PLEASE HELP ME! Anxiety or a serious heart problem?

[bw107]

Hopefully you guys can understand what I'm going through, because I feel like I'm on my last leg.
My story is kind of lengthy but PLEASE bear with me. I REALLY need help understanding all this.

I'm a 16 year old female. I've had anxiety since the 7th grade. About a month ago, I went to the doctor because I had been having nausea and stomach pains for weeks. He ordered for me to have an MRI and then a CAT scan of my lower abdomen because they thought it could possibly be a kidney stone. I had a barium swallow, had my CAT scan, then came home. Immediately I started having this really heavy feeling in my chest, almost like I couldn't breathe. It worsened as the night went on. The following morning, I went to the ER. Blood tests, ekgs, chest-x-rays, ALL NORMAL. But even as I was discharged, I still felt the heaviness. I went to my primary physician who gave me a thyroid and 24 urine test (which all came back normal) and then FINALLY prescribed me Xanax. He gave me 15 pills, with no refills. I was doing fine for those 15 days. NO chest heaviness, pain, heavy breathing, worries etc. Then my wonderful pills ran out. I IMMEDIATELY had withdrawal symptoms (chills, couldn't sleep, panic attacks, heart palpitations, etc.) My doctor eventually refilled my Xanax prescription, but by then it seemed like my symptoms were only worse. I was crying more frequently, I was TERRIFIED of going to sleep because I thought I was dying. My chest would get so tight and my skin would feel like it was on FIRE. It was a living HELL. So finally, I've gone to my psychiatrist, who prescribed me Zoloft. I took half of it right before I went to bed last night and I tossed and turned the ENTIRE night. When I eventually did go to sleep, I woke up with these weird sensations in my head, (almost like an aneurysm or vertigo, and this hallowish feeling in my chest. I took a Xanax and took a nap. When I woke up from my nap, I felt FAR WORSE. My chest felt even more hallow, I felt faint, could n't breathe, etc. Now I'm just at my breaking point. I seriously want to go to the hospital to make sure these medications aren't whats causing this, but my mothers flat out refusing. She just keeps telling me "It's your anxiety, deep breathing, calm down" and I'm like, BUT I STILL CAN'T breathe!! What do you guys think? Am I really dying? Could it really be something with my heart, and if it is, how do I convince my mother that I need medical attention? PLEASE help me. I want to feel back to my normal self so bad. I haven't been able to sleep, sit or think since all of this started. I just feel like complete sh** and I need support.

[Tristanayoubi]

hi. I'm a 15 year old male, and when my anxiety started, I felt every urge that I was going to die from a heart attack.
I eventually just got over it.. Let me continue to read your post and i'll help you as much as I can.

[Tristanayoubi]

now.. based on you saying that for the 15 days you took xanax, you felt fine, proves that this is definitely anxiety.. i had the same exact symptoms as you.. i had 5 ekg's, 1 CT scan, 4 orders of bloodwork, and was monitored for 12 hours.. I was completely healthy.

the chest heaviness is normal.
im assuming because you're 16, you probably have a facebook.. you can go ahead and add me: Tristan Ayoubi

or if you want to pm me through this site.
I understand that you're scared of anxiety, so why not get help from a teenager who used to feel how you do now?

good luck,
Tristan Ayoubi

[Tristanayoubi]

also, one of the forum moderators whose screen name is "forwells" took zoloft and knows the harsh side effects of it.. maybe you should ask him.

[agraves911]

This is anxiety. I understand that not being able to breathe feeling and the heavy/ hollow chest feeling. It's scary. I hated being on Xanax. I was put on the lowest possible dose for sort term until I got real medicine. It made me feel like a zombie. It didn't get rid of what was causing my anxiety it just made me feel sleepy and indifferent but in the back of my mind the anxiety was still there.

[dazza]

Howdy-do!

My comments in green:

>I'm a 16 year old female. I've had anxiety since the 7th grade.
Ok, so you already recognise you have high anxiety... knowing you have it is a good start. It's the first stepping stone on your path to recovery.

About a month ago, I went to the doctor because I had been having nausea and stomach pains for weeks. He ordered for me to have an MRI and then a CAT scan of my lower abdomen because they thought it could possibly be a kidney stone. I had a barium swallow, had my CAT scan, then came home.
All anxiety disorder sufferers have an event(s) / trauma(s) / reason(s) which tip them over the edge and turn their everyday anxiety into a panic disorder. This was yours poppet.

Likelyhood is you were already near the tipping point (brain filled with anxiety / worries / concerns / issues), then this sh*t came along and gave you the final push.
Brain couldn't cope with anymore and has (temporarily) malfunctioned. Rationality has been short-circuit.
Any uneasiness now bypasses rationality and heads directly to the part of your brain which reacts to danger. The reaction is commonly known as "fight or flight" response and is the reason for your hellish symptoms.

Immediately I started having this really heavy feeling in my chest, almost like I couldn't breathe. It worsened as the night went on.
Absolutely text-book anxiety (fight or flight) symptoms. Near all sufferers experience these and we concur that they are nothing short of terrifying when you are unfamiliar with them.
We understand that you conclude a heart attack since they "kind of" mimic an impending heart attack. However, as you get aquainted to your condition you will understand and accept that this isn't the case at all.
What is actually happening is fight or flight sends the necessary signals to your body to prepare you for what it perceives as impending danger.
Adrenaline tightens your muscles, often legs, arms, neck and chest. In a "real" danger situation, this would benefit you in two ways:

1/ The hardenned muscles would act as a shield against any blows.
Your chest contains two critical organs; heart + lungs. The shield is there to protect both as best it can.

