Anxiety or something more serious?

[jlong329]

Hello All,

I am writing this to see if there is anyone out there with a similar experience to mine. Sorry for the long story, I just need to get this out there so please bear with me.

2011 was a horrible year for me. I lost my job in 2/11, feel behind on my mortgage, was running to financial problems and was unemployed for about 5 months. In June of 2011, I was blessed
to find a very good job and everything seemed to fall back into place.

In Nov 2011, after coming back on my lunch break, I started feeling a little dizzy so I started looking up the symptoms on webmd and to no avail, heart attack symptoms came up. At that time I felt like I ha to get out of there so I got up and started walking to the restroom, on the way to the restroom I started experiencing those same symptoms that I saw online. Crushing
chest pain, my whole left side was tingling, fast heart beat, hot flashes and just some other crazy symptoms. I called 911 the paramedics came and took me to the hospital.

I was in the hospital for 5 days, they ran every test under the sun. They did a cardiac cath, echocardiogram, EKG, X-ray, MRI of the brain, countless of blood test, and all of the test came back negative. That was Nov 2011, since that day, I have not been the same. I've been to numerous of cardiologists, neurologists, endocrinologists, I've been to the ER at least 7 times, have done additional testing for thyroid, parathyroid, pheochromocytoma, ultrasound of the carotid arteries, Lung VQ scan to check for blood clots, an again everything comes back negative.

All the doctors are telling me the same thing, that I experienced a panic attack and now suffer from
Anxiety from the feat that the panic attack will happen again. What I don't understand is the symptoms that I am feeling. From the moment I wake up till the moment I go to sleep, I feel tingling in my face, my right side of my face twitches alot, I feel flushed all the time and feel like I am sweating on my forehead, I experience chest pain and all sorts of crazy symptoms, but the constant tingling and constant ligheadedness is what gets me. I am always feeling like I'm going to pass out and die.

Sorry for this long entry, I just want to know if anyone has experienced this and if this is all attributed to anxiety. Can the doctors have missed something and I actually have something more serious? And if it is anxiety, how long does it take to get back to my pre Nov 2011 life?

I am 30 years of age. Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Jorge

[bhamlaxy]

You are most definitely suffering purely from anxiety and nothing else. I can say this for a fact considering all the tests you have had, and the symptoms you discuss. Sounds EXACTLY like anxiety, especially since it really started after that first time in the ER.

How long it takes to get back to feeling normal depends. You need to take action- you can't just wait for it to happen. I'd highly recommend seeign a therapist, and if necessary a psychiatrist. There are some great books on the subject (find the highly reviewed ones on Amazon) and good resources online.

Over time you will learn to reteach your nervous system that there is nothing wrong and it can stop being on high alert (which is what is causing a lot of your symptoms).

[jlong329]

Every doctor that I have been to has told me the same thing and it's just so hard for me to grasp the concept that anxiety could make you feel
Like you are going to die.

I am in the process of looking for a good psychologist as I know that this is key to my recovery. And the doctors are also
Telling me that what I experienced in Nov 2011 was a panic attack.

Hopefully I will get better sooner than later.

[ellen1]

Im not joking, i get this all the time its fine dont worry their are many people in the same position as you, anxiety.

[jk34]

Anxiety is a crazy thing, it turns little problems into huge ones. Every ache turns to cancer and every cut turns to a severe infection. Think back to when your mind was healthy, you could easily brush a headache off as simply a headache. Our minds are not healthy right now, and it takes time and patience. None of us are alone, just sit back and enjoy it. I wasted 3 months in fear of death from heart issues, a brain tumor, or anything else. I am still not at 100%, but progress has come and will continue to come.

[jlong329]

Anxiety is crazy, I've been dealing with this since Nov of 2011 almost 6 months. I'm seeing both a psychologist and a psychiatrist. I am doing better but still think sometimes that there is something more serious

[jk34]

jlong I know what you mean, but we both have had tests done that cleared us. We need to trust them. My current bout of head pressure of course sends me through the hypochondria roof, but my docs reassure me it's sinus and allergy related.

