Chest pain

[emtw12]

Having a lot of chest pain not only in my left side (under breast) but in my right side too.. it's like quick pains but sometimes it's like 3-5 seconds :( anyone else? feeling hot too!!!! urghh

[emtw12]

I mean today!! and why are all the chest pains in diff spots and last longer then quick ones :/ ??

[emtw12]

anyone xxx

[sharacel91]

I get this and I find some gaviscon helps pretty well as it could be wart burn I now it's scary when you get chest pain I get bad at the moment last few days if I make a sudden movement or stretch or turn around my chest hurts hopefully its just muscle but its horrible xxx

[raggamuffin]

Muscle tension. FIght or flight response kicking in creates an excess of adrenaline. All the worry and panic causes this fight or flight to kick in. Responding to your worries and fears as a "danger" to your body. When this occurs the adrenlaine filled blood pumps to your chest wall muscles to protect vital organs from impact. When you feel anxious and on edge all day every day this can occur multiple times. After weeks or months of this you will wind up with chest pains. They can be as varied as he day is long, short sharp, long and crushing. Anything goes.

THe less time you give yourself to worrying and fretting the quicker they will pass. After all the fact they're coming and going or aches change places in the body shows that it's nothing sinister. It's simply anxiety.

The symptoms are indeed horrid but worrying about it serves no positive outcome. Crying or fighting it does nothing either? So let the pains come and go. Don't respond emotionally, simply remain apathetic towards it.

This takes practice though as you've been so geared up to respond to pains with emotions and it's become instinctual to fear them. BUt the fear and worry is what anxiety feeds off of.

It's literally got stockpiles to work it's way through. So that's why a common question on here is "I feel fine but I still get pains". Your body will recover and wants to. However you have to let it. It's giving off these aches and pains to show you that stress and worry has made you tense, exhausted and worn out. Don't add secondary worried and fears onto an already burdened body. Take time out from the fears and worries. Invest your time and energy and above all; concentration in your day to day tasks.

Usually when we're at our happiest or most busy the symptoms aren't there or at the very least dulled. Again more proof it's anxiety. But acceptance is the first step on the road to recovery and it's the hardest to take. But every morning when you wae up alive and the pains you feared would kill you hadn't...well, eventually you piece that all together and finally do come to the conclusion it's no heart issues or cancer or whatever other horrid medical ailments we fixate on...it's simply anxiety and our fears and worries building up so much that our body gets stressed out and sends out aches and pains as a sign for us to wind down the worries and fears and let it repair and recover.

Ed

Ed

[sharacel91]

Thanks that was great info

[raggamuffin]

You might find these 2 pieces I wrote recently helpful too:



Panic attacks rob you of a sense of safety. But not about surroundings like "I should get out of this dark alleyway" it makes safety and confidence within yoruself shatter. Usually in an instant. So after panic attacks comes the searching.

Where's the safety?
Why do I feel so alienated within myself?
When will I get back to normal?
When will it happen again?
What's wrong with me?
Am I going to die?

With enough of this worrysome and stressful thinking your logical thinking side is slowly thrown on the backburner and in comes the instinctual method of thinking. This is the basic means to keep you alive. It allows the fight or flight response to kick in more readily as you constantly search within yourself and your life to find the cause of these panics.

Usually you wind up more panicky, more on edge and you feel like normality has literally slipped through your fingers. Angry, scared and upset you fail to find the issue but the attacks continue. Then you probably start to fear something sinister and the questions and searching continues

What if i'm ill?
Is it a heart issue?
Maybe I have cancer?
How will me and my family cope with this illness?
I'm scared, will I ever feel normal again?

More and more, day by day you feel more helpless. But then the body starts to exhibit symptoms. Aches and pains from your chest, shoulders and arms to your neck head and stomach. The fears and questions continue. You start to think you are seriously ill. Why else would I have aches and pains?

Here's the reaosn, stress and worry. It's piled up so much that what started with a panic attack (no doubt a reaction to months/years of stress beforehand) has now snowballed into secondary stress and worry piled onto a body already trying to repair itself from previous worries and stresses.

The body gives out these attacks, these aches and pains as a signal to say. Ease up on the stress and please let me repair myself. Your body is amazing at repairing itself and truth be told it will get you back to your old self if you let it. But when we ache or feel dizzy day in day out the worries pile up. We respond with emotion or fear or we're at the point where it's gone on so long you feel angry or want to fight or cry from the aches and symptoms.

So try the approach which is the first and most important (allbeit hardest) step on the road to recovery. Acceptance.

Every morning you wake up, sure you might wake up and instantly feel sick, dizzy or aching. Heck you might even wake up due to aches or a panic attack. But guess what? It didn't kill you?

The aches and pains you've convinced yourself for so long are going to be the death of you don't kill you.

So let's drop the fight, the fear and panic. 'Cos you know full well what they do?

