Posts by Matthew Bishop44

nimblemoose2 said:That's poor trolling and unnecessary cynicism. Am I supposed to believe I just imagined my knee issues, my thyroid antibodies, and the physical altercation I went through?

This isn't a joke forum. If you don't have anything substantive or intelligent to contribute, it's better to stay silent.

Look, I’m not trying to be a troll or get all cynical here! I’m basically telling you the exact same thing Thomas Cook said, he just probably phrased it a bit more elegantly and tied a little red bow around it, I guess. But seriously, if your neck and shoulders are already acting up, it’s probably not the brightest idea to grab a 10lb sledgehammer and start slamming it against a truck tire or going ham on battle ropes. Like, maybe don't do that? If I were you, I’d definitely track down a solid physical therapist. Maybe some light massage work, swimming, or finding some specific neck exercises that don't make you wince... oh, and maybe even some traction if that's something that works for you! Just gotta find what fits, you know?
Honestly, getting all worked up, stressed out, or spiraling into anxiety is just going to make that tension way worse. I mean, even hanging out on a forum like this probably won't do much to help you shake it off.
Now that’s what I’m talking about! Honestly, such a solid and smart response.
LP

nimblemoose2 said:I think the anxiety part is accurate. It stems from massive stress—my parents were murdered when I was a kid, and ten years later, the legal battle started. There have been investigations, trials, one thing after another. We just saw our first acquittal, then a conviction, and now we're back to a third round because of some legal technicality.

On top of that, I was physically assaulted just days before my mother had to testify. That kind of trauma leaves its mark.

As for the hypochondria?

The doctors didn't exactly make things up either. They diagnosed me with chondromalacia patellae in my knees and some spinal stenosis in my neck, among other things I can't quite recall...

It's easy to judge someone you've never met.

Hey, I didn't say anything mean! Honestly, like 90% of people dealing with anxiety deal with health anxiety too. Just try thinking about your pinky toe for a second and see how fast it starts aching.

nimblemoose2 said:I’m throwing in the towel. I’ve tried everything—massages, swimming, long walks, magnesium supplements, a strict diet—but nothing makes a difference.

On top of that, my joints and tendons are completely shot. It feels systemic. My knees have chondromalacia patellae, my shoulders are misaligned, and my elbows feel like they’re right on the verge of snapping.

Honestly, it sounds like anxiety mixed with health anxiety. You're only 26, man, and you're already stressing out about brain issues? I think you might be hyper-focusing on every little sensation in your body too much, and that just makes all the muscle tension way worse.

Brain zaps are honestly the closest thing to what I’m feeling right now, and mind you, I’ve never even tried tapering off antidepressants before. It’s such a weird sensation to put into words—it’s almost like you black out for a millisecond, but just not long enough to actually pass out. Or, you know, like your brain just stops responding entirely... total blue screen of death moment. People say it might be related to the neck

Whenever I get this intense dizziness, it feels like someone is literally squeezing my brain with their hands for a split second—I don't even know how else to put it...

Do you think these could be brain zaps?

Brenda Alvarez24 said:I really have to say, that whole "just learn to live with it" advice... it honestly makes my blood boil... but I guess that’s just because I went through this massive ordeal where I completely lost my balance (like, I couldn't even walk on my own) and had this crazy tunnel vision thing happening (where everything would shrink down to a tiny dot and then suddenly pop wide again), and they just told me I needed to get used to it because of low blood pressure... when I was actually nearly wiped out by encephalomyelitis, which is what those symptoms were actually from.

( Matthew Bishop44, not personally speaking, of course! )

No hard feelings at all, but my version of "learn to live with it" only kicks in after someone runs every single test under the sun and confirms that everything is actually fine.

If I were you, I’d probably just go ahead and knock out those last couple of checkups first. Then, if everything else comes back totally fine—just like everything else has so far—you might just have to learn how to tune out those symptoms and ignore them. I mean, maybe that's the way to go?

Brenda Alvarez24 said:Matthew Bishop44,
so, when you talk about that feeling of everything just kind of sinking or dropping in your head—I'm not totally sure I follow what you mean by that, exactly—and the vision shifting, is it like you're almost blacking out for a split second? Like a tiny little flash of darkness, or is it more like something else?
Anyway, I used to deal with some major balance issues, and my vision was all over the place too.
But honestly, nobody ever told me that vision problems could actually stem from my spine. It was seriously rough, and it took forever for anyone to figure out what was going on. They were suspicious of everything, so I ended up going through a million tests and seeing all kinds of specialists.

