Anxiety? Or something a bit more sinister?

[Modestaustin811]

The past month has been pretty terrible.


My anxiety has taken the foreground of my life and my physical symptoms are becoming too hard to handle at times. It all started after a heavy night of drinking where I swore I would never drink again, because of heightened anxiety the next day. Since then my anxiety has been through the roof and I'm beginning to wonder if its because of something beyond my control.

I believe I have POTS or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. A condition where your heart races when you go from a sitting position to a standing position. In some people this causes fainting, in others it causes blood pressure problems, anxiety, digestive issues, a whole slew of things. I believe this is what it is effecting me. Lately my symptoms have been.


Fast heart beat upon standing (especially if Ive been sitting for a long time)
Chest pressure
acid reflux
NO appetite
Unrefreshing sleep - I keep waking up after like 5 hours of sleep with my heart racing,
Vivid dreams - seem almost real
panic attacks
Dry mouth/ thirsty all the time
Dizziness
depression


Safe to say i've been feeling pretty horrible and I want answers. I'm going to book an appointment with my GP on monday and try and BEG him to see a specialist of some sort to get a tilt table test, the only definite test to tell you if you have POTS. I'm scared about what the future will hold, I'm suppose to start school finally this september and I don't want to be feeling like this by then, and if I am, I want to know why. If I go through that tilt table test and they tell me its just anxiety I'll accept that.

I'm just tired of forcing myself to eat, feeling exhausted, and this unrelenting anxiety as of late. POTS seems like a real potential answer. Any thoughts?

[KeeKee]

I am no expert and as you obviously know it's always best to get checked over but sounds like a classic case of anxiety. Ive lost 6lbs this week as I have had a terrible week. Not getting a decent sleep is a classic sign of depression and my doctor advised me (as I suffer from depressing and now panic) that they are both risk factors for the other.
I know it's hard but the tests are there as a precaution and it all sounds similar to lots of people's experiences on here.
Good luck

[Modestaustin811]

Sorry to hear about your recent troubles also...

Have you too been having sleeping trouble? and lack of appetite?

[KeeKee]

I have had depression for over 5 years and have always been an excessive sleeper. However, 8 weeks ago I started getting panic attacks and have not slept through a single night since. I sometimes wake up for hours and a few times have been frozen with fear and do not even dare go to the toilet in case I had a heart attack! I still eat but my appetite has decreased dramatically this past week. I have not snacked and am usually a massive eater! I havent been able to do anything!

---------- Post added at 21:33 ---------- Previous post was at 21:31 ----------

Also walking with racing heart (and palpitationd) is why I originally went to A&E and was advised to visit the doctor as it appeared I was having panic attacks! (ECG & blood tests fine)

[anxietygal]

Everything you're experiencing I had a few months ago when I was at my worst. The reflux and heartburn was so bad that couldn't stay asleep for more than an hour and that was sitting up in a chair and taking as much OTC antacids that I could. Water made me reflux so I was barely eating or drinking and I lost weight quickly and was probably a little dehydrated. Panic made my heart race and I was practically paralyzed with fear. The reflux and lack of sleep & eating was feeding my panic and the panic just made my stomach worse.

I went to the doctor and started Nexium (and it took over a week of two pills a day until my stomach calmed down enough to handle food on one pill a day), started taking regular clonazepam (again for a few weeks until my system calmed down) and I also found out I was anemic which had only added to the fatigue and racing heart. The other things I did was start taking a probiotic and drinking Ensure because it could get a lot of calories and vitamins into me quickly and was much easier than trying to eat anything. And my body was desperate for some nutrition as I was just depleted from the constant adrenaline and not enough food and sleep.

Once I settled my stomach somewhat, it was easier for me to calm down the panic because I had less chest pains and pressure. I'm still working on the anxiety and my stomach isn't perfect, but it's much better than it was. So I would encourage you to ask the doctor for something to address the reflux in addition to something for the anxiety/panic. While I can't say if you have POTS (although I think it's pretty rare), I do know that all of your symptoms can be caused by anxiety and acid reflux which can be caused and/or made worse by anxiety. The good news is that both are easily treatable!