Ate Too Fast

[raggamuffin]

I was really hungry after work and I ate my dinner stupidly fast and way too much of it. Towards the end of the meal I got a very very sharp intense pain to the right side of my chest. Hurts when moving or breathing. I thoughtb it must be trapped air. But 40 mins later it's still there and feels like it's moved to my central chest.

The pain is so intense it's started to get me into a panic. But again it's only when moving or breathing and if I sit still it's not there. I started with rationalizing the situation when it first happened but now I feel like anxiety has started to take over and I don't want it to be like that. Been doing so well in recent months. I remind myself it can't be anything serious. if it was a heart issue or some such it would be hurting 24/7 regardless of moving or not. But this literally hurts only when I move. Even though I remind myself this, at the same time i've never had intense chest pain like this last so long and it really worried me.

I took Gaviscon (antacid) 'cos my mum said she's had terrible chest pain after eating as well. But in all honesty it's provded little comfort because i've never experienced it this bad before in my life. Add to that the fact i've had a very dull n boring task of packing hundreds of letters today my neck and left shoulder/arm had been hurting just before I finished work. Now with the worry and fear kicking in these pains are starting to flare up too. So now we have the hideous combo of severe chest, neck and left arm pain. As a result, even though I know it can't be a heart attack, the intensity of the chest pain is causing me to think about worst case situations.

Also worrying when or if the antacid will work and if not then what the hell am I to do? I'd like ot just go to sleep but to be honest in this state I doubt i'd be able to sleep. I know this is just a slip up in terms of letting worry take over and not rationalizing things better. But I feel mentally and physically horrid at the moment.

Advice please?

Ed

[raggamuffin]

Rang NHS direct earlier. Spoke to a nurse who asked 15 mins worth of questions n by the end said she didn't know and she'd ring a GP to call me back but said if it got worse ring an ambulance. So even though I knew in the back of my head this can't be serious her saying that made me panic. Within 2 mins of hanging up the Dr spoke to me and told me not to worry. Could be a slight tear to the esophagus or gall stones, or simply indegestion. The latter will pass in time, the tear would heal in 3 days or so if it was one. The stones would happen whenever I ate a greasy meal and would need an ul;trasound.

But I described the anxiety kicking in, my fight or flight response and adrenaline and he said "you know what you're talking about". Which made me smile and feel at ease. Just silly though, something as simple as eating and I can be left in absolute agony. Ugh I feel like amassive boob. Still though it's hurting a lot still.

I'#m hoping i'll just go to bed and sleep well. Wake up with it gone.

Ed

[raggamuffin]

Started vomitting blood. Had to go to the hospital. Chest pain is agony.

Fun fun fun

Ed

[tailspin]

Hi Ed, I'm really sorry to hear this. It sounds very frightening, and it's amazing you've been able to remain as calm as you have. That's definitely a testament to how much progress you've made with your recovery from anxiety. Even for someone who has never had an anxiety disorder in their life, chest pain is scary. Let alone vomiting blood. So it's huge that this hasn't thrown you into a full-on panic attack from hell.

I really hope they are being helpful at the hospital and that you quickly find out what is causing this and are able to find some relief. Let us know how you are doing, Ed!

[raggamuffin]

So far the doctors have no idea what's causing it. Now I'm getting pretty worried

[Stephj526]

So far the doctors have no idea what's causing it. Now I'm getting pretty worried

Just remember, if it is something serious you're in the right place. Hope you feel better soon!

[tailspin]

How are you doing, Ed?

[raggamuffin]

They sent me home after a chest xray and told me they didn't have any idea what was causing it. Told me if I start vomitting blood again or have difficulty breathing to come back. They sent me home with ibuprofen n paracetomal. Which obviously did nothing. Managed to finally get some sleep. 6 hours or so. Wake up and of course when I move the pain is there. So i'm not going into work today. I'm going to ring my Gp in 30 mins when they open. Get an appointment. Tell him exactly what happened and ask for something a lot stronger for the next couple of days and then see where we are.

Ed

[emtw12]

I get that thing where i get a pain in my chest wen I breathe in or pain when I move. I had it yesterday and the night before but so far so good today.. I've still got the chest pains today tho as I do everyday :( hope your feeling better soon

[raggamuffin]

Yeah i've had chest pains from anxiety before in all sorts of places and all sorts of intensities. But this is different, the intensity, the regularity of it occuring whenever I more or exert my chest muscles. Soemthing is wrong here. I asked if it was a muscle strain and they said it could be. But in all honesty they just didn't know.

B/P, Pulse, Oxygen, ECG all came back fine. They asked so many queastions, checked my pulse, checked my breathing, checked my stomach and asked about 50 questions. So I don't know. They're stumped. The fact they can't pinpoint it and the fact it only occurs when I move probably means it's muscle related I guess.

