questions about some pretty scary feeling symptoms

[aikidokan]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this site, but saw a lot that I could relate to, so I signed up. I'm a 24 year old male, in pretty good physical condition. I have a probably pretty irrational fear that something is wrong with my heart, and when it isn't worries about my heart, I think something else is wrong. I wouldn't go as far to say I'm a hypochondriac, as I haven't gotten to the point where I need excessive medical testing.

About a year ago I had my PCP take blood tests for my cholesterol, and I wore a heart monitor for 24 hours to check on palpitations I had been having. Everything came back fine. They checked the monitor and while there were a few palpitations detected, my Dr had no concerns. He said that they were common types of palpitations, and some people are more sensitive to them and can feel them easier. Cholesterol was very low. Blood pressure is usually within a few numbers of perfect.

I know I have general anxiety with panic attacks - never diagnosed by licensed mental health worker, but I'm only about a year from being one myself, so I know about the disorders.

My symptoms as of late have been crazy. For 3 days now, morning noon and night, I have felt a dizzy or lightheaded sensation (not vertigo, no spinning), chest tightness, breathing "tightness", headaches, at times a weird buzzing feeling in my head, and I've woken up at night gasping for air feeling like I was going to faint.

Can anyone else relate to this, or does anyone think this could be something other than Heart Health related?? As much as I worry about my heart health, I feel like it would be a waste for me to continue having tests done, since test after test came back normal before.

[AnxietyRelief]

I compeltely know what all of you are saying.
I have been on Paroextine for about three years now.
It is horrible that we have to feel this way, but there was no other way to get through it.
I felt as if i would never be back to "normal" as everyone calls it. I was doing great up until a month ago and now i am back to the way i started when i first got on this medicine.
I was wondering if this last batch of pills could of not had all the medicine in them that i am supposed to have or something. Something wasn't right. Doctor just gave me zanax to take for severe attacks took only a half of pill and felt totally out of it so i don't take that stuff anymore. I really didn't like the way that it made me feel. I hate feeling this way and wish there was an easy cure for all of us. God bless you all and you are all in my thoughts and prayers each and every day.

[RubyWitch]

Glad you went ahead and had the tests done. Those of us with heart anxiety are usually VERY good friends with our cardios! LOL As you've seen by now, there are a great many of us with this particular "phobia," if you will. Usually because anxiety and panic attacks do some pretty scary stuff to our CNS and we're VERY hyper-vigilant!  
Every single sensation you spoke of, I have in spades! I'd be embarrassed to tell you all the tests I've talked my cardio into performing! Well, the heart cath WAS his idea, but only after a stress test did show something amiss. (I would NEVER undergo THAT test voluntarily!)
You are going to school to become a mental health worker, with just a year to go. That's great, but did it cross your mind that since the finish line is in sight, your stress level has increased and along with that, your anxiety? It's just a thought, but since you are obviously so healthy otherwise, perhaps the cause of this sudden increase of symptoms is right in front of you?
Lordy, stay off those stupid symptom sites! They do way more harm than good and send us hundreds of people a day who have, overnight, developed MS, brain tumors, cancer, polio and ailments nobody has ever heard of!
Accepting that we have an anxiety disorder can be difficult. Many of us feel stigmatized...........we are told we have a "mental disease," and rather than seek help, we hide. I trust that when you hold your degree in hand, you will help to dispell that notion. And I hope you remain with us to offer your hard won knowledge!
Peace
Greenlydia    

[aikidokan]

thanks for the response. I have already had a few tests done to check on heart health, and they all came back normal.

I have read threads and responses from other people on this forum tonight, and more then 2 dozen have described the exact symptoms I am having. Some have had hundreds of tests done, to find out nothing is wrong.

This has been so much more helpful then a webmd site listing anxiety symptoms. I hope to use this place as a tool regularly.

[atticus565]

Make sure that its nothing more serious than anxiety. If there's a test that you think you should have done to eliminate the possibility of something heart-related, than you should do it. And stay in touch with your PCP; they're the best tool you've got.
            I'll admit that all of your symptoms match mine almost to the t. When I suffered my first panic attack back in April of '08, it was immediately accompanied by intense, 24-hour dizziness / lightheadedness, like I was going to faint; I felt pressure in my head, especially around my eyes and nose; and I'd always feeling this unsettling buzzing feeling throughout my body. It was awful and I had every test in the book done to eliminate the possibilities of cancer, tinnitus, nerve damage from a car accident, or some rare condition.
            I eventually resolved myself to the fact that there was nothing physically wrong with me; I was suffering from serious untreated generalized anxiety. Since back in August, when I came to this realization with the help of my neurologist, I've been attending weekly therapy and am on Paxil, one of many SSRIs they psychiatrists give people suffering with anxiety. And I have to say that I feel wonderful. Exercise, journaling, talking on this forum, and a positive outlook has gotten me through it. Granted I still have my bad days, but I just want you to know that if this problem you're having is anxiety, it's possible to make it very manageable with the right outlook.
             Good luck to you and keep posting here if you need support.