anxiety?

[nowayride]

ive been to the doctor for my symptoms and aside from finding a potassium deficiency once they said nothing was wrong with me.

well i still have rare symptoms, the general one is randomly throughout the day mild chest discomfort or slight pains in my arms or back or chest.

but there are these 'attacks' where i start off feeling weird, then i get weakness then really really thirsty then really really cold and then my herart starts racing. sometimes the order is different but all always happen.

and it happened tonight. i couldnt get to sleep because my body just felt strange, like if i went to sleep my body would shut down, so i got up and all the above symptoms kicked in really bad.

is all of this just typical anxiety? ive had various blood tests done and my blood is fine, an ekg showed nothing more than sinus ahrythmia, my potassium was fine last i checked as was my blood sugar (fasting).

[HM]

My friend, recently I’ve been experiencing almost exactly the same symptoms as you.

I too have had pains in my chest, back and arms and I’ve also been to hospital (twice) to get myself checked-out. Both times they haven’t found anything physically wrong with me. My ECG and chest X-ray where fine (however I’m still waiting for the results of my blood test, which they are checking mainly for thyroid problems).

I’ve since become obsessed that there is something wrong with my heart, and that I’m unwell.

I’ve also had the ‘shutting down’ sensation when trying to sleep. It’s not nice, in fact it’s terrifying. It’s as though my breathing is slowing down and my brain is ‘turning off’. I get so worried that if I do go to sleep I’m not going to wake-up. It’s really weird. I normally get up and start to panic.

I’m not sure whether my pains are caused purely by my anxiety. I think I do have something genuinely wrong with me (albeit not serious), but because the pain mimics heart problems at times, and also because I’ve been getting the ‘shutting down’ feeling when trying to sleep, my anxiety has increased dramatically and probably added to the problem.

The weakness, thirst, coldness and racing heart all happen to me also.

I’m not really sure what advice I can give you, because to be honest, I’m struggling myself to overcome the anxiety it’s causing me at the moment.

The only thing I find that does help are my meds. I take beta-blockers to slow my heart rate down and reduce the physical symptoms of my anxiety in general and also Lorazepam (a strong sedative) to help me if I do go into a full blown panic attack or I can’t sleep.

In my opinion, the pains I’m feeling are as result of some sort of muscual/cartalige condition, possibly Costochondritis (you should Google this and check it out). It’s not unusual with this to have chest pains that appear to be cardiac problems, and also to have pain that radiates out to the back and arms like me, and you, have described. However, I’m keeping an open mind, and it’s probably best not to self-diagnose.

If it is muscular/cartilage thing though (Costochonditis is an inflammation of cartilage), this would explain why anxiety increases the symptoms - as it does make you ‘tense up’ which undoubtedly would accentuate the problem. (Muscle relaxants seem to help my pain, also drugs containing Codeine).

I’m really pleased to have found someone experiencing something very similar to me. Please let me know if you have found anything that helps and how you’re getting on.

The last two or three weeks have been terrible for me because of this.

All the best.

Harry

[tristanh1982]

hello hello hope this article helps i have them two they suck keep me awake for days sometimes



What is a Hypnic Jerk?

A hypnic jerk, or hypnagogic massive jerk, usually occurs just as we are falling asleep. People often describe it as a falling sensation or an electric shock, and it is a completely normal experience. It most commonly occurs when sleeping uncomfortably or over-tired. There has been little research done on the subject, but there are some theories as to why hypnic jerks occur.

When we drift of into sleep, the body undergoes changes in temperature, breathing and muscle relaxation. The hypnic jerk may be a result of the muscles relaxing. The brain misinterprets this as a sign of falling and signals our limbs to wake up; hence the jerking legs or arms.

A hypnic jerk may also occur during the Rapid Eye Movement phase of sleep. The REM phase is the time when dreams happen and all voluntary muscular activity stops along with a complete drop in muscle tone. During REM, some individuals experience slight eye or ear twitching, and this is also when the hypnic jerk occurs. Some people with sleep disorders do not achieve muscular relaxation and have been known to act out their dreams.

In most people, a hypnic jerk usually occurs just once or twice a night. However, when a person is deprived of sleep or trying to fight sleep, it may happen more often. In extreme cases, the muscle twitches can happen every thirty seconds or more. This disorder is called periodic limb movement.

Another theory put forward to try and explain the hypnic jerk is that the body reacts to falling asleep much in the way that a body may twitch when dying. The hypnic jerk is a reflex used to keep the body functioning. The brain might register falling asleep as a situation in which the body needs to be stimulated.

A hypnic jerk can also occur when you wake up. This is far more rare and can also affect auditory as well as muscular nerves. In the phenomenon known as an auditory sleep start, waking from sleep is accompanied with a very loud snap or cracking which seems to come from the center of the head. Some people have also been known to have visual sleep starts, in which a blinding flash of light awakens the sleeper, but these cases are also extremely rare.

Sleep studies have shown that hypnic jerks affect around 10 percent of the population on a nightly basis. Almost 80 percent of people are affected occasionally and 10 percent are rarely ever affected. So when the person falling asleep next to you on the bus suddenly twitches for no reason, you may well be justified in calling them a hypnic jer

[nowayride]

its not like im jerked out of sleep or anything. i just relaxed for a couple hours and it eventually died down and i felt better.

really does anyone know if these gneneral symptoms are anxiety and stuff?

a lot of the pains i have arent JUST my chest, i get them in shouders and even arms. i also get strange headaches and sensations.

also when im just working or walking around or whatever throughout the day theres been the RARE time where my heart beats really hard and it hurts so freakin bad like someone just stabbed me. these are normal and happen to everyone randomly right? i dont seem to recall them happening when i was younger, but if they did and they werent that bad i probably ignored them.

[PPR1983]

Hi Nowayride

I also suffer from chest pains, the pains I get are usually on the left hand side of my chest and can go down my arm and pain in the shoulder. The pains are sharp and niggily. When I get these pains they don't last long but they come back several times. I got myself so worried about these i convinced myself it was Lung cancer. (I do suffer from health anxiety) After 3 trips to the docs and a different doc each time they all say it is muscular. I still find it hard to accept but I am going to have to, I just hope the pains will dissapear. I don't think you have anything to worry about but just letting you know you are not alone :) It is a scary experience.