its just been getting worse.

[William32]

hey ive had anxiety on and off for about 5 years. lately its been super bad. I really dont know where it started. Ive always been a fairly happy person. Everday for the past like 2 and a half weeks ive had chest pains on the left side of my chest. ive tried taking some kind of ssri but that just made it worse. then i went to the er thinking it was a heart attack. naturally everything was fine. they gave me 5 larazapram to get me buy. i went to the doctor and they said they want me to start zoloft. so i did some research on it and found that ssri's cause cancer so i do not want to take them. i thought running would help so i went to the gym to run on the trendmill, but after 10 minutes i just got really sharp pains in the middle of my chest. i just took a lorazapram and it hasent kicked in yet so im still freaking out. i have 1 lorazpram left and i dont think my doctor wants to give me more. they want me on a ssri. i never used to have anxiety. i can hardly drive because of the lightheadedness. i always go through the am i having a heart attack or do i have a brain tumor. the other night i couldnt fal asleep. when i did dose off i woke up gasping for breath. is this all related to anxiety. is there a way i can work out and not have to worry about it. my family has no history of heart disease. ive had blood work done. ive had ekgs. they all turn out fine. idk what to do. im just trying to calm myself down before this pill works. the pain is still in the left side of my chest. im 21. im overweight at 340 and 6'5. im a college student. not really too stressed aside from stressing from anxiety.

[William32]

sorry for any spelling errors. im posting this from my phone

[transam1170]

Yes, its anxiety, do you experience driving problems at all? Like spacy feeling when driving , mine bothers me when I drive alone

[William32]

Yes. I feel extremely spacing. I wonder how I drive sometime.

[transam1170]

Does the spacy feeling wear off sometimes for you? Or went away completley?

[William32]

no not really. its usually there the whole time.

[*pixiedust*]

Hi william,

I'm sorry to hear you are having such a bad time, I get all the anxiety problems under the sun apart from chest pains and I know whole heartedly I would be at my doctors in floods of tears everyday if I did! I do get the racing heart though, I'v been through patches of 5 panics a day, and agoraphobia, feeling faint every time I leave the house......I convince myself for years I have a heart problem or a brain tumour, I still have patches of it......but this has gone on years and I'm still here and I'v spent years stressing myself out over it for nothing.

Being as worried as you are, could you go back to the doctor and get a second opinion? If u have had bloodwork and scans done, I'm am sure you are fine, but it might help put your mind at rest?

Anxiety attacks make you convinced you are dying, or convinced that you are going mad, or convinced you are going to faint or lose control.....that is what makes them so scary, but it is a false belief, no one ever died from a panic attack, and you dont faint, u just hyperventilate, which makes you feel faint. They are horrible and you have all of my sympathies. Next time ur having a panic, just remember that it is just panic. I thinkyou are probably getting chest pains when u run because u are worrying about ur heart. Take excersize slowly, build urself up, is there a trainer at the gym who can help u? Drink lots of water and eat healthy, go for walks

As for the ssri's and cancer, I'v never heard of that, and I can see why it is such a concern but a lot of things in life can give u cancer, it can come on its own! And if the chance was big, or worth worrying about, the doctors wouldnt be allowed to prescribe it so readilly, if at all. I doubt they will give you tablets that give you something as bad as cancer for panic attacks. But go and talk about ur doctor about it, dont be shy, they will know that u are anxious and will help you, and you can always get a second opinion if you are worried.

If you really dont want to take the tablets, have you tried cognitive behavioural therapy? It is meant to be very very helpful for anxiety. And there are self help books! Go on amazon and type in overcoming anxiety and overcoming panic, u'll find some reall good titles

I hope this helps and feel free to contact me if you want :-)
Much <3

[William32]

Thanks Pixie :). So I took those pills last night, and the anxiety just kept getting worse. I eventually kind of shook myself out of it. I don't know I'm really bummed that it didn't do anything. I though it was supposed to be my oh shit pill. I woke up completely fine. Now the chest pains are back. I don't know. I've just been telling myself my family doesn't have a history of heart problems so i'm fine, but it just doesn't work. I'm going to try to start just walking instead of going to the gym. Hopefully that will help so some pains go away and I can start actually working out again. I'll probably make another appointment for the doctor. Does anyone know if you've had an EKG and all that if it shows how healthy your heart is or just how it's fine that second. I've heard that an EKG is just a screenshot to tell you how your heart is doing in that minute. I don't know though. I'm obviously no expert. Thanks

[alankay]

Will, where in the world did you find ssri's causes cancer??? Just wondering. Alankay.

[William32]

I just googled it and there was an about site about it. I can't post links yet so I can't show you the exact site. and a few other sites I read say that SSRIs can increase brain damage and some other stuff. I don't know I'm a really bad symptom google searcher so I look up everything and worry.

[*pixiedust*]

Dont google stuff like that! lol. You get so much stuff come up that isnt true! I have been a victim of this, I used to google everything, I was completely obsessive, diagnosed my self with all sorts! U need to quit :-)

Taking just one of these tablets is very unlikely to help you, you have to take them for a couple of weeks, usually 3-4 weeks to get good results. No istant fix I'm afraid :-(
There is a chance they wont work for you personally and when you go back to the doctor they will try you on something else.

How are you doing with tackling the anxiety without tablets? Have u lowered ur caffiene intake? sleeping well? Drinking lots of water? Eating healthily? Did you amazon the books?

If you reply, I dont always see so send me a little inbox so I know u have replied :-)

Much <3