Ed

[NeverToo...Fear]

I can only imagine the terror you are going through right now, Ed.

Vomiting up blood would have me beyond scared, and it's even more alarming that the doctors can't pin point what exactly is wrong, but in the end, you know yourself better than anyone. Like you said, you've had chest pains of all kinds from anxiety. So if something is wrong, sometimes it's good to be persistent and the doctors can find what they are probably missing. But hopefully, it's only a muscle issue and not something really serious.

Good luck to you and I hope you feel better soon ! :)

[raggamuffin]

Visited village GP. He said it sounds like the esophagus. Samme as first GP. This second one and Dr's and nurses at the hospital said they didn't know how it was caused. But first GP said simply eating quickly could have caused it. Either way both GP's said it'd heal whilst the Dr's at hospital remained totally clueless.

GP gave me 2 weeks of Omeprazole. I've had it before. Keeps the stomach acid levels down. He said the blood will have been from wretching when vomitting. He said it's quite common when you strain too hard and unless it was literally vomitting blood primarily and nothing else then there isn't a need to worry. In fact he said the main concern was why I was sick, not the blood or the chest pain. I know it was because I ate too quickly. Then I started panicking when the chest pains weren't going away. I remember lying in bed trying to sleep but I felt very sick when I lay down. So I went downstairs and even though I felt better upright I decided to make myself sick.

So if that is simply the GP's main concern then that's not so bad I suppose? He said reducing the stomach acid will help whatever strain/damage I caused to my stomach last night from vomitting. He said take paracetomal when I need it. but to be honest I find paracetomal is ineffective against a moderate headache; nevermind the worst chest pains i've had in my life. Still after 6 hours sleep the pain is lessened somewhat. It's still as intense when it does occur. But I have a lot more movement and ability than I did last night. Where breathing, yawning, laughing and walking all caused this severe pain. now I can walk, yawn and breath absolutely fine and the pain is a lot less recurrent.

Dr did advise to avoid the anti inflammatories if I can as it'll only serve to upset my stomach. Suppose just got to let my body do its thing and heal. It was just such a shock.

Ed

[tailspin]

Hi Ed,

Really glad your GP was able to shed some light on things. And that the pain has lessened now. It sounds as though the self-induced vomiting led to the appearance of blood, so that is reassuring. It's also good that you got checked out pretty thoroughly. I really hope you continue to heal up quickly. Sorry you had to go through that!

[raggamuffin]

Thanks for the replies. Well the pain is still here. Comes and goes. It jsut confuses me how my esophagus could be damaged and yet I eat without issue. But dr asked about how I was eating, didn't ask if there was any pain so I guess that's nothing to worry about? It's just all so confusing I must be honest. Plus if it takes 3-4 days ro so to heal and i'm half way through that I don't feel that much better.

Oh well, if nothing's changed by Monday i'll give the Dr's a call and ask for that GP to call me back when he's free to discuss it.

Ed

[raggamuffin]

Today was pretty horrid at work. My manager was being really difficult about me having yesterday off because of the whole hospital episode. He brought it up in a rather horrid ay as well. I asked at one point in the day who people's favourite actors were as we were discussing films and my manager said to me. "My favourite actor is you when you call in sick to get a day off work." He's such a hit and miss guy, I can get on with him grat 70% of the time but to be honest it's a wonder how he is a manager given what he knows, his general attitude towards awork etc. But asides from that we had a lot of angry customer's today, too many phone calls, not enough time to get all our work done and a lot of stress. Plus in the morning my chest felt really wretched and throughout the day been getting a recurrant lower left flank pain. But as ever it comes and goes, changes locations and ergo it's no doubt anxiety based and there's nothing I can do about it.

After the day had finished I decided to get some beers after work I knew that in all honesty it wasn't the best of ideas and yet I just wanted to relax. Only had 2 and felt a minor buzz but then I felt a bit of chest pain. To be honest it's nothing like how i'd felt with the esophagus pain. But it's more like ye olde chest tightness and also burning from anxiety. Then again the burning could just as easily be from the beer as I know drinking can play havoc with stomach acids and GERD or acid reflux. Fun fun. So I took 2 paracetomal and a naproxen in case it was the esophagus issue acting up to calm everything down. Even though in the back of my head I was relating it all to the anxiety. Still the chest pains were on the whole based around where the pains have been the past few days.

Trying to drink plenty of water too and some peppermint tea but still the discomfort and burning continues. It's annoying really, usually if I have the usual 2 or 3 beers I get a bit of a buzz, feel quite merry and then go to bed. But tonight after enjoying maybe 30 mins of a mini buzz plus a headache looming overhead then I get hit with these chest pains. I know in all honesty that drinking and anxiety don't go well together. Especially after this recent esophagus issue. So to be honest I feel darn stupid for having even attempted it. Plus slightly worried I took medication, drank a few beers etc, hence the drinking of several litres of water.

