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What Causes Fatigue, Weakness And Dizziness?
Question: Hi,i suffer from really bad anxiety, to the point that i can convince myself that i have a fatal illness and the illness will change within the week. For the last four months i have thought that i had heart problems, anemia, and cancer . I had gone to the doctor in November and he did all the normal check up things, i guess the standard blood tests and everything.all the test came back normal.
However i was a bit concerned about my weight loss and the doctor's sort of frowned on it a bit as well, I'm really tall and vary thin naturally. But i have gone from being 90 something pounds to 80 pounds. Over the summer i don't think i ate vary well, i wouldn't eat much when i was at my job and i wasn't vary hungry.
To top it all off i was stressed about working with my co workers.
I have only gained a pound in four months and my anxiety hasn't gone away. Now I'm worried that i have acute leukemia as it seems that i have all the symptoms. Is it possible that i could develop blood cancer in four months?
I don't have a history of any serious health issues.
My general symptoms now include :
Fatigue/ weak feeling
Lightheaded when standing up
Weird feeling when breathing/ though most of my medical fears include this as a symptom and my doctor didn't even bat an eyelash when i told him i lose my breath vary easily.
I have felt unbalanced
And i seem to be noticing little lymph notes on my body.
I have a little bean size on the left side of my neck, it does move a little bit, but i cant tell if it is attached. I do have a few other of these little bean things,one on my head that i have always had and another in my right arm around my bicep.another one of these beads has just popped up in the crease of my big toe a couple months ago.
To sum it up Im a nervous wreck who is afraid of dying at 21.
Im told constantly that I'm fine by my mother and my doctor, but i still doubt it.
My main concern right now is if i can get leukemia in four months and if i should just trust my blood work and the doctor?
However i was a bit concerned about my weight loss and the doctor's sort of frowned on it a bit as well, I'm really tall and vary thin naturally. But i have gone from being 90 something pounds to 80 pounds. Over the summer i don't think i ate vary well, i wouldn't eat much when i was at my job and i wasn't vary hungry.
To top it all off i was stressed about working with my co workers.
I have only gained a pound in four months and my anxiety hasn't gone away. Now I'm worried that i have acute leukemia as it seems that i have all the symptoms. Is it possible that i could develop blood cancer in four months?
I don't have a history of any serious health issues.
My general symptoms now include :
Fatigue/ weak feeling
Lightheaded when standing up
Weird feeling when breathing/ though most of my medical fears include this as a symptom and my doctor didn't even bat an eyelash when i told him i lose my breath vary easily.
I have felt unbalanced
And i seem to be noticing little lymph notes on my body.
I have a little bean size on the left side of my neck, it does move a little bit, but i cant tell if it is attached. I do have a few other of these little bean things,one on my head that i have always had and another in my right arm around my bicep.another one of these beads has just popped up in the crease of my big toe a couple months ago.
To sum it up Im a nervous wreck who is afraid of dying at 21.
Im told constantly that I'm fine by my mother and my doctor, but i still doubt it.
My main concern right now is if i can get leukemia in four months and if i should just trust my blood work and the doctor?
Brief Answer:
do not worry about leukemia.
Detailed Answer:
Hello
Welcome to HCM.
I have read your query thoroughly and understand your concerns.
You had lost around 10 pounds because you did not eat well. You were stressed at your work. Now you have symptoms of fatigue, weakness, lightheadedness, weird feeling while breathing and imbalance.
I think all of your symptoms are out of stress and improper dietary habits.
This had resulted in weight loss. This is the main cause behind your symptoms as inadequate diet accompanied with stress can lead to hypoglycemia. This hypoglycemia precipitates fatigue, dizziness, weakness and imbalance.
Let me tell you some facts about leukemias:
1. They are more common in men.
2. They usually have a cause like exposure to radiations and chemicals or as a co-morbidity with some genetic disorders.
3. They can be easily diagnosed with simple blood tests and confirmed by bone marrow aspiration and biopsy.
In your case, all the blood work came out to be normal. But as you have severe anxiety of having leukemia, your symptoms of fatigue, light-headedness, weird feeling during breathing and others are increasing due to this anxiety.
