I Need Some Help

[MZ3Alex]

Hi,
I am an 18 year old male and I have suffering with anxiety related problems for about a month now. It started off as the usual with constantly being afraid of everything (death in particular), chest pains(which was the start to all this that was really a chest cold), and feeling very uneasy all the time that something serious and terrible could happen. I have only ever had 2 anxiety attacks (the second the night right after the night of the first one.) I didn't go to the ER during any of those attacks since I knew I wasn't having a heart attack and I had gone to the doctor the day after the first attack and nothing could be found wrong with me. That night I had a second even stronger panic attack and decided I had to go back to the doctor the next day because it was just getting to be ridiculous. I saw a different doctor this time and that's when he diagnosed a possible anxiety problem that was the cause of all this. He issued a chest x-ray, EKG, and blood work to be done just in case there may something else. (All the results then came back normal and completely fine.) He said anxiety can cause a lot of these things and I will admit I had been very stressed over the two months before then. (I guess I hadn't realized what could eventually happen because of it.) I do admit I have been under a lot of stress, especially through last October and November. (dealing with college apps, SAT's, my graduation project, and problems with getting my now previous job to cooperate with me. Not to mentions school tests, grades, and homework since I'm trying for the best possible Senior year as far as grades go.)(I am also not usually not stressed very often either.) But anyways, during the two weeks after my doctors visits and three days of missed school, I started to feel much better and I was learning to relax more. My chest pains for the most part subsided and I felt very good. I always had this very very small uneasiness feeling but it kept getting better day after day and I though I was finally getting over all this ****.

When the week of Christmas began I started to have problems again. I was getting the chest pain and uneasiness feeling back along with fear that something could seriously be wrong with me. (no anxiety attacks though) Christmas eve while I was laying in bed I had a terrible shaking fit that lasted about a half hour. It was almost to the point of exhaustion. During Christmas day I felt very uneasy the whole day and I was also suffering from a lot of fatigue since I had only gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before due to the shaking fit. I had taken a nap in the afternoon Christmas day and it seemed to help a lot. That night I had also had a terrible sneezing fit which I get sometimes (more rarely during the winter months but does happen once or twice) due to my allergies. During the entire day Friday and Saturday my entire face hurt terribly along with my head. It has gotten better since then but now it feels like my forehead is going to explode and I feel pressure in the top of my head along with some very dull pains down the sides of my face. My nose isn't very stuffed up now but it was. Could this possibly be a sinus infection and I should see a doctor about it? (my anxiety with this is almost driving me crazy too, it is causing me to fear a doctor visit this since somewhere subconsciously I feel its something else more serious but consciously I know I'm fine.) My forehead also feels very warm from time to time but not always. When I wake up I feel fine. It seems throughout the day the pressure in my head gets worse and it feels even worse while I'm typing this up looking at a computer screen. So to relieve my anxiety with this, could this be a sinus infection of some kind? I have had sinus infections before but I have never felt anything like this.

I also have one more problem that I really do not understand at all. Just this week, maybe last Sunday too I'm not totally sure, I started having random pains all around the left side of my chest. (I think I have had 2 in the right side though.) They would come and go at random times and would last maybe 20 or 30 minutes. Other times they could just be a dull pain in one particular area lasting maybe an hour or two. These REALLY leave me with a very uneasy feeling that I think is provoking more stress and causing even more chest pain and overall uneasiness. (And probably more head pain.) Along with these pains I have also been feeling a lot of fatigue all week long. That may be due to my trouble sleeping at night which is also another problem I am having. Sometimes I find myself not falling asleep until 3, 4 or even 5 in the morning and sleeping until noon the next day. This isn't what I experienced when all this anxiety stuff began.

So does anyone have any thoughts or ideas that could help me out? I really hate this uneasy feeling and it makes me feel like my heart could stop or something any minute and that I am going to pass out or something. (Stupid I know but I guess this is anxiety and I hate that I cannot control this feeling.) I am almost to the point where I fear I have developed an anxiety disorder and that I am very scared of stressing my self doing anything physical for fear of something bad happening to me. I want to get up and do something but I can't.

