What does your chest pain feel like?

[HM]

Hi,

For those of you that suffer from chest pains as a result of anxiety, I was just wondering what your pain felt like?

For me personally, it mainly feels like a deep knawing pain within my chest cavity, but I also get sharper pains, usually in the center of my chest that come along radomly and feel more like they are muscular and are coming from my chest wall rather than inside.

My pains only aren’t present in the morning, but the moment I get out of bed they start regardless of how anxious I am.

It would really help if someof you could give your own descriptions of what you go through.

Harry

[Getoutofmyhead]

haha its more, what does it not feel like?

I feel almost asthmatic, like my breath isnt going in and out properly (even tho its not affected by it at all) Mine centres around the solar plexus, its almost like someone has punched me really hard there and my muscles are sore and bruised. it also feels sometimes (like now!) like someone is squeezing my esphogus (bad spelling sorry). Whatever way it definitely feels muscle related, and sometimes it almost feels like my chest is collapsing inward.

It then sort of spreads to the rest of my chest and sometimes my side. My problem is however I have a small muscle injury under my left breast (which is what set off my anxiety in the first place) which sometimes flares up, and the pain can extend right throughout my chest. This of course then sets my anxiety off...

Two things I think about to keep my anxiety lowered:
1. Remember your whole chest and abdomen is just one big sheet of intertangled muscle, tendons, ligaments etc. Dont be surprised if the pain in your chest spreads around- thats what linked muscles do!
2. I find if I'm getting worried about my heart, to put my hand where my heart is (make sure you know exactly where!), and figure out where my pain is in comparison. So far, its been nowhere near it.

Hope this helps

ps. and yeah I wake up in the morning with no pain as well. It comes on as soon as I realise its not there!

[PPR1983]

hi HM 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 left 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. It is a scary experience.

[adrenal_mashup]

I feel almost asthmatic, like my breath isnt going in and out properly (even tho its not affected by it at all) Mine centres around the solar plexus, its almost like someone has punched me really hard there and my muscles are sore and bruised. it also feels sometimes (like now!) like someone is squeezing my esphogus (bad spelling sorry). Whatever way it definitely feels muscle related, and sometimes it almost feels like my chest is collapsing inward.

That's a very good description of how I often feel due to generalised anxiety.

[motif]

my chest pain vary, one time is all over the place like squeezing sensation
and can last even few days another time is short stabbing pain in the middle of the chest and can happen only ones in few days.

[Punk Rock Steve]

Well, I just came off of a severe panic attack (I'm 90% sure) at around three in the morning that started with me (after just nodding out) having what I could best describe as a burning electric shock in the middle of my chest that radiated out. It lasted all of two seconds and I didn't get any of the other heart attack symptoms that I now have memorized (sharp chest pain radiating down arm and into jaw, nausea, excessive sweating etc.). After jumpimg up out of my chair I freaked out and started getting all the other panic/anxiety symptoms I get. Took a Xanax, came on here and posted my experience (see my Fear And Anxiety In North Jersey post). Now I'm pretty sure that I had too much coffee today and I actuall had one less than an hour before it happened. Almost sent me to the emergency room. One other time (many years ago) I had a VERY sharp pain in my chest while driving, but once again, it lasted all of two seconds. I'm 54 and a seasoned veteran of anxiety and panic. Used to drink to get rid of the feelings, but 7 years ago I stopped drinking. Towards the end it actually gave me more anxiety. I'm hoping to get to sleep soon, but still have the fear of a heart attack...so I'm not sure when I will finally crash...it just goes to show how this crap can upset your quality of living...

[quirky]

I've always struggled with anxiety, but since I turned 19 it has gotten out of control. For the first time, I started experiencing physical symptoms. I suddenly got constant chest tightness and intermittent chest pain - I seriously thought I was having heart trouble - it lasted for 2 weeks before i went to a doctor, and once I realized it was just me panicking, it slowly went away. For me, the pain was like a shooting pain, a few times an hour, sometimes closer together. If I was older, I would have thought I was having a heart attack - it definitely felt heart related. The chest tightness was way scarier though - I didn't have trouble breathing, but I felt like it would start at any moment and Id suffocate. Iwas afraid to be left alone for fear that my throat would close in. It was awful.

