Advice for ongoing anxiety?

[Bowlinc]

Hi,

I'm a 24 year old male in relatively good shape (I can bench my bodyweight and run 5ks occasionally). I'm also fairly overweight (5'6" & 175 lbs). I started having anxiety about my health in February when I thought that I was having trouble breathing. Specifically I felt as though I couldn't get a full deep breath. Within a week I was having dizzy spells and heart palpitations and thought for sure I was dying. I went to my gp with symptoms and he said everything seemed okay after he did a physical exam and to come back only on an "as needed" basis. Disclaimer: he offered to prescribe something for the anxiety and I passed on it. Fast forward to 3 weeks ago. Symptoms never really improved although they didn't get worse either until one day my heart decides to start beating all erratic and fast. I started feeling warm in the face, my hands were tingly and I felt faint so I had a friend of mine drive me to the nearest fire station (free EKG + they were much closer and could still save my life) and then the ER. By the time we got there I had calmed myself down and my heart was beating regularly, although quite fast at around 130ish bpm. The guy who checked me in to the ER didn't seem too concerned as the EKG was fine but did notice a premature beat in my pulse. Needless to say they did all the blood work, a chest x-ray, and had me hooked up to a heart monitor the two hours I was there. Everything came back fine and the doc said I have a healthy heart and that if my episodes keep happening that there's medicine to keep the heart rate normal.

My question to my doc that day and to all of you now is this: what in the name of all things good and holy is my problem!? How can being worried in my mind cause problems (well, symptoms) in my actual fat white body?  Also, why will it not just stop? I didn't used to worry about my health at all and now I struggle every single day. I'm not taking anything for it but I do try coping mechanisms like deep breathing and meditation/prayer. They help the symptoms whenever they flare up, but they always come back.

Everyday I think I'm dying, and everyday I don't die. I'm just at a loss. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[ScalpMassager]

(done)

No, just crushing chest pain.  Two episodes, about a year apart.  

[Bowlinc]

Hi ScalpMassager,

Thanks for your post!

I would greatly appreciate any and all tips you have for dealing with anxiety. I've only been going through it for just under a year, but it feels like it's been going on for decades.

I'm sorry that you've experienced the crushing chest pains as you described. I haven't had those and hopefully won't. Did you have other symptoms of heart attacks as well? (e.g. shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, pain in the arms, neck, or jaws?) Just curious. Isn't it crazy that you felt like your life was in danger and, in reality, it wasn't? I'm amazed that a problem purely stemming from the mind can cause such real physical symptoms such as this.

[Bowlinc]

Thanks for you reply! I appreciate you taking the time to read through my post and leave your thoughts!

I can't pinpoint where my anxiety comes from, but I think it may be work related. Recently my wife and I went and visited my parents out in the country for a week. It was a nice vacation and, though I still  suffered from anxiety symptoms while I was there, they were much milder and all but disappeared towards the end of the week. The day after we got back and returned to work I noticed my symptoms came back in full force. So, I suspect it may be something with my job, although I really like my job and can't imagine what could be causing it. I'm sure it's a combination of things and not just a single problem. All this time I've been contemplating what doctors to see and I'm beginning to think I need to see shrink. Have you been to any sort of counseling/therapy? If so, was it effective?

[ScalpMassager]

I don't have a fat white body but I've been to E.R. twice over what I thought were heart attacks, which turned out to be high anxiety episodes (with crushing chest pains).

May I message you with a list of links to my earlier posts containing anxiety coping tips?