Please help me!
Thanks a bunch!
-Alex

[MZ3Alex]

Hey thanks for the rubber band suggestion. I am trying it now and it actually works pretty well. As for the party I had a great time. I had a little anxiety for around the first hour or so but then i started to feel really good afterwords. I liked being around my friends and it really comforted me despite I havent told any of them about my problems. For the last 2 hours or so during the party i actually felt amazing. I didnt have any chest pain or anything and I didn't feel uneasy at all. As soon as I got home though I started feeling the uneasiness again and started getting a little chest pain but I think I'm finally learning to control it. I don't feel nearly as bad as I did last night before I went to bed and the rubber band thing combined with the happy thoughts idea you suggested works very well. I thank you A LOT for those suggestions. While I know I'm not nearly cured yet it certinly helps. I didn't really feel any fatigue today either which is yet another good sign. As I am typing this now I feel really good too. As long as I can keep my mind from straying onto any stressful thoughts I think I will be able to fall asleep well tonight. I just gotta keep concentrating on the good thoughts. I really wish I could suggest something but I am just so new to all these feelings I don't have anything to say. I'm still trying to figure out whats a plus and whats a minus. I definitely say though social gatherings are a huge plus though. At least for me it is. Well keep me informed on your stats as well and if you have anything you want to ask me or if you need some help with anything let me know. Like you said we will get through this. It's just a matter of time and good thoughts! :) Okay well I need to go to bed so I gotta wrap this up now.

Best of luck,
Alex

[thepilot]

Oh yeah I felt I was but then I started eating a little much more and I gained a few pounds because when I didn't eat, I noticed I was stress. So go eat some crackers or some snacks when you feel your anxiety is taking place. If you don't eat I believe your stomach growls and then you become a little grumpy. When you eat you gain some energy and sort of/just a tad bit feel a bit better. Try eating on a healthier diet not to lose weight or gain weight but a healthy diet as far as timed eating scheduled. Thats what happened when I learned i had an ulcer.  Okay mann Later!

[thepilot]

Yeah I understand you when you say how you like your days but sometime during the day it comes out of nowhere. I'm assuming that when that happens one tiny thought or maybe a subconscious thought we created triggers it in our brain then makes our body get nervous to the point we feel those things in our veins.  But that's only my assumption personally. It's like our minds focus on where we feel strained before where we didn't notice it.  Like before the first anxiety attack happened we probably typed and felt a little sore in our arms and back from the style of our posture and now that the anxiety is released it feels all of those types of that stress now. I'm not a psychologist but those are my thoughts.  But I guess its easier to say it that to explain how the feeling really is at the moment but all we could do is just to have some faith in feeling better than how we were before. I could hella relate when you wake up in the mornings now because I've never been so happy that I'm alive. For some reason I think I just became more nicer than I was before. I still have the physical feelings in my arm w/ the beats in my heart but every time it comes I prepare for it and start thinking of good things rather than worrying because when I used to worry, I would panic then my body would even react even more to the problem.  It's really tough-I sort of understand you.  I guess we're just suppose to accept our anxiety for what it is and deal with it to the point where it could possibly fadeaway. I'm not too sure if i mentioned this but I think putting a rubberband around one of your wrist my help because whenever you think of a crazy thought, you could tug on the rubberband and flick yourself w/ it (kind of like a discipline).  It sounds kinda funny but it can be another technique to get rid of your thoughts. I learned about it during my last couple weeks of finals-especially when I was studying.  My thoughts were pretty bad because it would distract studying but lately it calmed down. Try making an appointment with some sort of psychologist and see what they might have to offer-I did it and for some reason I'm sort of excited that I'm seeking for help. Actually I've been more happier lately that I'm acting upon my anxiety rather than letting it beat me.  So I hear you're going to social party? I went to a friend party recently and I actually had a good time.  Of course my anxiety randomly came when I was eating some food. When it came I took a step outside with a friend and said to myself "I'm going to be fine" while taking deep breaths to relax my heart's nervousness.  I felt good like 10 minutes later. I noticed too that I'd talk about it w/ some friends but I guess its not too good to get into it in a discussion too much because people will begin to pity you, which you shouldn't let happen.  I THINK or I mean I FEEL that if you say you have an illness to someone, they may feel sorry for you and then you'll be the dude w/ the problem then you'll have it in the back of your head saying that they know about you so now it'll be like they'll be more special, which is kind of spoiling yourself. That's only from my perspective but yeah you should go to that party-take deep breaths and chill.  Try that rubberband technique or see a psychiatrist.  I've been taking psychology classes in my school right now and I'm learning crazy yet cool things.  Next semester I'm taking more psychology classes and I'm hella interested to go to school so I could get MY MIND off of this stuff! I'm kind of glad it happened because before the incident I had a lot of stress in my mind and now I've been taking it a lot more easy. Aye bro keep in touch and let me know how your doing? We both could conquer this anxiety shiet!!!!!!!!As a matter of fact all who have anxiety-we could all do this!!!Later Alex-take it easy again bro. Don't force the anxiety, just calm it down. I know its hard-hay I feel almost the same feelings but I'm trying too. Actually I'm not trying, I'm doing something! Comment back if anything. Peace!