[pscottmorgan]

Hi guys,

I'm getting really annoyed with how dibilitating my anxiety is, typed in 'Anxiety Forum' into google to speak to like minded people and, voila! Up this site came!

This is my first post, so please be gentle! The paragraph below highlights my chest pain symptoms. The paragraphs after this discuss the causes of my anxiety - feel free to skip these!

I suffer predominantly from chest pain with my anxiety. I do get additional sensations (light headed, tingling in limbs, sense of detatchment / unreality on occasion), but mainly it's a tightness across my chest and upper back. Periodically I will get sharp pains just off centre to the left of my solar plexus. This sometimes leads to pain in my left shoulder which sometimes travels down my left arm. I suffer heart palpatations, including too fast, too slow, irregular beating and sometimes (at the time, worryingly) appearing to skip a beat. A tighening sensation in my throat making it hard to swallow appears, that creates a feeling of suffocation and claustaphobia. When this happens my heart normally 'bumps' in my chest and starts racing. I have to get up from what ever I'm doing and start pacing / walking around. I'm like a caged and terrified animal.

When this happens it usually triggers a panic attack. My fear? That I am having either an angina attack or a heart attack. This is unfortunately (as many of you are probably physically aware) a catch22 situation. I end up being over-sensitive to whats happening in my chest, and any deviation from what I consider normal is "a cause for concern".

I put 'a cause for concern' in inverted commas because in the cold light of day, I can reason that the tightness is due to my hightened anxiety levels (life is very stressful of late. Wife, kids, money worries, job worries, mortgage and loan payments crippling us....), but once the tension or pain passes a certain point, the fear kicks in and maybe, this time, I could be having a coronary attack.

(I should tell you that I witnessed my father having a near fatal heart attack when I was 15. He passed away due to a second heart attack 7 years later. It was a pretty traumatic event for all the family as you can imagine.)

I've been suffering from panic attacks / panic disorder, whatever the politically correct term is these days, since February and they have been getting worse.

I have had no less than 3 seperate ECG's (having been carted off to hospital by concerned friends or colleagues), all of which have come back fine, and my heart is apparently in good health, and my blood pressure (outside of an anxiety attack) is 120 / 80. Ideal.

Early in the day, I can rationalise the symptoms. It is 8.55am for me at the moment, and even now I have the usual tightness around my back and a slight tightness in my chest. I know that these aches are due to muscle tension brought on by anxiety (and possibly bad posture - I do slouch), but by early afternoon I guarantee that I will be in tat fearful place, probably having a panic attack born of fear of heart disease.

I know (again, when I am clear headed) that this fear is irrational, that my fear is due to the fact that I am getting older (35) and my father had his first heart attack at 48. I can rationalise that I am concerned that as I am overweight and having a cholesteral level of 7.1 creates a risk of the same. I can take comfort in the Doctors and Nurses tha have told me that my chest pains are nothing coronary related...

... but in the heart (no pun intended) of my symptoms - once the panic begins - rationalisation tends to fly out of the window!

Yesterday I had a breakthrough (I think). In the middle of my anxiety attack, within the fear of coronary problems, I rationalised my way out of it. I have had these symptoms before. They have yet to hurt me. My heart is fine. Three seperate medical professionals with ECG readings tell me so. The pain is caused by my blood being too acidic (or is it too alkaline? Whichever!) due to hyperventilation, and my muscles being too tense due to nerves. Adrenaline had been released with no outlet for it to be burnt off. These are all contributary factors to my chest pain / tightness.

I took myself for a brisk walk telling myself these things, 15 minutes later I was feeling better. Not free of the symptoms, but better than I was.

Have I reached a turning point? I hope so. Time will tell.

Does anyone have any advice to help me free of these attacks? Whilst I don't allow them to keep me housebound, my sensations often start whilst driving, and am becoming fearful of driving any moderate distance. I am concerned that my anxiety disorder is going to become a very real problem for me if I cannot control it or remove it.

Any advice is most welcome!

Thanks (and apologies for the first long post)!