[Kaboodle]

Hi all....I haven't been on here for a while but have some info I wanted to pass along.

First of all, I do have an anxiety disorder (GAD) but this is what happened to me ON TOP of that.

The daily anxiety that I was dealing with became worse for no reason. I developed OCD and a high level of fear---of everything. I was afraid to wash dishes, afraid to drive the car, afraid to take a shower, afraid to go to the market, afraid of a lamp on a table or even going to bed. It got to the point where I was terrified of everything imaginable. At times I felt like I was losing my mind. I had this boiling rage that I tried to keep under control. I became super-sensitive to anything anyone said, often being reduced to tears. I kept thinking I was going to end up institutionalized. This went on for about 2 years and how I managed to keep a lid on it, I'll never know.

I began to have pain that felt like was behind my eyes. I got suspicious and thought there's got to be something else going on here. I started taking my temperature daily. I always had a low-grade fever.

Having had Lyme years ago, I figured that it had resurfaced or I somehow got a new infection. I contacted my Lyme specialist and got tested for that and the other co-infections. The only one that came back positive was a high level of Bartonella Henselae which is cat scratch fever. My titer was off the scale. The bacteria had gotten into my central nervous system and brain!!!

We do have a cat and my cat did bite me during play. It was a deep bite on the back of my hand. I do not recall due to the passage of time how long this happened before the anxiety got much worse.

But for anyone who has a cat or dog, this is a real possibility. Typical symptoms are swollen lymph nodes, etc. but it can bypass all that like it did for me.

I told my primary about all this and he was very interested. He said, you know, you would have never gotten diagnosed with this even if you'd gone to an infectious disease specialist. But having Lyme years prior, I did have some knowledge of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. That's how I got lucky and figured it out.

The irrational fear is gone as well as the fevers and OCD and now I'm back down to my 'normal' and yes miserable level of anxiety.

[sunnydisposition]

Sounds like health anxiety to me. I know coz i recognize your fears coz i have them myself. it's a particularly unique kind of hell living with health anxiety. CBT techniques are super helpful in dealing with this kind of anxiety, much more than meds. I am no expert and i just learned some techniques from a few books and online videos of CBT that ive read and watched. Basic techniques like challenging the thought, its credibility and probability, exposure therapy, thought labeling, and letting the thoughts exist and pass without getting into a fight with them, and a bunch of other methods come in handy while dealing with this, and has helped me keep my sanity intact. Can you learn CBT techniques form a therapist or from books and videos available online..?

[Kaboodle]

Originally Posted by sunnydisposition

Sounds like health anxiety to me. I know coz i recognize your fears coz i have them myself. it's a particularly unique kind of hell living with health anxiety. CBT techniques are super helpful in dealing with this kind of anxiety, much more than meds. I am no expert and i just learned some techniques from a few books and online videos of CBT that ive read and watched. Basic techniques like challenging the thought, its credibility and probability, exposure therapy, thought labeling, and letting the thoughts exist and pass without getting into a fight with them, and a bunch of other methods come in handy while dealing with this, and has helped me keep my sanity intact. Can you learn CBT techniques form a therapist or from books and videos available online..?

No, definitely not health anxiety. Here are some more details. I have Bartonella bacterial infection in my central nervous system from a cat bite. I have been on 3 different antibiotics daily for 7 months. I drive for 2 1/2 hrs to see my doctor, all out of network for my insurance. So far, I've spent over $3500 and counting. I posted about it for people to read as another possibility to consider if they are having anxiety/fear that is totally irrational, not explainable and not responding to any meds. The central nervous system is not meant to have bacteria in it. When it does, bizarre things happen! Maybe I should have included this part in my original post.

Yes, I do have GAD like many but it is not health-related. The root of that is an emotional trauma from 6 years ago. Haven't been the same since that happened.

[sunnydisposition]

Originally Posted by Kaboodle

No, definitely not health anxiety. Here are some more details. I have Bartonella bacterial infection in my central nervous system from a cat bite. I have been on 3 different antibiotics daily for 7 months. I drive for 2 1/2 hrs to see my doctor, all out of network for my insurance. So far, I've spent over $3500 and counting. I posted about it for people to read as another possibility to consider if they are having anxiety/fear that is totally irrational, not explainable and not responding to any meds. The central nervous system is not meant to have bacteria in it. When it does, bizarre things happen! Maybe I should have included this part in my original post.

Yes, I do have GAD like many but it is not health-related. The root of that is an emotional trauma from 6 years ago. Haven't been the same since that happened.

I got it. Sorry i shouldnt have been so presumptuous. I actually stopped short of reading your complete message coz i get triggered easily by health concerns. Thank you for posting about your experience. People oughta be able to consider all possibilities that could be a cause.