Aa
need help
I’m new on this forum so please bear with my (too) long story. I’m just trying to figure out what is wrong with me and I’m definitely looking forward to hear what other people with (maybe) similar problems have to say.
Couple of months ago I started having some episodes of tachycardia – out of the blue my heart would start racing so of course I went to the ER lots of times, have been diagnosed with sinus tachycardia and given bisoprolol 2.5 mg to take once a day. About a month after the onset of the tachycardia I started experiencing chest pain that radiated into my arms. (sometimes the tachy and chest pain would occur at the same times, sometimes separately, sometimes I’d experience arm pain as well, but there was/is no pattern to that). During one of the ER visits the dr said I have costochondritis and prescribed celebrex and Percocet for the pain. About 2 weeks after starting on celebrex and Percocet (I took celebrex 200 mg once a day and Percocet only as needed) I have started developing new symptoms: a feeling of "buzzing" in my whole body that comes and goes, diziness, a sort of lightheadedness, headaches that come and go, a combination of itching/tingling/pain in my arms, legs, hands and feet (mostly on the left side of the body), as well as in my face and scalp. Plus at times I feel my pulse in my whole body - particularly in the head. The itching/tingling/pains come and go at different times during the day, and they vary in length and intensity. Pretty much all of my symptoms have the tendency to come and go and they have the tendency to go away whenever I am in the hospital or in a doctor’s office… go figure…
As the headaches got worse and I spent several sleepless nights because of them, I went back to see a doctor and I was told I might have a vascular headache/migraine, so I was given toradol by IV in the hospital and pills to take at home – the pills don’t always help, so I have yet another doctor’s appointment this week.
Yesterday as I experienced both a headache (which seems to affect not only my head but also some muscles in my neck and shoulders) and some chest pain I took 2 toradol pills 6 hours apart (as prescribed). The pains subsided and I was able to rest over the night, but this morning I woke up with a large painful bruise on my right thigh (and yes I am 100% sure I have not bumped into anything, the bruise appeared out of the blue).
Many of the doctors I have seen have told me that my symptoms don’t add up, and they are most likely stress related, so they suggested I have anxiety attacks – even prescribed ativan for me which sometimes seemed to help, still I am not convinced that all these problems are “in my head”, so I am desperately looking for some answers.
Here is a list of all the tests I have had: blood work (at least 15 times) has always come back normal except for my blood iron which is low and a positive ANA titre 1:160 with a homogeneous pattern, chest X-rays (4-5 times) normal, 24 h Holter monitor – no symptoms, echocardiogram – normal, stress test – normal, 2 weeks loop monitor – awaiting the results, thyroid hormone (TSH) – normal, CT scan of the head – normal, MRI of the brain – awaiting the results.
Needless to say that my stress levels are extremely elevated, not to mention that medical bills are piling up and all I have gotten from the doctors I have seen is that I have panic/anxiety attacks.
Is it possible that the increasing amount of stress in my life is responsible for this mess I'm in? Are there any tests that I may need in order to get a proper diagnostic? I have no idea where to turn or what to try... I used to be healthy and full of life, and now all I do is go to doctors looking for solutions to regain my... self.
Please help.
Couple of months ago I started having some episodes of tachycardia – out of the blue my heart would start racing so of course I went to the ER lots of times, have been diagnosed with sinus tachycardia and given bisoprolol 2.5 mg to take once a day. About a month after the onset of the tachycardia I started experiencing chest pain that radiated into my arms. (sometimes the tachy and chest pain would occur at the same times, sometimes separately, sometimes I’d experience arm pain as well, but there was/is no pattern to that). During one of the ER visits the dr said I have costochondritis and prescribed celebrex and Percocet for the pain. About 2 weeks after starting on celebrex and Percocet (I took celebrex 200 mg once a day and Percocet only as needed) I have started developing new symptoms: a feeling of "buzzing" in my whole body that comes and goes, diziness, a sort of lightheadedness, headaches that come and go, a combination of itching/tingling/pain in my arms, legs, hands and feet (mostly on the left side of the body), as well as in my face and scalp. Plus at times I feel my pulse in my whole body - particularly in the head. The itching/tingling/pains come and go at different times during the day, and they vary in length and intensity. Pretty much all of my symptoms have the tendency to come and go and they have the tendency to go away whenever I am in the hospital or in a doctor’s office… go figure…
As the headaches got worse and I spent several sleepless nights because of them, I went back to see a doctor and I was told I might have a vascular headache/migraine, so I was given toradol by IV in the hospital and pills to take at home – the pills don’t always help, so I have yet another doctor’s appointment this week.
