Convinced I'm dying :(

I posted a week ago about my lack of appetite (for some reason I can't copy the link because I'm on my phone). It still hasn't come back and I'm worried that I'm on the verge of death. I went to a regular family dr last Wednesday and he sent me for bloodwork. I also went to my therapist last Thursday and he thinks I don't want to eat because I'm worried about not eating. I felt better for a day or so after seeing my therapist but now I feel awful. At first I thought maybe depression was to blame for my loss of appetite but I'm not able to as much as normal and now I think it might be physical. And possibly serious. I've been depressed/worried about my health for weeks at a time in the past and I've never lost my appetite like this before. Currently I think its my heart. I have some variation of the following symptoms:

-Pain in left front tooth (medical sites say this can happen with a heart attack. Mine has been hurting for a few days.)
-pain in neck and shoulders (this is on & off and sometimes so bad I use a heating pad. Can't figure out what causes it. It makes my arms, shoulders and neck weak and sore.)
-burning feeling in stomach and other digestive issues (can be caused by stomach receiving less blood due to weak heart) Medical sites say a month before a heart attack some women experienced nausea and loss of appetite which is what I have. Not so much the nausea now but the loss of appetite. I did have nausea before. They also say some people confuse the feeling for a peptic ulcer which is what I have been suspecting I might have...
-sweating at night (this happens on and off)
-I'm dead tired and can't sleep at night. I wake up hyperventilating. I've been getting tired around 7:30 pm even when I got enough sleep the night before. I was out with family yesterday doing some light shopping and fell asleep by 7:30 when I got home. They say before a heart attack people get unusually fatigued..
-build up of excess body fluids (I wore my invisalign the other night after skipping it for a few days and my gums were very swollen the next day. That has NEVER happened to me before.) I also haven't been peeing as much as usual and I usually go A LOT. This can also be a sign of heart attack because the kidneys are not working properly.
-I've also been getting more frequent weird feeling heart palpitations. They almost feel like air stuck in my chest but not of that makes sense. They say heart attacks can feel like indigestion. I am very worried about this.

I went to a cardiologist back in May of this year and he said my heart was structurally normal and I was just having PVC's. Coronary heart disease runs in my family though and from what I've read an ekg and echocardiogram will not detect blocked arteries. I asked if I needed testing for that and was assured I did not. I'm a 25 year old female btw.

I don't know what to do. I'm worried sick and don't think I have much time left. I worried I will feel like this forever and I'll never want to eat again. I'm worried its my heart and no one will listen to me until its too late. I have an appointment on Wednesday to discuss the blood results however they said if anything serious comes up they will call me sooner. So now I'll be on edge until then hoping I don't get a phone call. I'm so anxious I don't want to go to work. Even on days I do eat a decent amount my weight just keeps going down. I just had bloodwork done in may and the only thing slightly high was my cholesterol. Also, my temperature was low on Wed, 97.1 and I've been worrying about that :( I heard that is not good! Does anyone have any advice on how to get through this? I was prescribed lexapro 5mg and xanax .25 mg but won't take them because I'm scared of side effects.

Well... based on your posts, you're not dying. Your heart is normal. You do have a hiatal hernia and acid reflux as you stated and are taking meds for that. You're also in therapy to help with your anxiety so you're doing the right things to treat yourself.

Anxiety, a hiatal hernia and acid reflux can cause some rather alarming physical symptoms, one being loss of appetite. It doesn't mean you're dying nor will it affect you in a negative way unless you refuse to eat.

When I was going through treatment for head and neck cancer, I lost a ton of weight. I was so sick from treatment that I couldn't eat if I wanted to. BUT... I had to maintain nutrition just to survive. I forced myself to eat no matter what. If actually sitting down and eating a meal is too much right now, try some of the liquid nutrition options like Ensure Plus or Boost. You can get whey protein from the store, mix it with milk and fruit and make a very nutritious shake that's loaded with calories (and delicious too!)

I'm with your therapist that what you're dealing with is totally psychological in nature. Keep on going to therapy, talk your meds and try some of the suggestions I've mentioned. I don't know about you but I LOVE good food and to eat. Eventually your stomach and eyes will get the better of you and you won't be able to pass up a good meal ;)

And for goodness sakes, stop Googling! OR... if you just can't control yourself, put the word "anxiety" into the search and see what comes up. Like "heart palpitations, anxiety" or "night sweats, anxiety" or "fatigue, anxiety" and see what comes up.

