New Symptoms

[crxman321]

I went to the Hospital 2 days in a row b.c i cant really function. recently my anxiety has gotten worse my Mouth has been dry for like 2 days and i dont feel hungry at all. The hospital said my heart and everything else was fine like my blood and so on. Last night i got all odd feeling like i wasnt lightheaed or dizzy but i didnt feel right exactly. I feel my heart all the time sometimes more then others but i mean i feel it like your not suppossed to. Little pulling pains in my chest and sometimes like a twitching feeling like something in my chest gets tight for a half a second and twitches then it quits. I just feel on edge bad. my doctor put me on new medicine celexa or something lol i dont think its really doing anything i just take 2 pills once a day in the morning. Im worried more now b.c im having like new symptoms and im afraid its something more then anxiety. like last night for instant im pretty sure i wasnt having a panic attack but i did feel my heart pretty bad my hands were cold and clammie. usually their just real sweaty not really clammie my feet tend to get cold more. when i seen things on tv about heart attacks and anything health related it bothers me alot now. i guess im scared to death im gonna drop dead of something. :( its like i cant even believe the doctors or anyone else. this has totally changed my ways of eating and my thinking habits im not the same person. im very worried about what i eat now and everything. when i take a shower i get more nervous b/c i dont wanna touch my chest with the soap i mean yah.. this isnt good when that happens i get more nervous and lighthead like i have no control and im dizzy before i didnt really get like that. i always thought panic attacks were the same everytime u had them but in my case i dont think thats true can some panic attacks be worse then others? i just hope i dont have anything else wrong with me im very worried about that. its hard for me to sit still when i feel my heart so much and its even harder when i lay down to sleep thats the worse. i dont feel my heart racing i just feel it beating like alot more then what i should sometimes it lasts a long time then it goes away then it comes back. for the past like 4-5 days ive been lighthheaded off and on as well. im only 19 and i dont understand this i dont wanna die the doctors dont wanna give me like a nerve pill b.c their addictice but i think thats what i need to help calm me down. im worse out in public to so many things bother me alot more. i check my heart all the time and this iis just horrible horrible horrible sigh

[Kayla23]

I'm in the same boat as you and man it sucks. I'm very aware of my heartbeat whenever i get a chance to think about it and once you focus on it it's hard to distract yourself. I also get skipped/added beats which make my concern about my health that much worse. I've been told they're from anxiety, however they happen out of no where so i have a hard time believeing that. I watch everything i eat and everything i do eat, I wonder how it will effect my heart and what not. I wont put most things on my skin either. I know exactly how you feel and as much as i have a hard time believing there's nothing wrong, you were tested at the hospital. The light headedness could be from alot of things like you not eating or not eating right. It could also be from the anxiety. It's crazy what your mind can do to your body.

[V for Victor]

Cold, clammy hands, cold feet, etc. aren't unusual to have in an anxiety attack. Not all anxiety attacks are the same. Some can be very intense, and others can be mild.

Sometimes I worry about my heart too. I mean, I'm in perfect health, but I'll sometimes feel my pulse to see if it's going what I think is "too fast" or "too slow."

If the doctors say there's nothing wrong with your heart, you have to try and trust them.

[jitters]

Yeah all the symptoms you descirbe are common anxiety symptoms. And of course when you dont know the cause they are going to be frightening and you are going to worry. The irony is that the worry is causing the symptoms and the symptoms are causing the anxiety. Its a circle.

Your body triggers its fear response. (releasing adreniline and cortozone etc.)

You feel the symptoms of the response. (Noticing your heart beat, tingling fingers, Nausea/Butterfies in stomache, heavy breathing.)

You worry about these symptoms being a heart problem or similar.

This causes you to worry.

Your body increases the adreniline and you have a full blown panic attack.

This causes you to worry.

The worry starts the circle all over the next time you are in a similar situation.

The truth is we cannot cure the symptoms, but we can choose how to react to them. We have to know and believe that the symptoms are triggered by anxiety, that they are natural and not dangerous to our health (no one ever died of a panic attack.) that if we let them continue they will fade. We can learn to control our reactions using Breathing Techniques, Tension and Release Exercises, Positive self talk (i.e. I am not dying, this is just anxiety.) and other CBT style treatments.

Good Luck

Stay Strong

Duncan

[crxman321]

Its a Circle alright One of the Nurses at the Hospital Told Me that. My problem is beliveing what they tell me. Before I had my first panic attack my symptoms didnt involve chest pain,tingling and all the others. Last night i could tell my heart wasn't beating to fast but i still felt like i couldnt be calm as usual and i feel little things in my chest from time to time. So basically im worried that b.c im not having full blown panic attacks that its a physical problem because i still feel things in my chest and so on. And like someone said part of the reason im lightheaded is b.c i dont have much of a appetite. My real concern is having a heart attack i think about that daily which surely doesnt help. i just wanna be alright.

[V for Victor]

You are alright. Just remember that, in reality, there isn't anything wrong with you phsyically. The problem is in your mind, not your body. It's tricking you into thinking that something is wrong when there's really not.

Try to focus on refocusing your attention away from the false alarm in your brain, and onto something enjoyable and constructive.

It helps also to look back and see all the other times that you became afraid, but all turned out fine.

For instance, last night I was dealing with a rather common obsession (at least for me) that I would quit breathing if I fell asleep. Like it's not an involuntary thing! I had to make an effort to take my mind off of that and onto something else, and remember all the other times that I've worried about that, but woke up fine and healthy for another day.

[Kayla23]

Trust me after being looked at by doctors and all that jazz and only being 19, you're not gonna have a heart attack. I have terrible health anxiety and my heart does crazy shit too and every cardiologist has told me i just have a harmless, common arrythmia. Even if you had something really minor, they would tell you. No Worries.

[jitters]

No one ever died of a panic attack. :)

You will get better, just keep reminding yourself it is adreniline and it is natural.

Duncan