Symptoms, Symptoms & more Symptoms

[webfoot1970]

I've now listened to session 3 one time. The part with the woman who actually suffered the heart attack due to overstress did nothing, but send my anxiety level through the roof. then I'm poking around on this site & find an article about a research study proving that there is a relationship between anxiety disorder people & heart attacks, especially younger people in the study. These are the things I struggle with the most daily!

I'm sure the Dr's. are missing something for the past 20 years & at any point I'm going to fall over dead & my sons are going to be left fatherless at a young age. I have symptoms everyday regardless if I'm having a panic attack or not! I suffer almost daily with periods where I feel like I can't breathe correctly, like a fish out of water. I get chest pain & pressure daily even if my mind is occupied & I'm trying to enjoy myself. Next comes arm pain, jaw pain, center back pain, feelings that I'm dreaming, irritability, tingling in my fingers, sudden onset of fatigue like I can't keep my eyes open, unsteadiness & the list goes on. It just really worries me because I read people get these feelings during a panic attack. Well that I can understand, but why all the symptoms in the absence of a panic attack. Even sitting here writing this now I'm experiencing difficulty breathing & wondering, could I have some unknown medical disease the Dr's. just don't know about or maybe blood clots are restricting my normal breathing? All I know is I'm afraid & wonder if today is the day???

[karmaka]

Hi. I read your post and I COMPLETELY understand where you're coming from. I, too, read and article about the possibility of there being a link between anxiety and heart attacks. I, too, felt extreme anxiety about it, and have been obsessing on it the past few days, like maybe I have a blood clot or symptoms or blockage in an artery, etc. because I get short of breath, have a lot of problems with feeling unsteady/dizzy, sudden pains down my arm or in my chest. So, I feel ya. If we obsess on these things, we'll easily work ourselves up into a full-blown panic attack, and all of these symptoms are symptoms of anxiety. My point being...working ourselves into anxiety isn't going to HELP us in any way, shape, or form. Trust me. Like I said, I totally relate. I'm fighting with a ton of "health" fears myself. 99% of my anxiety revolves around those types of fears. If you're feeling that anxious about it all, and you just can't find any relief, maybe go to the doctor and get checked out, if you can. Be thorough with the doc and explain your symptoms and be assertive. Also, anxiety CAN come out of nowhere and seem to have no apparent reason. Sometimes, even a subtle, passing "fearful" thought can set it off. When you start thinking about your health and these fears, use the breathing technique immediately, along with comforting self-talk. This helps your brain send the chemicals it needs to help calm you down. I get paranoid that the doctors won't diagnose me correctly, too, or will miss something. But like I said, working ourselves into a panic over it doesn't help us at all. You have to figure out what's going to help you ease your mind and then do those things. Know what I mean? My heart goes out to you...I understand.

[sparechange]

I've had a lot of those symptoms too, all related to anxiety. No, they weren't from a full-blown panic attack, but they were definitely real and also definitely anxiety. I had heart palpitations, chest pains, etc. Went to the doctor several times. He told me I was fine several times. I've had anxiety off and on for most of my life, and have been down some pretty dark roads with it. And I am still alive.

I know it's hard, but learn to trust your doctor(s). If they say you have no sign of heart trouble after you've listed all the symptoms, then let it go and proceed with the program. I used to really worry that my heart was failing (in my mid-20s!), but after a while, I realized there was only so much I could do for the health of my heart, and I was already doing most of it. Everything beyond that was out of my control.

So... in keeping with the principles of Session 3, try rephrasing those bad thoughts to something like "My doctors are competent and trustworthy, and they say I'm ok or that I'm just having anxiety. I can trust them and start making changes that will help me feel better." I know it may seem trite or naive, but it works. Press on, my friend!

[webfoot1970]

