Severe stress has learned to disguise itself as a stroke

All diseases are caused by nerves – this is a common expression that doctors really dislike. Although doctors are forced to admit: chronic or acute stress can trigger a lot of diseases in the human body. Moreover, sometimes the nerves hurt not figuratively, but in the most literal sense, giving the patient a whole bunch of unpleasant symptoms. Pain in the arms and legs, numbness, tingling – such complaints are most often heard by neurologists at appointments. Doctors told MK what to do if pain does not go away for months, how to examine “sick” nerves and whether stress can trigger symptoms that are like two peas in a pod like a stroke.

Constant stress is the first and main enemy to the health of the nervous system. As told by MK neurologist, chief physician of the Open Clinic Dmitry Afonin, there are many options for a person’s reaction to stress. But globally, doctors divide the effects of stress on the body into two groups: psycho-emotional and physical.

– Psycho-emotional impact is expressed in different forms. These are increased anxiety, decreased performance, memory disorders, sleep disturbances, panic attacks,” Afonin listed the symptoms of stress.

The insidiousness of chronic stress is that it affects not only our nerves, but also our physical health. Under the influence of the burden of life’s hardships and problems at work, a person can worsen chronic diseases and develop so-called somatoform pain disorders. This means that not only the psyche, but also the body reacts to stress.

True, doctors criticize the catchphrase “all diseases come from nerves.” According to experts, many diseases actually start after experiencing emotional shock. But this does not mean that the disease will go away on its own as soon as the mental background returns to normal. So it is very important not to ignore the symptoms and consult a doctor for a correct diagnosis.

Very often stress “hits” the back, says Dmitry Afonin.

– Very often, as a neurologist, I see patients whose spinal pain is caused by a nervous condition. There are many such striking cases when a physical phenomenon – herniated intervertebral discs – was aggravated against the background of severe stress. For a long time I could not understand why the patient had one exacerbation after another. This is very atypical. Despite the fact that she received all the recommendations and underwent treatment. She shouldn’t have had any flare-ups, but she did. By chance, in a conversation, I learned that before each exacerbation there was an emotional outburst,” the doctor said.

Orthopedic traumatologist at the Na Presnya CDC, Kirill Pushkarev, said that he also encounters secondary manifestations of stress in his practice.

– When a person, against a background of stress, commits rash acts – hits something or jumps from somewhere, or, against a background of stress, withdraws into himself and his activity decreases – he becomes our patient. The same arthrosis can occur due to stress. The joint is nourished by movement. If a person becomes depressed, arthrosis worsens due to hypoactivity,” explained the orthopedic traumatologist.

There is another illness that occurs due to the fact that a person is constantly on edge – chronic pain syndrome. This is a condition where pain is present in the same place for three to four months. A person gets used to this state. As a result, even after treatment the pain remains.

“In this case, light drug therapy is prescribed, and the patient forgets about this pain,” said Dmitry Afonin.

According to doctors, determining whether symptoms are caused by stress or not is very difficult. The main signal is a strange pain algorithm.

– For example, if a patient suffers from arthrosis of the knee joint, he walks down the stairs and feels pain. But if he walks up the stairs one day and it hurts, and the next day he doesn’t, this is a reason to think about it. The main thing here is the lack of internal logic,” the doctor explained.

But it happens that the nerves hurt not figuratively, but in the most literal sense. Due to damage or pinching of peripheral nerves, a person may experience a whole bunch of extremely unpleasant symptoms: tingling, numbness, weakness, burning and pain in the limbs. To diagnose such ailments, the electroneuromyography method is used. The study is carried out on the direction of a neurologist. Using a special device, doctors see which nerve is affected – at the level of the spine or the limbs themselves. The procedure is painless and is performed sitting or lying down, depending on what needs to be looked at, arms or legs.

Sometimes such an examination cannot be done without. After all, stress can throw a very terrible surprise at a person. Sometimes a severe nervous shock gives a clinical picture that is exactly like a stroke in a pod. And here it is vitally important to establish in time whether your brain is deceiving you or not, emphasized Lyudmila Ustenko, a neurologist at the Na Presnya CDC.

– Patients usually complain of pain or numbness in the limbs or fingers. Sometimes patients say: my foot flops, I can’t actively use my arm. Then a neurologist, therapist or orthopedist gives a referral for research. Sometimes cases are atypical. These are so-called hysterical defeats. The central nervous system behaves in such a way under stress that a person simply loses the ability to move an arm or leg. The question arises: is it a stroke or a state of hysteria, which is treated by psychotherapists,” explained Lyudmila Ustenko.