Still worried....

[zksmom]

So, I had my dr appt yesterday. He did an ekg, which was normal. He took blood to check my thyroid and increased my celexa to 30mg from 20mg. I still can't help but feel I should get more tests done to be sure these chest and shoulder pains are only anxiety. Any advice?

[chircdog]

i would get all the tests done if you can. they will help rule things out. i myself been dealing with anxiety (severe) for almost 1 year. i have many symptoms that are getting in the way of life. lol. i have chest pains, where i feel a sharp pain over my heart. from what doctors told me was that it was probably due to muscle spasms on the ribcage wall. i found that for me i just have to deal with them. they come and go for me. i would say every other couple weeks i get chest pains. i haven't any shoulder pains but from my powerlifting background i would say maybe you have tight tissue in your rotator cuff. i would look into getting a knobber of some kind or some dull point object (like a knuckle) and dig into your shoulder where you have pain and hold the pressure there and while holding the pressure try to move your arm around to release the tension of the tissues. also i did take celexa 10mg then to 20 mg but for myself i had very negative effects and quit taking celexa. my best advice is get tests done and also keep a close eye on the celexa because if you begin to think negatively ...like hurting people or having hallucinations of hurting people....stop taking celexa!....this is what happened to me.

[Enduronman]

2 things: You must know your resting heart rate and your BP..Then we go from there. What did Dr. prescribe for anxiety treatment also??...Thank you.

Enduronman.

[zksmom]

My BP was 116/90 & my heart rate was 123 when I was at the dr. Just took my heart rate now and it was 80.

[Enduronman]

hmm..Your BP would not constitute the use of a (beta-blocker) but your heart rate surely would. You gotta get this heart rate down. I would suggest that you seek out or ask for a (short acting or short half-life benzo like xanax, and also ask yer Dr. if it would be ok to try a beta-blocker like atenolol to slow you heart).. A couple of other things. If you sodium intake is high, so is heart rate, usually so is BP. If you're over weight, your heart rate is usually higher then normal and also BP too. If you consume large amounts of caffeinated beverages daily with simple sugars as there are 18tsp of sugar in a soda then theres yet another problem.. I think you may just have the answer to the problems right in front of you, write them down. Pro-cons. Goods-bad. Positives-negatives...see what you come up with. Summarize your present daily life routine in all aspects of it, the answer is there friend...

Happy Sunday!

Enduronman.

[zksmom]

Sorry, I left out the treatment. I've been dealing with this for 7-8 years now. Current meds are celexa, just increased from 20mg to 30mg. I've been on that for probably 4 or so years now. I also have xanax .25mg as needed.

I know my diet and complete lack of exercise has a lot to do with it. I'm sure the answer is right in front of me, but anxiety and the unknown make me fear the worst.

Thank you for your words of wisdom. You seem very knowledgeable and confident.

[Enduronman]

I have lived with it for 44 years zks..I have an abundance of knowledge of this topic. Also many suggestions that would help many, if they would try to implement just 1 part of the idea, advice, suggestion, opinion. In your case, I do not know your age but that will also help me greatly too as I will have a better understanding of things then. I went through the line in heaven 28 times to collect all the confidence that they'd keep givin me, and the knowledge line about 22 times..LOL!!...:)

Enduronman.

[zksmom]

Ha ha, sense of humor too. I'm 32 now. My anxiety and panic attacks started when I was 24. I wasn't the best eater or in the best shape when it started, but u was not overweight. Since then I have gained 100lbs and am now that much overweight. I recently joined a gym about 3 months ago, but haven't gone that much out of fear of having a panic attack or even a heart attack. I'm working on changing my diet one step at a time.

[Enduronman]

Dear zks,

You don't have to go to a gym to "release the endorphines" all you gotta do is get out and talk a long walk, alone, headphones, LEAVE THE CELL AT HOME, and work on YOU. Gotta get your self-confidence and self-esteem up, before you can plunge into a gym. AND get yer hormones in line too and quit thinking about "what others may think" because to be quite honest with you the answer to that part of this puzzle may be within your own mind too???..Do you judge other for how they look or appear to you visually??? If the honest answer here is yes, then that is the beginning of this problem..You sense that they judge you..and I'm just speculating here as I cant see you but I'm presuming that I may be on the right track. Tell me to STFU if I am wrong please...Yes, I do have an odd sense of humore that I'll get into later..(pick up peoples CARS and scoot them next to the other, tie shopping carts to peoples passenger doors, put lip balm under their door handles on their cars and a napkin under their windshield wiper for them to clean their finger off, put plastic straps around peoples driveshafts on their cars) Arent you glad you DONT know me now!!!....LMAO!


Enduronman.

[zksmom]

Joining the gym was probably a mistake at this time. My time management isn't the best, so I probably should have waited until I got more things straightened out first.

As far as judging people, I guess I do look at the way people look, but I don't think I'm judgemental about it. I do wonder if people are looking at me and what they think. It's depressing because before my anxiety started I was "normal" build and I could wear things and do things that I should have been able too. Now things are more difficult to do and I definitely can't wear what I want. I need to change my life drastically. I can honestly say though that my anxiety isn't stemming from what other people think of me. It's from what I think of me to an extent, but mainly its the fear of something horrible happening to me. I have 2 beautiful kids and I can't bare the thought of not being able to always be with them and watch them grow up.

I carry my cell phone with me everywhere and even when I wasn't doing so bad since this all started, I always had it with me. The fear of something happening and me being alone is terrifying. When I am alone, my anxiety is at its worst because I feel like if something would happen, no one would know and the outcome would be terrible.

I just want to be happy and not worry about the worst happening to me. I want to be the mom my kids deserve and enjoy my life with them.

[Enduronman]

Clinical terminoligy...(hypochondria).. Google it, learn, write, compare, get meds..(the right ones), and begin your recovery process. Also as I said in previous post, about 1% of the people that you think are judging you may actually be doing just that, but...you've gotta find the IDGAF what you think switch, and turn it off..asap.. Get on the right track zachsmom!

Enduronman.