Anxiety?

I have pains in my chest and upper back all the time, and in my arms, constant shortness of breath, the doctors say my heart and lungs are fine (I had one heart test, breathing tests, xray), and now I'm convinced they are lying to me. I'm scared all the time, I've been on meds but just started Paxil again today.
I'm so scare every day about everything, and I don't know what to do. I don't understand how counseling can help this either, but I am being referred to a psychologist.

[cj29]

Health anxiety can really get in the mind and take over in my experience.  My original source of anxiety came from concerns dealing with my heart.  I did not believe the doctors and knew they must be missing something.  I had chest pains, aches, palpatations...you name it I had it.  With health anxiety, we often tend to become oversensitized and search/scan for symptoms that link us to our concerns.  In my opinon, we also catastrophicsize any and every symptom, when in fact these are normal every day aches and pains.  Needless to say, I am still here and the doctors were 100% correct in diagnosing anxiety as the cause.

The best way to beat this is to accept and confront it in my experience.  You are going to do this through counseling which is the best course of action you can take in my opinion.  Gaining the long term knowledge through the psychologist you are being referred to will enable you to understand why you are suffering from this.  Now, there is no snap of the fingers....it does take hard work and committment to the process, but it can be done and you can become a much more well rounded person for this experience.  

I still feel palpatations, have pains, etc, but I have come to realize that is normal.  It is a part of being human, which is a good thing:)....Give the counseling a try and focus on your long term progress.  Remember as with any challenge there are setbacks, so don't forget to give yourself credit for confronting this....keep us posted!

[Crewchief67t]

I am experiencing the same things you are.  This has completely taken over my WHOLE LIFE!  I know exactly how you feel.  I have been to the er soooooo many times been 6 different docs probably 30-40 times i think in the past 3 1/2 months.  Had EKG'S(lots of them), stress test, endoscopy, ct scans, coronary ct scans,  many blood tests.  Guess what ALL ok for heart!  The problem is i still dont completely believe it.  Why?  I wish i knew.  I am going to a therapist next Monday!  I cant wait.  IT has been a long 1 1/2 months of wating for this appt.  Man they are SLOW!!!!

Anyways,  I wish you the best of luck!

[fetalmind]

I really do hope the counseling works. I don't want to be constantly anxious.
It's good to know others have been through this too.

The thing I'm mostly scared of right now is my wrists.
I look at my veins and they look purply on occasion.
And my arms and hands have really been hurting, and then I think I'm going to have a heart attack.
I know it's ridiculous, but I can't help but be frightened.

[john248]

Go to a cardiologist, to make sure. I take Klonopin and it helps. I had all your symptoms for years now, and they never go away completely. I went to a counselor and found out it wasn't anything I thought, it was my job. He says I felt trapped and need a more challenging job. I'm trying to find work that I would enjoy. I know that's not all my problems but it shows that others can see things we can't. Good luck and keep us posted on what you find out.

[fetalmind]

Have any of you had constant trouble breathing due to anxiety?

[EroToo]

All day, I think about my breathing and try to take a deep breath.  When I can't get one, I panic.

[crackedglass]

My worst anxiety attacks, or panic attacks are when I feel like I can't breathe. I feel myself trying to inhale normally, even concentrating on taking measured controlled breaths, but my chest is constricting at those times. It hurts. It tightens up to a point I think I can't stand anymore, then somehow gets tighter. Although I know there is nothing wrong with me except for anxiety, but the trouble with breathing still is a terrible suffering until it passes.
Last time it happened, I was out of xanax due to a shipping problem. I was desperate to 'catch my breath' so I watched a really funny, very silly video a friend sent to me and tried to focus on how genuinely funny it was. I had to watch it about 7 times, but eventually I got the giggles, the kind you get in church when you don't want to laugh, then actually laughed until I had tears in my eyes. By that time the constriction in my chest was relaxing and stopped hurting. It took me about an hour to get through it. Normally I take 5 mg xanax and try to relax or distract myself until the dose does its job. I assume knowing I had none and then experiencing the feeling of not being able to breathe drove me to try a silly remedy, but it did help. Before xanax (and the video) those attacks would go on for hours, sometimes, days.
I tried Paxil for a while but it didn't have the immediate effect I guess I need. I did go to a psychiatrist to get different meds and a therapist to explore the possiblility of just avoiding the attacks altogether. Therapy made me feel as if, like being bad at directions when driving, my attacks were 'just' part of being me.
Don't worry more than you have to...here there are more people with experience than mine who are very supportive, smart and informed!