Anxiety/Head Pressure/ Heart Palpatations

[Joyceb92]

For the last 3 years I have had constant head pressure/dizziness/heart palpatations. I am 24 years old and very healthy. The symptoms will go away briefly every once in a while for a day, but never more than that. I am 99% convinced it is because of constant anxiety. I have been active duty in the US Army for 3 years, the symptoms started a month before basic training. These symptoms never interfered with my abilities to be a soldier in any way. I always completed everything I had to, but it was terrible dealing with the symptoms. If I drink alcohol, the symptoms are 100% worse and they are very bad for about a week after drinking. I barely drink because of it(less than once every two months), and I have never had a problem with alcohol whatsoever. I enjoy drinking and the symptoms go away 100% after a couple beers, but the next week is terrible. A psychiatrist for the VA diagnosed me with generalized anxiety disorder, which was not a surprise to me. Along with the sympoms listed above, my throat feels very tight a lot of the time, I sweat randomly, tremble, and the head pressure is worse when the other symptoms are present. I workout 5 days a week and probably 10 times total if you include basketball and other activities after work. If I sit in the sauna, the symptoms get a lot better. I sit in the sauna almost everyday after work to relax and sweat out whatever it is making me feel this way.  I have A LOT of trouble falling asleep and wake up pretty often. Growing up I was always a little shy but I never had anxiety problems, I always played sports and loved being in the spotlight at the end of the game. I want these sympoms to go away so I can be normal once again. I have tried meditating and a million other relaxing techniques and nothing has helped.

[Paxiled]

When you first got anxious, were you on any medication, even antibiotics?  Do you take anything like steroids or drink a lot of energy drinks, which is common in the military?  And when this started before basic training, were you worried about entering the military?  Were you anxious before then at all?  Are you allowed to see a psychologist for therapy who specializes in anxiety treatment, if that's what it is, without suffering some penalty?  And you list yourself as male but have a female name.  Are you male?  Because if you're female, it could also be hormonal.  Other possible causes could be thyroid, blood sugar, and other things that docs don't usually check for very carefully.  But again, if it is anxiety and you're functioning this well to keep going in the military, then I'd think therapy if it doesn't have a stigma when you're in the military and mess you up for promotions and the like is the way to go.

[Joyceb92]

No, no medication and I have never been on any anxiety medicatation. No steroids and I had a pretty normal diet when it started, drank soda (still do) but nothing more than a mountain dew a day. I was definitely worried before basic training, way more so than I have ever been about anything in my life. Joyce is my last name, I am a male. I can see a psychologist without any repercussions, I was just hoping that some day this would all go away. I function very well in my day to day life, but it keeps me from doing everything I would like to. Sometimes I will just take melatonin and go to bed early to not deal with anxiety, stay away from certain social occasions, and the things I do do it makes it very stressful.

[Paxiled]

What you don't want to do is become avoidant and turn this into a chronic way of thinking.  So if you can see a psychologist who specializes in treating anxiety, that's your next step.  

[Joyceb92]

Also, being in the military I am required to do routine check ups and have no medical issues at all. I had a ct scan after an unrelated incident and there was nothing at all wrong in my head (had ct scan 2 years after symptoms started). My ears are good as I recently had a VA exam with an ENT Doctor and had a thorough exam.