Not a good day....PE/heart fears again

[desertraven]

Just when I thought I was doing okay I started feeling anxious last night and did not sleep a wink. I was convinced that every time I would lay down I cannot breathe. I have a pulse ox and my O2 is always normal. I try using that to calm myself but to no avail.

My PE fears started two weeks ago. I had a bout of bad reflux and had an endoscopy there was no active erosion but I did have a hiatal hernia. Dr put me on protonix and said all is good. I have felt short of breath since before the endoscopy and up until now, off and on. I had a chest x-ray:normal. I had a d-dimer blood test: normal. I have not had swollen calves or redness, etc and O2 sats are normal. I do not smoke, drink, and am not on birth control pills. I can't beat this feeling that I still have a PE and the d-dimer is somehow a false negative, even though everything I read about that test says it's an excellent indicator to rule out PE. The Dr in the ER said that if I had a PE I would not be carrying on for weeks with moments of feeling fine. He said I would know for sure I had it and my vitals would reflect that by now.

Can my anxiety really cause shortness of breath for weeks??? WEEKS!? It comes in waves and I also have no appetite. I feel like a wreck. I have an appt next week with my GP to discuss going on an SSRI and I am actively looking for a therapist. What else can I do? I feel ridiculous running to the ER every time I feel like I am dying only to have normal vitals signs and the Dr saying "you are feeling the effects of extreme stress". I work, go to nursing school full time, have a family, weekend clinical rotations so yes I am stretched thin. I am worried that if I can't get it together I am going to end up inpatient somewhere to get stabilized.

---------- Post added at 11:21 ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 ----------

I totally forgot to add that I went to urgent care this morning and the Dr there actually listened to what I was describing and thinks I have mild asthma induced by allergies. She gave me an inhaler and some steroids and said lets try that and see if it works with your shortness of breath before you meet with your GP. Fingers crossed that it was this the entire time and will get better over the next few days.

[Ihavelostmymarbles]

Reflux can cause shortness of breath. Just listen to the doctors and you will be fine. If the shortness of breath is caused by reflux, the protonix will take care of it soon. Just take your meds and definitely see your GP to discuss your SSRI options if that's what you want. Discuss your allergies and asthma with the GP too because you may be able to see a pulmonary doctor who can run tests to see if you have asthma.

[anx mum]

Just when I thought I was doing okay I started feeling anxious last night and did not sleep a wink. I was convinced that every time I would lay down I cannot breathe. I have a pulse ox and my O2 is always normal. I try using that to calm myself but to no avail.

My PE fears started two weeks ago. I had a bout of bad reflux and had an endoscopy there was no active erosion but I did have a hiatal hernia. Dr put me on protonix and said all is good. I have felt short of breath since before the endoscopy and up until now, off and on. I had a chest x-ray:normal. I had a d-dimer blood test: normal. I have not had swollen calves or redness, etc and O2 sats are normal. I do not smoke, drink, and am not on birth control pills. I can't beat this feeling that I still have a PE and the d-dimer is somehow a false negative, even though everything I read about that test says it's an excellent indicator to rule out PE. The Dr in the ER said that if I had a PE I would not be carrying on for weeks with moments of feeling fine. He said I would know for sure I had it and my vitals would reflect that by now.

Can my anxiety really cause shortness of breath for weeks??? WEEKS!? It comes in waves and I also have no appetite. I feel like a wreck. I have an appt next week with my GP to discuss going on an SSRI and I am actively looking for a therapist. What else can I do? I feel ridiculous running to the ER every time I feel like I am dying only to have normal vitals signs and the Dr saying "you are feeling the effects of extreme stress". I work, go to nursing school full time, have a family, weekend clinical rotations so yes I am stretched thin. I am worried that if I can't get it together I am going to end up inpatient somewhere to get stabilized.

---------- Post added at 11:21 ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 ----------

I totally forgot to add that I went to urgent care this morning and the Dr there actually listened to what I was describing and thinks I have mild asthma induced by allergies. She gave me an inhaler and some steroids and said lets try that and see if it works with your shortness of breath before you meet with your GP. Fingers crossed that it was this the entire time and will get better over the next few days.

Just read your thread I can really relate to this. I am currently getting chest pain and of course my worries are heart and a pe my anxiety is sky high and like u I wont sleep .How long has this been going on?

[desertraven]

Just read your thread I can really relate to this. I am currently getting chest pain and of course my worries are heart and a pe my anxiety is sky high and like u I wont sleep .How long has this been going on?

I initially presented to the ER about a month ago. I had been having reflux but taking over the counter meds periodically. One day I tasted blood in my mouth and freaked so I went to the ER. They did blood tests and said my hemoglobin and hematocrit levels were good and vitals were stable so they said follow up with a gastroenterologist. I had one more pink tinged spit episode after that and then saw a gastro Dr. He did a endoscopy and did not see any active bleeding, just a mild hiatal hernia. No explanation where the blood came from. I had not been sick and didn't have a bloody nose so I was fairly certain it didn't come from my sinuses. The days I tasted blood I blew my nose too and it was clear.

So after that I started on acid meds but became short of breath and have been especially for the past 2 weeks. Every Dr says it's anxiety and maybe it is. My d-dimer was normal but that was drawn 3 weeks from the first symptom so part of me worries that the d-dimer had cleared already despite there still being a clot. At this point I am exhausted and feel like everyone thinks I am a crazy person. I can't sleep, no appetite, short of breath all day, and Xanax only calms my anxiety it does not lessen my short of breath. I am just scared that I am a walking time bomb and there's this clot in my lung and no one will take me seriously.

[anx mum]

I like you find it hard to believe nothing sinister is going on. Its worrying I suffer with health anxiety so that makes it worse. Also my mum had a pe. I'm scared to sleep too I hate night time.

[ChildOfTheKing]

For a couple of months I've had the shortness of breath feeling so I understand and had those fears. Had a lot of tests done and nothing shows up except reflux & allergies, both of which can contribute. But a big contributer is also anxiety. If we focus on our breathing it is going to feel difficult, and we may manual breathe. I know I'm guilty of this way too much. Just something to think about.