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Constant extreme Health Anxiety

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 63

Hi Steven,

You sound just like me when I first started with panic attacks. Don't I wish I knew then what I know now. I can tell you one thing this program is the best way to get started in dealing with this. We all here can totally understand what you are going through. I know that everything you are feeling seems so real and it is very scary. Believe it or not you will be fine you will be ok. You are not going to die of a heart attack and their is nothing wrong with your health. You are a perfectly healthy young man who is experiencing anxiety. Do this program read about anxiety and you will understand what you are feeling and you will be able to deal with it. You have no idea how many people suffer from anxiety.The good news is that all your test at the hospital came back perfectly fine and I am sure every test you do from this day forward will be perfectly normal. You will be ok.

Steven, don't be afraid of the Xanax I do agree take only when needed. If that is what the Dr sent you don't be afraid to try it. I take Xanax when needed and I am not addicted to it one bit. I can go months without my Xanax and I take 1/2 of the lowest dose which is .25 when needed.

Don't be afraid of the Panic attacks as you do this program you will see they won't hurt you. Please keep us updated. I wish you best always. Again, you will be fine!

Your friend,

Maggie

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 1665

Hello Steven: Welcome to the program. Sorry to hear you're struggling right now. I know how it feels to have so many unanswered questions and feeling overwhelmed with all the symptoms you are experiencing. They can be frightening when we don't understand what is going on. Your symptoms are just about exactly the same ones I used to get and I am now panic free. I stay on this site to encourage others, to let them know that CBT works. I agree with Sunny, start the program asap. It will explain everything. The breathing and relaxation techniques were the best thing I ever learned. Not every one is the same, but for me, they work very well. I hope you learn them soon. You might have to keep practicing it. I used to do them twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, before bed. It might take a little while to get the full benefit, but with practice, you will. Don't give up. We are here to support you through thick or thin. Hang onto our hands for awhile, we'll be here for you.

As for medications. Only your doctor and you can decide on this. I used an SSRI and was perfectly happy with it with hardly any side effects at all. As Red has mentioned, one doesn't stop cold turkey, it is perfectly safe to stop by tapering off with hardly any side effects. As for valium or xanax, they are o.k. as long as they are used strictly for emergency use and not every single day as a crutch, then you don't get addicted. And again, having written that, it is different for everyone, that is why it is so important to do this with your doctor every step of the way.

You've found this site, that's the first step. Second step is to study CBT which is a proven successful program for anxiety/stress related disorders. You're now on the path to health! Congratulations and keep the faith. Remember to post as often as you want with as many questions (even if you think they are silly). There's always someone here to answer. Hope to hear from you again, good luck on your first steps forward.

Sunny

(the other Sunny)

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 58

hi steven, my name is sunny, i am 26 years old, perfectly healthy adult male, with perfect ecg results, all clear on 35 different blood test, for a ex-smoker i have an exceptionally healthy heart, awesome lungs and everything is perfect.....except i also have anxiety and panic attacks....what is going on??? in november i was in emergency about 8 times, finally the emergency doctors had enough (we were on first name basis at this point) and sent me away to do some CBT.

i have been here a few weeks and a lot of the members will atest to my progress as i have gone through the course, in the past 8 weekss i have gone through extreme panic to the point of suicide and now i am doing ok, back at work kicking butt at work and life is almost back to normal. i still have a bit of anxiety....i can i feel it in my chest....but i have learnt techniques to get through it and hopefully overcome it completely. i havent had a panic attack in weeks.

the point im trying to make is that you ARE perfectly healthy!! anxiety and panic is a very natural and useful thing that our body, our species, has relied on to survive. some people (me, you and others) sometimes cannot control when this 'fight or flight' reaction occurs and CBT is used to help us get control this part of our body and mind.

the most important thing for you to remember is that, no one in has ever died of panic attacks, though they may feel uncomfortable and you already know this....you are a perfectly healthy 19 year old. who has made a wise decision in seeking help so early on. i can conquer this, you can conquer this. i personally have treated this whole thing as a life lesson, i am now a much calmer person and i breathe properly, take care of my body and mind and am much happier than i was a year ago.

