I am new to this anxiety thing...

[socal21]

Hi everyone.. I was feeling pretty hopeless and needed somewhere to let it all out so I came upon this website... This is kind of a long story, so hang in there.

It all started when I was getting physical therapy for some back pain. The lady was massaging my back, and hit a spot right under my ribs on the right edge of my back that made me jump in pain. It hurt so bad I started to cry. She then decided to put a laser on that side and that's when I started to feel like I was going to faint. I started freaking out about the laser in my mind and told her I felt faint. I felt the following: nauseated, had to keep going to the toilet, trembling, faint, and somewhat dizzy. The session ended since I didn't feel well. I left and the feeling went away after a while.

So after this I kept having random episodes like this at any time. Whether I was at a friend's house having fun, or if I was sitting down watching tv. I kept having the same problems that kept coming and going. I thought I had a gastrointestinal virus at one point since I felt so nauseated.

Soon, the symptoms died down and I felt normal for a while. I was doing great, then one night I was rubbing my back. I was rubbing the same area where the lady at the physical therapy touched. I felt this sharp pain again, and instantly I felt nauseated and freaked out. I was so worried that I touched something I wasn't supposed to. I started trembling like mad and felt severely nauseated. I woke my mother up and we went straight to the ER because I had never felt so bad before. The ER basically did nothing. They assumed it was just a gastrointestinal virus and sent me home with some nausea medication(Zofran).

To keep this somewhat short, I went to several doctor visits.. They did many tests on me: ultrasound (spleen, gallbladder, kidneys), several neurological tests, full bloodwork, pregnancy test, blood pressure, blood glucose, EKG, 24-hour EKG.

Basically after all this, the Dr. told me last week that I must have anxiety. She thinks that I am having acidic problems in my stomach due to being stressed and gave me some heartburn medication. She told me to go to a psychologist and see her in 2 weeks. She doesn't want me to be on any medication because she things I can overcome this.

I keep having different symptoms now. I used to just have the nausea and diarrhea, but now I have heart issues, breathing difficulty, and numbness in the arms(which is why they did the EKG). I have heart palpitations randomly. Sometimes they last for over several hours and won't go away no matter how much I do breathing exercises. I was trying to walk yesterday around the block to help calm myself, but all I kept thinking was that my heart was beating so hard. Also, when trying to fall asleep and my heart jumps right as I am dozing off. It's just so horrible and annoying. I wish it would all just stop.

Besides the heart palpitations I sometimes get this weird numbing/weakness/tingling in my left arm. It is not happening right now but was happening a couple of days ago.

And now.. Today I was worried in the morning that maybe the doctors were missing something and that there really is something wrong with me. So I kept going through the day constantly searching google for anything that sounded right. Then my b/f and I had an outing to go to. We went and I just felt bleh the whole time. I kept having random abdominal pains and I kept worrying that there may be something wrong with me. I took my heartburn medication and a while after that I just felt nauseated. I had a cocktail a while before taking the medication, but it wasn't that strong and I didn't feel drunk. I don't think the medication and alcohol mixing caused it, but either way, I felt sick and had to come home.

So, here I am. I feel a bit better right now. I don't feel nauseated but I do not feel like eating anything at the moment. I'm not sure what to do. I am scheduling an appointment once I find a psychologist in the area. I hope they really help me..

[magister_perotinus]

It sounds to me like you might be having panic attacks. My first attacks, before I knew that's what they were, were really scary. The first time I had one I thought that there was a carbon monoxide leak because I couldn't breathe. The second time I thought I was having a heart attack. The third time I didn't even know what was wrong, I was just sure I was going to die. Of course, it's different for everyone.

If the doctors told you you have anxiety, that means that they probably exhausted every other reasonable possibility. If what you're having are panic attacks, then dwelling on problems your heart might be having, or on a possible illness the doctors may have missed will only fuel your fear and make it worse.

If these are panic attacks, instead of letting them take control, you can remind yourself that what you're feeling is just a surge of hormones. When someone has a panic attack, his/her body is releasing these hormones in response to a threat that isn't really there. It's temporary, the fear will subside when the hormones run out.

The strange thing about panic is that it can seem to come out of nowhere. You may not recognize it as what it is because you can be having a perfectly normal day and then all of a sudden it feels like you're going to keel over.

It's scary and confusing, but there's a lot you can do to stop it. Getting in to see a psychologist will do a lot to help you understand where this is all coming from. I hope you're able to get to the bottom of it. Good luck!

[coops025]

Sound to me with the heart palps and tingling in your arm that you may have a Magnesium deficeincy.

Do you get cramps easy? Muscle tremors in your arms legs etc?

You might be better off with Acupucture, did wonders for me and my back pains.

[socal21]

Well, I do get tremors in my legs if I do something strenuous like giving the dog a bath or exercising. I'll try magnesium and talk to a psychologist as well. One or the other should work.

[RammerJammer21]

You'll be just fine. Sounds to me like that first episode of panic (at the chiropractor) just stuck with you and scared you into a sensitive state. Same thing happened with me. A single panic attack can be traumatizing enough to put a person into a state of "disorder" (aka Anxiety/Panic disorder).

Your mind is stuck in a rut of not understanding the problem, wondering how you can go back to "normal", and, mainly, fear. When you said you and your boyfriend went out and you couldn't enjoy it because you had abdominal pains and were constantly worrying about if something was wrong with you...that's VERY typical of people suffering from anxiety disorder. I had the exact same problem all the time, every day. Constant introspection is a trademark of Anxiety disorder.

Good news is this can be treated by therapy, medicine, or both. The main thing to understand is that this is a natural thing for your body to experience. There is nothing wrong with you. The sensations you feel are quite harmless. It's just your mind incorrectly telling your body that you should be VERY nervous.

