Generalized Anxiety Disorder/Chest Pains/Cold Sweats?

[Jreader]

This is sort of a long story, so I will try to start at the top. I am 26 years old. I have been working for a private aviation company since I was 20. My job entails shiftwork and is extremely stressful at times. About 4 years ago, I was at work, having a moderate to busy day and got a feeling like my chest was being crushed. Became dizzy, cold sweats, nausea, felt like I was going to pass out. I had to leave work and went to my doctor. He took my BP, normal, he checked me heart rate, normal, he gave me a blood test and an ECG, all normal. He told me about panic attacks, I told him I had never had one before and was scared someting was wrong with my heart. My father passed away when I was 18 from congestive heart failure, he was overweight, had high BP and diabetes so I was afraid I had some congenital issue. He told me to go get an x-ray of my chest, which I did, that also came back normal. At the time, I was not eating well and smoked a lot. I cut back my smoking and tried to eat better. However, I was still having the pains in my chest usually on the left side, sometimes going up my arm and into my jaw especailly when I tried to sleep. It scared me to a point that a couple of times, I went to the ER afraid that something was wrong with my heart. They checked me out, gave me another ECG, chest x-rays, blood test. Again, they came back normal. I was sent to a cardiologist where I was given a stress/treadmill test and wore a halter monitor for 24 hours as well as another ECG. All of these tests came back normal. The doctor contributed it to stress/anxiety since there was nothing wrong with my hear that he could see. I also went to an asthma doctor and did some tests there, he determined I do not have asthma. This was when I was around 22-23. At this point, I was put on 2 mg Xanax. I still had problems breathing, dizziness, some pain in the chest but the Xanax seemed to make it subside and at least I could sleep. These problems caused me a lot of depression and I got very down about my situation. I felt like I was going crazy and the doctors just couldn't figure out what was wrong with me and I was afraid that I would drop dead. I was a bit overweight and still working a lot. I am 6'4 and that time, I weighed around 230-240, smoked a pack to half a pack a day and my diet was not good. My job is in an office so I am sedintary a lot but the work is mentally stressful. I would still get the flutter, pain, sweat, jaw, arm pains but they seemed to subside when I took the Xanax. Tying to sleep and lay on my back was the worst, I felt like my heart would be out of my chest. I am 26 now, will be 27 in July and decided that it was time for me to wean myself off of the meds. I did so slowly, and when I was finally off them, I started having the symptoms but worse. I was not sleeping, my heart would race at night, I could not focus, I constantly focus on my heart, my lungs, my heart rate, my BP. I obsess about it all day. I check my pulse incessantly. I went back to my doc about 2 months ago for a checkup and she took bloodwork, urine test etc. She told me that I had very high triglycerides this time, in the 400 range. This terrified me. I had struggled with cigarettes but basically cut them out. I don't drink, I don't drink caffeine much at all. I was about 267 at the time and she told me to lose some weight and work out. I asked her about my chest pains so she gave me an ECG and chest x-rays, ultrasound of my liver, pancreas, kidneys (this was about 2 months ago) they both came back normal but my bloodwork showed the Triglycerides in the mid 400s. I began a very strict diet and started taking fish oils. I have down to about 240, not smoking, not drinking caffeine, not even eating bad food. What she told me about the trys scared me a lot and I obsess about it, I am constantly afraid that I'm just going to die, I don't sleep well. I started back on the Xanax and I still have issues sleeping. I don't understand. I am 26 and in relatively decent health but I have pains pretty much constantly on my left side in my chest, sometimes in my arm and jaw, my stomach hurts, I get cold sweats and this weird feeling that I can only describe as a flutter across my chest. It doesn't hurt but it scares me a lot and makes me feel like something else is wrong. My heart rate is usually pretty normal in the 60-100 range. I ride a mountain bike but I am scared to beacuse of the pains, I relayed all this to my doctor she does not seem concerned but I still feel terrible all the time. My energy is low and it depresses me that I am a young person and I feel this way, I think about it constantly and I feel like it is affecting my whole life. I try not to bring it up around my wife very much because I know it's just as stressful for her. I feel like I am too young to have heart problems and it seems like something would have materialized between the first time this happened until now. I have also seen a psych and she tells me I have generalized anxiety disorder. Talking to her helps but it's 100 bucks an hour and I can't run to the emergency room every time I think something is wrong. I have a full time job, am in school and married. My GP wants to put me on Celexa instead of Xanax but I have read the side-effects of Celexa and they scared me, especially the sexual dysfucntion part. Anyway, that's my story.

[JBoruff]

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[JBoruff]

*********** - .org

[JBoruff]

1. Avoid socially annoying people.

2. Tell your psychiatrist you want to be slowly and safely tapered off of Xanax and Celexa; they won't tell you, but these drugs only make the symptoms continue. They are very addictive, especially Xanax. See also ***********.org for supplements during the tapering process; it will be painful, but don't freak out; be brave; and be patient. It takes about 3-4 months to be totally detoxified.