i am a 30 year old male and I think have anxiety disorder. i think it started slightly when i was about 10 years old, I would worry sometimes about my health but not that much. but about three years ago i had my first panic attack, and within a year after that i had about three or four more, but at that time i really didn't know what was going on. after i found out that these were panic attacks, it kind of stopped. but then i again started having it this year. i had a couple of small ones and one major attack this year, lasting for about 15mins.
now the problem is i am having difficulties sleeping.not much, if i am sleepy i would usually go to sleep but sometimes it takes a little while. and for about four times the past week i woke up early having this cold feeling in my chest. the feeling you have when you are about to take an exam....and it could subside but just as i'm about to go back to sleep again the feeling comes. i think this is also anxiety right?
also, at these times if i immediately check with my bp monitor it shows my heart has arrhythmia and my heart rate is usually about 80s or 90s. it happens only if i check at these times. i've also had a run and raised my heart rate to about 130 and checked but it didnt show any such thing. only at these times it is there.
how should i deal with this? should i go to a cardiologist? a psychiatrist? i dont want to take meds for anxiety yet, i fear i might get addicted or it might have some side effects.... sometimes i think i'm going crazy and am always worried. it usually gets worse at night.
and i'd like to add that when i get stressful i have a strange feeling on the right side of my head...i cant say its numb but similar. i did an mri too and it showed everything was normal. this actually began when i was 18 and was very stressed. at that time i felt my right side got numb and it stayed so for about a week. but it got normal for about 7 years after and later started to happen again when i get too stressed. not numb but a different feeling...
i have also never taken a vacation for four years now and have been very stressful at work and ended a very stressful relationship about eight months ago. i took leave from office last year and that is also due to a family medical emergency...could these factors have contributed as well?