What is happening?

[CaptainCaveman]

Hi,

I'm a 36 year-old Irish Male. I'm 6ft3 and currently weigh 330lbs (stable and hopefully beginning to fall).

In the middle of 2007 I moved house, moved in with my then girlfriend, and moved job. In late 2007 I was doing a lot of swimming trying to trim a little for our wedding in January 2008 until I began to get panic attacks. In the middle of 2008 I went through a VERY stressful time at work, and also put on about 25 lbs. In November 2008 I went to see our local Doctor with the following symptoms:

Night sweats and disturbed sleep
Muscle Tremors
Panic Attacks during the day
Constant feeling of anxiety
Heart palpitations

My doctor was worried because my Blood Pressure gave a reading that was off the chart (210 over 130 I think), gave me a hard talking to, and sent me to see a specialist. (I gave up smoking that night).

I went through various tests, wore a BP monitor, a Halter(?) monitor (Heart), and a lot of talking. I was prescribed bisoprolol, 10mg daily, for severe hypertension, but as I had quit smoking and introduced far more exercise into my life the specialist was happy for me to stop seeing him after a month or so as neither my BP or heart tests showed up anything too bad. Liver function, Kidney function, lung funtion, diabetes, all tests are fine (Cholestorol at 6, too high).

Now, three months later, our new baby son has arrived, I do not FEEL stressed, yet my anxiety symptoms are still there, and one symptom has begun to worry me.

Each night, as I begin to fall asleep, the muscles in my upper body, especially my chest and upper arms, both sides, begin to spasm. Not violently, more of a very fast rythymic twitch. It becomes a vicious circle then, my anxiety increases as the tremors increase, and it takes me a long time to get to sleep.

I never understood anything about anxiety before, and am slowly learning about it. What I really want to know is whether the tremors I am describing are just another symptom of the anxiety (in which case I will get them dealt with over time) or whether it amy indicate something else>?

THank you

[CaptainCaveman]

Thank you for your comment. As I write this, all the muscles in the upper half of my body are twitching like crazy, not enough to cause my limbs to move, but enough for it to feel like I'm getting a thousand little electric shocks.

If anxiety is "all" it is, I can live with it, or learn to live with it.

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

After reading your post the symptoms that you have appear to be related more or less to anxiety. Anxiety can manifest in a variety of different ways and having a baby around does add to stress.
I would suggest you to earn some self relaxation exercises like deep breathing exercises and meditation and do them few times in a day. You can also start with your swimming as that will also help you to relax.
If the symptoms still persist you can get a clinical exam done by your GP as you may need medications to control anxiety.
Good luck!