Panic attacks and your general related health

[Rhonda]

I am 29 years old.  I started getting panic attacks about 6 years or so ago.  I haven't exercised in a few years because I have a sedentary job and I had pneumonia 2 years back and I had to stop my regular 3 times a week exercise to recover from pneumonia and was told not to exercise for about 4 months.  After that I found it hard to get back into it.  Now if I go for a walk, do pretty mildly strenuous activity, of course my heart beats faster and I breathe faster, and I feel light headed, but I don't know if it's because I'm that badly out of shape (I'm not overweight, only about 108 pounds) or if it's because I breathe kind of shallow because my nerves are kind of bad right now, and then this leads me to thinking, "oh, no, I'm not getting enough oxygen, I shouldn't be breathing this hard, and I'm going to pass out", and I start to kind of get panicky about how I'm breathing, and am so conscious of it that it makes me light headed.  I start to thinking, that I'm developing asthma, but I really don't think I am, because I don't have chest pain or wheezing.  I know panic atacks can do very weird things to the body, and I'm currently attending to a naturopath to try get myself back on track and to wind down.  He tells me that being on the birth control pill most likely contributes to my anxiety because it contains hormones.  I've been on it for 7 years and I never did have panic attacks before that time interestingly.  Should I go get my lungs/heart checked out to make sure that the thoughts I'm thinking are just caused by panic attacks.  Then if I know there's nothing wrong physically, then I can go from there?  Just a side note, about 1 month ago, my vision went blurred for about a day in one eye, but it was better the next day.  I've heard you can have blurred vision from panic disorders, but this came on quite suddenly.  It seems to have been fixed by massage therapy (the tiny muscles that go over the eyebrow were quite sore), so this may have just been a side point because my neck and back have been really sore lately.  Anyways, the above garble is my question.  What should I do, and should I explain the whole situation to the doctor.  I don't know in how much detail they will check my lungs or breathing, etc.  Thank you very much for allowing me to ask this question.

[HFHS MD - RG]

I agree with you to see a doctor to rule any physical source of your condition. Other medical condition like thyroid disorders and some medication may cause the symptoms that you are experiencing.

If the results from your thorough medical examination comes back normal, and your symptoms persists, I would advise you to consult a psychiatrist to consider panic disorder.

[gaylynn paaluhi]

I'VE BEEN IN AND OUT OF THE DOCTORS FOR THE PAST MONTH EVEN CHECKED MYSELF INTO THE EMERGENCY ROOM TWICE AND THEY CAN'T SEEM TO FIND OUT WHATS CAUSING ME TO HAVE THIS WEIRD PAINS IN THE BACK BY MY LOWER PART OF MY KIDNEYS IT'S A FEELING THAT I MYSELF CAN'T DESCRIBE BUT WHEN I GET IT IT MAKES ME FEEL LIGHT HEADED AND I GET THIS RUSHING SENSATION OF HOT FEELINGS THROUGHOUT MY BODY THAT TRAVELS UP MY BACK AND MY NECK AND IT EVEN MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO PASS OUT IT'S A VERY SCARY FEELING I CAN'T EVEN SLEEP DOCTORS WHO EVALUATED ME SAID THAT ALL MY BLOOD WORK WAS NORMAL MY URINE TESTS WAS FINE THEY FEEL THAT I'M SUFFERING WITH ANXIETY HOW CAN THIS BE BECAUSE I KNOW WHEN I'M GETTING ANXIETYS I ALWAYS GET A HARD TIME BREATHING AND MY HEART RACES BUT THIS IS NOT A FEELING OF ANXIETIES BUT I DO GET THEM WHEN I'M HAVING THIS PAIN IN MY BACK IT EVEN MAKES ME FEEL LIKE VOMMITING WHAT DO YOU THINK CAN ANXIETY BE CAUSING ME TO FEEL THIS FEELINGS OR IS THE DOCTORS MISSING SOMETHING PLEASE HELP ME I ALWAYS FEAR OF DYING I'M ONLY 27 years old please help me.

[shannon]

I have a panic disorder and went through alot of the same things you are going through now. I have been to all kinds of doctors in and out of hospitals and they have all told me their is nothing wrong. I use to wish they could be me for one day and then tell me theirs nothing wrong. I had the same hot feelings up my back,arms,neck,chest,I use to feel like I couldnt breath and I thought I was going to die. I would also start to feel sick like I had to vomit and get light headed like I was going to pass out. I had fear of dying everyday and I am also 27yrs.old. There is help out their,you need to go see a good psychiatrist. There is lots of medications for panic disorders and other diorders as well. It will get better,you wont be like this forever! It wont hurt you ,you wont die from a panic attack,I know thats hard to believe now but you will get better if you seek help!!!!! Read a book called The Anxiety Disease by David V.Sheehan,M.D. It will help you understand more about different types of diseases'. Good Luck To You gaylynn paaluhi!

[firenze]

hi to all of you,
I've read all your comments. Not being an expert on the matter, I guess I'll share my 2cents for what its worth. I am now 45 y.o. and about 2yrs about I went for a run for lunch at work and when I came back to my desk I started breathing real hard. I didnt know what was happening. It was getting really bad and I told my boss I was going to the hospital. My left arm was hurting, my chest was hurting and I couldn't breath. I thought maybe I was having an asthma attack. But their is no asthma in my family that I know of. Well, ER decided I had a asthma attack and gave me a inhaler and saw me on my way. I was hyperventilating while all this was going on because I was scared to death. I thought I was having a heart attack.
For 1yr prior this excursion to the ER I had been seeing my reg doc regularly because I was always feeling like I had the flu. I was run down didnt feel well. Cut way back on my excersizing (cant spell either) I used to compete in running, biathalons, etc. Anyway, I cut way back. Then about Sept 99 I started with the same thing again. Oh, I've these pains on and off but got tired of going to the doc so I toughed it out alot of the time, took off from work, etc. But they got real bad. Pains in chest, breathing hard, sweaty palms. I find it interesting that they have been coming on more and more and I too am on the pill. I started the pill when I got married Nov 99 and now I'm on paxil and klonopin. I feel like I'm crazy and my poor husband cant take much more of this.

I share each of your pains and their are days I wished I was dead. I not afraid of death anymore. Used to be. But when I stopped drinking and started praying I was released from some of my anxieties. I do think God played a roll in that but right now I need more help. I think I'll go over to my bible study.
Sorry so long, But true.
firenze

[Karen]

I would check out that blurred vision in relation to the birth control pills. Isn't that something you have to watch out for while on the pill?