Positive thoughts

Positive thoughts

Hi, I lost allot of weight my GP did bloodwork and all came back normal and has said she thinks its all stress and anxiety related. she put me on Mirt and slowly but surely my appetite has come back. I'm still not eating 3 meals a day but when I do eat I eat well and the boost drinks are a life saver Its horrible what anxiety and stress can do to our bodies

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Originally Posted by Fishmanpa

Well... based on your posts, you're not dying. Your heart is normal. You do have a hiatal hernia and acid reflux as you stated and are taking meds for that. You're also in therapy to help with your anxiety so you're doing the right things to treat yourself.

Anxiety, a hiatal hernia and acid reflux can cause some rather alarming physical symptoms, one being loss of appetite. It doesn't mean you're dying nor will it affect you in a negative way unless you refuse to eat.

When I was going through treatment for head and neck cancer, I lost a ton of weight. I was so sick from treatment that I couldn't eat if I wanted to. BUT... I had to maintain nutrition just to survive. I forced myself to eat no matter what. If actually sitting down and eating a meal is too much right now, try some of the liquid nutrition options like Ensure Plus or Boost. You can get whey protein from the store, mix it with milk and fruit and make a very nutritious shake that's loaded with calories (and delicious too!)

I'm with your therapist that what you're dealing with is totally psychological in nature. Keep on going to therapy, talk your meds and try some of the suggestions I've mentioned. I don't know about you but I LOVE good food and to eat. Eventually your stomach and eyes will get the better of you and you won't be able to pass up a good meal ;)

And for goodness sakes, stop Googling! OR... if you just can't control yourself, put the word "anxiety" into the search and see what comes up. Like "heart palpitations, anxiety" or "night sweats, anxiety" or "fatigue, anxiety" and see what comes up.

Positive thoughts

Positive thoughts

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Thanks for your encouraging post. I didn't get any urgent calls from my dr so I guess that's a good sign. Since tomorrow is a holiday I probably won't be hearing from them either and my appointment is on Wednesday so I don't have much longer to wait.

I got very, very slightly excited to eat lunch today, however before I even prepared the food I got a dull ache in the right side of my jaw and I'm sure you can guess what I thought it was. Heart problems. So my appetite was completely shot after that. I wasn't able to finish my food. Since all of these appetite issues started I haven't been able to finish my meals. I'm worried it's something serious. Currently I'm worrying about:

-Heart Failure/Heart Attack (put a call into my cardiologist, waiting for a call back)
-Gastroparesis (which occurs most of the time with Diabetes which I also worry about. So now there are 2 things to worry about in 1, blah)
-Ovarian Cancer (I was worried about this before due to other symptoms (frequent ovarian cysts, frequent urination with no UTI)

My gastroenterologist thinks it's Functional Dyspepsia, which the treatment for that is to "discuss anxiety and stress with the patient". I just had an upper endoscopy in March, I'm wondering if gastroparesis could develop since then.

I just wanted to add that I can 100% say that this is just anxiety. I used to have very similar symptoms.

If you need to talk give me a message. And def stop googling, it really is not accurate in the slightest. And if you haven't, read at last a life by Paul David, amazing book, pretty much cured my anxiety.

Feel better soon, love and light.

Since tomorrow is a holiday I probably won't be hearing from them either and my appointment is on Wednesday so I don't have much longer to wait.

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Originally Posted by AnxiousGirl1

I just wanted to add that I can 100% say that this is just anxiety. I used to have very similar symptoms.

If you need to talk give me a message. And def stop googling, it really is not accurate in the slightest. And if you haven't, read at last a life by Paul David, amazing book, pretty much cured my anxiety.

Feel better soon, love and light.

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I will definitely check that book out. I'll try anything to get this under control. I really hope it is just anxiety. I've given myself a headache worrying about it :-/

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Originally Posted by cidandaner

Since tomorrow is a holiday I probably won't be hearing from them either and my appointment is on Wednesday so I don't have much longer to wait.

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What is your appointment for?