Anxiety and Stress Forum - understanding compulsions and obsessions

Hello all. Am hoping that someone here can give me some guidance and advice regarding some issues I'm Having.

So, here is my situation.

I am a 40 year old guy (my 40th was on Sunday). I have always been a very pessimistic person and have always had some elements of OCD mainly involving uniformity in surroundings etc.

About a month ago I found a lump in one of my balls and went to see the GP straight away....I was refered for a scan but was told it would take up to 6 weeks. At this point, I did a pretty silly thing and started looking on the web at my symptoms...before I knew it I got myself worked up into a real state. A couple of days after finding the lump I woke up in the morning and literally all my muscles had seized on me....I went to the GP who advised this was all stress and aniexty due to the lump. In the end, I went to BUPA a day or two later and paid for the scan and all was well. Now, I imagined after that I would start to feel OK but this is not really the case.

Over the last couple of weeks I noticed that my muscles where still feeling stiff and I would also get pins and needles...I also noticed that my right leg seemed to be be affected more and it just didn't feel right...almost like it wasn't part of my body. Last Monday I woke up and noticed that I was feeling dizzy and somewhat spaced out...now this isn't all the while but seems to be quite consistent throughout the day.

I took 3 days off work last week and also saw the GP again. The GP advised that all my symptoms seemed consistent with stress and aniexty and that it could also be that elements of OCD where making me stress inordinatly about my health, this could be coupled with me turning 40 and the recent death of someone I knew from school dieing from cancer at my age (I wasn't close to them and the death did not have any emotional effect as such).

I have now seen 3 GP's who have all diagnosed the same thing. I have been prescribed Prozac which I have just started taking and the GP also gave me a book about understanding compulsions and obsessions to read. My worry (yeah, I know) is that the GP's have not actually given me a medical examination as such...to me a test for high blood pressure would be the intial step but when I suggested this to one GP he advised that this would not solve anything as he was sure that that wasn't the problem and that he thought that deep down I knew this as well...he advised that if he said the blood pressure was fine then I would just start stressing about needing blood tests etc etc and that this would go on as I needed constant reassurance.

Now, my logical mind tells me that after having seen 3 GP's who have all said the same thing that this is probably the case. I have started the medication and I know this can take a good period to kick in but am still feeling much the same...I have never really experienced the dizzyness like this before and it just seems weird to think that your mind can have such an effect on the body...when this is coupled with the muscle weakness it just all gets a bit disconcerting.

So, I suppose my query relates to how long these symptoms can last for. I have been signed off work by my GP for 2 weeks and am trying to relax but this is quite hard when the dizzyness sort of reminds you that you are not well.

Looking at it I am a prime candidate for stress and aniexty. I am in a very unsecure job at the moment with quite poor working conditions and salary...having a degree I feel that I am wasted somewhat. Both me and my wife have a lot of debt and money is a constant worry. My wife wants to start a family and refers to this constantly, money issues make me more reluctant. I have very low self esteem and have always tried to find my identity in items I buy...I have been addicted to shopping and this has contributed to the debt. I have few friends as the majority of these moved away after university. I also do not have a relationship with my father...I speak to him a couple of times a year on the phone but we are not close at all...I am sure there are some underlying issues with this relationship causing me difficulties.

Having said all of that, I do not actually feel stressed or particuarly anxious at the moment. I have these symptoms but do not feel stressed in the traditional sense. My wife did say that when I found the lump about 3 weeks ago that I did take it really bad and she has told me that I was in a right state...I knew I had got myself really worked up but may not have realised just how bad.

I obviously can't keep going to the GP. I know that no one can tell someone when things are going to get better but I just wanted to know if other people had had similar experiencies to what I'm currently having and if this is really what the mind is capable of...causing these physical symptoms over this period of time?

Anyway, apologies for waffling on. I am off to see a stress conseller on Friday which I am hoping will be benficial. Any advise would be greatfully received.