[socal21]

Is it normal for the anxiety symptoms to just start with the nausea and all that then gradually get worse where I have heart palpitations? I had the nausea for over a month and now recently the heart palpitations have started. Can anxiety be a gradual thing like that? Is my body getting worn down?

[RammerJammer21]

The body can be "worn down", but not like you are thinking. Over a long period of time, undue anxiety is not good for anybody. However, it wouldn't be a situation where your heart is about to give out (if that's what you are thinking when you wonder about your body wearing down). Palpitations are simply another symptom of anxiety that have just managed to appear for you most recently. I've never noticed any type of progression of symptoms where you start out with certain ones and, over time, get more and more as a result of your body "breaking down". It's probably just more of a situation where, the longer you have anxiety, the more time there is for other symptoms to show up.

Heart palpitations relating to anxiety are completely harmless...and very common. They're just annoying.

[1970]

From what i understand the heart palpatations are caused by a release of adrenalin in the body with anxiety or fear, part of the fight and flight response im sure we have all heard about.

Its your body releasing adrenalin to prepare its self to fight the situation you are in or flight, to flee the situation you are in

I would say its a pefect reaction to anxiety / stress / panic

I did read somewhere that a lot of the physical sensations we get from anxiety / panic are caused by our body slowing blood flow to some of our organs to keep plenty of blood flowing to the heart and brain, could explain a lot of the tingling sensations, foggy head, tiredness, dizzyness etc etc

Since i have been suffering this illness i have found out a lot about the way our body reacts to such fear, it may not be a real fear but in our minds it is as real as ever.

As i have said before and i have felt it numerous times, at some stage with panic attacks we think we are going to die, lets all face it that has never happened to us ? No or we all wouldnt be here on this site , so we should try to rationalise and reassure ourselves that it has never happened to us and what are the chances of it happening to us ? zero is the answer

That can be applied to a lot of our feelings, am i going mad ? have you ever truely gone mad and ended up in an institution? if the answer is no , whats the chances of that happening then ? none to extremely low i would say,
i try to put this into theory with the feelings i get, ask myself has what im thinking ever happened to me ? then i realise no it hasnt i tell myself well if it hasnt happened before what makes me think it will happen this time, wheres the evidence ? there is none there

[socal21]

Well, I went to the doctor today for a follow-up. I felt very nauseated lately even though I've been taking Kapidex 60mg everyday at the exact time that I should. I told her this, and I told her some new symptoms showed up. I'm now almost unable to eat. I barely get to eat anything because I feel so nauseated. I have lost my appetite. I sometimes get it back, but when I eat I feel full so quickly. Then I keep burping every now and then. She decided to test me for H. Pylori(I don't know why she didn't test for this when the symptoms began!) and now I am awaiting the results. I'm kind of hoping it is positive because I think that would be easier to deal with than the anxiety.. I will let you all know of the outcome when I get the results.

[Beachgirl]

Hope it is all from the h pylori as that would be a simple treatment! If not you may want to look into cbt. Most anxiety starts with thoughts that are inaccurate and if you fight them at their core like cbt teaches you how to do you can nip the anxiety in the bud.

[socal21]

I hope so too! I had to go back to the doctor today because apparently there was some sort of mix-up with my blood.. I had to get my blood drawn AGAIN.. I hope this is it!

[Beachgirl]

I hope so too!
But if not don't despair, you can still beat it, it will just take a bit of effort and time :)

[socal21]

Well, I got the h pylori results back and it was negative. I also got a CT scan done yesterday and everything was normal there too. I am obviously suffering from anxiety. I just need to learn to calm down and get a good psychologist.

The only thing now after the CT scan I get this weird taste in my mouth that comes and goes. They told me to drink lots of water, which I have, but it still comes and goes. Do you think that is due to the anxiety as well? I keep thinking my kidneys won't flush out the contrast dye from my body and it is freaking me out that I can still sort of taste it.

[ImHereForYou]

Hi Socal,

That does not sound like fun at all.

Unfortunately it does sound like anxiety and is very similar to the set of symptoms I used to have.

I actually had a couple of anti-nausea shots because my nausea was so bad. That was a major thing for me to do seeing as I am an acupuncturist.

When it came back afterwards I had to consider the idea that I had anxiety (which I did).

It is very possible to get a weird taste in the mouth with anxiety. It can taste either metallic or bitter and in acupuncture we view it as being due to a stagnation (mainly) of the energy in the liver channel.

Obviously I'm not promoting myself because I don't think I live anywhere near you but go and get yourself some acupuncture and chinese herbs. That is part of what helped me, apart from various self-help combinations.

Hope that helps!

[coops025]

Hi socal21

Have you tried Stemitil?

someone on this forum recommended it to me for nausia and it really helped me out and after months of having it cleared up.

Other things to try are peppermint tea and Ginger, both being very good for nausia.

[Beachgirl]

Well, I got the h pylori results back and it was negative. I also got a CT scan done yesterday and everything was normal there too. I am obviously suffering from anxiety. I just need to learn to calm down and get a good psychologist.

The only thing now after the CT scan I get this weird taste in my mouth that comes and goes. They told me to drink lots of water, which I have, but it still comes and goes. Do you think that is due to the anxiety as well? I keep thinking my kidneys won't flush out the contrast dye from my body and it is freaking me out that I can still sort of taste it.

See how your thoughts are getting you all worked up in that last sentence? The body is an amazing machine and very efficient. Unfortunately our mind can screw it all up :roll: I think you just need to interrupt these thoughts and replace them with more realistic thoughts that don't upset you. Cbt is what gave me relief so I hope you can find a good cbt therapist to help you. If you can't find a good cbt therapist read the book by Sam Obitz and do the TEA form exercise everyday and you will start feeling better sooner than you ever imagined. :D