Does anyone else experience this?

[adkellstrom]

I know in the other post that the symptoms listed for anxiety have been chest pain and feeling like you are having a heart attack but, does anyone deal with this on a daily bases. I have been having chest pains now for the last week. One new symptom that I think is based on my anxiety is these heat flashes. All of a sudden I am just sitting there and then a heat wave rushes over my body from my head to my toes and it freaks me out. I just want to know if anyone else has had similar experiences and if so how did you get rid of them if you did at all?

[NAJ]

Since nobody has responded to your post and I know it is frustrating when nobody responds, is anybody listening...???
I have not had any of the feelings you are describing so I cannot comment on them, however...
Is there anything that they may have in common when it happens, what were you doing or thinking about?
Are you on any meds?
Have you spoken to your doctor?

Hope you find the answer and get the relief you are seeking, hang in there.

[djont57]

I do occasionally; I have been on Citalopram for about 2 ys for GAD. Mine are usually while eating.

[adkellstrom]

i just started Citalopram yesterday 20mg it seems to have made them go away. I have felt some sweaty palms today however. I have informed my Dr and he has sent me to speak with someone about this and thats who recommended the Citalopram. Its really hard to say if i am thinking anything because i really dont know. It usually happens when i am watching tv just a casual show that is laid back and not high stress or drama. It also happens when I eat as well.

[Olive Yew]

it hasnt happened for me in quite some time but i used to have this ALL THE TIME when i was at my worst. I've gotten a lot better since. Symptoms can persist for months and they get worse the more you obsess about them. Your brain essentially LOOKS for things to be anxious about so it creates problems. I'm currently up at midnight because my heart rate went through the roof when I was trying to fall asleep. I've been struggling with heart symptoms for months. I even went to the doctor and had an echocardiogram done. I'm fine. Healthy as a horse. I just have crap anxiety who likes to make a mountain out of a mole hole. You'll be alright dear. The more you relax, the more your chest will relax.

Also, if you are carrying tension in your chest, it can hurt pretty bad. I know in the winter when I do a lot of shivering, my chest can ache because the muscles and nerves can get exhausted. It feels like a heart attack. My mom who does not have anxiety, gets the same thing when its cold. So if your anxiety makwa you shake like mine does and you carry your tension in your chest (i carry mine in my neck and shoulders) then it can absoltely cauae chest pain as well. Hang in there dear.

[Olive Yew]

As for how I get rid of them, the chest pain went away the more I relaxed. My brain moved on to bigger and better things to obsess over lol. The hot flashes I deal with asthey come. I just had a hot flash followed by a cold apell. I sleep with a fan on for this very reason. When the hot flash hit, i kicked off my blankets and let my fan blow on me. When the cold spell hit, on went the blankets lol. Treat it like you would if you didnt have anxiety. A hor flash never killed anyone. It's just uncomfortable. Ride it out amd you'll be okay.

Some products that have helped me relax with my anxiety: Bath and Bodyworks Eucalyptus and Spearmint hand lotion. This stuff is a life saver. Essential oil aroma therapy. I use diffuser necklacea, bracelets, and I have a humidifyer diffuser. You can get cheap ones online or sign up for Young Living and get a humidifyer for free. Fidget cubea. Oh how I love my fidget cube. Especially in movie theaters. I get bad movie theater anxiety. Thag little cube helps me sit through the movie without being in total hell. I'm looking into getting some kind of chewy thing or mouth guard because I chew on my fingers when I get anxious. No idea why. I just do. I dont even realize i'm doing it until I've gnawed the feeling out of my knuckles lol. Kinetic Sand is wonderful and soothing. You can get it cheap at walmart in all sorta of fun collrs. I have regular sand colored. It's very soothing to play with. Badger Balm Stress Sootherz love that stuff too. Kind of like essential oils and aromatherapy combined into one. Put it behind yoru ears, on your temples, wrists, and above your heart. It'll knock down your anxiety a few notches.
My favorite is Kava Anti Anxiety Tea. It's delicious and my gosh does it help me. Slices through stress like butter. I get mine at walmart. I call it my anxie-tea lol. You can mix it with Stomach soother and it makes it even more delicious and calms an anxious tummy, too.
Magnesium oil on the feet and stomach helps with anxiety and heart flutters. 5HTP helps with seratonin production. Vitamin D helps with seratonin and dopamine production. Try cutting out sugar. It may initally cause you more anxiety because people tend to be addicted to sigar. You'll react like you're having withdrawls. Then it gets SOOOOO much better. If you're crave sweets, eat fruit or look up paleo dessert recipes. I make a blondie that uses coconut sugar and maple syrup as sweetener and dear goodness they're to die for. You'd never know they were paleo. (My mom had some and loves them). That recipe is on pinterest. Bonus: mosquitos wont want to bite you when you cut out sugar. Our blood goes from sweet to savory 😏

