Anxiety. Mitral Valve Prolapse. Old sports injuries.

[Nessie_2013]

Hello everyone. I am new here. I have some concerns regarding my anxiety. Maybe someone can help shine a light on things for me. First and foremost, I consider(ed) myself to be in great health. Tall, athletic, female, 32years old,  non smoker, blood pressure is low, cholesterol is low,  vegetarian, I get regular adjustments (without neck cracking. Just instrument on neck), massages regularly...  Last year I started experiencing anxiety. I've always had fears or worries but they never showed such symptoms until last year. Symptoms include: being extremely aware of feelings in my body. Heart seems to beat strong and off time. I feel tightness in my chest. Hard to breathe. Lightheadedness,  Scared. Hard to swallow. A static or tingling sensation throughout my body, as if I'm light. I can almost feel by blood flowing too. I know that may sound strange. But like I said, I've become very aware of every little feeling or change in my body.
Last year I went to the cardiologist, they said I had a mitral valve prolapse. It's very minor and they said I can go about normal activities. Just need to get it checked once a year.  They also have taken several blood tests. Every time it is normal, aside from a low white blood count. They can't seem to figure out why? They Told me some people are just low.
I've also played a lot of contact sports growing up. Concussions and getting hit or tackled frequently. When I was a kid, concussions were not taken as serious as they are today. I've been reading about a lot of athletes who suffer later in life from untreated or not taking care when they had a concussion.
Sometimes, I am in denial about having anxiety. Because it feels like I am going to have a heart attack or pass out etc.  I feel although it's a medical emergency. How could anxiety be so consuming?
Other times, I face the facts. I have anxiety.
Other times I'm on the fence.
So as you see, I am not 100% sure of anything.
I'm usually a homeopathic person but the symptoms scared me into trying a prescribed anti anxiety med. called celexa. It was a low dose. After less than 2 weeks of taking this, I was sent to the ER as I had a very bad reaction to this. I've never been to the ER before (except for ankle sprains/ minor injuries etc.) . The reaction was a burning from my core followed by a stomach rash, uncontrollable muscle contraction and being scared out of my mind. ER docs said I was most likely allergic to it and they told me to stop taking it.
I've not been taking anything for it since. I have Xanax that the doc prescribed but I am too afraid to take it because of what happened with the prior med. (celexa).
So I need help, advice, thoughts... I feel desperate. I feel scared. Is this in fact "anxiety". Could it be something else?
Ive been meditating. Can't tell if it's helping.
I've seen a psychologist. I've also seen a psychiatric nurse (but she didn't do much aside from try to force a bunch of drugs on me).
One last thing, when I have my period, the anxiety seems almost non existent. 2 days after my period is over, I experience symptoms again. Could this be hormonal?
Desperate for answers. I'm open minded to any discussions or thoughts,
Thank you for reading this. Be well!

[Nessie_2013]

Thank you both for your help.  I appreciate it very much. I like the route of ruling out physiological causes first, as I am more on the holistic side. Also, I understand that anxiety or depression or any other "neurosis"  can stem from repression, suppression, traumatic happenings dating all the way back from birth to the present, etc.  but I live a very good life and I feel grateful and happy (or did before the anxiety). My job is wonderful and so is my love life... I believe that is why it is hard for me to admit fully that this is definitely "anxiety".
Paxiled...I will find a functional physician!! I like the idea of covering all bases before jumping back on the med. train.  
Thanks again to both of you! Be well!  

[Paxiled]

Unlike what the above suggests about just believing everything is anxiety, one must eliminate the possibility of physiological causes first.  There is a kind of psychiatrist called a functional physician -- they decided that since they are doctors it was malpractice for psychiatrists to just put people on drugs before eliminating physiological causes first and as doctors they could actually do that by giving you tests that can tell you if it's hormonal, thyroid, concussion, whatever.  They are hard to find, however, and almost never take insurance, so they are very expensive, but the theory is one that makes sense particularly since you have concerns about physiological problems you know you're having.  If nothing is found, then they would treat it as any other psychiatrist.  It's up to you, I have no idea what's up, but just offering some feedback.

[birdie0907]

Every SSRI med is different so your allergy to Celexa should not be a reason to be allergic to another. SSRI are for long term anxiety because it builds slowly in your system for up to 8 weeks before it peaks because your body gets rid of it as fast as the next dose is taken.
Xanax is for short term panic situations so should be used sparingly to avoid dependency.
I am allergic to one anti-bacterial med but all others are totally tolerated by my body. Possibly you would find no tolerance issues if you tried a different ssri.
If you fear concussion effects and are worrying about your mitral issue then it is not surprising you have developed some anxiety issues. " I've become very aware of every little feeling or change in my body. " The over-analyzing of every body function is typical anxiety - you are searching for clues to some mystery illness that you think you might have developed so in your heightened sense of awareness every twitch, ouch or itch becomes a potential "clue" to analyze. Prior to being anxious you would ignore these "clues" because you knew you were healthy and they were non-events but now they are all noted and you wish they would stop, which perpetuates the anxiety issue.
There is nothing you can do about the concussions now and the athletes who suffer as a result of them likely had many more than you do, so it is not a good subject to dwell on. I read that every lineman on defence or offense in the NFL gets a hard knock to the head (hard enough to have a lt effect even if each is just tiny) in every practise or game, so that is likely much more than you were exposed to. I would stop thinking about it because lots of former pros become announcers etc so only a select few suffer. The only hting to do about the "clues" is ot realize that you didn't catch some cocktail of exotic illnesses at the same time, so accept them as likely events that you always ignored in the past and your anxiety level will go down and they will disappear. I am not saying this paragraph's recommendations are easy but in one form or another resolving them is the key to an anxiety free life.
Some people can't ever get rid of anxiety and I am not saying you will be able to, but on the other hand many do resolve their anxiety through counseling or meds. I ended up on the med route and after 6 great relaxing months went off them, but the key to being off is to focus on reality, not worrying about things that aren't real. if you read this you will see a lt sufferer's story. http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/857117/CNN-article-about-anxiety-sufferer