feels like anixiety attacks

[sharon86327]

rapid heart beat right below throat.  sweating and afraid to take deep breaths.  lightheaded.  usually passes within 15-20 min.  I ususally take a tranqulizer and I feel better.  Is this an anixeity attack?


This discussion is related to palpatations?.

[achillea]

With diagnosed a-fib, you should now have a regular cardiologist with whom you can have conversations about attacks and what to do about them.

[sharon86327]

I used an event monitor.  It's the size of a cell phone. When you have an attack you turn it on an press it to your chest.. Then you download it from a landline to the co. An they send it to your dr.  At least I know what I have but I just sit around waiting for another attack.

[achillea]

It's good to have the right diagnosis at last--maybe not much fun for you, but it does answer a bunch of questions.

Did they have you wear a monitor that finally caught the a-fib?

[sharon86327]

I finally know what is wrong with me.  I have afib.  The medication right now is kicking my butt.  Drinking seems to set off an attack.

[achillea]

Sharon, it' s good your ticker has been checked out.

Have you ever heard the saying about hearing hoofbeats and keeping your eyes open for a giraffe?  Where there aren't any giraffes?

At this point, it couldn't hurt to go back to the link I provided and run through the list again.

Panic and anxiety are physical disorders like diabetes or sickle cell anemia, and having these conditions has no moral implications.  It's just a bad throw of the genetic dice, and one does not get to choose where it comes to inheritance.

The sensible thing to do now is consult the right specialist, which in this case is a shrink who specializes in anxiety.

[sharon86327]

Thank you so much for your answers.  So far my heart checks out fine, had a Cat Scan for thyroid.  Fine.  Went to dentist.  Fine.  Now I need to see if it might be Lipitor.  I've been taking it though for about 15 yrs

[skydnsr]

I'm glad you are open-minded enough to consider anxiety as the cause of your symptoms.  I will just add, and I think achillea will agree with me on this, that you also need to be checked out physically, just to make absolutely sure that nothing medical is wrong.  Anxiety is what they call a diagnosis of exclusion.  Physical disorders that could cause your symptoms have to be excluded, in the process of evaluating you for anxiety.  If that's already been done, great.  In that case, you can move on and get treatment for your anxiety.  Good luck.

[achillea]

Sure sounds like it to me (and I have had quite a few).  Here is a list of symptoms:

http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/anxiety-attack-symptoms