Q. I have become extremely anxious after electric shock. Why?
Hello doctor, I am 17 years old and mostly healthy. I had an EEG and an MRI several months back; both came back fine. I suffer from OCD related tension headaches. On the 15th, I was in my father's office looking for something. It was too dark and so I decided to turn on my dad's lamp. It is an archaic thing, built in the 1930's by my grandfather's sister and it is mostly copper. I grasped for the light switch, instead I accidentally touched the copper beam of the lamp. The moment I touched it my hand gripped it. Around four to five seconds passed till I realized that my hand was shaking and got an electric shock. I quickly pulled away. Then, I felt sick, extremely anxious and in a daze. The next morning, I woke up extremely anxious and a tad bit confused. I felt as if I was confused. My parents brushed it off as anxiety and stress. Later that day, I had what seemed to be an allergic reaction to my lunch. I had red blotches all over my chest and neck. My face felt hot. Then, I received a 50 mg Benadryl shot. Almost instantly I felt as if the space around me shifted. I felt taller soon after I got tired, confused and disorientated. By the time I got into the car, I fell asleep, although I was not really asleep. I felt like I was slipping in and out of consciousness the entire way home. It was as if half of my brain had shut off. My muscles were limp and I was thinking strange things as if my mind was thinking by itself and I had no control on it. I then managed to walk into my room without falling and sleep. It was a dreamless sleep. When I woke up, I was irritated. Every voice in the house made me angry and I ended up cursing my brother and mom. I engaged in short nonsense conversations on and off. I would talk about something that did not make any sense and then I forget and ask what I was talking about. My head and neck vibrated. My muscles were weak and my body felt jittery. I wanted to sleep, but I could not. The space around me was fluctuating. Then, I had a large panic attack that lasted till 12 AM and I woke up the next morning around 10 AM with severe confusion and deorientation. I was thinking nonsense and could not construct a sentence. My muscles were weak again and I could not focus on reality and my head was vibrating. Fear sets in again. I do not cry even when terrible things happen as I usually cope, but I could not control my mind and cried a lot. We called the doctor who gave the injection. He told me that I was having some kind of allergic reaction and that I should take Zantac to help the Benadryl move through my system. Later in the day, it seemed to dissipate slightly. But, now (7 PM) it is back and almost as bad as it was this morning. I took another Zantac, but it has not done anything yet. I feel the vibrations most in my teeth and nose. Also, I have a rapid heartbeat. Is this being caused by the electric shock? And if so, will it go away over time? Am I in long term issue? Or is this caused by the Benadryl? It has been over 30 hours and I believe it is only since I was injected. Did this trigger long-term side effects? Do stress headaches have anything with this? Or is this caused by a combination of all three things? I just need help. Please I need to know what is going on. I really do not want to live with this. I am having a very hard time writing this. Thank you so much for your time. Also, my dad got shocked three times by that lamp.
Hi. I understand your symptoms with chronological order. For further information consult a neurologist online -->