CHRONIC SYMPTOMS

[wallangst]

Does anyone get flashing lights when they are in a lit room?  I get them intermittently and was wondering if this is due to anxiety.  These started when I got my second job so I am wondering if this could be attributed to the extra stress.  I have also been having increased chest pain that comes out of nowhere.  Sometimes it is sharp and quick, and other times it is more like pressure or squeezing and can last for some time.  It occurs on the left side under my peck.

I am also wondering if there are any experts here that can advise me whether I should have tests (MRI, CT, Lumbar EEG etc..)done to determine if this is more than just anxiety.  

I have always been a worry-er and have always freaked out about my health.  I have been having the following symptoms on and off for about 3 years.

Nausea/fatigue after eating
Tinnitus(constant)
Sharp chest pain
weird crawling/tingling feeling on skin(back, legs, head)
Pain in neck(same spot on the left side)
Flashing lights(in dark and light,)
seeing colored spots
tension headache
electric shock type headaches
light-headed
negative thoughts
fears
history of social anxiety and hypochondria

ALL OF MY SYMPTOMS ARE RANDOM AND ARE OFTEN NOT TRIGGERED BY ANYTHING.
I DON'T HAVE TYPICAL "PANIC ATTACKS" AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT REALLY MEANS ANYWAY.
So my main concern is obviously if this is something serious and if I should go to get tests done.

I have had 2 Neurological exams in 3 years and the doc has not reccommended any further testing, as he said my problem was migraines.

This feels like something..hard to believe it could be JUST anxiety but who knows

Please help me

[iamfaithful]

Thank you for your post.  I really needed that today.  It's been a rough week for me.
I am now back at "refusing to believe its anxiety" which is a hard place to be.  This a.m. the left side of my chest/breast hurt and I started freaking.  Then a couple of hours later I felt like my right arm was "funny" feeling.....like I couldn't feel it anymore.  Boy, what I would give to get my mind back under control.  What I can't figure out is if we "turned it on" how come we can't "turn it off?"  Why won't these physical feelings just go away!!!!!

[PanickPam]

I don't get flashing lights, but my vision will blur, and I can get tunnel vision (my field of vision becomes smaller) during a panick attack. I don't suffer from migraines (I've had a three over the course of 2 years) but my mother has had them often for over 30 years. Flashing lights and colors often are her first symptom, and it comes out of nowhere. Migraines are often stress and anxiety triggerred.

As for your other symptoms, like "be still my beating heart 13", other than the tinnus, I have the same symptoms often during a panick attack. You say "I DON'T HAVE TYPICAL "PANIC ATTACKS" AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT REALLY MEANS ANYWAY.", but your symptoms say otherwise.

As far as I can tell, refusing to believe that anxiety is the issue can be caused by 2 things: 1. the fact that the symptoms feel so real. and 2. The fear that it means you're crazy or mentally defective.

My response to issue number 1 is that the symptoms feel real because they are real; panick attack doesn't mean that the sensations are imaginary, just that they aren't life-threatening. Your neurons are firing and causing a set of responses to occur across your body in response the the stress.  

As for issue number 2: Having panic attacks does not make us weaker or less respectable than other people. I hate how there are those that say "it's all in your head" as though that means it's a defect that makes you less intelligent or less of a human being than non-anxious people.

[iamfaithful]

THANK YOU so much for that!  I too visit about.com, and have read some of the post of palps but don't see them regularly.  I'm not too computer savy so I don't know much about going to the "threads"...I guess you just type in your question in the search box and it takes you to them right?
I actually have printed out a "book"  (it was that thick) about people dealing with the palps.  I read them whenever I get really stressed and they try to resurface.  And you are SOOOOOOO right about the reaction you have when you get them.  I have done much better by saying "okay, you are stessed, you ate too much of the wrong thing, too much sugar and this is why you are having the palps" but I must confess, that's the reaction the small ones get :-)  When I have the BIG skip, ooooh, I literally go to my room and just lay on my bed and cry.  I try to do my breathing exercises and calm myself but sometimes I just get so depressed because of them.  I always think with the big ones "okay, this is probably going to keep repeating itself and I am going to have to call 911"....I just start thinking really crazy thoughts; but who wouldn't when their heart is actin up.
My cardiologist told me that he will eventually take me off of the beta blocker that I'm on, but he has to see how I'm doing.  I was in his office so much in the beginning the entire office would just smile at me when I came for an appointment.  I guess they probably think I am nuts.  His nurse told me that I am stressing about something subconciously and I need to get rid of it.  My thing is I'm trying so hard.  But yes, it's always in the back of my mind, I can't help it...or can I?

