Symptoms of Somatoform Disorder Posted: 01-15-06 15:03pm
Hi, Im writing this because Im very
distressed and concerned about my health
at the moment. I started having a tingling
sensation at the back of my scalp, last
October, accompanied by dizziness and
fatigue and pins and needles in my arms,
legs and sometimes my whole body. I also
had these strange burning, aching
sensations in my arms and legs. I then
started to experience attacks where I
would get a really bad headache, sometimes
accompanied by pressure in my head and
numbness in the right side of my head,
neck, face, right arm and leg. My vision
was/is affected too - I had occasional
blurring, mainly in the right eye and
grainy vision, which mainly affected my
peripheral vision. The numbness in my head
seemed to subside after a while but its
returned recently and is much worse, now
accompanied by a really bad squeezing
feeling and heaviness in my head,
especially when walking. My balance is
sometimes affected too. Ive been to my
Doctor on numerous occasions and to A&E in
my local hospital but no one ever seems to
be taking me seriously. I was finally
referred to a Neurologist (who also didnt
seem to take me seriously), but referred
me for a CT scan, though he told me it
would be a long time before I would get an
appointment. Im really worried because Im
getting more tired as time passes and its
really making my life a misery. I would be
grateful for any help or advice.
All the symptoms you describe are typical
for a person with somatoform disorder (a
type of neurotic disorder), highly
unlikely to be present in a person of your
age. It seems that your doctors have made
thorough examinations and all the results
were normal. I believe that a CT-scan
will be OK, too, and a hope that it is
going to be your last medical examination.
After that, the only medical check you
might consider would be a psychiatric
examination. Your obsession with disease
does not seem mentally healthy.
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