That's right...nothing! If anything it makes you feel worse. So look back to times when the pains weren't there? OFten when you're busy eh? Or just after you wake up before the realization and worries of anxiety take over. When you're fully engaged or distracted or given a clean bill of health from Dr checks you feel happy.

It's a nice break from all the fear and worry and negativity right?

Here's the thing, if it was something serious like all the horrid medical conditions you've no doubt read about, it wouldn't come and go. You wouldn't have dizziness for a few weeks then move onto say a stomach ache. Pains wouldn't come and go, chop and change or just disappear or dull when you're very busy and have no time to think about them.

Here's the other thing - time. How much time we dedicate to thinking about symptoms. So here'sa the next part... don't fight it. Let the pains and aches come and go and abpove all remind yourself "it's JUST anxiety and it will NOT kill me."

It takes practice. Your instinctual side of your brain has been working over time as has your fight or flight response filling your body with excess levels of adrenlaine for months or years. This does take time to undo even when you've reached the stage of fully, 100% accepting it's anxiety.

Yes you'll still initially react emotionally "Oh no it hurts" panic panic. So say to yourself in your head, or shout it out even, STOP! Begin to rationalize the situation in full force. Don't succumb to emotions or wanting to fight. Let the pains come and go. Remind yoruself you've woken up every single day during this horrid anxiety ridden time. It hasn't and cannot kill you.

If you don't respond with emotions the anxiety has less to feed off. It thrives on fear and worry and that's exactly what we've given it for so long. So it's literally got stockpiles to work it's way through.

That is why even when you feel fine you can get symptoms and if you still react in the wrong way when they occur the anxiety can still keep on burning. So learn to accept and rationalize. If you're a google addict when you feel a pain type anxiety before every symptom you search. Soon you'll start to see it and piece it all together.

I hope you feel better soon. When you do learn the above steps you will begin to feel better. But, it takes time/ There is no overnight cure or quick fix for anxiety and it's a road that will take months or more to reach the end of.

If you ever want to talk feel free to PM me or add me to IM.

Ed


Second extract here as I go over 10k word limit posting both...

http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?19451-Fear-amp-Worry-Don-t-Exist

Ed

[emtw12]

Thank you ed! :) what is you're IM?

[emtw12]

I'm just sick of the chest pains to be honest it's every single day all day n there in diff spots in my chest like for a bit they'll be left side then il feel a few pains in the middle then il start feeling some in the right :( makes me think tho that it must be anxiety if its in different places / sides but its a worry! can't enjoy myself.. I've had two ECG and a chest x ray and bloods

[autumnbee123]

I am too! I wish there was an answer to it all. A "cure" even when we feel fine. We have these pains. It really sucks and it seems like they won't ever go away. I get mine in different places too, mainly right where the heart is. Left side, more towards the middle of the chest. I get them in my left side too, rarely.

[autumnbee123]

When I got it checked out first the told me I had costochondritis. Idk if they told you that too?

[emtw12]

They says muscle strain everytime I mention it but its been here 3 month now :/ they did give me propanolol it's meant to help chest pain but I don't like taking meds :(

[autumnbee123]

Hmmm. I've had mine for about 9 monthsish. And yeah they tried putting me on steroid injections, anti inflammitories, muscle relaxers you name it!! All over the muscle strain in my chest. I was like uhh, NO! I never take any meds or anything. I'm too scared to.

[emtw12]

Ahh :( do u ever get this feeling in the middle of you're chest like something's flipping? :/ as much as I hate meds I keep thinking to myself I'm gonna have to end up trying them out!! if it wasn't for the pains being on the left side I wouldn't worry as much

[starbryte76]

I feel the Internet Fairies led me here today. I get THE SAME chest pains you all talk about. Left side, in the heart area, they last a few seconds, they come and go. I don't know how many times I've googled them! I'm always this close to calling 911 or going to the ER. They scare me crapless & sometimes in my darkest moments I wish it were a heart attack to end this constant daily misery. I feel as if my life is wasting away. I'm not 40 & feel its over. It's scary how panic attacks can screw with you physically. My stomach is forever hurting. Gassy, upset, etc. It can really hurt at times.

[autumnbee123]

I know what you mean. You might have a little acid reflux. Have you tried any antacids?

[emtw12]

No I haven't where would I get them? :)

[raggamuffin]

I was told by a chiropractor I had costchondritis. In reality I just had chest pains due to anxiety. Didn't stop her spending 4 months and over £700 trying to convince me otherwise.

Ed

[crystalrose1985]

I would try something like tums or pepto first (you can get it at any drug store or grocery store) , and if that doesn't help try omeprozole for acid reflux (you can buy it over the counter or get a script for it)! That helps me a lot!! And also try warm moist heat on your chest...I use a warm damp washcloth and a heat/ice pack you can warm up on top of the wash cloth! Helps great for the chest muscle "pains" and to help relax also!