Thank you SO much for the responses. I guess I'm a major hypochondriac I obsess over my health & body symptoms constantly. The sad thing is that because of the fear something is definitely wrong with my heart I have turned into a "cardiac cripple" which has resulted in a real lack of exercise & big weight gain. I have started walking & eating very healthy & begun to lose weight. However now when I'm walking I start having more difficulty breathing, like I can't get a complete breath of air & completely fill my lungs. This now has me terrified to get out & walk because the last thing I want to do is collapse on the sidewalk in front of somebodies home or start screaming for help. So now my 3+ miles a day is back down to a mile.
I've been to the ER more times than I can count, by driving myself or by ambulance several times. I've been to family Dr's., cardiologists, neurologists, ENT's, psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, the local behavioral center 2 times (1 time inpatient as I was placed on a 5150 by the ER Dr. because I broke down when he asked me if I had ever thought of hurting myself.) the other time last year as an out patient. I am a product of the horrible economy the country is going through at this time, which is my way of saying I'm not working right now. I'm a Union construction worker in CA & there hasn't been any work in over a year so I'm out of medical INS because my Cobra ran out & since I've got this preexisting condition & overweight no INS company will touch me on a private plan. So I haven't seen a Dr. in over 6 months & I don't have the money right now to just pay in full for visits.
I spend a lot of time sitting in the ER or in my truck outside the ER waiting for the inevitable & wondering "WHY" can't I get any "HELP?" I've been divorced twice. I believe a lot of the reason why is I can't or won't do the things that most people are doing like family camping, pro sporting events, concerts, etc. & a lot of times just the daily things like going out to dinner because I never know when the "big one" is gonna hit plus I just overly feel lousy a lot of the time. I've lost jobs because I've made excuses why I can't come to work or had to leave early, lost friendships because I've always got a reason why I have to back out of some social activity or commit then cancel at the last minute. Hell I can't even stand being around myself most of the time anymore. I cry a lot about my sons because all their missing out on with a father who sits in the ER parking lots or lays around the house while other children are off doing great things & making lifetime memories with their fathers. It doesn't help that I only get them 40% of the time. I almost get to feeling worse when they are coming because I get so guilt ridden about all the things I know were not going to get to do yet again.
Well sorry for the long winded sniveling session, but in some way it was nice to get just a fraction of my despair off my shoulders. Again thank you for the responses & I hope your all doing great on your path to recovery.

[Lisaida79]

i can totally relate to the constant anxiety. i actually had one myself this morning and had to step out of my cubicle and step out into a secluted hallway to "bring myself back" by constantly breathing. I can relate to the difficulty breathing while trying to walk. Something had happened to me where back in Mid February i had gone to a personal one on one trainer to work out to boost my weight loss more and each session was 45 min. I did my first and second sessuon with the trainer. On my 3rd session i remember telling my trainer that I "wasn't feeling it today and my mind just wasn't there" Mind you, i had a stressful day at work before going to work out. But since i wanted to commit, I went anyways. By the time 25 minutes had gone by, i just couldn't catch my breath that well. I just could't get that one good breathe in. So i became very in tune on my worries on not catching my breath and i decide to stand up to get a cup of water, and all of a sudden my throat closes completely and it was just for 2-3 seconds, the air didn't in through my mouth and then BOOM i lost it and went into a major panic mode, told my trainer to call 911 bcuz i swore i was having an asthma attack. and those 5 minutes it took for them to get to me felt like 5 hours =( and once they had arrived and put me in the ambulance, they told me it was not an asthma attack, it was a panic attack. Its scary how your emotions can become physical like that. So i chose to stop exercising not for the fear of the panic attack but for the fear of experiencing my throat close if i were to become anxious cuz i can't "catch a breathe". But the key to overcoming the fear is to FACE THE FEAR ITSELF RIGHT IN THE FACE. and experience those uncomfortable feelings and work your way through it by breathing it out and positive self dialogue. It's the only way but it's scary. I'm still trying to overcome this fear little by little. Still a working progress.

[jennbohn]

I am right there with you guys on the "sypmtoms" part. All week I've worried over this pain in my right side, I had convinced myself I have some sort of cancer. My two biggest fears, Cancer and Heart Attacks. So, I guess the anxiety of the worrying all week caught up to me today. My left hand started hurting suddenly, and then sent me into a tail spin. I was immediately positive I was fixin to drop dead of a heart attack. So what do I do, I jump on the computer and google the symptoms. Guess what, heart attack never came up. Carpel Tunnel did, so once I calmed down from that, I started having sharp pains every now and then in my left chest. Its like if I even have a fleeting thought of it, I automatically start getting the symptoms. I listened to session 3 today, so Im pretty sure when the woman said that stress caused her heart attack, somehow that got stuck up there in my sub conscience, so now Im convinced that all this anxiety is for sure going to cause me to have a heart attack someday. I have done so good with anxiety and panic attacks this week too. I was so proud of myself. But I will not be negative, I will be positive and tell myself "Good Job" for going almost all week without an episode......I Love the program, and feel that it will help me get over this. I'll have good days and I'll have bad days.....so far the bad days are getting farther and farther apart.

[Ammy]

The symptoms of asthma may occur feeling breathless, a tight chest, irritating and continual cough. Shows these symptom,
inhalation medication prescribed to treat asthma attacks. Budesonide belongs to a class of drugs called corticosteroids that prevent asthma symptoms.