Is this considered anxiety?

[Chiliphil1]

I am a 25 year old male, I have had anxiety and panic attacks for about 10 years. My anxiety was like a mild annoyance for most of that time and sometimes it would sneak up and I would just feel down, every once in a while I would have a panic attack and would feel bad for a couple days afterwards but would then be fine and happy until the next time that the anxiety came back.

About 3 months ago I had some chest pains and that sent me into the worst state of anxiety I have ever had, I had back to back panic attacks for days, I spent about a week not really being able to function because of it, I couldn't eat, I had a hard time sleeping, I felt like I had lost it. That passed after about a week, and from there on I just had mild anxiety and worry, but still the occasional panic attack, but for the most part I was OK.

Since that happened I have had aches and pains all over my body, I have had headaches, back aches, severe stomach pains, and more. The pains have been almost constant since that dag, although my worry has not. I have been to the er about 3 times and they always say that everything looks normal.

My question is if I am not anxious and not having panic attacks but feel ok would the pains still be caused by anxiety? Anyone else experience this? Since I had the bad spell of anxiety it seems like it's been one thing after the other, sick, pain, or something else.

[homebird]

Anxiety can manifest itself in physical symptoms. You may not think you're anxious/stressed, but your body may be telling you otherwise. Being anxious and having panic attacks really takes a toll on the body.

Have you seen a doctor or a psychiatrist about your anxiety? Or a therapist? Maybe you need some meds to help you deal with the physical symptoms (for the time being) and a therapist to help you sort out the root of the problem.

Best of luck. Feel better soon!

[alankay]

Yeah, the various pains alll over the body seem more like anxiety to me. Now if you had the flu, sure pains all over OK. But since you do say you've had panic attacks (more than one) I think you could be having some other anxiety. Yep, I could be allllll anxiety. The doc is the best first place to this.

[Chiliphil1]

Thank you for the replies, I have seen a doctor and she put me on buspar, it seemed to do nothing but make my lips tingle for a couple hours after I took it. I then told them it wasn't working and they gave me zoloft, it seemed to help, but it made me so tired that I could not take it so I stopped. After coming off the zoloft I felt the best I have in a long time, for about a month then I kinda fell back into the anxiety. The only thing I can think of is work stress, it may not seem to get to me all the time, but I guess it does at least to some degree and then seems to just hit me all at once and hard too in the form of panic attacks. Does anyone else feel like they are sick all the time? I seem to have nausea, headaches, and sometimes a dizzy sensation I also seem to be congested alot, but I'm sure that's not from anxiety. The only other thing I have noticed is that sometimes, like today, I feel excited, almost jittery and every once in a while my heart will beat hard, the pulse rate is normal, maybe a little fast (around 80) but it just beats hard, is that normal for anxiety?

Btw. I am also a hypocondriac and I like to goggle!

[stevie]

Hey Chili-
Stop google-ing
I've had the nausea and the headaches. I've had dizziness, but I think that was directly due to the fact that I had lost my appetite and didn't eat for an extended period of time. Everyone gets a different number of symptoms. I don't know how it is with other people, but for me the anxiety comes in waves- sometimes I'm real anxious and depressed, sometimes I'm a little anxious and depressed, and sometimes I feel fine. I think that since no two people are the same, no two people will have the exact same experience with anxiety. As for why you get it for no apparent reason- I sort of have the same thing- I was working at an amotionally charged and draining job for two plus years, and was finally starting to 'feel like myself again' (ie-social, happy) when bam- anxiety. I wish I had a better answer to give you as to why you would have it, but I don't know if there is always one....

Best of Luck!

[homebird]

People with "nervous illness" (anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, etc) will have moments where they feel fine, and moments where their illness sneaks back up on them. It's a shock to the system when it happens again because we think we've conquered it, you know? It's normal to come off of a med, feel fine, and then fall back into anxiety.

You say the zoloft didn't work for you. It didn't work for me either. Sometimes you have to try a few meds to figure out what your body "likes" the most.

If you're concerned that you may be sick (like with a flu or something) by all means see a doctor. But my uneducated geuss is that this is all related to anxiety. A good psychologist or therapist will be able to help you deal with these issues in a healthy way.

PS. Stop googling! :)

[homebird]

Also, I highly recommend that you read the book "Hope and Help for Your Nerves" by Claire Weekes. You may find it will give you a better perspective and practical advice on how to deal with anxiety.

[Alexus]

Here is a question Chilli you mentioned that the Zoloft helped you but made you tired. I am wondering how long you took it for and how gently you eased into it. When I took Zoloft I started by a quater of 50mg tab for a few days then graduated onto a half and so on till I was taking the full 50mg. I had a sensation of slight tiredness for about the first two weeks at most and then it dissipated completly. Keep in mind that ssri's like Zoloft take atleast two weeks to start intigrating with your body properly anyway.

[Chiliphil1]

I took zoloft for about a month at first I had worse anxiety than ever, but ativan took care of that and after a time I didn't need the ativan anymore, but that's when the tiredness kicked in. It was so bad that I would wake up in the morning, put my kids on the bus and go back to sleep until I HAD to wake up to go to work, then work was a huge challenge to not just fall out sitting there. I started on half of a 50mg tab for about a week and a half then a whole. The tiredness seemed to start about 3 weeks into it after it had gotten into my system and the anxiety had subsided.

[Alexus]

Well in that case you gave it a fair try a month is usually enough to tell how well you are interacting with a ssri. I hope you find something that works even better :)