Regarding that tinnitus stuff, I remember being at the neurology clinic once and there was this guy in the room next to mine who had been suffering from it for ages. Eventually, his doctor had to admit him to the hospital just to do a full-on workup.
I know it can also be caused by something as simple as a bunch of earwax buildup... usually, that's how it starts.

Yeah, I definitely get those sinking sensations, and vision issues aren't exactly rare when you're dealing with a messed-up cervical spine.

electricridge16 said:Did the doctor actually confirm it's coming from your neck, and what kind of treatment are they looking at?

I wouldn't say it's that literal, I guess—it's more like this whole elimination process. I've done every single search imaginable online and everything seems mostly fine, except my neck is basically in a coma, which just creates this endless loop. Because my neck and shoulders are constantly so tense, the circulation up toward my head gets all messed up, and then you get this huge pile of side effects like headaches, pressure in your ears, feeling totally wiped out, vision issues... it's a mess!
Maybe check out your neck and get a Doppler ultrasound on those vessels, and seriously, you gotta exercise, just keep moving...
Massages, hitting the local YMCA pool, physical therapy, maybe even acupuncture...

electricridge16 said:Hey everyone,
I’ve been scrolling through some posts here about balance issues, but they seem pretty old and inactive, plus I haven't really found anyone describing my exact symptoms.

For the last few months, I'd occasionally—really rarely—get this sensation where my head just sort of "drops." You know, like that weird feeling when you stand up way too fast from bed? It would only last maybe a second and only happen once or twice a month. I didn't think much of it at the time. I figured, I don't know, maybe it was just work stress, or maybe I'm low on vitamins or something.

But then, about a week ago, it started happening every single day. Now, it's hitting me like 5 or 6 times a day.

So, I went to see my doctor and explained everything. He also noticed I had a sore throat and a bit of a fever (I actually had chills that day).

I did blood work and a urine test, and everything came back totally fine. My doctor put me on some antibiotics (Augmentin), and I’ve finished about half the course so far, but honestly, nothing has changed. I feel mostly normal otherwise, but then suddenly my vision just "shifts" for a split second, and then it's fine again. It’s starting to mess with my head, too; I think I might have even had a couple of panic attacks, with chest pains and shortness of breath. I checked my blood pressure, and it seemed okay.

Also, I noticed that if I'm lying down and my arms are bent at less than 90 degrees at the elbow, my pinky and ring finger start to go numb. Maybe that's important, maybe not, who knows!

Even though the doctor thinks it's just some kind of infection, it doesn't look like the antibiotics are doing much, so I'll probably head back to his office soon.

Has anyone else gone through anything similar?

Man, I'm going through the exact same thing. It is such a disgusting feeling—I'd describe it like feeling like I'm dying for a split second. For me, it's coming from my neck, and I see that your fingers are tingling too, so maybe there's a connection.

Laura Martinez60 said:Hey there!!
So, I've got a question about cluster headaches... it seems like everyone else's attacks only last a couple of days...
For me, the pain kicks in right before bed, lasts all night long, and pretty much drags through the entire next day... most of the time, the pain actually makes me throw up...
It starts right under my right eyebrow and then spreads to my nose getting all stuffed up, my eyelid twitching, and sometimes even a weird ache in my teeth...
I'm wondering if this is maybe just the beginning of something way worse, or if it's just some milder version of it...
I'm 27, and these headaches started showing up about a year ago... sometimes there's a two-week gap between them, and other times it's more than a month...

That doesn't sound like a cluster headache to me.

Honestly, once I realized my long-term habit was finally starting to mess with me, I just decided to call it quits altogether

And hey, I don't know, looks like you've just got that cardiologist appointment left on your list, so maybe just knock that one out and hang in there!

Wait, I don't think I'm following you at all! Like, what exactly are you getting at? I might be totally missing the point here, haha. If anything is sounding a bit fuzzy or confusing on my end, just let me know—I can definitely dive into the details and break it all down for you if that helps!

