Bad week

[Bam77]

Well, my off balance feeling went away for a few days last week. It was nice not having that feeling. Well, as usual it didn't last long. Friday night my step son wrecked one of my trucks. He was fine, but the truck is a total loss ( only had liability on it). Then Saturday evening my mom went to the ER for chest pain. She had a burning in her chest that wouldn't go away. I had my sister take her in. I did manage to force myself out to see her, but it was only for 10 minutes and then I had to leave. I got the typical jelly leg, anxious, dizzy feeling on the way out of the hospital. It was also the same ER I was in 3 months ago. They admitted her Saturday night. Her BP was extremely high. They did all kinds of tests on her even a heart cath. Her diagnosis was extreme stress. They released her today. I cant help but think that I added to her stress. She's been there for me at every appointment, every panic attack and every little worry Ive had over the years. She has been my "safe" person. I cant drive myself to appointments so she has been. Bam...Saturday night.. I felt off balance and dizzy. Its been going on since. The tension in my neck is unbelievable..

[str8trippin]

I feel you and I'm sorry you've had a rough week...I have too! My tension headaches have gotten completely out of control and the tension in my neck is, like you said, unbelievable! It's getting extremely frustrating. What does your neck tension feel like, out of curiousity?

[Bam77]

Its at the base of my skull and down the trapezius muscles. My whole upper back is also tight and sore. I will sometimes also get a band of pressure across my forehead. Tilting my head side to side produces pain. Ive had 2 doctors tell me that the neck wont cause off balance and dizziness. I honestly think that's bullshit.

[str8trippin]

Sounds exactly like mine...the tension, the pressure, the dizziness, all of it! And the more tense I get, the more I tense myself up and just make it worse over again, it's a terrible cycle. I get so frustrated because it FEELS like something is horribly wrong! My new doctor thinks I could possibly have a slightly rotated vertebrae in my c-spine that could be causing the tension, so she did x-rays to see if that is possibility. Waiting on the results, but I just want them to go away. It's my worst and most debilitating symptom.

[Bam77]

Its my worst symptom as well. I sometimes feel like Im on a boat. When I get that feeling the anxiety kicks in and its off to the races..

[Bam77]

Oh and another thing to add. My doctor is trying to say its my blood pressure. Mine is always high when I go in ( I feel it go up when they start to check it). When my mom went to the ER hers was 220/120 and she wasn't dizzy.. Mine has never been that high.

[str8trippin]

Wow, I feel like I'm talking to myself! Haha. That's EXACTLY how I described it to my doctor...I feel like I'm on a boat, as opposed to full blown room-spinning dizziness. And my previous doctor told me I had high blood pressure because every time I'd see her it would be high (139-150/90's). I tried to explain that it's normally not that high when I check it at home or elsewhere, it only goes up that way when I'm at the doctor, the hospital, or in another situation where my anxiety level goes up, and she told me that "high blood pressure is high blood pressure." I told my new doctor that, and she said whoever I was seeing was full of it, and checked my blood pressure right there to discover it was 114/76!

[Bam77]

Mine has hit 177/100 in the doctors office. Im always in full blown panic mode when I go. I don't really leave the house a lot (agoraphobia, ptsd, panic disorder, GAD) when I do Im a wreck lol.

[str8trippin]

I was shocked that mine was so low when I was there yesterday considering I typically have white coat hypertension...or reactive hypertension as my new doctor called it. I've spent so long avoiding doctor's that just having to face that alone was a huge source of anxiety for me.