Yesterday as I experienced both a headache (which seems to affect not only my head but also some muscles in my neck and shoulders) and some chest pain I took 2 toradol pills 6 hours apart (as prescribed). The pains subsided and I was able to rest over the night, but this morning I woke up with a large painful bruise on my right thigh (and yes I am 100% sure I have not bumped into anything, the bruise appeared out of the blue).
Many of the doctors I have seen have told me that my symptoms don’t add up, and they are most likely stress related, so they suggested I have anxiety attacks – even prescribed ativan for me which sometimes seemed to help, still I am not convinced that all these problems are “in my head”, so I am desperately looking for some answers.
Here is a list of all the tests I have had: blood work (at least 15 times) has always come back normal except for my blood iron which is low and a positive ANA titre 1:160 with a homogeneous pattern, chest X-rays (4-5 times) normal, 24 h Holter monitor – no symptoms, echocardiogram – normal, stress test – normal, 2 weeks loop monitor – awaiting the results, thyroid hormone (TSH) – normal, CT scan of the head – normal, MRI of the brain – awaiting the results.
Needless to say that my stress levels are extremely elevated, not to mention that medical bills are piling up and all I have gotten from the doctors I have seen is that I have panic/anxiety attacks.
Is it possible that the increasing amount of stress in my life is responsible for this mess I'm in? Are there any tests that I may need in order to get a proper diagnostic? I have no idea where to turn or what to try... I used to be healthy and full of life, and now all I do is go to doctors looking for solutions to regain my... self.
Please help.
Hi Greenlydia and thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and get back to me.
To begin with I have received the results of my brain MRI and they are ... needless to say NORMAL.
To answer your question about my stress level - I used to consider myself stress free until the tachycardia started, and the, once the ER visits, doctors, prescriptions, tests etc came into my life.. like you said I did become a stress monster.
Now I have a question - for you or anyone else that can pitch in.
Is it common that anxiety symptoms are with me 24/7? And they\ve been with me for a couple of months now - changing from tim to time, but almost always present regardless of how relaxed or stressed out I think I am.
I have anything from headaches, to muscle aches, difficulty breathing and swallowing, pins and needles in my left arm and leg (not from hyperventilatng though) etc?
I have read quite a lot about anxiety, panic attacks, etc, and I still have a hard time accepting the fact that this is whatis wrong with me, but I also know I am facing quite a challenge in terms of overcoming tese symptoms which are quite possibly in myhead.
Needles to say that last night I had another attack and despite my attempts to manage it at home I got to the ER (the ativan i was prescribed and that I have been trying to stop using did not help at all as 3 hours after the attack started I was still shaking and hyperventilating, feeling like I'm about to faint etc).
Oh, and Greenlydia, I don't think you are off the mark, not even for a second. Again, many thanks for your reply and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again.
To begin with I have received the results of my brain MRI and they are ... needless to say NORMAL.
To answer your question about my stress level - I used to consider myself stress free until the tachycardia started, and the, once the ER visits, doctors, prescriptions, tests etc came into my life.. like you said I did become a stress monster.
Now I have a question - for you or anyone else that can pitch in.
Is it common that anxiety symptoms are with me 24/7? And they\ve been with me for a couple of months now - changing from tim to time, but almost always present regardless of how relaxed or stressed out I think I am.
I have anything from headaches, to muscle aches, difficulty breathing and swallowing, pins and needles in my left arm and leg (not from hyperventilatng though) etc?