Breath control: in trhough your nose for four seconds, hold for four seconds, out through your mouth for 8 seconds, wait four seconds. Repeat.

Get out in to nature and EXPERIENCE it. Go for a walk and drag your hand along the tops of bushes and flowers. Stop and run your hands over the bark of a tree. Smell the tree. Examine the leaves. Takes your shoes off and feel the grass on your feet. Splash in some puddles. Get nature all over you lol. It sounds weird but for some reason, the human body craves nature and it HELPS our mental health to be out in it. Sunshine helps too. Try to spend 2-3 min in the aub without sunscreen. Then put some sunscreen on and stay longer. Sun exposure helps with vitamin D and serotonin production. Just dont let yourself burn and risk skin cancer. Sunscreen is your friend... as are big floppy sunhats with garish flowers all over the crown (like the one I wear to work every day [i work in a plant nursery lol]).

Pet a cat or dog. Hug people. Allow yourself to cry. Give yourself a facial and a pedicure. Get a massage, even if its from your spouse or best friend or mom. Human interaction is GOOD. Dont let your brain tell you otherwise. Rationalize: how likely is that you are ACTUALLY afflicted by something horrible? If your chances are high, change your lifestyle until they aren't high anymore. Worried about a heart attack? Start doing cardio exercises, eat healthy, do yoga and stretching to inprove circulation, banish any possibility of your fear being logical. Prove to your body and your mind that you are not dying. I joined a cycling club and a cross fit class. My brain still hates me and tries to tell me I'm dying but I tell it right back "no human that is dying would be able to bike 20 miles and go to cross fit the next day so ZIP IT!"

Do soothing hobbies like color. I love to color. I can color for hours and not think about my anxiety once. Coloring is the bees knees. Dont have time? Tell yourself stories in your head. You're now a novelist. You can write stories in your head all you want and you can even do it at work. Tell yourself stories of all the adventures you'd go on if you didnt have anxiety. Tell yourself stories about sparkly vampires or handsome Brazilian Fighter Pilots or owning 600 cats or you suddenly becoming a mermaid and having to learn how to live under the sea. An anxious brain is a creative brain without an outlit. If your brain can convince you it'a dying of a heart attack, it can write a story. Why not make all of that creativity go to something productive that serves you. :)

Try to make the problem WORSE lol. It sounds counter productive but its not. As soon as you start TRYING to make your symptoms worse, egging on the panic attack, its like your brain goes "oh... you caught me... i'm just being a walnut. Dont mind me." And it wont get worse. It'll get better even. When I figured that out, i was pretty amused.
Brain: "PANIC!!! SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH OUR HEART!"
Me: "Really? Lets make it WORSE!!! HAVE A HEART ATTACK! GO FOR IT! KEEL OVER!! I'M READY!! I'M SURE THE HOSPITAL HAS AN ARMY OF HOT DOCTORS WAITING TO RECIEVE ME!"
Brain: "dude what the fuck is wrong with you?"
As I said, weird. But it works.

You've got this. You are strong and brave and resiliant and your brain gremlin wont get the better of you. You're the master of your story, not it. And if you are religious, Pray. Pray and Believe that God has got you.

[adkellstrom]

Wow Olive Yew that is some great advice. This is my first time dealing with anxiety so that is awesome information. I have started Celexa here recently and it has helped loads with the chest pains. I do find that when i dont think about it or do something else that it tends to resolve itself sometimes. lol love the hot dr comment great way to look at it. i have had an EKG done and of course found nothing why cant we just get out of our heads lol.