Little lymph nodes which you notice on your body can be normal or may due to simple infection or allergy. This can happen to anyone.
Clinically, when all the blood work comes out to be normal, we doctors are pretty much assured that there is no serious disorders. When in doubt, we go for a repeat testing and compare the results. Negative results on repeated testing confirms that there is nothing abnormal.
Your blood work in November came out to be normal. If you are still in doubt, you can go for repeated blood tests for re-assurance.
In conclusion, the symptoms which you are having are fairly common in anxiety. Such symptoms occur very commonly in general population, as common as 10-20 per 100 individuals. Whereas, leukemia occur in 1 in 5000 individuals.
So I would suggest you not to worry. The more you keep yourself calm, the better you will feel.
Whenever you have such thoughts in mind that you have leukemia, do not try to control it. Just let the thought pass on its own. Do not try to find evidences for or against it. This will help you. Remember, you are not going to die at this age of 21 due to these symptoms.
Hope you find my response re-assuring and helpful.
Feel free to ask further.
If you wish, you can ask a direct query at your convenience.
Thanks.
Dr. Shubham Mehta, MD.
do not worry about leukemia.
Detailed Answer:
Hello
Welcome to HCM.
I have read your query thoroughly and understand your concerns.
You had lost around 10 pounds because you did not eat well. You were stressed at your work. Now you have symptoms of fatigue, weakness, lightheadedness, weird feeling while breathing and imbalance.
I think all of your symptoms are out of stress and improper dietary habits.
This had resulted in weight loss. This is the main cause behind your symptoms as inadequate diet accompanied with stress can lead to hypoglycemia. This hypoglycemia precipitates fatigue, dizziness, weakness and imbalance.
Let me tell you some facts about leukemias:
1. They are more common in men.
2. They usually have a cause like exposure to radiations and chemicals or as a co-morbidity with some genetic disorders.
3. They can be easily diagnosed with simple blood tests and confirmed by bone marrow aspiration and biopsy.
In your case, all the blood work came out to be normal. But as you have severe anxiety of having leukemia, your symptoms of fatigue, light-headedness, weird feeling during breathing and others are increasing due to this anxiety.
Little lymph nodes which you notice on your body can be normal or may due to simple infection or allergy. This can happen to anyone.
Clinically, when all the blood work comes out to be normal, we doctors are pretty much assured that there is no serious disorders. When in doubt, we go for a repeat testing and compare the results. Negative results on repeated testing confirms that there is nothing abnormal.
Your blood work in November came out to be normal. If you are still in doubt, you can go for repeated blood tests for re-assurance.
In conclusion, the symptoms which you are having are fairly common in anxiety. Such symptoms occur very commonly in general population, as common as 10-20 per 100 individuals. Whereas, leukemia occur in 1 in 5000 individuals.
So I would suggest you not to worry. The more you keep yourself calm, the better you will feel.
Whenever you have such thoughts in mind that you have leukemia, do not try to control it. Just let the thought pass on its own. Do not try to find evidences for or against it. This will help you. Remember, you are not going to die at this age of 21 due to these symptoms.
Hope you find my response re-assuring and helpful.
Feel free to ask further.
If you wish, you can ask a direct query at your convenience.
Thanks.
Dr. Shubham Mehta, MD.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thank you for your reassurances, facts like that from any one usaully calm me down after a while.
Brief Answer:
happy to help.
Detailed Answer:
Happy that i could be of some help to you.
You can approach to me directly at any time if you have more queries.
Kindly close the discussion if you have no more queries for now and give your valuable feedback.
I wish you good health.
Thanks.
happy to help.
Detailed Answer:
Happy that i could be of some help to you.
You can approach to me directly at any time if you have more queries.
Kindly close the discussion if you have no more queries for now and give your valuable feedback.
I wish you good health.
Thanks.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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