Alright, let me break this down for you in a bit more detail!
So, you spent like seven whole years living the absolute worst kind of lifestyle—we're talking total chaos, terrible habits, the whole nine yards—and now you're expecting to see some massive, life-changing progress after just one month of hitting the gym? I mean, maybe you'll feel a little better, but let's be real here! You can't just flip a switch and undo nearly a decade of bad decisions in four weeks. It’s gotta be a marathon, not a sprint, I guess!
I mean, honestly, I don't think you've ever actually had the flu. Like, at all. Every time I get hit with it, it drags on for a solid 4 to 7 days. There's just no way—zero chance—that you could somehow "sweat it out" or shake it off just by getting hammered at a bar one night. It doesn't work like that!
You actually did it! You pulled it off! Everything! It’s honestly kind of wild—you search everywhere and it feels like none of the specialists actually have a clue what they're doing, yet here you are, looking for advice on a forum! I guess that’s just how it goes sometimes, but man, talk about a total Dr. House move.
I mean, I guess you probably get what I'm getting at here, right? Maybe?
So, anyway... Hey everyone! Your results look pretty solid to me! I mean, your cervical spine is a little bit congested, which probably explains why you’re feeling those sharp tingles and that weakness. It’s totally normal given the situation. Honestly, I think your body and your mind are just trying to send you some signals, you know? Like, maybe it's time to get moving and start putting in some work on yourself. Or, hey, you could always just keep falling down those Google rabbit holes searching for rare tropical diseases. Your call!
Oh, one more thing! I was just wondering—when you're working out, do you actually throw up and then pass out, or is it more like you're throwing up while feeling lightheaded? That’s a pretty huge distinction, I guess!

Okay, I’ll be totally real with you—for the last seven years, I’ve lived an incredibly sedentary lifestyle. Like, we’re talking so inactive it would probably blow the mind of your average person or even a doctor. It's honestly hard to wrap my head around how little I moved.

I started trying to get active and work out as much as I could about a month and a half ago, right when I started my therapy. But so far? Absolutely nothing. No changes at all, whether short-term or long-term. Just zilch.

Do you see any lack of logic in that?

And besides that, why would I say "I had the flu" when I'm not even sure if it was actually the flu or just some massive fever? I’ve dealt with intense fevers a hundred times, and I'd still go out and hang out with friends while burning up. I literally "boil" through a night of heavy drinking. This wasn't just some minor bug, because I was running a fever over 101.5 for an entire week.

Or here?

The point is, mainstream, institutional medicine is completely incompetent and useless when it comes to issues like this. I've seen 3 ENT specialists, 2 neurologists, 1 physiatrist, 1 neurosurgeon, and 1 ENT surgeon—and not one single one of them has even the slightest clue what might be wrong with me. Not even close!

If you aren't qualified or an expert when it comes to giving medical advice...

....then here?

So, I don't know what other way there is to explain that this has nothing to do with anxiety and isn't caused by that. If you still don't get it, maybe I should try explaining it like a picture book or some cartoon for kids so it's easier to follow? I guess it's true what they say: every person is different, and maybe not everyone is wired to understand written text the same way. There are a hundred different ways to think, after all.

And a little sugar on top at the end.

Hey man, look, you’ve done all the legwork, right? You’ve checked everything and it mostly looks fine. Just because you thought your anxiety was purely mental up until now doesn't mean it hasn't started manifesting physically. I was just re-reading your very first post, and honestly, every single thing you mentioned sounds like physical symptoms of anxiety. Seriously, just go back and read that whole section where you talked about having the flu—it goes on for half a page! And then there’s that huge chunk about your allergies. A "normal" person would have just summed that up in two sentences, like, "Man, the flu kicked my butt, I was out for five days, and these allergies are killing me." I totally agree with you regarding specialists, too; they're all so hyper-focused on their own tiny niche, and the chief physicians who are actually supposed to connect the dots have basically been turned into glorified secretaries. Also, whatever you do, don't just stop taking Normabloc cold turkey. They aren't meant for sleep, and quitting them abruptly will probably just throw a whole bunch of new symptoms your way. If you really can't sleep, there are actual sleeping pills for that. Or, hey, if you want to keep hunting for exotic diseases, you could do that—that's a bottomless pit, I guess. If you ask me, though, maybe just find a really good psychologist

So, whenever I’m doing my stretching routines or working on my neck, I start getting these weird little tingles in my head. I tried Googling "tingling sensations in the head," and honestly? Most results just point straight toward psychiatry, which is... great, thanks guys. 😂 I mean, I've kind of gotten used to the usual aches and pains by now—you just gotta roll with the punches, right?—but these sudden electric shock sensations? That's definitely a new one for me.

That’s a long way from being funny, and honestly, it's even further from being a total blast

Maria Gray45 said:Does it like, intensely bite and vibrate in your head until you just jerk awake?

I wouldn't really put it that way, though... I guess it’s more like this sudden surge, you know? And that heart pounding thing? That's just pure panic, like a massive adrenaline rush hitting you all at once. It’s definitely not dangerous, I think.