I need help and reassurance I'm not crazy!!

Well to tell you a little bit about myself so you have the background story. I'm 27 years old and live alone in Italy where I am an English teacher. I do not speak Italian so spend alot of time on my own, which I normally don't mind. Recently I have started with what I feel like are anxiety attacks, it's a completely irrational fear I'm dying or having a heart attack and I am going to die alone in my apartment with no-one around me. It has been 3 days of constant worry, lack of sleep, and I am now convinced I am manifesting symptoms. When I read up on the internet (which I do often now!) I am either having a heart attack or am suffering a panic attack BUT I cannot find out which. How do I rule out one! especially the heart attack one! all these weird sensations are becoming apparent to me, weird aches and pains and shakes and I don't know if I'm feeling these things and self-diagnosing them because I am looking them up or because they are there? My heart rate is normal, I have never had a problem with my heart. I just don't know it is driving me crazy and I really don't know what to do. I need someone to help me convince myself I am not dying and the chances are I am having a panic attack. I am beyond relieved to find somewhere like this where I can actually ask! I tend to need to move around alot now, almost like I want to run as fast as I can and prove my heart will not just explode in my body, so I go for long aimless walks all over trying to see if I feel anything weird. IF I sweat I panic, if I feel I am a bit short of breath I panic. I'm even panicing now in case I am not allowed to post this here and will continue to panic until someone tells me its ok. I am at my wits end. Worst of all I battle to find a doctor or anyone in the city I live in who speaks English so there is literally no one I can talk to about this especially in depth.
Hoping for help
Wiltingrubie

Wilt, Classic anxiety. Find a doc on this if you can and get the heart cleared then try to find out what is causing your anxiety. At 27 I doubt you have a heart issue if you've had the normal physicals, etc, growing up.
By the way, I was in Italy(Como/Lecco area) last Fall and found the people there the best! Many docs speak some English, right? PM me any time at all. If you can't PM me, post that and I can give you my email address. I'm sure you're experiencing anxiety. Alankay

Sounds completely like a panic attack. You would have severe chest pain with a heart attack and it wouldn't come and go. Your symptoms sound completely like a panic attack. What sometimes helps is if you can, lay down, or if you are not in a position to lay down, put your head down. Try to breath in slowly, and exhale slowly. Imagine someplace that you consider peaceful ( for me, its sitting on the edge of a beautiful beach) and continue to breathe in deeply and exhale fully until you feel the panic dissipate and regular breathing return. Just an FYI, they have excellent meditation apps on smartphones like iPhone or Droid , I use one called satify on my Droid phone.
Another thing is, keep yourself busy. If you are busy, the intrusive thoughts tend to stay away. You are in one of the most beautiful countries in the world (IMO) I would busy myself exploring in my free time.
Glad you found this forum, there are plenty of great people I have found on here that really try to help one another.

I was 27 when I had my first panic attack. They can be helped and eliminated - they were for me. Meds + therapy should be your focus asap.

Sounds like obvious panic attacks. I know exactly what these feel like because I use to get them too. One of the things I discovered was aiding in my anxiety which eventually lead to depression, was being alone constantly. When you spend a lot of time alone, it starts to become unhealthy and can eventually cause panic. That constant worry that something will happen, consumes our minds and at times takes over our bodies to where we don't even want to see the light of day.

I would recommend you take up yoga, martial arts, or any type of sports that can help relieve stress and anxiety. Meditation for me was another thing that helped a lot. I would sit out in an open field or park, close my eyes, take deep breathes, and simply clear my mind. Sometimes all we need is time to reflect on life and what is actually happening, instead of focusing on what's going on in our head. We can't control what happens in life, but we can control how we choose to live it...

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Originally Posted by wiltingrubie

Well to tell you a little bit about myself so you have the background story. I'm 27 years old and live alone in Italy where I am an English teacher. I do not speak Italian so spend alot of time on my own, which I normally don't mind. Recently I have started with what I feel like are anxiety attacks, it's a completely irrational fear I'm dying or having a heart attack and I am going to die alone in my apartment with no-one around me. It has been 3 days of constant worry, lack of sleep, and I am now convinced I am manifesting symptoms. When I read up on the internet (which I do often now!) I am either having a heart attack or am suffering a panic attack BUT I cannot find out which. How do I rule out one! especially the heart attack one! all these weird sensations are becoming apparent to me, weird aches and pains and shakes and I don't know if I'm feeling these things and self-diagnosing them because I am looking them up or because they are there? My heart rate is normal, I have never had a problem with my heart. I just don't know it is driving me crazy and I really don't know what to do. I need someone to help me convince myself I am not dying and the chances are I am having a panic attack. I am beyond relieved to find somewhere like this where I can actually ask! I tend to need to move around alot now, almost like I want to run as fast as I can and prove my heart will not just explode in my body, so I go for long aimless walks all over trying to see if I feel anything weird. IF I sweat I panic, if I feel I am a bit short of breath I panic. I'm even panicing now in case I am not allowed to post this here and will continue to panic until someone tells me its ok. I am at my wits end. Worst of all I battle to find a doctor or anyone in the city I live in who speaks English so there is literally no one I can talk to about this especially in depth.
Hoping for help
Wiltingrubie

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You are NOT crazy. Genuinely crazy people don't have any idea or awareness that they might be such.
What you ARE is like me, anxious. Your adrenaline levels are probably through the roof and I'm convinced it gets to a point where the body just keeps cranking them out. You and me are in the same boat, we both need a cure. I'm praying for you, that we both will find improvment in our lives.