Even though I know i've come a long way from when I first had panic attacks and pains. It's difficult y'know? Every hour of every day I still find pains coming and going, sometimes it's the majority of the time, other times it's very fleeting and minor. But still it's every day. I honestly can't remember how it felt to not have a pain in a day. That in itself is a pretty sad and depressing realization. I know that it takes a long time for anxiety to come about and in turn it'll take a long time to go. But every day getting pains? I just wonder how long that'll continue on for. When I had CBT the meetings were short lived. She felt I knew enough to practice new trains of thought and not rely on emotions and isntinct when I got pains etc.

But it really is draining I must say. Going through day after day of pain. I just wonder when i'm going to catch a break? The momentsi don't have pain i'm so damn happy and energetic etc. When the pains come, whilst I remind myself it's not going to be anything life threatning or dangerous, it throws a spanner or two in the works in terms of general happiness, drive and enthusiasm toward life. Feels rather up n down like a yo yo to be honest.

I remember a few months ago when I had a long lasting bout of dizziness I spoke to a local GP who of course recommended an SSRI. But when I then spoke to my therapist the next day for an out of the blue catch up meeting she really frowned on the idea of me going on medication. TO be honest I didn't feel as if the medication was helpful but I only had it 2 days. Mainly I disliked it because it felt like when I sued to experiement with ecstacy. It had me gurning, not sleeping, high sex drive and everything felt amazing to touch etc. I didn't want that feeling of being off my face to be honest. Especially from a medication I had to take every day.

Anyways I guess i'm waffling. Just kinda fed u pto tell the truth.

Ed

[tailspin]

Even though I know i've come a long way from when I first had panic attacks and pains. It's difficult y'know? Every hour of every day I still find pains coming and going, sometimes it's the majority of the time, other times it's very fleeting and minor. But still it's every day. I honestly can't remember how it felt to not have a pain in a day. That in itself is a pretty sad and depressing realization. I know that it takes a long time for anxiety to come about and in turn it'll take a long time to go. But every day getting pains? I just wonder how long that'll continue on for. When I had CBT the meetings were short lived. She felt I knew enough to practice new trains of thought and not rely on emotions and isntinct when I got pains etc.

But it really is draining I must say. Going through day after day of pain. I just wonder when i'm going to catch a break? The momentsi don't have pain i'm so damn happy and energetic etc. When the pains come, whilst I remind myself it's not going to be anything life threatning or dangerous, it throws a spanner or two in the works in terms of general happiness, drive and enthusiasm toward life. Feels rather up n down like a yo yo to be honest.
Ed

I really hear you on this one, Ed! I'm in a similar boat. After many years of anxiety and depression I know quite a lot now about how they work, and I don't react to them in the way I used to when things were really bad. I also have far fewer panic attacks (thank goodness).

BUT, as you say, the fact is the physical symptoms remain and even though I no longer freak out about them the way I used to, the symptoms don't go away. And that is a real problem. And a real impediment to feeling better. I don't get pains quite like you do. I have a more general physical malaise that typical manifests in frequent headaches, nausea and just generally feeling under the weather physically. On the days when I'm feeling fine physically it's wonderful and makes all the difference in the world. But those days are still few and far between, and I am fed up with this too. So I can really relate!

Sorry your manager was being a dick today. Hope you can rest up over the weekend and that next week is better.

[raggamuffin]

Are you on medication? Recently i've been pondering if I should try it again. When I spoke to my therapist about it she was disappointed and said no. Every GP except one has recommended it, the one who didn't said stay away from them, they're poisons. This is what makes it all so difficult. health professionals themselves can't agree on solutions, everyone's got their own opinion or cure or methods of coping.

Sometimes you just wind up asking yourself, "Is coping with anxiety enough?"

The people who say they've overcome it entirely encourage other's to try their techniques and most people are looking for an overnight cure or fix. Medications can certainly plaster over things as can distractions or new relationships or alcohol or whatever else helps the pains and symptoms dissipate. But what is in store for the long term?

Whilst I know these pains won't kill me, in recent months i've been going through a real rough patch in terms of severity of symptoms. There's been a lot of stresses caused by people and reaction to their actions. Sometimes I find I just wind up utterly distraught by how people can act toward one another. Today I had one of the worst panic attacks of my life. But again, it's brought about, for me with symptoms.

