Health Anxiety Help?! I need relief!

[EC1991]

Hey Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and am really just reaching out for help and advice right now so first off a bit of background on me: I'm a 20 year old male college student. No history of heart problems, no history of high blood pressure (highest BP ever recorded for me was 130/85; average is 110-120/70), no history of any serious diseases or conditions short of seasonal allergies. I am not overweight, though I work at a fast food chain so I did eat there frequently for about a year. I smoked Marijuana regularly (but not heavily, i.e. small doses daily or every other day) from about September 2010 to October 2011 when I quit cold turkey, I drink on the weekends (usually not a lot, occasionally surpass my limit). I don't exercise beyond the walking around Campus and to work (heart rate gets over 140 bpm doing this as I walk quickly and the area is hilly). Since December 2nd (which I will talk about below), I have cut out fast food nearly 99% out of my diet (have only eaten fast food less than 10 times over the past 2 months), I have only drank twice in the past 7 weeks (both times well within moderation). So basically, I have done a 180 turn on my health over the past 2 months. That was just some background, here is my story and what I need help on; I'm sorry this is so long, but I didn't feel summarizing certain parts would really explain my experience well:

December 2nd I was at work and I noticed the left side of my upper chest had some tiny pinch-like pains that occurred sporadically over the course of my shift (work isn't by any means heavy exertion, just lots of standing and busy work). Those chest pains occurred randomly over the next couple days. I saw a Doctor for it on the Friday of that week and had an EKG done which came back perfect. Doctor told me to take it easy over the weekend, call in sick to work, etc. I did as suggested and the symptoms disappeared. I saw a Doctor the following Tuesday as a follow-up, and everything sounded perfect to him (heart beat and breathing).

December 11th I decided to drink with some friends and drank quite a bit, resulting in me having a mild hangover the morning after, the hangover was mild: very little nausea, no headache. I was studying at a restaurant with friends when I noticed my chest felt tight, heart rate was fast and pounding (this got me paying attention to my heart), shortly after my hands began going numb. I was at first able to bring sensation back to my hands by opening and clenching my fists, but after about 5 minutes that no longer worked and I panicked thinking I was having a heart attack or some other serious problem. I rushed myself over to the campus health center and saw another doctor, another EKG was ran, and despite a high heart rate, the rhythm was once again normal (this doctor visit was also when I had my "highest" blood pressure recorded of 130/85. The rest of the week I had an extremely heightened awareness of my heart rate/beat and was constantly worried about a worst-case scenario (WebMD and other health sites only fed my worries).

Over the next couple weeks this heightened awareness was consistently part of my day. Every activity or action I couldn't quite clear my head of the worry that something was wrong with my heart. Some days the symptoms felt better than others, but it was always there, despite my best efforts to keep my mind off of the things that were worrying me. December 24th I was in a Church service with my family and felt a tightness/pressure/warmth on the right half of my scalp that radiated to the surrounding area of my face and neck. I dismissed it at first thinking it was just from the warm room. Shortly after though, my mind got away from me and I began to panic, I thought something was seriously wrong and had to remove myself from the service to go calm down.

Following the panic attack I had on the 24th, I had more chest discomfort, and also headaches like I felt during that church service only on the right side of my head. I also noticed tinnitus in mainly my right ear (though it's hard for me to determine exactly which it is). Later that week I woke up one morning to a speeding heart which instantly set me off and put me into a panic attack. I saw my family doctor over winter break and he was convinced my problem is all anxiety, as my heart sounds perfectly healthy, both my EKG's were normal, my blood tests were all normal (CBC, Thyroid, Liver, etc all normal). He prescribed a low dose of a generic form of Xanax (0.25mg if I'm having an acute panic attack; 0.125mg if I can feel a panic attack coming on). I also saw a naturopathic doctor and was told a list of supplements I could take to help with the various problems I have (Inositol which I believe is Vitamin B8 for Anxiety, Lecithin for heart palpitations, and Magnesium for anxiety). I also began taking a Daily MultiVitamin, Vitamin B100 Complex, and 2000 IU of Vitamin D3 daily. I've noticed the heart palpitations (speeding, pounding, etc) less, and my anxiety seems to be lessened recently, though it's still there. To this day I am still experiencing a right-sided scalp/head pressure-like sensation, tinnitus, occasionally my tinnitus increases drastically in volume for 3-5 seconds and fades away (but it's enough to make me flinch or grab my head). I've been seeing bright tiny lights in my vision (usually in my peripheral vision). I've got an appointment with a cardiologist late this month and am really going to push for getting a couple more detailed tests done, if everything is okay I'll begin exercising regularly but for the time being I'm just too worried to want to put that much strain on my heart.

