Suggest Treatment For Fear Of Having Stroke Despite Having Normal Cardiac Tests

Posted on Wed, 10 Jun 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 10 Jun 2015 Answered on

Fri, 26 Jun 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I'm 31 and in perfect health but worried to death about having a stroke. Neither of my parents or their siblings have had strokes and I have zero risk factors meaning always played sports, health weight, non smoker and both good cholesterol and blood pressure. Is this stupid?
I also have terrible health anxiety. The reason for my question is I have lately been feeling numbness (no tingling) in my nose, not sure if this is just allergies. My GP doesn't seem concerned about anything and perform all the standard neurology/nerve test on me yesterday.
Also, from my hospital health summary that I attached , it looks like they basically covered everything that could be major?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Rovena (22 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
just anxiety.

Detailed Answer:
Hello.

Welcome to Healthcare Magic.

I read carefully query and the information you have provided.
It seems that you are perfectly healthy ,with no risk factors ,with negative family history.You don't have any reason at all to fear a stroke .
It is not stupid to fear such serious condition but in your case you have no reason to even think about it.You are too young and all this worry is just anxiety.

The numbness feeling in you nose most likely is another symptom triggered by anxiety because there is no neurological condition that can present itself with nose numbness.
In my opinion you should focus on managing you anxiety.Relaxation ,meditation techniques , Yoga can help.

Hope it helps.
Please feel free to ask for every question you might have.

Kind regards,
Dr.Rovena Murati

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Rovena (9 minutes later)

Thank you so much for the response. I know I need to work on the anxiety, it's just a hard habit to kick, but this really helps. My last question, were you able to review my chart from the hospital? Was I correct in saying they took a ct of my brain, neck and sinuses so nothing to worry about at any of those places?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Rovena (24 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
detailed below

Detailed Answer:
Hello.

Yes, I reviewed carefully the hospital chart and the CT scans of head ,cervical spine are completely normal.If you would have a neurological pathology like stroke ,it would be visible on CT scan because it causes specific changes in brain.

As I said you have nothing to worry about.Try not to think about this anymore and focus on managing your anxiety.

Take care.
Dr.Rovena

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar