I'm a 22 y.O. Male. My current situation is, I feel a general pressure in my head, and can't always pinpoint where it is coming from. Sometimes I feel like my head is being squeezed from the sides, and it feels very heavy. Sometimes I feel a slight pain behind my eyes and I feel dizziness. Last week these feelings were scaring me, and causing my heart to beat fast and my hands would get cold. This week i'm feeling better but still I think they're not going away, i'm just not reacting as badly.
About 3 months ago, I lost my job, and it came as a shock. I was unemployed for about a month. Now I finally have a new job, I am doing programming.
During the period I was unemployed, I excessivly played a computer game. Usually more than 10 hours a day. During that time, one night I started feeling very uncomfortable, and later I had a panic attack, for the first time in my life. I was very scared and my whole body was shaking.
A few days later, it happened again, but wasnt as bad. Then I started to slowly cut back on playing games. Even after I found my new job, I was generally unhappy during my days. One day I cried after having a discussion with my mom and couldnt help it. I hadnt cried in more than a year. After that I felt a little better, but still not exactly normal.
The pressure feeling in my head started about 3 weeks ago and it got worse and worse. Last week I felt terrible, and couldn't get any work done at my job. I fear there is something physically wrong with me, but my mom keeps telling me its from stress and anxiety.
About 8 days ago, I started taking an herbal product called serenity which has kava kava in it, and it's supposed to help me relax. I felt better the next day and the following days. But past 4-5 days, I still feel no improvement. 4 days ago I went to the doctor (first time in years) and he had me get a blood test, which I did 2 days ago. He did not say anything about getting and mri or anything else to check my brain. I always fear something is happening to my brain but he didnt seem to suspect that.
He prescribed me xanax (0.25mg I think) to cope with stress while we find out whats wrong. He told me to use it only when I need to. But I have been using it every evening after I get home around 6:30. I am not taking the suggested amount which is 3 times a day, I take only once.
I was just wondering if anyone thinks what I am experiencing is obvious anxiety symptoms, and if they might be related to any physical problem.