I have read quite a lot about anxiety, panic attacks, etc, and I still have a hard time accepting the fact that this is whatis wrong with me, but I also know I am facing quite a challenge in terms of overcoming tese symptoms which are quite possibly in myhead.
Needles to say that last night I had another attack and despite my attempts to manage it at home I got to the ER (the ativan i was prescribed and that I have been trying to stop using did not help at all as 3 hours after the attack started I was still shaking and hyperventilating, feeling like I'm about to faint etc).
Oh, and Greenlydia, I don't think you are off the mark, not even for a second. Again, many thanks for your reply and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again.
I'm going to try to whittle this down a bit..........for my own sanity.
So far your doctors have told you these symptoms are, or could be........ 1) tachycardia
2) costochondritis
3) vascular headaches/migraines
4) likely stress related, so they suggested I have anxiety attacks
You have had a staggering number of tests done, most of which have come back negative with the exception of a low iron reading and a positive ANA titre.
You are awaiting the results of two tests, a two week loop monitor and an MRI.
We usually tell people NOT to accept a diagnosis of anxiety/panic until everything organic has been ruled out. I'd say that by the time you get those two remaining test results, you WILL have ruled out damn near everything. Which brings us full circle to the only diagnosis that all the doctors seem to agree on............anxiety/panic attacks.
We also understand (and believe) that your symptoms are very real. Because we know how health anxiety makes our minds think. We know how terribly powerful our minds are. And we know that our minds can convince us of anything.
You want to know if the increasing amount of stress in your life is responsible for this mess your in. Since you didn't tell us anything about your life prior to the onset of the tachycardia symptoms, there is no way to even guess if stress/anxiety lead to these symptoms. I can tell you that with each new symptom, each new test, different doctors telling you different things, waiting for test results.....good Godfrey........that would turn ANYONE into a stress monster! Because we only know what you've told us, we're sort of left guessing which came first.......chicken or the egg, anxiety or the symptoms.
I can't think of any test you've missed. You've pretty much had every major system in your body thoroughly vetted. There IS no test for anxiety/panic except the "test" of elimination. When everything else has been ruled out and anxiety is the only thing left on the table, then that's the hand you have to play.
Give this some thought and if you would like to discuss what your next move could/should be, please post again (on this same thread, please) or we can talk about how far off the mark I am.
Peace
Greenlydia
So far your doctors have told you these symptoms are, or could be........ 1) tachycardia
2) costochondritis
3) vascular headaches/migraines
4) likely stress related, so they suggested I have anxiety attacks
You have had a staggering number of tests done, most of which have come back negative with the exception of a low iron reading and a positive ANA titre.
You are awaiting the results of two tests, a two week loop monitor and an MRI.
We usually tell people NOT to accept a diagnosis of anxiety/panic until everything organic has been ruled out. I'd say that by the time you get those two remaining test results, you WILL have ruled out damn near everything. Which brings us full circle to the only diagnosis that all the doctors seem to agree on............anxiety/panic attacks.
We also understand (and believe) that your symptoms are very real. Because we know how health anxiety makes our minds think. We know how terribly powerful our minds are. And we know that our minds can convince us of anything.
You want to know if the increasing amount of stress in your life is responsible for this mess your in. Since you didn't tell us anything about your life prior to the onset of the tachycardia symptoms, there is no way to even guess if stress/anxiety lead to these symptoms. I can tell you that with each new symptom, each new test, different doctors telling you different things, waiting for test results.....good Godfrey........that would turn ANYONE into a stress monster! Because we only know what you've told us, we're sort of left guessing which came first.......chicken or the egg, anxiety or the symptoms.
I can't think of any test you've missed. You've pretty much had every major system in your body thoroughly vetted. There IS no test for anxiety/panic except the "test" of elimination. When everything else has been ruled out and anxiety is the only thing left on the table, then that's the hand you have to play.
Give this some thought and if you would like to discuss what your next move could/should be, please post again (on this same thread, please) or we can talk about how far off the mark I am.
Peace
Greenlydia
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