[Dean26]

I have a safe person as well, Hope you don't mind me butting into your conversation, my mum had a heart attack 2 years ago and since then I would get heart palpations which i'm currently on propranolol for. I notice the connection between the two but cant seem to stop them. Had ECG's, monitor fitted etc. and don't enjoy being treated like a hypochondriac by nurses/docters! Doctors surgeries have a bad effect on me too. Do either of you two fear fainting or blood by any chance? I'm trying to understand my 12+ year condition (i'm 26) as best I can and get advise. Dean :-)

[str8trippin]

I have a safe person as well, Hope you don't mind me butting into your conversation, my mum had a heart attack 2 years ago and since then I would get heart palpations which i'm currently on propranolol for. I notice the connection between the two but cant seem to stop them. Had ECG's, monitor fitted etc. and don't enjoy being treated like a hypochondriac by nurses/docters! Doctors surgeries have a bad effect on me too. Do either of you two fear fainting or blood by any chance? I'm trying to understand my 12+ year condition (i'm 26) as best I can and get advise. Dean :-)

Hi Dean! You're not butting in at all! I'm also 26, and I can relate to SO much of what you are saying. I can't stand being treated like a hypochondriac, even though I know I've become one! I'm not doing it just to get medication or anything like that, but my honest to goodness health anxiety is out of control and sometimes I just really need the reassurance that I'm okay! I definitely have a fear of passing out, even though I've felt like I'm going to more times than I can count and never have in my life! And definitely not a fan of blood. My biggest thing used to be needles...I've spent my entire 26 years avoiding them at all costs the fear was that great, but out of necessity I've managed to overcome it enough to have blood drawn. I cried the first time, needless to say. I was very proud of myself for doing it though, and I've since had to have more drawn and the second time was a breeze in comparison! However, I still can't watch while they do it...the stick or the blood going into the tube because it in turn brings on the fear of fainting! What a cycle, huh?

[Dean26]

Hey str8trippin, Have you found that having anxiety/depression has affected your friendships/social life at 26? Im currently taking propranolol for heart palpations but the docter's say my heart is fine, but I literally cant live without propranolol at least right now, Its when I stand up and go up stairs slowly etc, not actively exercise. I've had ECG's and monitors fitted to my chest and nothing showed up. Not sure how to combat it to be honest. You should be proud of blood tests its my biggest thing and it literally controls my life despite not fainting in 5 years and not having a blood test in any form for 5years! Fainting isn't really even that bad so I don't know why I fear it so much, I guess its a control issue, I don't like being on the floor with people staring at me and gathering around. I went to a zoo today and some old lady was sitting on the ground with people fussing around her because she was faint and seeing that caused me to feel panicky and edgey for 20mins! It is very HOT over here in the UK at the moment. It is very frustrating being young and having anxiety for me because I see my old school friends in good jobs with partners and im single and not doing well!, Has it affected you similarly? I guess im trying to find people to chat to, so that I don't feel like such an alien and so alone. You never see other people with anxiety in life and even if they had it often you wouldn't be able to tell.

Regards Dean

[str8trippin]

Hey str8trippin, Have you found that having anxiety/depression has affected your friendships/social life at 26? Im currently taking propranolol for heart palpations but the docter's say my heart is fine, but I literally cant live without propranolol at least right now, Its when I stand up and go up stairs slowly etc, not actively exercise. I've had ECG's and monitors fitted to my chest and nothing showed up. Not sure how to combat it to be honest. You should be proud of blood tests its my biggest thing and it literally controls my life despite not fainting in 5 years and not having a blood test in any form for 5years! Fainting isn't really even that bad so I don't know why I fear it so much, I guess its a control issue, I don't like being on the floor with people staring at me and gathering around. I went to a zoo today and some old lady was sitting on the ground with people fussing around her because she was faint and seeing that caused me to feel panicky and edgey for 20mins! It is very HOT over here in the UK at the moment. It is very frustrating being young and having anxiety for me because I see my old school friends in good jobs with partners and im single and not doing well!, Has it affected you similarly? I guess im trying to find people to chat to, so that I don't feel like such an alien and so alone. You never see other people with anxiety in life and even if they had it often you wouldn't be able to tell.

Regards Dean

I feel like my anxiety has definitely started to affect my friendships and social life because more often than not I simply have no desire to hang out with people in a social setting. Either I'm physically not feeling good or I don't mentally feel capable to dealing with people. Not only that, but people who haven't experienced it don't really understand the anxiety, especially the health anxiety, which is hugely preoccupying for me at the moment. I'm in the exact same boat with feeling like all the people around me, especially those my age, are doing all these great things and I'm just languishing and struggling to get through every day.