deutsche elektronik
11-22-2010, 02:51 PM
Hi,
I'm a 26 year old woman from the united states and have had problems anxiety and panic disorder ever since I can remember. I diagnosed myself long before my psychiatrists confirmed my illness, it was so obvious to me, but also stressful, especially after years of trying to figure out why I was experiencing nausea, palpitations, weird sensations and stress from unusual situations. It was never so severe that I was unable to function, but it was debilitating in many situations. This past year has been something unusual for me in respects to my panic disorder. My symptoms have gotten worse, and even outright strange. Usually with attacks I feel nauseated, but never actually vomit. I feel like I need to move my bowels immediately, but never do. I get sweaty, palpitations, rapid heartbeat and strange chest sensations, but never last for very long or caused me great concern.
These symptoms would never last for more than two hours after the initial attack. However, this has changed over the past year. Earlier this year I tried to donate plasma at a donation clinic, before they even hooked me up to the machine, I was hit with a sudden severe urge to vomit and move my bowels, so much so I ran to the restroom. I was of course not really sick with any kind of stomach illness, but it was a severe, and for me, an unusual panic attack. When I got to the restroom the symptoms immediately ended. i gave up on the process of donating plasma and left, with people at the clinic worried about what was wrong with me. Since then I have been anxiety symptoms I never had before, and those I usually do get have gotten much more severe. In the past 6 months I get attacks where my heart literally feels as if it is going to pop out of my chest, or that someone is squeezing the middle of my chest, for long periods of time. I even get sensations of tingling, like a hot/cold sensation waving through my chest and sometimes up to my shoulders and neck. It happens to me every morning now. I even get a stiff neck.
One morning, not to long ago, I walked up a flight of stairs on my way to work. I found myself breathing very slowly and gasping for air as I reached the top, my body instantly felt heavy, my heart felt slowed, my vision became blurry and I almost collapsed. I struggled desperately to get air to my brain to avoid fainting onto the concrete. After that my vision was distorted, everything was grayish and I felt unreal, as if I where a ghost in a parallel universe. I rested for a while and the feelings went away after 15 minutes. Since then I have been having strange chest sensations like this and feeling faint. I have also been feeling nauseated and occasionally vomiting in the morning before work. I even have rapid gastric emptying during these attacks. My doctor did a EKG and didn't detect any heart arrhythmia. She thinks I'm too young to be having heart problems, and have no history of it in my family, but I have a huge family history of sever anxiety and panic disorder on both of my parents sides.
These symptoms even make me skeptical that it's panic at all. My psychologist put me on 1 mg of XANAX and I'm starting Desipramine, but they have not stopped these symptoms, just mitigated them. I recently moved to Chicago, which I am still adjusting to and was already afraid of being an ongoing trigger for my panic disorder, and I have an excessively stressful job at the moment. I take these as the possible culprit of these attacks. But the chest symptoms are so distressful that I question anxiety as the only cause. I was wondering if anyone else has had this experience as well, or if my symptoms are common. I had always thought for a long time that I was quite aware of my anxiety symptoms, now I'm not sure.
I'm a 26 year old woman from the united states and have had problems anxiety and panic disorder ever since I can remember. I diagnosed myself long before my psychiatrists confirmed my illness, it was so obvious to me, but also stressful, especially after years of trying to figure out why I was experiencing nausea, palpitations, weird sensations and stress from unusual situations. It was never so severe that I was unable to function, but it was debilitating in many situations. This past year has been something unusual for me in respects to my panic disorder. My symptoms have gotten worse, and even outright strange. Usually with attacks I feel nauseated, but never actually vomit. I feel like I need to move my bowels immediately, but never do. I get sweaty, palpitations, rapid heartbeat and strange chest sensations, but never last for very long or caused me great concern.
These symptoms would never last for more than two hours after the initial attack. However, this has changed over the past year. Earlier this year I tried to donate plasma at a donation clinic, before they even hooked me up to the machine, I was hit with a sudden severe urge to vomit and move my bowels, so much so I ran to the restroom. I was of course not really sick with any kind of stomach illness, but it was a severe, and for me, an unusual panic attack. When I got to the restroom the symptoms immediately ended. i gave up on the process of donating plasma and left, with people at the clinic worried about what was wrong with me. Since then I have been anxiety symptoms I never had before, and those I usually do get have gotten much more severe. In the past 6 months I get attacks where my heart literally feels as if it is going to pop out of my chest, or that someone is squeezing the middle of my chest, for long periods of time. I even get sensations of tingling, like a hot/cold sensation waving through my chest and sometimes up to my shoulders and neck. It happens to me every morning now. I even get a stiff neck.
One morning, not to long ago, I walked up a flight of stairs on my way to work. I found myself breathing very slowly and gasping for air as I reached the top, my body instantly felt heavy, my heart felt slowed, my vision became blurry and I almost collapsed. I struggled desperately to get air to my brain to avoid fainting onto the concrete. After that my vision was distorted, everything was grayish and I felt unreal, as if I where a ghost in a parallel universe. I rested for a while and the feelings went away after 15 minutes. Since then I have been having strange chest sensations like this and feeling faint. I have also been feeling nauseated and occasionally vomiting in the morning before work. I even have rapid gastric emptying during these attacks. My doctor did a EKG and didn't detect any heart arrhythmia. She thinks I'm too young to be having heart problems, and have no history of it in my family, but I have a huge family history of sever anxiety and panic disorder on both of my parents sides.
These symptoms even make me skeptical that it's panic at all. My psychologist put me on 1 mg of XANAX and I'm starting Desipramine, but they have not stopped these symptoms, just mitigated them. I recently moved to Chicago, which I am still adjusting to and was already afraid of being an ongoing trigger for my panic disorder, and I have an excessively stressful job at the moment. I take these as the possible culprit of these attacks. But the chest symptoms are so distressful that I question anxiety as the only cause. I was wondering if anyone else has had this experience as well, or if my symptoms are common. I had always thought for a long time that I was quite aware of my anxiety symptoms, now I'm not sure.