I really appreciate your insight, it really does help me.  And I will try my best to take your advice...easier said then done as I'm sure you know :-)

[be still my beating heart 13]

I am sorry to hear that you too are having the terrible palps!  My heart/health anxiety surfaced after the sudden and unexpected death of my father (heart attack at 50) 7 years ago.  I have come a long way with the acceptance of this thing called anxiety, and have calmed down quite a bit about my heart as of late.  I still have the palps, but my reaction to them is "there's another one" instead of "Oh my God! THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!!!"  I used to always think "Is this it? Am I going to die now?" and now I can calmly tell myself "you are just upset/excited/nervous about...." or "you had that piece of chocolate, you knew better", and I have found that my reaction to them really does matter.  I feel the need to tell you what REALLY helped me the most with dealing with the palps.  I was on a quest to seek out others with anxiety and palps, to "swap symptoms" (I had yet to find this forum) and on the panic forum at About dot Com I found a heart palp thread.  There were over 50 posts of people telling others of their symptoms (sensations, frequency, triggers, etc.) all of them worried about their hearts, fearing they would die any minute and seeking a cure for the palps, and the last post was from a 50 something year old man who said that he had had the palps for over 25 years!  He had 8 cardiologists tell him that his heart was perfectly fine after they ran all of the appropriate tests and had been on many different beta blockers and anxiety meds, but nothing could stop the palps!  His advice was to acknowledge them and view them as nothing more than a nuisance, as trying to ignore them really is impossible.  He said he knew exactly where everyone was coming from with their worries, but from his experience, worrying only creates more palps, and that we would all be ok and look back 25 years from now and wish that we had taken his advice.  I sat there with a mixture of sympathy and disbelief that he had suffered for so long with them.  I then realized that I wanted to be able to look back 20 years from now and say "I did everything I wanted in spite of the palps" instead of having to say "I've wasted everyday for the last 20 years worrying about my heart instead of living!"  It really did change my life!  There was a person on this forum who posted a comment about his heart palps regarding a surgery.  He was extremely worried about how his heart would act during the procedure and they were even picking up several skipped/extra beats on the heart monitor as he was "going under", but after he woke up the nurse told him that his palps disappeared as soon as he was asleep, which should tell him that they really are all caused by our mind and are not a problem with our heart at all!  I hope these stories help you and that you felt well today!  Good luck with your surgery!

Cori

[iamfaithful]

The center of my anxiety is my heart also.  It's awful and I really am having a hard time with it.  I thought I was getting better...physically I am, but my mind is still so messed up.  I barely got any sleep last night, I just kept waking up.
I have had to deal with lots of sickness and death in my family  lately.....and a very good friend of ours (me and my husband) died suddenly right in front of my husband almost three years ago and I think my anxiety may be stemming from that.
I too have been to the ER more times than I care to remember.  I have had x-rays, one CAT scan, blood work, numerous EKG'S, worn event montiors and I had a nuclear stress test.  Ihave been to two cardio's however, but I am just dealing with one now.
I have a surgery coming up (please forgive if you have read about this before-I am kinda obsessed about my surgery) to remove my gallbaldder and I am not looking forward to it at all.  I have always been anxious when it comes to surgeries, maybe more then most people, but now that I have anxiety it is SOOOOOOOOOO much worse.  Does anyone get where I'm coming from?  I have the most irrational thougths; but while I am having them they don't seem irrational at all.
Anyway, I know what you mean be still my beating heart about obsessing about your heart.  Even though my skipped beats have gotten much better, I still get the occasional "drop" senation and the flutters.  It's horrible and I would  not wish it on my worst enemy.  I pray one day we can all be free of this!

[be still my beating heart 13]

Forgot to mention that I see flashing lights and patches of color daily.  The edges of my vision will "pulse" with my haertbeat on my most anxious days.  Docs say it's anxiety based.  There are others that experience it on this forum and other anxiety forums that I visit.  

[be still my beating heart 13]

I have had anxiety for 7 years now and have had all of the symtpoms on your list and more in many different combinations with no rhyme or reason to it.  They take turns appearing, last for hours or weeks, and disappear just as quickly with no explaination.  I have been to 2 gen. pract., 1 cardio, 1 neuro, many ER visits, have had full cardiac work-up, brain MRI, upper GI (for swallowing difficulties),  and countless blood tests.  All my docs always say it's anxiety.  Your list of symptoms could be my own with the exception of constant tinnitus, mine occurs sporadically.  I also have heart symptoms, and it's the focus of my health anxiety.  But I have many other constant symptoms, for example my feet/lower claves have been tingling everyday for 7 months now and I have since developed a numb patch of skin near my knee on my outer/upper left calf that won't go away.  I get the electric shock feeling too but in my skin in various locations on my body.  It seems to me that you've had a thorough work up relating to your symptoms and that you docs have all told you it's anxiety as well.  It is so hard to accept that what you are feeling is anxiety, believe me I know.  I refused to believe it for 5 years, then I found the MidWest Center's Attacking Anxiety and Depression Program and it changed my life.  It's an at home self-help program.  I have also heard good reports about The Linden Method, and there are several books that have helped people as well.  Your first step is accepting it as anxiety, the next step needs to be seeking help for it.  And the sooner you do this the easier it will be to get it under control.  I hope this helps you and that you felt well today!

Cori

[wallangst]

anybody??

[wallangst]

I also experience a feeling in my throat like something is stuck
and a swollen tongue feeling.