[dave972]

wow jlong your story is so similar to mine...
day after new years eve i was so hung over..as the day went by i was still dizzy and feeling tingly arms and chest pain..so i went to the googles and was the worse thing i could have done...boom there it was heat attack symptoms...i paniked...walking around the house telling my self no this isn't happening going to the rest room for some reason helped...so i called my wife told her to come and take me to ER....we got to the ER and it was packed...as i waited i started having negative thoughts and start sweating, tingling arm and black spots had enough energy to tell the nurse to help..they got me in the room and did ekg,xray,blood work and all came out fine.......ever since then i been on high alert...
my normal drinking habits have gone away due to making this anxiety worse...work days are tougher, parties are harder to deal with.i feel i need re assurance about what happened that day....till this day i still have anxiety and have been prescribed aprsszolam(xanax) for emergencys i have to admit my anxiety level had definately lowered...

[jk34]

Dave, I have always had anxiety but my worst panic attack ever happened this past new years eve and I thought for sure it was my last night on earth. I thought my heart was going to give out and it was awful, I have definitely had a hard time Coping with anxiety since then. Prior to new years eve i knew anxiety was there but was able to handle it on a daily basis. It was like since that panic attack something clicked. Only recently have I been able to handle it better as well.

[Rgib95]

I'm on this boat too!

2011 was the worst year for me, health-wise. On January 10, 2011, I had what they call an SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia) which is basically a faulty wiring in my heart that causes it to beat really fast without any physical exertion. It was just about 5pm and I was ready to leave my office. Then without notice or any preliminary feelings, I felt a small bubble-like pop in my chest. After that, my heart started racing. I mean like I was running for my life kind of racing. After about 2 minutes of this, I started freaking out. I was trying to drink ice water, I tried bearing down, I tried splashing my face with cold water.. nothing made it better. Then of course, my mind went into overdrive and I thought I wasn't going to see my family ever again. I thought for sure that I was going to die. Fortunately, I work in a doctor's office and we have an urgent care down the hall from our office. One of our nurses hooked me up to a blood pressure monitor... I don't even want to think about it again, but it was heart attack numbers! My heart was racing at over 200 bpm, while I was sitting in a chair! My blood pressure was something like 187/112 and I had every heart attack symptom you could think of. My left arm had pain, my chest was hurting, I had light-headedness, nausea, and clammy hands. It was obviously all in my mind, but you couldn't have convinced me otherwise at the time. The nurse managed to walk me down to the urgent care and they immediately hooked me up to an EKG and captured the event. That's how they saw that I was having an SVT. Fortunate for me, SVTs are very common and not usually lethal. They hooked me up to some IVs and gave me a hit of nitro-glycerin before the ambulance arrived and took me to the ER. When I got there, they did all the routine tests and after about 6 hours, they got my heart rate down and settled my nerves with some sedatives.

Ever since then, I have been having anxiety and panic attacks so bad that my family has begun to suffer with me. I too, have been to cardiologists, neurologists, gastroenterologists, my PCP, and a therapist. Everyone has come to the conclusion that I have anxiety and some minor musculoskeletal chest pains. I haven't been able to completely convince myself that they are right, yet. I've come a long way since then and have been working on a few self help ideas that have reduced the frequency of my attacks.

For one thing, I've learned to just say, "I don't care. It's not worth the headache or worry." (just not in those exact words) It's more about an attitude than the words.

Secondly, I've learned what helps me refocus and stay distracted from the attacks. For me, it's music. I like to listen to jazz in particular, but nature sounds help me too because I love to go camping and the sounds remind me of being in a peaceful place.

Third, I've become more physically active. I go on long walks with my wife and our two furry kids (a yorkie and a dachshund). My two human kids prefer not to come with us... go figure.

Finally, I adjusted my diet. I figured out through my gastroenterologist, that I also have GERD and a hiatal hernia which both contribute to my anxiety and panic symptoms. So, I reduced my caffeine intake to about a quarter or what it used to be. That meant I couldn't have 6 cups of coffee each day, or eat a chocolate candy bar with a cold soda for an afternoon snack anymore. But it's working... that's what matters.

Anyway, I'm glad to have found this forum and I feel a heck of a lot better knowing that I'm not the only one going nuts trying to figure this all out.