first thing you should do i section 1 asap, you will learn some key concepts and where anxiety comes from, second i recommend the relaxation techniques and box breathing. very important. and lastly just know that this is a group of amazing people who will offer advise, tips, their stories and generally be a shoulder for you. you are not alone, post often and let us know if you have any questions, i mainly use the forums to vent, read other people stories good and bad as recovery is generaly a cycle and u will experience ups and downs but the general trend will always be up.

Take care of yourself and do everything with love,

Sunny II

end of rant ;-)

13 years ago 0 +0 / -0 2

Hey, my name is Steven and I am 19 years old.

Before Wednesday last week, my anxiety was minimal to none and I had no pains or feelings of health problems until after I had a panic attack.

It all started on Wednesday, February 16th...

I was standing at a bus stop at my school waiting for my bus while I was talking to my mother on the phone. My mother was upset with me and she kept saying things that me upset and stressed. During the conversation suddenly my heart started to beat really fast. I begged her to stop stressing me out with the things that she was saying to me and then she got upset and hung up on me. After she hung up, my heart continued to pound very fast, and I felt disoriented and my chest started to hurt really bad. Later on during the attack I started to become even more anxious because of the chest pains and I was entierely convinced that my heart was damaged and I needed to see a doctor immediately. I went to the hospital that night, waiting 6 hours and during the wait, I keep experiencing several heart palpitations (beats skipping, beats speeding up for 2 seconds). When I was finally seen by a doctor, after an EKG and a Chest X-Ray, both of which came back normal, they came to the conclusion that nothing was damaged.

Thursday, the next day I continued to feel random pains all over my chest, some in the middle, some on my left, some on the right, some on my left arm, palpitations, and I was still convinced that there was a heart problem.

Friday, after my class, I got really nervous because my chest randomly started getting pressured and tight, and I felt like I couldn't breathe, this of course lead to another attack in which I felt more chest pain, and this caused me to take the bus to a different hospital. In this hospital, they came to the same conclusion as the first hospital, normal EKG, normal chest X-Ray and they just gave me a bit of Xanax. However, I didn't believe the doctors. I continued to feel sharp chest pains even when I wasn't nervous.

That weekend, I was constantly on edge. Extremely stressed out, migranes/headaches, fatigue, chest pains, feeling like food was stuck in my chest, heartburn, digestive symptoms. I barely ate because whatever I ate gave me chest pains.

Then Monday morning I felt some more chest pains on my left side, and so I frantically convinced my mom to take me to the hospital again (same as the second one). They gave me another EKG which came back normal with slight premature heart beats, but nothing serious. This time they also did a blood test to search for any blood clots, and the doctor said the test came back 'textbook' normal. I told the doctor that I felt like food was stuck in my chest, so he gave me a prescription for Prilosec, thinking it was GERD.

Then Tuesday night, I got really anxious again, real bad heartburn, chest pains, throbbing headaches. Fell asleep at 10 PM, woke up at 1:50 AM, could not go to sleep... Took some Maalox, didnt feel any better. Avoided taking Xanax because I don't want to get addicted to them. Tried to go to sleep but couldnt so at 5AM I took a benedryl. I started feeling delirious and extremely weak due to the combination of various medicines, and lack of food and 6AM I convinced my mom to take me to the same hospital once again. EKGs came back normal again.

Now today is Thursday, as i'm typing this my chest is hurting randomly, it comes and goes, my eyes feel pressured and I have a bad headache, upset stomach and heartburn. This is all making me feel like I have some disease or heart problem. I don't have health insurance at the moment, and the only avaliable Cardiologist appointment available is March 18th. Until then I know I am going to be extremely on edge about suddenly having a heart attack or something, and I won't be able to sleep.

Please help me.

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Constant extreme Health Anxiety