So that's basically what I've been dealing with the past two months with very little relief, though if this is anxiety which my doctor (and the other doctors I've seen) truly think it is, I haven't really been treating that. I've got tons of questions, but my biggest ones are has anyone experienced anything like this before? Can anxiety cause symptoms like this (I know almost all of these are in the symptoms list but it's just hard for me to accept that all of this can be caused by anxiety). Does this sound like Health Anxiety to those maybe familiar with it? I'm really just at a loss for words, I have never considered myself a heavily stressed out person, have never had anxiety problems in the past or heavily in my family history (Though my dad does have anxiety just nowhere near as severe as mine, he can control his because his triggers aren't health fears). Really just any words of advice or help anyone may have to offer would be greatly appreciated; this has consumed my life and I'm really looking for relief.

If you need clarification on anything or have any questions please ask!

Thanks Everyone.

[Suzzy]

Hello!
YES. Absolutely, definitely sounds like anxiety!!! I have EXACTLY the same symptoms you've described and have had for a few years now - and im still here! :-) I could literally have written yout post....
I get chest pain, palpitations, fast heart rate/awwareness of every heart sensation, and sometimes get pain in my left arm with it which is really scary. I have had loads of ecg's which were fine and was reffered to a cardiologist who performed a stress test (was fine), 24 hour ecg (was fine), 24 hour BP monitor (was fine) and an ekg (was fine)! So, was I content with his diagnosis? NO. I was absolutely convinced they were missing something so a few moths later i went back to the doctor and was referred back to the cardiologist-again. He again went over everything and found no problems... unlike you, i DO have high BP but that just seems to be normal for me. But it does make me worry about what it must be doing to my heart! Anyway, what im trying to say is the symptoms you have described are anxiety personified and nothing to worry about. You've been checked over and been given the all clear so now you need to stop stressing about it everytime you get a symptom because that will just make things worse.... Just remember they are symptoms of a psychological problem, not a physical one! :-) Easier said than done I know, but you really are OK and dont need to worry about it! Get out there and start exercising again and it might help to keep you busy and take your mind off it all. Exercise is also great for de-stressing!
Hope ive given you a bit of reassurance anyway... you're definitely not alone and dont need to be concerned!

[EC1991]

Thanks for the reassurance. The hardest part for me to deal with despite all the reassurance from doctors and families is that they don't really seem to know how to actually help me. They can tell me they think there's nothing wrong with me, and that it's all anxiety, but none have offered much help to actually treat the anxiety.

Thanks again for the kindness though!

[Suzzy]

Yeah, I know what you mean... they say, 'no need to worry, its nothing serious, its just anxiety', but that doesnt really help! It doesnt make the symptoms go away. I finally went to my doctor last week and asked to be referred for some help for my anxiety. I have my first appointment with the counsellor tomorrow! eek. Anyway, i would suggest you do the same and go and see a therapist/counsellor. CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) is really effective in treating anxiety and the problem isnt going to go away by itself i doubt.... Dont know if you live in the UK or not but its free to see someone on the NHS. Definitely worth a try anyway! There are alos a lot of good self help websites out there... Try googling CBT/self help websites. But much better to actually go and see a professional and talk it all through! Hope that helps. :-)

[EC1991]

I've considered CBT and seeing a psychiatrist but haven't gotten around to setting up an appointment with one yet. My problem is I've actually been doing really well keeping my anxiety levels low (or at least I think so), I tend to ignore symptoms I have or explain them away with things that are harmless instead of jumping to worst-case-scenarios. I remember six weeks ago how consumed I was with anxiety where all I could think about was the anxiety and the physical symptoms I was experiencing, this past week or two I've been much more relaxed but am still experiencing the symptoms and they seem to be getting worse. Today for example I was walking to class and about 2-3 minutes into my walk my chest felt like it had this ball of tightness in the center of it, and it didn't feel like a muscular tightness it felt internal. Breathing felt somewhat normal, no significant shortness of breath, but that kind of chest tightness is totally new to me. It went away within a minute or so of arriving at my class, and once I was on my way back home the chest tightness picked up as soon as I started walking again. I'm afraid of going to the Doctor again because I've been so many times in the past 6 weeks and have been told so many times they think nothing is wrong and it's all anxiety; I have these new symptoms and I'm afraid to go get them checked out because I feel like they'll just brush it off as anxiety. When the heart symptoms were new to me I had two EKG's ran and ever since they've brought up anxiety they haven't thought further tests to be necessary. I suppose I could get the tests on my own if I checked into the ER, but that's insanely expensive (From the USA so I'd have to foot the entire bill) and would be so much easier and cheaper if my Doctor would just work with me and refer me to get the tests done.

I'm really lost right now. I really want to believe it's anxiety, but with how relaxed I've been these past two weeks and then I still have these new scary symptoms I cant help but think the worst. Let me know if the counseling helps you! I'm still a bit weary about going to do that.

[fresh]

I solved my anxiety by changing my diet, after suffering with anxiety for over eight years and being bounced from one tablet to another I couldnt believe that diet and exersize solved it. You should check out www help anxiety dot net