u/Mindless-Ask-1902

I’ve been experiencing the following symptoms for a couple of months now:

- brain fog, extreme trouble focusing and a sensation of literal fog in my head
- intense fatigue that won’t go away with rest
- constant pain in my left arm that radiates to my left fingers, shoulder, neck, jaw, and side
- a cracking and “rolling” sound in my neck when I move it, I’m not sure how else to describe it
- tingling fingers on my left side
- migraine-adjacent headaches and intense head pressure that feels like my head is stuffed with cotton balls
- lightheadedness/light sensitivity, especially to artificial warm lighting
- anxiety/depression symptoms
- constant derealization/depersonalization, I feel like I’m in a dream a lot

I’ve been to several different kinds of doctors, had a clean EKG and heart monitor results in March/May, and have had all kinds of bloodwork come back clean.

I just finished a blanket this weekend I’ve been crocheting since April, and I noticed an uptick in symptoms since the final stretch of making it. NSAIDs hardly touch the pain, and I’ve been trying to use ice/heat and do gentle exercises to try to help it.

I’ve got an ortho appointment next week but would appreciate any insight of similar experiences!

Edit to add symptoms I forgot to mention.

For the last few days, I feel like I’ve have the hell beat out of me, especially my arms and legs. They’re super achy and sore kind of like they are when I’m sick with strep or the flu. I haven’t worked out or moved in a way that should constitute this kind of pain. I’ve been extremely stressed the last few weeks and am experiencing some other stress related symptoms. Could this be one of them or something else entirely?

Im not sure if this is the right place to post but thought it couldn’t hurt to try. As recommended by my allergist, I’ve been taking both Allegra (once a day before bed) and famotidine (every 12 hours) regularly for a few weeks to treat chronic hives. According to labwork, I don’t have any seasonal allergies, so I’m solely taking the Allegra for hives and flushing. Since then, I’ve been experiencing severe fatigue, brain fog, and am not resting well. I feel overall disoriented and out of it. I stopped taking both of these meds for about two days this week and didn’t experience these symptoms as strongly. However, I took a 12 hour Allegra last night and now feel weird again today.

In the past, Zyrtec has caused me to dissociate and Benadryl makes me super sleepy for a whole day. I was assured that Allegra wouldn’t affect my brain in the same way. Does anyone have any similar experiences? I’m not sure if there’s any correlation in my feeling better after not taking these meds or if I’m just looking for an answer.

I got really sick at the end of March from a combination of a bacterial infection and some other issues and haven’t felt the same since. It started with severe lightheadedness, panic attacks, heart palpitations, and some other issues. I also have a suspected pinched nerve but cannot get an MRI due to insurance. While I’ve mostly recovered physically, I’m really suffering mentally still. I’m still lightheaded and often fear passing out, though I haven’t through all of this. I also have this huge fear of there being something terribly wrong with my health. I literally think about it all day everyday; however, I’ve been cleared by my pcp and several other specialists that everything looks good. On top of it all, I feel like I’ve totally lost myself. I have no interest in anything anymore. I don’t care about work or hobbies or my studies. I feel like there’s a dark cloud hanging over me waiting for me either to have a medical emergency or to just give up completely. I feel like I’m just going through the motions everyday and can’t think about anything other than total dread or my health. I don’t want to feel this way. I want to enjoy my life and feel normal again desperately. I have an appointment to get established with a therapist tomorrow, but idk what else to do. Does anyone else have any similar experiences or can tell me what to try to ease the dread?

I began my first prescription medication in a very long time a few weeks ago for a minor health issue. The label says to take it every 12 hours. I was talking with friends who were (kindly) laughing about people who are particular about taking their medication exactly at the same time every day. I thought this was odd, as labels usually say when to take medicine and I interpret that as being pretty strict in adhering to the timeline. With that being said, to what extent is it acceptable to stray from these instructions? Is it okay to take something an hour earlier or an hour later? I’m having a hard time figuring out how much wiggle room is acceptable in these instances.

This is an ongoing, very detailed situation so I apologize if this is too much. I (24F, non-smoker) was given three steroid shots for allergy/cold related symptoms over 5 months. One in Oct 2025, one in Dec 2025, and one in early Mar 2026 (this one was accompanied by a prednisone pack). After the third shot, I started experiencing spells of extreme dizziness, anxiety, and shortness of breath. In late March 2026, I came down with strep throat and was given a 5 dose pack of azithromycin. I took two doses of the Z-pack, which helped the strep, but I started to immediately experience persistent symptoms like those earlier - constant lightheadedness, extreme anxiety and panic attacks, sense of impending doom, derealization, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and a general inability to function. My pcp put me on amoxicillin to finish off the strep.

Over the next few weeks from this point I continued to experience these symptoms along with classic allergy symptoms (congestion, ear fullness, etc). My pcp prescribed Flonase around mid April, which I took for a week at a dose of two shots in each nostril once a day. The allergy symptoms have eased, but I continue to experience the other symptoms even up until today. I also began to develop pain in the left side of my neck, chest, and down my left arm. Sometimes my fingers tingle on that side, and it’s a persistent discomfort. I also have severe brain fog and fatigue.

I’ve been to my pcp, an endocrinologist (no thyroid issues found), and an allergist and have worn a two week heart monitor, which came out normal. I also had a normal EKG reading in late March. The allergist also diagnosed me with chronic hives, and I have skin writing. I went to an orthopedic about the left side pain as well but couldn’t get an MRI approved without PT/chiropractor visits.

I feel constantly like I’m going to pass out, even weeks after the onset of all of this. I’m tired all day every day and have some intense brain fog. The arm/chest/neck pain still persists, though I’m doing chin tucks and using an inversion table to see if that helps.

Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong with me? I feel absolutely defeated and just want to get back to my normal life, but it feels impossible.

Before March of this year, I was on a really good exercise kick. I was working out with a mix of cardio, strength, and pilates around 4 or 5x a week. Then, I suddenly got sick about two months ago and hard stopped essentially all regular exercise. The working diagnosis right now is that I had an adverse reaction to some medicine, and my recovery has been slow with severe lightheadedness, fatigue, palpitations, and really extreme anxiety/panic attacks unlike my “baseline” day-to-day anxiety. I’ve been on a heart monitor which came back normal and have had a normal EKG as well as normal thyroid labs and ultrasound. I’ve been extremely afraid of getting back into exercise for fear of having some kind of episode, but I feel like that’s my anxiety talking too.

I say all of that to ask if perhaps easing back into my old fitness routine could be a potential remedy? Can stopping exercise extremely abruptly trigger some of this anxiety? I understand there is also the medical factors I explained, but I wonder if losing some of my physical fitness has also contributed to or exacerbated my symptoms. Does anyone have any similar experiences??

I’ve been extremely fatigued lately. I had to take a nap after lunch and before dinner today, and I spent the rest of the day in a total slog. I felt like I was on autopilot and everything was heavy and almost surreal. The last week, I’ve had to have a midday nap just to make it to bedtime and have felt so off and sluggish. I’m not really sure what’s causing it or how to fix it, but my anxiety is making me assume the worst.

I had a clean EKG in late March, a clean thyroid ultrasound/bloodwork, and clean allergy bloodwork. I take magnesium before bed and irregularly take b complex and d vitamins. Does anyone have any advice? I’m freaked out that something is seriously wrong but am not sure where to start or if I’m overthinking it. How can I help myself out of this fog?

I took a 24hr Allegra last night for the second time in a few weeks and woke up feeling extremely groggy with brain fog and a touch of lightheadedness/general not feeling well. I also feel like I have a mild bit of dpdr. I know Allegra is supposed to be non-drowsy, but that’s really the only thing I’ve added/done differently in my day to day. Zyrtec has also made me feel this way in the past on a more extreme scale. Has this happened to anyone else?

I’ve been having a rough go with anxiety lately and have noticed it all settles in my throat. Sometimes it feels like there’s a huge lump in my throat. Sometimes it feels like my throat is closing. Other times it feels like the roof of my mouth is tingling or too dry. I can also occasionally feel this in the front of my throat when I look down/move my neck.

I’m absolutely terrified of my throat closing/anaphylaxis. Does this happen to anyone else? I guess I just need reassurance that this isn’t something horrible or something greater than anxiety.

Edit: I also want to add that I can breathe fine and often have to take big deep breaths through my mouth to remind myself that I can in fact still get air despite this feeling.

I’ve been battling some health issues that have caused some extreme health anxiety over the last two months. For reference, I have had a clean EKG, thyroid ultrasound/bloodwork, and allergy bloodwork within the last month. My health anxiety has been through the roof with everything going on and has been pretty debilitating, making me second guess every little sensation. Tonight during dinner, I suddenly had a feeling of impending doom that something was wrong with me. Funny enough though I was having a really good evening with minimal symptoms compared to the last few weeks. Should I be worried that this sensation is pointing to something else, or is it just anxiety-based? I guess I’m just freaked out because it literally came out of nowhere, whereas it usually comes up during a panic attack or a preestablished bout of anxiety.

I’ve been battling some health issues lately that I’m finally starting to get over. I got a clean EKG in late March but have been experiencing persistent symptoms of anxiety, fatigue, and lightheadedness. However, I felt pretty good this morning and was having the best day I’ve had healthwise in two months. Suddenly, I had some small chest pains around the center of my chest that I could feel in my back and started feeling tingly, lightheaded, and tired. My heart rate was also elevated but never broke 100 bpm for well over an hour. It still felt like it was racing and pounding despite not being too high. I started experiencing anxiety right after that and hived up, which I do sometimes when stressed. It’s about 8 hours later, and the pain is gone but I still feel absolutely wiped out and a little anxious. The hives just went down about an hour ago. Should I be worried about this being cardiac related? Am I overreacting? Any advice is appreciated.

Recently I’ve been going through a bout of mysterious health issues that have caused some major anxiety. In waiting on some test results but am having a hard time coping with symptoms. Along with some other things, I’ve experienced extreme lightheadedness, fatigue, palpitations, panic attacks, and dpdr. Also, I’ve felt like I can’t see even though it can. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like I can see the world around me, but my brain is telling me I can’t see. Anyone else ever felt anything like this? It isn’t helping my anxiety or dpdr symptoms at all.

I (24F) have been having a rough time for about 8 weeks with my health for mysterious issues that I haven’t gotten answers for yet. I’ve had lots of bloodwork done for thyroid (which came back clean) as well as CBC and hemoglobin/hematocrit (which came back high) and am waiting on some more for autoimmune and allergy symptoms. I’ve also had a heart ultrasound that I’m waiting on results for and am on a heart monitor; however, my pcp ordered those things due to my anxiety and my own concern.

I’ve had chest and left arm pains/discomfort throughout this process, but tonight has been a bit different. My heart rate has been staying pretty consistent around the 60-75 bpm range. Tonight, I started feeling a little weird on the left side of my chest in a way that I can only describe as uncomfortable - not quite a burn but not quite a pain. My hr also seemed slightly elevated in the 80-90 bpm range. I dozed off and have woken up twice with this discomfort having only increased, and it feels like it’s jumping from my back to my arm to my chest to my upper abs, but never at the same place at once. My hr is still consistent in that 80-90 range, but it feels like it’s pounding very hard.

Should I be concerned? I’m not sure if I’m in my own head about this and it’s more of the same or if I should be worried.