Smellsofroses
19-06-12, 21:25
Hello
Over the last few months I have experienced numerous anxiety problems and have read many posts on here in my efforts to work out what was happening to me. They have been really helpful and now I really want to share my symptoms in the hope that perhaps it might help others in similar situations. That's not to say that it's still important to seek medical advice as I'm NOT a Dr but if I can help it would be great.
What has struck me is how many people do suffer from anxiety, and also how it can physically affect the body.
My anxiety has stemmed from many things - I've always been "highly strung" but last year my mother passed away and it has set in motion a number of life changes. Without realising the stress started to build and with it the effects on my body (and mind)
1. A full on panic attack was the first symptom
It really felt like I was having a heart attack. Chest pains, numbness in my left arm, the sweats. It last 2 days. I calmed down once I went to see an out of hours doctor who assured me it was most likely a heart attack - I waited 2 hrs before going so he was pretty confident! Even so the full effects did not go immediately. It was relentless. When I thought about it, waves came back - truly horrible.
2. Swallowing and indigestion
It came from nowhere about a week later. My GP had warned me that sometimes a panic attack can be a watershed for more to come - boy was he right. He had also prescribed 10mg Propranalol but the side effects made me more anxious so I chose not to take them (!!)
One day as I was eating my food just stuck. I literally had to cough and stick my finger down my throat to try and push it down. I eventually washed it down with water and then it happened again. I could feel every bit of food moving down my tube - very unpleasant and it did not go away after a few days. In fact it got worse. I was burping and in pain, and no antacids worked. Pretty quickly I had scanned every article on the internet and self diagnosed Oesophageal cancer. I had 2 weeks of hell thinking about how I would never see my kids grow up before I saw an ENT who passed me on to a gastro specialist who did a gastroscopy and told me I was fine. He diagnosed Globus Hystericus and said it was stress. He also took lots of blood tests to prove I was not ill. Ironically I had a low Lymphocyte count which I have read can be caused by stress!!
Despite this reassurance my back and shoulder started to hurt - in one place. As an ex smoker (long time given up) and a coincidental chest infection I then convinced through self diagnosis that I was suffering from lung cancer. By this time my GP was telling me I needed to see a shrink and has referred for CBT. Despite this reassurance I then spent the next 2 weeks spitting sputum into a tissue at any opportunity (discretely of course!) and examining it for blood streaks, and anything sinister. By now my husband was on the verge of divorce (well he was pretty fed up). My back was getting worse and my lungs were so tight I was breathless. I felt like I was suffocating. I was wheezing.
I have today (fortunately) just come back from seeing one of the top respiratory consultants in the UK who was lovely. I told him everything and he agreed after listening to my story that it was probably stress. He assured me that the lungs can be affected by stress but he would give me a CAT scan on my lungs as he also felt he wanted to be sure and hopefully prove to me that I needed to stop all of this. It came back perfect. He has said I am asthmatic though (hence whzeezing) but I have stastically another 47.5 years at least to live and enjoy my life!!!
So that's my journey. What a hell of a few months. I have seen more doctors and specialists than I have in my lifetime (and I'm over 40!)
Even though my mind kind of knew that I was going crazy, I could not let it go - the symptoms were so real. It is amazing what anxiety can do to your body.
I really hoped this has helped if anyone reads this - you are definitely not alone and you have to do what is going to make you feel better but your body can pretty much develop symptoms according to what you think you have (it did for me). Oh and the internet is a bad place for self-diagnosis!!
Good luck everyone x
Over the last few months I have experienced numerous anxiety problems and have read many posts on here in my efforts to work out what was happening to me. They have been really helpful and now I really want to share my symptoms in the hope that perhaps it might help others in similar situations. That's not to say that it's still important to seek medical advice as I'm NOT a Dr but if I can help it would be great.
What has struck me is how many people do suffer from anxiety, and also how it can physically affect the body.
My anxiety has stemmed from many things - I've always been "highly strung" but last year my mother passed away and it has set in motion a number of life changes. Without realising the stress started to build and with it the effects on my body (and mind)
1. A full on panic attack was the first symptom
It really felt like I was having a heart attack. Chest pains, numbness in my left arm, the sweats. It last 2 days. I calmed down once I went to see an out of hours doctor who assured me it was most likely a heart attack - I waited 2 hrs before going so he was pretty confident! Even so the full effects did not go immediately. It was relentless. When I thought about it, waves came back - truly horrible.
2. Swallowing and indigestion
It came from nowhere about a week later. My GP had warned me that sometimes a panic attack can be a watershed for more to come - boy was he right. He had also prescribed 10mg Propranalol but the side effects made me more anxious so I chose not to take them (!!)
One day as I was eating my food just stuck. I literally had to cough and stick my finger down my throat to try and push it down. I eventually washed it down with water and then it happened again. I could feel every bit of food moving down my tube - very unpleasant and it did not go away after a few days. In fact it got worse. I was burping and in pain, and no antacids worked. Pretty quickly I had scanned every article on the internet and self diagnosed Oesophageal cancer. I had 2 weeks of hell thinking about how I would never see my kids grow up before I saw an ENT who passed me on to a gastro specialist who did a gastroscopy and told me I was fine. He diagnosed Globus Hystericus and said it was stress. He also took lots of blood tests to prove I was not ill. Ironically I had a low Lymphocyte count which I have read can be caused by stress!!
Despite this reassurance my back and shoulder started to hurt - in one place. As an ex smoker (long time given up) and a coincidental chest infection I then convinced through self diagnosis that I was suffering from lung cancer. By this time my GP was telling me I needed to see a shrink and has referred for CBT. Despite this reassurance I then spent the next 2 weeks spitting sputum into a tissue at any opportunity (discretely of course!) and examining it for blood streaks, and anything sinister. By now my husband was on the verge of divorce (well he was pretty fed up). My back was getting worse and my lungs were so tight I was breathless. I felt like I was suffocating. I was wheezing.
I have today (fortunately) just come back from seeing one of the top respiratory consultants in the UK who was lovely. I told him everything and he agreed after listening to my story that it was probably stress. He assured me that the lungs can be affected by stress but he would give me a CAT scan on my lungs as he also felt he wanted to be sure and hopefully prove to me that I needed to stop all of this. It came back perfect. He has said I am asthmatic though (hence whzeezing) but I have stastically another 47.5 years at least to live and enjoy my life!!!
So that's my journey. What a hell of a few months. I have seen more doctors and specialists than I have in my lifetime (and I'm over 40!)
Even though my mind kind of knew that I was going crazy, I could not let it go - the symptoms were so real. It is amazing what anxiety can do to your body.
I really hoped this has helped if anyone reads this - you are definitely not alone and you have to do what is going to make you feel better but your body can pretty much develop symptoms according to what you think you have (it did for me). Oh and the internet is a bad place for self-diagnosis!!
Good luck everyone x