Day in day out i'll get pains, hopping from one place to the next and I simply ignore them and carry on. But when a pain is so crippling in it's severity that is when things get worse. I was taking photos 20 miles from home in an abanadoned military base. I was excited to be there and with a friend, intending on spending several hours exploring. Within 20 minutes a chest pain comes along. nothing new I thought, but then it hits me harder than most and so I try to kepe taking photos, and distract myself. But no, it won't have that. It starts to up the intensity and start shooting down my left arm and make my shoulders ache too. So obviously I get rather worried. So I feel my chest and my heart is going nuts. So the panic ensues.

It's a story i've gone through many a time and yet in those moments when the pain does get bad enough for me to panic, I can't recall any other occurance of it. Rationalizing becomes neigh on impossible and I wind up in self defence mode. Convinced i'm having a heart attack and need to get out of there. Ach it's a story i've read so many times on here from so many people. I knew in the back of my mind it wasn't a heart attack, my friend said it was only anxiety. I was even saying to him as we continued walking how I hated anxiety and how it can make me feel.

Anyway I'm waffling. I'm going back to the airbase tomorrow morning. I'm not going to let this Frgging anxiety beat me into preventing me doing what I want to do. Even if I have to visit that damn place 15 times to see it all and take photos.

Ed

[tailspin]

Hi Ed, Yes, I am on medication. But don't let that put you off!! LOL! I am definitely no poster child for anti-depressants. I have had only limited success with them, but since they do help a bit, I continue to take them. I have depression as well as anxiety. I find that the ADs help very little with my depression, but they have helped quite a bit with my panic attacks. And I am thankful for that.

Currently I'm on Lexapro, but in the past I've been on virtually all the other SSRI's/SNRI's at some point. I'm older (49) and I've had these issues a long time. Though it wasn't until my mid 30's - so, about 13 or 14 years ago -that things got really bad. Until then I've always been able to manage my depression and anxiety without meds, and though the depression and anxiety would flare up, they never held me back in life. Until now!!

At any rate, seriously, some people do experience a dramatic improvement when they take an anti-depressant, so it's definitely worth a shot. I definitely don't think they are poisons. And I'm surprised your GP would say that. I agree it's confusing when health professionals say different things. Though in my experience doctors are usually pretty quick to push medication.

It sounds like you've been on medication before though? What did you take and what were your experiences?

This whole anxiety thing really sucks. I'm surprised how many young people have it. As I say, I'm a lot older and I just didn't have these sorts of problems when I was younger (though anxiety and depression were always there in the background, just, they were totally manageable). It's only now, in middle age, that I'm having really big problems with them.

I can really relate to everything you say in your post. I'm sorry you had such a crappy experience today at the airbase. It's great you're planning on going back tomorrow. I wish I had some better answers for you. All I can say is that I do think meds are worth a shot when the anxiety becomes crippling. Let me know what you decide, Ed!

[trinidiva]

Hi Ed, Yes, I am on medication. But don't let that put you off!! LOL! I am definitely no poster child for anti-depressants. I have had only limited success with them, but since they do help a bit, I continue to take them. I have depression as well as anxiety. I find that the ADs help very little with my depression, but they have helped quite a bit with my panic attacks. And I am thankful for that.

Currently I'm on Lexapro, but in the past I've been on virtually all the other SSRI's/SNRI's at some point. I'm older (49) and I've had these issues a long time. Though it wasn't until my mid 30's - so, about 13 or 14 years ago -that things got really bad. Until then I've always been able to manage my depression and anxiety without meds, and though the depression and anxiety would flare up, they never held me back in life. Until now!!

At any rate, seriously, some people do experience a dramatic improvement when they take an anti-depressant, so it's definitely worth a shot. I definitely don't think they are poisons. And I'm surprised your GP would say that. I agree it's confusing when health professionals say different things. Though in my experience doctors are usually pretty quick to push medication.

It sounds like you've been on medication before though? What did you take and what were your experiences?

This whole anxiety thing really sucks. I'm surprised how many young people have it. As I say, I'm a lot older and I just didn't have these sorts of problems when I was younger (though anxiety and depression were always there in the background, just, they were totally manageable). It's only now, in middle age, that I'm having really big problems with them.

I can really relate to everything you say in your post. I'm sorry you had such a crappy experience today at the airbase. It's great you're planning on going back tomorrow. I wish I had some better answers for you. All I can say is that I do think meds are worth a shot when the anxiety becomes crippling. Let me know what you decide, Ed!

I definitely agree with you. Ive had anxiety for a while but it really started to become more severe in my early to mid 30's. I'm 37 now. I currently take buspirone 3x a day, which honestly, I don't think is cutting it...and I used to take a small amt of liquid Zoloft which did help. I think we all go through ups and downs in our anxiety which caused me to stop taking the zoloft and cut down the buspirone to one time a day. I did fine with that for a number of months then the anxiety hit again. I'm thinking about getting back on the Zoloft again.