[MZ3Alex]

Hey man thanks for the reply! I definitely know what you mean about the thinking about it will only make it worse. To be honest it's hard not to though. I mean, my head goes so nuts sometimes thinking that there is something terribly, horrifyingly wrong with me that it becomes almost downright impossible to relax or try to think about something else. Then that's when i begin to feel the worst. And when I finally do get my mind off it, there is always this underlying fear that seems to stick with me that I can only think of as creating the uneasy feeling about whatever was hurting to begin with. (like my chest.) Even now, with it being later I feel for the most part really good. I still just have this uneasy feeling left in my head though about how I felt earlier in the day that I just can't get rid of and I know it's making my chest feel uneasy. (Like something could happen to me at any second despite there's no pain and the palpitations have stopped.) I know I'll go to bed with this feeling and wake up with it no longer there but then it'll come back throughout the day. I honestly used to hate mornings but now I'm beginning to like them. I like the first minute or two right after you wake up before your mind sets in on all your problems because it's when I feel the best. (That's also why I know all this is anxiety related.) But just out of curiosity, do you sometimes have the uneasy feeling throughout the evening and before you go to bed? Like something might happen to you while you are sleeping? I guess just a basic overall fear of going to sleep?

Also, I guess there is a good side to this. (I think...) Have you lost any weight with these anxiety problems? Last June I used to weigh 189 pounds. (I'm not fat though.) Over the summer I worked as a ride operator at a local theme part and come September I weighed 178 pounds. (Which can be explained why I lost the weight and this was before any anxiety problems.) This morning when I woke up I weighed 167 pounds. Since this anxiety started I have lost 11 pounds without trying. I know anxiety attacks have the same effects on your health as a small workout but I never knew it could do that much. Most of the beginning of the 11 pounds lost were during the week when I first started having the anxiety problems and I had those 2 attacks. I have lost a couple more pounds since then when all this started up again last week. I was just wondering if any of this has happened to you? I'm thinking of starting to work out as well to get myself more healthy and lose even more weight. Maybe that will help out my anxiety of there being something wrong with me. Just make myself feel more healthier.

I honestly just wish the anxiety would go away though. I have had enough of it and there are other things I need to do besides fighting this. Tomorrow I have a party at a buddy's house that I am looking froward to. Hopefully getting back in the flow of things and being around some friends will help out all this out. I find it pretty difficult to find things around the house to do to take my mind off things when I'm feeling bad. Everything I do just doesn't seem to help and my mind just continuously wonders back. I will hang in there though and get through this. I would like to go back to the doctor and get something to at least make me feel better since I have had it with this but I guess I'll just try and push through it like you are. It is truly a great feeling knowing I'm not alone but I cancels itself out knowing I have a problem which ***** big time.

Do you maybe have any more ideas or techniques I could use to fight this since you seem to know a decent deal more than i do? I would really appreciate it!

-Alex

[thepilot]

What up Alex! Yeah dude I'm kind of going through the same thing right now except instead of that sinus pain you're having I have ulcer pains. I feel a sharp piercing sensation right below my heart near my mid-rib cage and it feels like i'm about to have a heart attack too. I get the tingles all over my body, including near my neck like if I do pass out I feel as if I will be paralyzed or if I'm going to have a mini-stroke or something. It's a pretty scary feeling though. As far as the whole palpitations go, I think those will go away when you learn how to control the breathing part by taking 5-10 seconds (which is what my doctor tells me to do). I'm 22 and It's been almost a month since my first anxiety attack when it felt like I hyperventilated and the whole right side of my body became numb and doctors gave me drowsy/anti-depressant pills.  I haven't taken any of them yet because I know that I can beat this anxiety w/ out pills.  I believe it's just going to take time.  Other than that lately I've been trying to exercise so my body can be conditionally healthy and I made an appointment w/ a psychiatrist to guide me through what's going on w/ me.  We all hate the feeling but someone else said this to me in one of my discussion forums, "just know that you're not alone," which made me feel a little better.  The rest is all up to you if you're willing to deal w/ it and beat it. People keep telling me not to think too much (which is hard because I'm hella used to it) because the thoughts can really provoke your body to feel what you're thinking.  I've been trying to learn how to meditate, which I though I would never do in a billion years and also have been reading inspirational books too like Joel Osteen and watching funnyass dvd's to get my mind off of this **** and it sort of helps.  It's good to talk about our health sometimes but I noticed that thinking that it will get worse can actually make it worse.  My girlfriend almost wanted to break up with me because I'm stressing her out w/ my problems of anxiety and she possibly believes that I might pass it on to her, which is another type of stress for me plus school, etc. It's pretty tough to focus on many things now but I guess taking it easy one by one is my way to relax. So you're not alone buddy. Comment back if you have something else to say. Anxiety ***** but if we find techniques to beat it, it should go away. I guess we just gotta be confident.  Later Alex!