - but I believe your problems are ALL anxiety-related. I too look at my pupils - convinced that they are doing strange things. I get lightheaded - weird vision - everything you described. Then...there are days that are just fine and a new symptom will creep in. One of my main problems is surfing the net...You can diagnose yourself with just about any life-threatening disease if you are persistent enough. Try to think about other things to shift your focus off your health. I went to therapy for a while and she made me pick a comfortable place in my mind (which was my bed) and I would go there every time I felt panic setting in. It works if you give it a fair shot. Of course you also have to practice relaxation and breathing as well. Good Luck!