anxiety or problem

[ce]

this has been a difficult and joyious6 months 4 me. in november a good friend died in a car accident, my father had open heart surgery, I got engaged, bought a house, and grandmother had a heartattack, not to mention i just opened a business last year.  since  november i am always worried about my health and the health and safety of others.  after my grandmothers heartattack i noticed a forceful heartbeat that i can see and feel in my legs,arms,back,back of my neck, stomach. i also have been getting patchy numbness on the left side of my face and arm and leg.  i have been to cardiologist and had an ekg,echo,and a ct of my abodomin and to rule out an aneursym. I also went to the hospital 4 the numbness on the left side and had a ct and mri of =the head.  all came back negative. when i get upset or think to much i feel these sensations even more.  is all this anxiety or some sort of problem?

[drock]

yes i am 19 years old my panic attacks started a few months ago with just sporadic attacks then turned into 3-4 a day and constant anxiety and pain chest, tingling, headaches, you name it te worst was feeling like i couldnt breathe. i think the key is to nip it in the bud i realized after all this that i really have had a rather stress filled 19 years. raised by a single mother poor ive been shot and see my best friend killed. anyways i also realized with the help of family that i have always been an excessive worrier and deep thinker my whole life.and when it comes to panic that doesnt help because the thing is a panic attack is basically a false alarm of your flight or fight response. you know the feeling you get like if you almost get into a car accident. rapid heart, sweat palms dry mouth chest pan sound familiar. well when these false alarms go off your mind is searching for something to fight or flight from when it finds nothing it turns the focus inwards thus you pay attention to every little odd feeling pain or sensation and automatically assume the worst because your not used to feeling these sensations. and once you realize that these are harmless and there is nothing wrong with you(after you have see the doc to rule out medical problems)you will learn to dismiss the pains and sensations i know its not easy but that will stop the panic even tough you may get an out of the blue alse alarm panic attack every once in a while you will lean to not make it worse by worrying hope this helps

[bbettersoon]

Hi everyone i am new as well to this and to start i'd like to say i have all these systoms as well so i guess I am not  as  crazy as i thought. I to have tried paxil for  a short period.It was very short 2 weeks but the feelings it gave me were too much for me. i felt weak all of a sudden, had a burning feeling all over my body and more over could not sleep.I went to the hospital 3 times in one week by ambulance and the last time they came they did not even check my stats they just asked what hospital did  i want to go to. AT that point i relized that i need to stop these pills as they made me more nervous then i was about my health then before. To turn to the postive of my experiences i have been doing cognitive therapy and it seems to be better then drugs, there is no side effects to worry about however it is hard to apply some times when the pains are real, heavy feeling in the chest , lightheaded most of the time, and just like the last comment skaky feeling inside and out when i wake in the morning.Here is an example of how i worry about my health excessivly, I went to the doctors because i get this pressure in my head that at times feels like it is going to burst , green and yellow mucus from my nose and tight feeling in my throat and sore jaws these pains and other issues have been present for 3 weeks , she said that it was a viral sinus problem. So i thought i would go to the dentist because my teeth hurt maybe it was not sinus it was dental issues, he said that there was no issues but talk to my doctor about a sinus infection. i went back and to make along story short i am on meds for it .But i still think that it is something else, does anyone else out there do this kind of thinking about their health because that is why i have panic attacks as well as feel anxiety more often that not. Please post a comment and i will check it daily.
thanks and good luck to everyone , think positive !!!

[KEV78]

Hi EVERYONE...I'm new to the forum.  Ive got tons on my mind and many questions to ask.  Seems as if my probs started one day when i used cocaine.  Just that morning I suddenly freaked out and was afradi my heart was going to explode cause of how it was beating etc.  Had used the stuff for two months on weekedns with no probs.  EMT's told me everything seemed fine and that it was prolly a panic attack.  But deep inside i thought for sure i may have screwed up my heart or something.  Few weeks later i tried it again and a few times after that and each time i freaked out swore I was gonna die.  Anyhow i stayed clean and didnt mess with the stuff anymore. However then i starteed to get thesee weird episodes like I had trouble breathing like a smothering feeling and concentrated alot on my breathing cause thought if i didnt i would stop also a slight abnormal feeling or i guess sense of sight was weird or seomthing not sure how to explain it.  Suddenly one day i had a panic attack i guess again and that was the end of that afterwards i think i fell into depression.  Then started to get these weird heart skips..alot everyday for about a month and a half all day long really scarey.  Bad thing is i was afradi i messed up my heart and now it was doing all that weird stuff.  got my heart checked out and doc said everything came back normal maybe just stress.  Ive got alot of symptoms including sleep disturbances like i wake up suddenly in a panic i guess doesnt last too long and i go right back to bed easily but very scarey.  I still worry about my health alot..just wondering if something is being overlooked etc.  get tons of muscle twitches all over my body..in the mornings when i wake up i feel shaky inside and out..i also kinda feel off balance like i feel like i sway alot when standing straight up or light my head or body rocks back and forth when i am at rest kinda goes along with my heavy pulse rate.  I am taking paxil 37.5mg CR.  I am alot better than I was but still have tons of doubts.  Can somebody help me with my questions or have any responses..please email me at ***@****  THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!

P.S.  also a little more depth about my history..previous to this all the only thing I can think of that has some importance is i ised to take alot of Ephedra dieting pills also drank lots of coffe and smoke cigarettes...and did have a bit of a stressfull realtionship too...dont know i was thinking maybe all that had to do with it too...who knows?

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

This is not an unusual picture of anxiety..with all the changes and fears aroused by the deaths, it would almost be expected.  You have to face some things in a new way...more fully conscious and aware...and probably because you race through the day, you don't do that.  You might think of therapy or using my online therapy program at www.masteringstress.com to start getting into things, and settling down with your reality and fears.