2/ The muscles are more effective when fuelled with adrenaline. You would become a super-hero for a short time - able to run faster, punch harder, lift heavier objects and so on.
(Unfortunately you wouldn't be able to fly like Superman or spin webs like spiderman... but in your own way you'd give a good fight)

Anxiety pain is unnerving because it is not like normal pain.
From a phsychological perspecive, its presence, for what appears to be no apparent or real reason, sends you further into panic.
Guaranteed that every anxiety disorder sufferer who is reading this have experienced "what on god's earth is going on with my body" - on many occasions.
It feels like we've been posessed by the devil, or been injected with every virus known to man - doesn't it?

You FEEL like you can't breath because a/ your chest & neck muscles are tight and b/ your mind + body is in panic mode, which shortens & quickens your breathing.

The first handful of times you experience fight or flight you WILL panic & (quite rightly) conclude the worst. It's horrific.
You may aswell be faced with a pack of hyenas with no-where to run because essentially, this is how your body is reacting.

A symptom will cause further panic, which in turns causes more symptoms, which in turn causes further panic until eventually you're about ready to explode with fear.
In a real situation, it is at this point that you would either bolt like an olympian or try to kick the shit out of the hyenas that threaten you.
(You'd probably shit & piss yourself too... perhaps one of mans less well known defense mechanisms, similar to that of a stinking Skunk, lmao!)

The following morning, I went to the ER. Blood tests, ekgs, chest-x-rays, ALL NORMAL. But even as I was discharged, I still felt the heaviness. I went to my primary physician who gave me a thyroid and 24 urine test (which all came back normal)
Funny that, huh? :-)
Use this information as some reassurance.

and then FINALLY prescribed me Xanax. He gave me 15 pills, with no refills. I was doing fine for those 15 days. NO chest heaviness, pain, heavy breathing, worries etc. Then my wonderful pills ran out. I IMMEDIATELY had withdrawal symptoms (chills, couldn't sleep, panic attacks, heart palpitations, etc.)
Doubt they were withdrawels but rather you just panicked because they'd run out.
Sufferers often find some comfort in just KNOWING the pills are there if they need them. Similar to a smoker knowing he/she has cigs in their pocket. It's a comfort.

Heart rate increase & palpitations are also a direct response to danger. In a real situation, your heart would be geared up for the impending attack and you wouldn't notice any of these responses, but because you're probably just sitting there, you notice and are fully aware of everything going on in your body, making the situation EVEN worse than it already is.
Heart palps are caused by an external stimulation, not that of the normal "pump" signals. Your heart is still pumping normally... it's just being "tickled" by the flood of messages being sent through your system during fight or flight.

My doctor eventually refilled my Xanax prescription, but by then it seemed like my symptoms were only worse. I was crying more frequently, I was TERRIFIED of going to sleep because I thought I was dying. My chest would get so tight and my skin would feel like it was on FIRE.
Now you know why! Adrenalin causes some odd sensations and responses including sweating / increased heat / tingling / numbness / pain - all part & parcel of fight or flight.

It was a living HELL.
We've all been there!

So finally, I've gone to my psychiatrist, who prescribed me Zoloft. I took half of it right before I went to bed last night and I tossed and turned the ENTIRE night. When I eventually did go to sleep, I woke up with these weird sensations in my head, (almost like an aneurysm or vertigo, and this hallowish feeling in my chest.
This is what's called "derealisation". Brain is so pre-ocuppied with dealing with your fear(s) that you feel somewhat detached from the real world.
(Using the hyena analogy again... you're not gonna be checking out the weather or filing your nails in this situation are you? nahhh... you're gonna be fearing for your life, literally - so little wonder you feel somewhat odd, lol)

I took a Xanax and took a nap. When I woke up from my nap, I felt FAR WORSE. My chest felt even more hallow, I felt faint, could n't breathe, etc. Now I'm just at my breaking point. I seriously want to go to the hospital to make sure these medications aren't whats causing this, but my mothers flat out refusing. She just keeps telling me "It's your anxiety, deep breathing, calm down" and I'm like, BUT I STILL CAN'T breathe!! What do you guys think? Am I really dying? Could it really be something with my heart, and if it is, how do I convince my mother that I need medical attention? PLEASE help me. I want to feel back to my normal self so bad. I haven't been able to sleep, sit or think since all of this started. I just feel like complete sh** and I need support.

Go to the hospital if you need the reassurance! Most of us have - on more than one occasion!

Unless your mum has suffered the same, she won't understand it and will assume you're over-reacting. Little will she know the hellish truth of the condition. No-one knows fear like an anxiety disorder sufferer knowns fear.
If there was a hell, we've been there.

[Silmarwen18]

I feel your pain honey... Its just your stress, ive had all the ultrasounds, xrays and neddle work done. Ive narrowed my chest pains down to being a warning as to when im too stressed, It kind of feels like ive been stabbled under the heart when I get mine. We've all been there done that so we can all offer our support to you any time sweet heart :)
And yeah im pretty sure we've all felt the feeling of "oh holy sh** im gonna die* when we have our stress moments. It does pass eventually. Whenever I have a panic attack even now after 3 years sometimes I still feel like im going to die even though ive more then come to terms with mine.. Its all part of it :) Here's one guarantee though: you WILL get better and thats a promise :) And as for those nasty syptoms from those medicines Id get those seen to. Ive never had to take them but ive been close enough to know that some of then do cause quite severe symptoms that make the problem worse. Its like antihistamines. You have to try some different ones to find out which ones work for you. Maybe you should see about getting the ones you found helpful back? If they were helpping then you'll likely find they'll help again. :)

Good luck!! xx