The "Mystery Condition" - Help!

S

sneely3

New member
Hey there,

Hello fellow forum members, I have a few questions regarding feelings I've been having for the past few weeks, but before I go into any more detail I'll give you all some background information.
I am currently 15 years old and I'm living in southern California with my Dad and a few of my siblings. My family is divorced and it's been that way for as long as I can remember (the actual process happened when I was very young, therefore I can't remember it being any different). I live with my mother in Utah for school while my Dad visits every other weekend, but due to the visitation agreements they made in court, he gets me for 90% of the summer (my mom gets only a couple weeks). So, anyway, obviously it's the middle of the summer right now, so I am living with him.

When school ended this year, we headed to a hotel down in Sandy, Utah for a week so my Mom could teach a writing class, and following that week my Dad would pick me and my siblings up and my vacation with him would begin. The first night we were at the hotel, I felt a strange tension in the back of my head and neck that would never go away - when it came time to go to sleep for the night, it was really bothering me and I couldn't get myself to sleep; instead, I started panicking because of it, which in turn I woke up my Mom and had a pretty serious panic attack. Since that night, about 4 weeks ago, I've had the same tension in the back of my head and neck, along with an uneasy feeling, lack of concentration, sweating (every now and then), and trouble falling asleep (but once I actually fall asleep, I'm fine).
All of these symptoms never go away completely, but they do seem to fade when I'm keeping busy (doing something relaxing with family, etc) but not when I'm under any kind of pressure (I'm taking guitar lessons and it always seems to act up in the middle of them, and even now just focusing and typing this thread makes it somewhat noticeable... which is weird, I've done plenty of forum posting in the past).

ANYWAY--- The problem is, I can't focus on anything like I used to and it has really drained my life of any peace of mind. I can't ever get myself to
(completely) relax, and again the symptoms never seem to go away although they do fade a little depending on what I'm doing at the time. There are times when I'm relieved because I feel that they are finally getting better, but then the next morning I'll wake up and the tension, uneasiness, and anxiousness are all present.

NOW -- I've obviously done plenty of talking to my parents and I've even visited a doctor (who did VERY brief checks on my heart and lungs, ears and eyes and quickly jumped to the conclusion that it was anxiety-related tension) but no matter what happens the symptoms just won't pass and I'm aching to find out what can be done and any opinions some of you might have out there.

(To recap - the symptoms are a constant tension in my head and neck, uneasiness, restlessness, headaches, feeling anxious, sweating (occassionally, when it gets "bad") and even strange sensations such as a pinching feeling every so often.... any ideas?) :confused:

At this point we've settled on the fact that it's probably anxiety related, but if that's the case I think hearing any opinions some of you might have would make it that much better. This really has been an ongoing thing and I would love more than anything for it to finally pass. Thanks for your time, if you have any additional questions, feel free to ask.
 
It sounds like perhaps you have GAD- General Anxiety Disorder. My guess is that the stress of changing households for a significant portion of the summer was a trigger for you. Maybe you were feeling additional stress over being away from friends, away from your mom, or maybe you don't feel particularly close to your Dad.

I'm curious if when you go back to live with your mom if it goes away.
 
Hey, thanks for replying.

I'm honestly not sure if it will go away when I head back to my Mom's place, but as I mentioned, I was with my mom for the week prior to seeing my Dad and it was still very present during that time - so it may not particularly have to do with which parent I'm with... although back when I was with my close friends I never experience any of this, you're right.

I also failed to mention that I am a diabetic, I have been for 4 years now - I apologize, that's probably a pretty serious detail, as I said there is definitely a "lack of concentration" aspect to all of this. The symptoms blend with my diabetic symptoms which can get very confusing - but there have been PLENTY of times when my glucose level was normal and the anxiety-like symptoms persisted, so I can honestly say there is no way it's diabetes related. At least not directly.

I'm curious if it will get better with time too -- growing up to this point I always thought anxiety was something that came and went - like feeling scared about a presentation or something, but in this case it is something that fades, but never quite goes away no matter what I do. Hmm.. could it possibly be hormone imbalance or something related to that? Just thinking outloud, but you are most likely correct, this could very likely be GAD.... Hmmm, again thank you, even hearing others' opinions helps.
 
Well, a week before leaving doesn't seem to mean much- I start getting stressed about trips two weeks before, some times.

However, you may be right about it being a hormone imbalance. For example, a thyroid hormone imbalance can cause anxiety. I'm sure others can as well- the entire endocrine system is interdependent.Do you know if the doctor you saw ran any blood tests?

I lean more towards it being anxiety only because you mentioned that it goes away when you are distracted, but that's no reason not to pursue other possibilities.
 
No, the doctor did a quick overlook of the obvious vital signs... like heartbeat, any ear infections, etc. My blood pressure was normal, aside from my pulse being 100, which I suppose is a little high for being relaxed in a doctor's office. I plan to see another doctor and get some blood work done - I guess, as odd as this may sound, my fear is the doctor not finding anything because that means I'm still in the dark about all of this. Plus, if it is anxiety, the unknown will make it ten times worse because I'll tell myself something is seriously wrong and they just missed something.

But, all in all it is bearable - it's definitely something that has continually been on my mind and it's distracting me from getting things done during the summer. Often because of how I'm feeling I'll just lose my motivation to do things that I love to do (like playing guitar or piano) and instead I'll just kind of sit around and ponder whether or not it will slowly get better. I guess that alone is a big sign of anxiety and depression... Hmm.

Well, thank you EagleRiverDee, I appreciate your thoughts. As you can clearly tell this type of thing is new to me, I guess I just want to get to the bottom of it and solve it once and for all... hopefully that time will come once I get a few more answers after the blood work is done.
 
James: Having been in somewate similar circumstances, I can offer the following:

1. Whatever it is that is causing your distress does NOT come from outside yourself. There are no deamons out to punish you. You created these visions and feelings with the object of interfering with your hapiness because you don't think you deserve to be happy.

2. You mentioned that the "divorce" thing has been going on a long time when you were a lot younger than you are now. When parents divorce it's a sad fact that, whether they aadmit it or not, young childred blame themselves for the divorce. "Maybe if I acted kinder to Mom."... "I should not have been so mean to Dad."...

3. Unless you can discuss your own feelings of guilt and inadeuacy about their separation you are going to continue to live with the devastating feelings of guilt that you feel now, and worse, allow them to affect the relationship with your own children.

4. Do not allow anyone - parents included - put you down or blame upon you their own problems and teach your brothers and sisters the same lesson.

Since you still must live with your parents, bargain with them to rid yourself of things you don't like. It doesn't have to be a street fight. Say, [for instance] "Dad, there's I went to go to (the lake, etc.), would you mind if we cut my summer stay a little short so I can do it? Also, you are old enoug to stop scheduling your summer around their visitation rights. "Suggest" that you would like to participate in planning family activities and get yourself out from under their pressure.

Once you have some control over your own life you see that the bad dreams and negative feelings will go away simply because you can control them and order that they leave you alone.
 
Back
Top