Blood work and other medical tests

Hey, I have been struggling for over 5 years and I actually haven't seen that many doctors. My GP has drawn my blood a couple of times (for what, I have no idea) and I have had a couple of CT scans and MRIs of my head. Everything was apparently normal. I was just wondering if anyone here struggling with anxiety, panic, and/or depression has had much blood work done or seen different medical specialists to rule out possible causes. If so what did you find? Anything?

I have had a lot of tests and blood work over the past year and a half and they did find some areas that needed to be addressed that will require surgery. Are you having physical symptoms that you are attributing to anxiety and depression?

Not really. I have weird tingly sensations in my forehead, weird feeling of pressure in my cheek. Sometimes a weird, strong sensation in the back of my head. And frequently pain behind my eyes. I just want to look at some possible causes, because I don't feel like my doctor ruled much out. He seemed aggravated the last times I saw him. His only advice is to see a psychiatrist and a counselor, as if I couldn't think of that on my own.

He should do a full panel blood work on you. Maybe therein is the solution to your problems.

I think its all just anxiety.your bloodwork should reveal everything that's going in your body if anything was seriously wrong it would show up in your bloodwork.

I am on Lithium and as with many psychiatric medications require routine bloodwork every eight weeks. You should investigate this.

There is actually all sorts of nutritional deficiencies and hormones (thyroid) that have been linked with mental health. So I am sure that is what he was looking for. Not sure about the CT or MRI... maybe tumor?

But gosh .. you should you find out what these were for. I always order my records after any procedure and read them. If I can't understand what they are saying I google the words until I do. I don't trust doctors and you shouldn't either. Don't just leave it in their hands.

CT scans have a ton of radiation. Don't get them unless you have to.. (but one or two won't kill you).

Apparently normal can cause problems. Recently I had a HORRIBLE bout of heart palpitations. Come to find out it was caused by too much calcium in my blood -- for me. But technically considered normal. It was 9.9 and 10 is abnormal. Once I reduced the calcium they stopped. I had never had a reading above 9.4 in my entire life and typically it was 8.9. My doctor says Vitamin B12 is fine under 300 but there are tons of other doctors (and the country of Japan) that says the safe minimum level is 500.

I've had a lot of blood work to rule out physical causes. Right now my biggest concerns are elevated liver enzymes and diabetes. My doc and pnurse work together, but other specialists don't. I have to be an advocate for my health.

My husband has bad headaches, but nothing shows up. We know it's from his MS med, but only because he has them when he takes it. He just lives with it.

You could try seeing a holistic/integrative doctor. They have some different tests they run to test things like vitamin/mineral/amino acid deficiencies, how your body processes nutrients, toxic substances, yeast overgrowth, food sensitivities, etc. (Warning: some of those tests can be a bit pricey and may only partly be covered by insurance, if at all.) I've learned I'm deficient in a few vitamins and minerals, have some yeast issues, maybe chronic/reactivated Epstein-Barr, and some other stuff.

I've had blood tests on and off for years now. One reason is because I was once on lithium so they had to check my levels. Now they do it every 3 to 4 months to see what my A1C is. Wacked out sugar levels can cause emotional problems. I was bipolar 1 long before I got diabetes, so I don't think my bipolar is from my sugar. They also checked my thyroid to see if it was working right, and it was and to think I use to hate needles.

Hi Life_lamp,

Sometimes nerve endings cause tingly painful sensations. You stated pain behind your eye. You do have an occipital nerve that sometimes becomes inflamed. See below.

I have cervical (neck) pinched nerves and this causes me tingly sensations which are very uncomfortable. I do have anxiety and this is not anxiety related for me. Hope this helps some.

I'm with the others, ask the doctor for better answers. Sometimes you need to be your own advocate these days. If you are not happy with your physician you should change doctors. I've been there, doctors don't always listen well. They are time constricted with each patient.

Occipital neuralgia is a condition in which the nerves that run from the top of the spinal cord up through the scalp, called the occipital nerves, are inflamed or injured. You might feel pain in the back of your head or the base of your skull.

People can confuse it with a migraine or other types of headache, because the symptoms can be similar. But treatments for those conditions are very different, so it’s important to see your doctor to get the right diagnosis.

Symptoms

Occipital neuralgia can cause intense pain that feels like a sharp, jabbing, electric shock in the back of the head and neck. Other symptoms include:
•Aching, burning, and throbbing pain that typically starts at the base of the head and goes to the scalp
•Pain on one or both sides of the head
•Pain behind the eye
•Sensitivity to light
•Tender scalp
•Pain when you move your neck

Causes

Occipital neuralgia happens when there’s pressure or irritation to your occipital nerves, maybe because of an injury, tight muscles that entrap the nerves, or inflammation. Many times, doctors can’t find a cause for it.