Anxiety???

[Grover1]

Hello I am 27 years old and I have a few questions about this so called anxiety that I was diagnost with.  I have read a bunch of posts on here about people with anxiety and there are a lot of similarities, but i dont have one of the common ones which is rapid heart beat. When I feel like something is wrong with my heart  I check my heart rate and it's always normal. I don't really know how to explain these attacks that I get and I don't really even know if I would call them attacks. It usually starts with my breathing and it's like it's just harder to breath. Then I get this weird feeling in my arms and shoulders and my chest feels tight and I get a little dizzy. Also I have noticed since this started happening to me that my ears ring loud all the time. A lot of times I will get these feelings like at the end of the day and they are not bad but I will go to sleep and wake up with all those things happening to me but they are twice as bad and I can't sleep and I have to take a Xanax to go back to sleep.  The first time I had an attack was the worst of all. It was last year. I was driving home from work on the phone with a friend completely relaxed and it hit me. I thought I was having a heart attack and I felt like I was going to pass out. I pulled over and called 911 and went to the hospital. I have had all the heart tests done and everything checked out perfect. I just don't understand why this is happening to me. I've never really stressed about anything and I am generally a very laid back person that doesn't worry about anything. This happens to me about once or twice a week and I would go along with the anxiety thing other then my heart rate doesn't seem to increase and my ears ring all the time now. Could it be something else? Or do I have anxiety and I am just letting it get to me?

Thanks

[RubyWitch]

We don't all experience the exact same symptoms during an "attack," and while rapid heart rate IS very common, it's absence does not rule out anxiety.
To me it sounds like you are having really classic episodes of anxiety.
Going to the ER to rule out a possible heart attack was a wise decision.

(What WASN'T wise was driving yourself there and I hold the hospital far more responsible for that decision than you! If you HAD been having a heart attack, innocent people could have died. The hospital should have told you to stay where you were, notified the EMTs and kept talking to you until they arrived)
Sorry for that digressive rant..........it's kind of a personal issue with me.

Many people do not know WHAT is at the root of their anxiety, some of us know EXACTLY what the cause is and there is much discussion lately that anxiety could be the result of a malfunction in our brains. It can be a very complicated issue, and that's why we so often recommend therapy as a first line approach, adding meds if the symptoms become unmanageable.

I'd suggest getting a very thorough physical to rule out any other possibilities for these symptoms, making sure they check your thyroid function. A diagnosis of anxiety should only be reached after everything else has been eliminated.

You wrote something that caught my attention, which was......."When I feel like something is wrong with my heart  I check my heart rate and it's always normal."
Do you frequently feel like there may be something wrong with your heart? Heart anxiety is probably one of the most common manifestations of anxiety in general.
Considering it was the possibility of a cardiac event that landed you in the hospital, I think this is something you should explore further with your doctor. I can't explain why your HR would not increase during an anxiety attack. The adrenalin that is dumped into our systems during an attack should definitely increase the HR. Hmmmmm..........a mystery.
See your doctor so you can get on with your life.
Peace
Greenlydia
  

[gurl7]

what u r describing sounds like a panic attack i have 1 everyday but if u worried get your health checked out an tell the dr how been feeling and if your health is just fine then just focus on getting better from anxiety maybe something bothering u n it makes u anxious i dont really know but it could be one of the reasons why u feel this way try therapy ive been going to therapy and really been helping i hope u can benefit from therapy and god willing you will get better