need some thoughts please :(

[dl1986]

I am a 23 year old female with alot of anxiety. My anxiety causes me pains all throughout my body, the newest one being in my left armpit. I started a new job in March, where i am required to hang tags and signs throughout the store, and being only 5 feet tall i have to really reach to the top shelfs. Also sometimes pulling the old tag off the shelf to replace with a new one can require alot of force sometimes. i've tried to stay off the internet, as i know web md is a horrible website in general, and even more so in people who have anxiety. Ive felt around my armpit for lumps, and ive found nothing. i find that when i am not thinking about it, i dont notice the pain, meaning its most likely all just in my head. it doesnt disturb my sleep, and the pain isnt like a "oh my god i cant move". it's just kind of there, like a dull ache, with the occasional stabbing sensation. I know anxiety causes alot of physical symptoms, and when i really get myself going thinking its something more serious, thats when the pain seems to get worse.

[sae]

I feel your pain (pun sorta intended) about being short. I am currently 4'11" and shrinking and yeah, things like stocking shelves and hanging things are pretty damned difficult. I commend you for keeping up with it. It's easy to strain muscles and the like when you're constantly over reaching.

With any pain, even pain you feel is bred by anxiety, your best solution is to visit your doctor for a definitive all clear. That usually makes a person stop dwelling on it. My alternative solution is a terrible one:
Put a small rock in your shoe. I know what you're thinking but hear me out. I have some varying degree of chest pain daily that meds won't touch. When I was working the elf gig over Christmas I would stress over it, ultimately making the pain worse.
One day while dancing around I wound up with a rock in my boot and it changed my whole day. Suddenly I forgot all about the annoying dull ache in my chest and my focus turned to a non lethal, acute pain with a definable source. It hurt like hell yet I was no longer afraid of the swarms of people, or the idea I was going to drop dead. A rock in my boot wasn't going to kill me.
The rest of the Christmas season I dropped the same rock in my boot each morning and it served as a painful reminder that not all pain is going to kill me, distracted me from my own doom thoughts, and gave me a comical elf limp to boot.


Like I said, it's a terrible alternative to seeing a doc and getting an all clear but I found it useful

[Mr Jingles]

I like the rock in the boot idea. my meditation teacher said focusing the mind on a physical pain is one if the easiest ways to concentrate a mind drowning in fear.

I had forgotten that, I've got to try pain for concentration during my next panic attack.

[Mr Jingles]

I read on the net that anxiety causes us to be more sensitive to physical sensations in general. That seems to be the case with me.

One of the hardest things for me with anxiety has been knowing when to get something checked out or not. I'm 43, my body is changing anyway due to age, new issues and feelings pop up. And I'm sure anxiety has caused a lot of the issues too. It's hard not knowing when to see a doc or not. Especially for me, because my mind hates uncertainty, wants to rule out everything, feel safe.