Please help me with answers!!

[Prettyinpink123]

So back in 04 I was home alone one night and all the sudden i had my first Panic  attack, I thought I was dying and couldn't breathe and thought about calling 911. But I didn't, ever since that day I have had aches and pains in my heart, left arm, leg... I went to the heart dr and did test and he said it was anxiety!!! I had a heart monitor for month, EKG, ultrasound of my heart and nothing showed, which is good. But why am I still to this day having these problems. :( its mainly everyday heart aches, and everything on my left side aches and all I think about is me dying and it is freaking me out! I take effexor everyday and nothing is working. Sometimes I have to catch my breathe, I do smoke so that may be the problem and I know I need to quit but it makes me feel better to smoke, I know that sounds dumb but it's like a comfort thing. The heart aches is like my heart is heavy, and something has sharp pains.I have anxiety everyday. But it goes away. All I do is stay home due to me being scared that I make feel different when I am out in the public. There was one week though I didn't have any systpoms I felt normal and then it all the sudden came back. I am a single mom and have my son 24/7 and at times it is stressful. I just want it to go away. It's all I think about all the time. Does anyone have something similar to this?

[Lewlie]

Sounds like you are going through a lot - not easy at all, I know.  I have a thought about therapy. Some social service agencies offer counselling at a very low fee (nearly free) for individuals, couples and families that can't afford the full cost. Where I'm from, they're called "Family Service" agencies. You might try looking to see if there are any in your area. If you are a church-goer, there may be services you can access for free through that community. There are a lot of self-help type resources available online too, for things like breathing and mindfulness meditation exercises. I always find self-help books to be a great comfort, and very helpful in terms of providing concrete ways of coping. Louise Hay's "You Can Heal Your Life" is a great resource, and so is Hay House Radio, accessible online.  You can get through this!  Be gentle with yourself.  :)

[Prettyinpink123]

Thank you for your respone. I just went to my family doctor last week and she really didn't seem to care because this has been going on for so long. I need to ask questions but she just came in asked a few questions and then gave me prozac!! Let me tell you I threw those away I was very ill for 2 days when taking prozac. I can not go and see a therapist due to it is too expensive. I wish I could. I just want to feel better but after 8 years of this heart ache crap and anxiety I just do not know anymore.

[Prettyinpink123]

Thank you for you answer. I just wish I could feel normal again. It didn't start getting bad until after I had my son. My husband but soon to be ex wouldn't help me at all and we just fell down hill and so now were are going through a divorce and its not a nasty divorce just a long drawn out divorce. I am not saying it was all him that made me this way but its mostly why. I was so stressed out I thought I had a brain tumor and underwent so many tests. But, what do you know I do not have a brain tumor. I know it is all in my head and I try to think positive but for some reason I can't. I have trouble breatheing everyday mostly and its probably because I smoke but its a comfort thing that makes me feel like it is helping but on the other hand it is making me feel worst. Now for my heart, I keep telling myself that it is nothing but its hard to think it is nothing when it aches every day... I had tests done which I said earlier in my post, but why is it all achey on the left side of my body..... I just do not know what to do anymore.

[4slenderthread]

I am so sorry for what you are going through! Everyone's anxiety/panic attacks are different and yet there is also a similiarity to them. My attacks would involve heart palipations and trouble breathing and then the constant attacks of thoughts. I have know other people closely that clearly believed that they were having heart attacks and so they would call 911. Anxiety needs to find the right medication as well as the proper therapy/counseling. Klonapin and xanex  are both good medications. Some doctors don't like to prescribe benzo's - but once they realize that other med's. aren't working for you, often they will. Educate yourself about the disorder as much as possible! Believe me, no mattter how badly you many FEEL, that is all it is, FEELINGS. You can rise above all of it and use proper breathing techniques to help yourself! You are NOT going to die. Believe that because it's true! When you are having an attack, you are so hyper sensitive that you are tuned into how your body is feeling, and you believe those sensations ... and the thoughts that go with them. It takes work to get past all that - but it is possible. You CAN do it.I used to have attacks that would go on for weeks ... now I haven't had one for at least 10 years. I continue to take my klonapin daily. I don't consider myself cured, but I'm relieved for each and every day that I don't have an attack any longer. I wasn't always where I am now. It's been a process. I hope you will find both a good doctor and therapist to help you get to the best place you can be. Life with anxiety can be very manageable. It's about what you learn and how you learn to cope over time! It's sounds overwhelming but it really isn't. You don't want to spend your life afraid and behind closed doors hiding from feelings. I was raising 3 young daughters went my anxiety got so bad. I had no one to help me, I was all on my own. So I made myself get up each day and force myself to get them ready for school, etc. I understand what you are going through ... and what you need to do in order to get better. If you ever need someone to 'talk too' just send me a message! God Bless you sweetie!  Take care ...  

[Lewlie]

I have also experienced panic attacks in the past, and like you, I would avoid going out, because it made me feel extra panicky sometimes. Eventually, with the help of medications, and some changes to my life circumstances, etc. the panic attacks went away, but I still suffer from anxiety - it just isn't as intense. I eventually went off medications, and having been living drug-free for a long time, but for a brief interlude with Effexor last year.

I have a few thoughts that might help. If I were you, I'd go to your doctor and let them know that the Effexor isn't working (presuming you've given it a go for a couple of months), and I'd ask their opinion on what else they might suggest. It might be that the side effect profile of Effexor isn't helping you. I went on it last year, and it made me more nervous than usual, so it might be having a similar effect on you....

I might also ask myself if I am suffering from any "heartache" in my life - did you go through a break-up, separation, divorce, death of someone close to you in recent years?  Was your heart broken, in other words? If so, you might want to talk to a therapist about it, and get it off your chest...grieve it out.

I think that seeing a therapist more generally would be helpful if you can afford to go, or if it is covered by your medical plan.  Cognitive behavioural therapy has been proven to be more effective than medications in healing depression and anxiety. Check out "Feeling Good," by Dr. David Burns. He also has a book called "When Panic Attacks" that might be helpful. Negative thought patterns are responsible for anxiety, depression and panic attacks to a significant degree, so it would be a good idea to learn how to change your thinking, so you don't stay stuck in a pattern. You might check out Dr. Claire Weekes' "Hope and Help for Your Nerves," which is an oldie, but still relevant, helpful.

I might also wonder if you can make a concrete list of actions that would help you take charge of your life. If you can focus on getting things done, that can be a good distraction.(Make a list, and schedule activities for each hour of the day.)  Also, if you can reach out to friends and family, and force yourself to get out and about, that might help. I find that sometimes I need force myself to get out there, and just allow and accept the fact that I am not feeling 100% - and usually, I end up feeling better. If I don't, I just try and accept that I feel like crap, have a good cry etc. and move forward.

I can't comment as much on the heart pains, specifically. Though, I have experienced them on and off myself, just not as intensely as what you have described. If your doctor is not worried about it, then I would take comfort in that.

Take care.