another newbie...

[omgshelley]

Hi. My name is Shelley and I'm 26 years old. At 16 I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression. Since I've gotten older, these problems have largely gone away. But since January of this year, I've been experiencing a lot of weird symptoms that I've been told are panic attack / panic disorder symptoms. I'm worried I'm becoming a total hypochondriac, because I just don't believe that these symptoms are *just* anxiety.

So I need some help, and some advice.

These are my symptoms:
In the last year...

• Dizziness

• Nausea

• Fatigue

• Feeling like I can't exhale (difficulty breathing - lasts sometimes for days without relief)

• Racing heart

• Heart palpitations (anything from a weird beat to feeling like my heart jumped into my throat)

• Constant need to burp / near constant stomach issues

• Pain, in both legs and both arms (sharp, stabby pains, most frequently in calves, wrists, and ankles)

• Numbness or tingling in hands and feet

• Joint pain

• Tingly, numb sensation on side of face/head

• Itching

• Chest Pain

Now, most of these symptoms lasts for hours or days on end, usually with no relief. The only symptom I can really relate to anxiety is the racing-heart once I feel another symptom, and I start to panic over it. So yes, I know I'm panicking over something happening, but it's always like this:

Suddenly really nauseated + dizzy = Me freaking out, giving myself a racing heart and chest pain.
Can't breathe for hours on end = Me freaking out, though now I have just grown used to it.
Face tingling and numbness out of nowhere, lasting for hours = Me freaking out, etc etc.

You get the idea?

I had blood work done and an EKG and have had my breathing monitored (from multiple trips to the E.R) and everything came back normal, aside from there being some really slight abnormal results to my C-Reactive Protein test (for inflammation). BP, breathing rates, blood sugar, cholesterol (on the high end of normal), thyroid, all your basic E.R blood tests and G.P tests came back normal.

So please, what I want to know is... Are my doctors just writing it off as anxiety because I'm anxious over my symptoms? Or are all these things (remember, they last for HOURS to days at a time, not a "10-20 minute panic attack") usual of a moderate to severe anxiety disorder?

Every reply helps, thank you so much for being here!
<3Shelley

[JustaGal]

Did you get a blood test?

Hi. My name is Shelley and I'm 26 years old. At 16 I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression. Since I've gotten older, these problems have largely gone away. But since January of this year, I've been experiencing a lot of weird symptoms that I've been told are panic attack / panic disorder symptoms. I'm worried I'm becoming a total hypochondriac, because I just don't believe that these symptoms are *just* anxiety.

So I need some help, and some advice.

These are my symptoms:
In the last year...

• Dizziness
  Nausea
  Fatigue
  Feeling like I can't exhale (difficulty breathing - lasts sometimes for days without relief)
  Racing heart
  Heart palpitations (anything from a weird beat to feeling like my heart jumped into my throat)
  Constant need to burp / near constant stomach issues
  Pain, in both legs and both arms (sharp, stabby pains, most frequently in calves, wrists, and ankles)
  Numbness or tingling in hands and feet
  Joint pain
  Tingly, numb sensation on side of face/head
  Itching
  Chest Pain

Now, most of these symptoms lasts for hours or days on end, usually with no relief. The only symptom I can really relate to anxiety is the racing-heart once I feel another symptom, and I start to panic over it. So yes, I know I'm panicking over something happening, but it's always like this:

Suddenly really nauseated + dizzy = Me freaking out, giving myself a racing heart and chest pain.
Can't breathe for hours on end = Me freaking out, though now I have just grown used to it.
Face tingling and numbness out of nowhere, lasting for hours = Me freaking out, etc etc.

You get the idea?

So please, what I want to know is... Are my doctors just writing it off as anxiety because I'm anxious over my symptoms? Or are all these things (remember, they last for HOURS to days at a time, not a "10-20 minute panic attack") usual of a moderate to severe anxiety disorder?

Every reply helps, thank you so much for being here!
<3Shelley

[omgshelley]

Did you get a blood test?

Oh! I forgot to add that.

I have gotten a lot of blood tests, also an EKG.

Thyroid, blood sugar, etc all tested. Your basic tests from the E.R and a basic blood panel from my G.P

My C-Reactive Protein was a 2.12 which is as my doctor said "eh" in the list of "abnormalities." My cholesterol isn't high, but it's getting there. Everything else was quite normal.

[JustaGal]

Glad to hear the test are normal. There is a huge list of anxiety symptoms somewhere on this board, all of your symptoms are on the list.

[omgshelley]

And is it common for people to experience these symptoms all day long, for weeks on end? I've definitely had periods of relief and times when its all sort of there but in the background, and then get the "big attacks" from time to time. This is normal for an anxiety/panic disorder?

[JustaGal]

And is it common for people to experience these symptoms all day long, for weeks on end? I've definitely had periods of relief and times when its all sort of there but in the background, and then get the "big attacks" from time to time. This is normal for an anxiety/panic disorder?

I would say yes for chronic anxiety, sounds like health anxiety, I am sure someone can help us out with their experience. I dont have many physical symptoms. Mostly emotional/psychological.

[omgshelley]

I just never thought that anxiety could be so intense. I know it's health anxiety, because it's so centered around my body and feeling like I have a serious illness / am going to die.

But I just couldn't believe that anxiety symptoms could last for so long, without relief.

[JustaGal]

I just never thought that anxiety could be so intense. I know it's health anxiety, because it's so centered around my body and feeling like I have a serious illness / am going to die.

But I just couldn't believe that anxiety symptoms could last for so long, without relief.

Wow, that is intense, what do you do for it?

[Enduronman]

It sounds as if you also have acid reflux, which in itself could be causing many of these symptoms too.
Coupled of course with an over active nervous system causing all those other issues as well.
Are you taking any medications to calm your thoughts?
Pretty much everything you have listed can all be linked to worry, fret, fear, and anxiety.
Have a great day OMG!

E-Man

[omgshelley]

Wow, that is intense, what do you do for it?

It depends. Sometimes I can just kind of wait it out and the panic goes away. Sometimes I just ignore the symptoms and try not to think about it. Distraction works. Other times I just lie in bed and cry. =/ It kind of depends on what sort of anxiety it is and how strong. Like at this point if my heart beats a little funny I get over it quick because its happened so many times now. But like when I started getting pains in my legs, I had a full blown 3-day meltdown thinking I was having blood clots and would die of a pulmonary embolism at any minute.

It sounds as if you also have acid reflux, which in itself could be causing many of these symptoms too.
Coupled of course with an over active nervous system causing all those other issues as well.
Are you taking any medications to calm your thoughts?
Pretty much everything you have listed can all be linked to worry, fret, fear, and anxiety.
Have a great day OMG!

E-Man

Thanks, E-man. Yeah, I thought for a while I might have IBS or GERD or something, which in itself can cause anxiety. And then once you have anxiety it kind of eggs itself on and causes more anxiety so it's like some stupid vicious cycle of indigestion and fear lol. But no matter how many times I tell the doctors that the gastro-intestinal problems have been around for two or three years longer than I've had anxiety, it's always just anxiety.

And no, I don't take any medications.