[Olive Yew]

Lol no problem! :) i've been doing this whole song and dance for four years now. I've vastly improved from where I was but am by no means perfect. It's just little things I've learned along the way.
In inside Out, Riley's driver was joy. Her mom's was sadness. Her dad's was anger. For us? Our driver is fear.

[adkellstrom]

wow 4 years thats intense does it get triggered by something or just comes out of no where?

[Olive Yew]

Growing up, I had issues with anxiety but never knew what was wrong. My parents thought I was just dramatic. It went away when I was in middle school and I was fine until mu sophomore year of college. I got into a bad relationship and he abused me mentally and physically and I broke. I've been fighting to get back towhere I was before, ever since.

[Olive Yew]

On a day to day basis, I can have triggers but I've pretty much found them all. People startling me will get me riled up. Big noisy crowds (like at a concert), anything with a lot of lights and activity that will give me sensory overload, movie theaters, disturbing posts i find online (like animal cruelty, people dying in horrible tragic ways, etc.), people in my life dying (my Granny passed away from pancreatic cancer last year), people arguing around me, people being negative and depressing around me (toxic friendships).... pretty much anything that sucks away my energy and resiliance lol. If I know I'm going to be in any of these situations, i can prepare myself and I tend to do better. The movie theater anxity is getting better slowly but surely.

My biggest "triggers", though, are uncontrolable. Hormones mess me up the most. Ovulation is the worst for me and then I slowly get better after that until next month. My doctor tried several types of birth control within the past year and it pretty much sent me back to square one so I gave up on that. It wasnt worth it. I refuse to take any other kind of medications for it. My body is exceedingly sensitive to anything brain or chemistry altering. Even some allergy meds will make me miserable. So I have done everything as naturally as possible. Thats how I got rid of it the first time as a kid lol. If I did it before, I can do it again.

[adkellstrom]

ugh im so sorry to hear that. I had a bunch of family and personal issues that I think caused mine. My husband was in a really bad car accident where he suffered a concussion and now he has to have 3 doctors every month. I think that this Celexa I am on now is working Its only been 5 days but only time will tell.

[Olive Yew]

I hope it does work for you!! No one deseverves to live in fear all the time :(

[adkellstrom]

yea never had anything like this hit me until now the first time it happened was god awful had no idea what was going on. With this form, theraphy, and meds hopefully we can get it under control.

[Olive Yew]

They say you cant CURE Anxiety Disorder. You learn to manage it. Personally, i think we can cure it as long as we're incredibly devoted and disciplined. I was also told i could never stop taking a proton pump inhibiter for GERD yet here I am, halfway down the pill's dosage. I was told i would never get rid of my toenail fungus yet my toenail no longer has a fungus. I dont think doctors expect people to be disciplined and determined enough to actually do what it takes to get rid of something. They expect us to be lazy or too weak. In order for me to get off of my protin pump inhibitor, i had to completely change my diet and go Paleo. It's been like seven months on a restricted diet but its paying off. I've just got half wayto go before i'm FREE!!!

So i totally think we have the ability to get rid of our anxiety. We have have to be determined and disciplined.

[adkellstrom]

I think you can cure it as well. I noticed that ever since I have had this anxiety i stopped drinking soda, cut down on coffee and that seems to help alot. I also feel really bad when I eat fast food which I did not use to. I think its small changes that make the biggest difference. I have also started walking more and its been a great help. Its all about motivation and taking those first steps. They are the hardest but they will pay off the biggest in the long haul.

[StuckinUtah]

OliveYew....You've done much research and work...awesome! There's is much to be helped if we take a holistic view and change what we put in, on and around our body's and minds.

[Olive Yew]

I just knew that I was miserable and would do anything to get rid of it. I'm no different than you or anyone else on this site. I'm not special or somehow more resiliant or... whatever. I think that anyone can do what I've done and i think that people can even do better.
Holistic waa my choice because of my famiky's financiak situation and my mom and I's determinantion not to stick me on more drugs than is absoluteky necissary. There were plenty of times I asked for it but my mom was the only thing that helped me keep my realove. Having a good support group is SO important,