Nervous System problem or something else??

[sharetty]

I've had terrible symptoms of what my doctor claims to be anxiety for over a year, that include chest pains, shortness of breath every day, nausea, palpitations, seeing heartbeat in my eyes, neck throbbing and pain, cold feeling in my heart, weakness/EXTREME fatigue (feeling like my body's just going to shut down) and overall a constant, nervous-sick feeling right over where my heart is...it feels like it's dying... I've had an echocardiogram stress test and a CT scan of the heart done and the docs (2 different cardiologists) say nothing appears to be wrong.
I have been treating it for anxiety, which include lots of exercise, better diet, relaxing activities (yoga or stretching) and I've tried:
-propranolol (made me feel like i was going into heart failure),
-paxil (made symptoms worse, including severe jaw clenching)
-buspar (no change besides disturbing thoughts and dreams)
-various natural supplements
-xanax (only took when symptoms were abnormally severe, and worked; made me feel normal, which is VERY rare)
- I want to TRY gabapentin, because I'm hoping it's a neurological problem...but I'm scared because I usually have bad reactions to meds.

For the record I have also had a brain MRI and CT angiogram of my head which also seem normal.
Got my thyroid checked out and did some other blood tests a while back when I first started having symptoms, which also were all normal.

I want to believe it is a problem with my nervous system, as I also get dizzy and disorientated easily, and my eyes ache sometimes and I get spotty vision...I abused a LOT of drugs when I was a teenager, and I even had a couple of close calls (overdosing) on amphetamines... I also smoked a lot of what is called "spice" (a synthetic drug that was later found out to be quite dangerous)...
but right now I'm really afraid it's my heart, because I feel it right there!
Any advice?? I feel like I don't know where to turn...

[shawn8874]

hello i feel some of your pain altho i dont have those issues I have seen doc after doc for my issues which i believe to be nerological related. since july of last year i have had lightheadedness severer daily, feel like im going to pass out all the time, never has any issue in the past with urinarry so sice last july i have had bowel and urin issues to the point i am 38 years old and have to rely on wearing diapers. had mri, cat scanns, three spinal taps, blood test galore, and then they tell me i am healthy as a horse but my problems are phycological. witch really ticks you off , all this from really feeling a being perfectly healthy in the past. now all the sudden it is in my head. so i understand the frustration believe me i do, it *****

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

I am not sure how far has the cardiological evaluation been carried out. Though with normal EKGs and stress test, cardiac causes would be unlikely; other possibilities such as arrhythmias may need to be evaluated by a 24-48 hour holter monitoring. Aside stress/ anxiety, similar symptoms could also be causes due to respiratory causes, GI/ related issues, hormonal/ endocrine issues, nutrient/ micronutrient deficiencies etc. I would suggest considering a detailed evaluation by an internist initially and depending on the cause diagnosed. Suspected, it can be managed accordingly or specialist care may be sought.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!