Anxiety or something more serious?

[hush4]

I'm 16 years old and have been suffering from anxiety for about a year and a half. It started after my brother past away in May 2008. A month after he passed, I went away on a 3 week trip to France where I woke up to a panic attack in a stranger's house in the middle of the night. Something inside me told me right away that it was a panic attack. For the rest of the trip, I was always on edge. It started with the panic attacks, I was focused on my heart, constantly checking my pulse. Then came the chest tightness and the feeling that I couldn't breathe. I was constantly dizzy and feared that I was going to pass out. I thought the panic attacks would go away once I got home, but of course, they didn't. I was still always worrying about my pulse, fear that I was going to die. I went to my doctor who listened to my heart for a good 5 minutes and talked to me. He told me he was willing to do any test to make me feel better. After refusing any test, he transferred me to a therapist, who I've seen for the last year and a half. My anxiety seemed to be going away. I didn't have a panic attack all summer, until I was almost hit by a drunk driver a couple weeks ago. Now that school has started, I've been feeling weird again. Constantly checking my pulse, I realize these are common reasons for anxiety, but I've really been feeling strange. I have been having lurching feelings in my stomach. They feel like they're in my chest, but I don't really think they are. Almost as if my stomach drops. Is this normal with anxiety? My heart beat also seems to be a little slow. My usual resting rate is about 74-80 bpm and now it's about 60-64, can your heart rate drop from anxiety. I've also felt rather cloudy. I have no history of bad health. My dad was recently diagnosed with diabetes and there's history of heart disease on both sides of my family. I also notice that when I try to project my voice, I feel a kind of spasm in my diaphragm. I play saxophone and feel the same thing when I try to play my instrument. Should i just match this with my recent stress of school or is it something I just get checked out? Any response in greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[jqq]

I am sorry to hear about your brother. My anxiety practically started the same way as you which was on a vacation out of nowhere.I was only 14 years old .I went to Hawaii and I had very bad nervousness. I was throwing up, I wouldn't eat, wouldnt go anywhere and all i wanted to do was go home. My mom called a gastro(stomach) doctor and he told me to go to a therapist when I got home and said it must be anxiety and for the meantime he gave me medicine to stop the nausea. I got home and still had symptoms and stuff and was diagnosed with panic disorder. I felt really alone and I was so young. After a year and a half of therapy it went away out of nowhere. Now i am 18 I just started college and this whole summer I got it again even worse. I do the same things as u. I am always touching my throat to see if my pulse is there because like you I am afraid of dying.

Anxiety can do a number of things to our body that seem like they are real but our mind likes to play tricks on us. Since I started to get this when I was starting high school, the way i got rid of it was that I started to get involved in everything. I was in student government, National honor Society, I was a class officer, leadership club. Many things. I had no time to think about anxiety and maybe you should consider joining some clubs and volunteering. Sooner or later ur anxiety will go away and ull start to begin ur life again. High school is such a great time to miss over anxiety so try to enjoy it and dont let it ruin ur life! Good luck with everything!

[toejam_muncher]

i think you're ok physically. you could have tests done if you really wanted to. how did your brother die? thats a very young age to loose someone so close to you. my dad died very suddenly when i was 16. it happened completely out of nowhere....no one saw it coming. since then, i'm always concerned that i'm going to die from something. i think about dying all the time and i'm terrified of it. i know now that the cause is like to be from how traumatic and unexpected my dads death was. i mention this because you're so focused on the fact that you could be dying....and so i think you could be experiencing at least some of what i experienced. i think you should share this post with your therapist...print it out and show them...sometimes thoughts like the ones you've shared here can say more than what they mean to the person who shares them...if that makes sense.

if i were you, i'd try to relax and not let  yourself worry too much over any of the physical symptoms. if they really bother you, you can have them checked out...but it truly does no good to let yourself constantly worry over them. to me your heart rate soounds normal and everything else sounds like symtpoms caused by anxiety...but if they bother you enough, go ahead and get yourself checked out. there's nothing wrong with that if it would really settle your mind.