29 and it just happened out of the blue

[james_grimble]

Hi,

My episodes all started back in April. I was shopping with my girlfriend when I left hand went numb and I started to get pins and needles. After about 10 mins of the pins and needles getting progressively worse I suddenly felt like I was going to collapse.

I rushed to sit down and as soon as I did my heart went beserk ! Literally 200 beats per minute, I genuinely thought I was gong to die. Chest pains started and I was breathing heavily.

Anyway I was taken to hospital were I was told that I hadn’t had a heart attack, and it was just an episode. Obviously this alarmed me as ive never had anything like that happen to me before.

From this point on I have never felt the same and since April I have probably had another 10 episodes. I have also had daily chest pains, feel lightheaded, disconnected and I have worried myself sick.

I have been to a&e 3 times, had multiple ECG’s and a 24hr holter monitor that all checked out fine and blood tests have shown nothing abnormal. I still got the chest pains daily though and decided to pay private and I am due an echo and a 3 day monitor.


I have also had sore arm pits on and off for 5 months and I feel constantly drained. I never feel refreshed when I wake up either. I know it sounds ridiculous but I am convinced there is something seriously wrong with my, like cancer .

I just don’t understand how I can go from feeling perfectly normal not a care in the world to having these daily pains and episodes.

Im 29 year old male and ive never had anything like this before, im convinced there is something seriously wrong with me, I just don’t feel like me anymore.

Sorry for going on its just I am really struggling to accept that I can have daily chest pains when I am not stressed and I am just watching the tv.

[ankietyjoe]

Hi James

Rest assured this is a very familiar story for many people here.

It started in a very similar way for me at about the age of 35.

THE most important thing you can do is to not start believing something is wrong, and never, ever google symptoms. You'll just create more unfounded fears in your mind. You have been given the medical all clear so just accept that!

[james_grimble]

Hopefully when i get the echo and 3 day monitor and that comes back fine then i can begin to just ignore the symptoms and get on with life.

I am also going to push for a chest xray though to make sure i dont have any tumours or anything like that ! ( i heard Uwe Rossler on the radio yesterday ( ex city player ) and he had lymphoma. His symptoms were chest pains and fatigue, it sent my mind into overdrive so i need an xray for piece of mind ).

I find it hard to accept jsut because i am not an anxious person and i have never had a problem with nerves etc.

Such a strange thing to have before this is somebody said they had anxiety or panic attacks i would have rolled my eyes.

[ankietyjoe]

You are already looking for more confirmation that that you're ok. If you have all the tests that you hope for, you invariably will find something else to focus on and worry about.

a) Let the Doctors do their job

b) Don't read up on what it 'might' be, at all. You are not qualified to diagnose yourself.

c) Chest pain and fatigue are common symptoms for a thousand and one different ailments, very few of them life threatening.

Trust me on this, you are going down the same path as a million people before you. It's the worrying about what it might be that's causing the issues.

[hello1984]

Hi

My first post yesterday mirrors yours. I was fine, had an episode and since then have not been the same. This forum has given me hope, our stories are very common and very normal. I also have been to a&e on several occassions and been given the all clear. Its hard to accept, but its anxiery. The next step for us both is cbt and changes in lifestyle.

Stay strong and read my first post yesterday. You will see we are similar :)

[james_grimble]

I know its anxiety but when its happening I genuinely start to think this isnt normal this time im gonna have a heart attack.

I had chest pains from 2pm till about 8pm last night. While I was watching the fireworks with my kids the pains were terrible and I though im gonna have a heart attack in the park. They passed by the time I was home and I had a good sleep.

Feel okish today and only had a little niggly pains.

Its so strange this anxiety. The way it can affect you when you are not in a situation of stress and you feel entirely relaxed.

[Emphyrio]

While I don't have panic attacks per se, I do have periods where I experience high levels of restlessness/agitation/excitability - this normally triggers my OCD thoughts in return. I had never experienced such symptoms in the past and thought that it must be some kind of physical problem. Like you I went to the doctors and had various blood tests which came back negative.

However, I did start noticing patterns to when these period of agitation occurred. They seemed to largely occur the night after drinking alcohol. This was made worse if I'd had low levels of sleep, or had taken a lot of caffeine to wake me up. I then read that while alcohol can relax you at the time by increasing levels of GABA (which has tranquilising effects) - the next day you can experience a 'glutamate rebound'. Glutamate is an 'activating' neurotransmitter, and works closely together with GABA.

What I would try is to avoid all alcohol for a week or two if possible to see if this has any effect. I know that I certainly love a drink, but at least you could see if that may be partly responsible for any of your physical symptoms. Try to limit or cut out your caffeine intake too - caffeine increases levels of glutamate which can be anxiety-provoking. Tea however contains theanine which counteracts the stimulating effects of the caffeine to some extent. Incidentally, chamomile tea stimulates GABA, which is why it works for low level anxiety and insomnia.

I know its hard as I love a few beers and some freshly ground coffee, but at least then you could identify it as causing the problem. You may be able to introduce one or both back into your diet in moderation.

[ankietyjoe]

I had chest pains from 2pm till about 8pm last night.

I had chest pains from October 2011 to......... wait I still have them. Every day.

It's critical you learn to ignore the symptoms as early as possible if a GP has given you the all clear.

[sallybingo]

Hi im new on here too, and your symptoms sound exactly the same as mine, I have learned to accept that I have anxiety and since ive done that my life is loads better!! Keep telling yourself its anxiety and it will go, and it will do! Not overnight and somethings still effect me but you learn to control your feelings better!! And then your body will relax too!! ..I learn to make my self relax when I feel symptoms coming on me, you are not alone!! Xx

[harasgenster]

Its so strange this anxiety. The way it can affect you when you are not in a situation of stress and you feel entirely relaxed.

I think that's the thing with anxiety, because it's called 'anxiety' you expect to only feel it when you're stressed. But you get 'latent anxiety' as well, which is basically panicking ages after something has happened, or just still being worked up from something and you haven't even noticed yet. It's pretty normal not to notice things going on in your body, because except for those with health anxiety (the path you're following, I'm afraid, unless you find a way to stop worrying about your physical wellbeing) the lead-up to panic can be kind of invisible. Those with HA tend to focus on every little niggle and pain and that mental focus increases the pain (pain in itself is largely psychological rather than physical, which is why you can be hypnotised out of it...focusing will make the pain worse). As a result of us not noticing what's gong on, a panic attack can appear to just come out of the blue.

But it's likely there's been something on your mind that triggered this.

OR you were taking drugs the night before your first attack, you'd been drinking a lot of caffeine, you hadn't eaten for a while, you were hungover, you hadn't had enough sleep <<<<all of those things could potentially trigger a panic attack in an otherwise healthy person. If one of those caused your initial attack then the following attacks and pains etc are because you're so worried that attack was a sign of something else/or that it will happen again.

Work out what the reason was for the first attack and tackle that, I say.

[retter]

I Can totally understand the frustration of how, one minute your ok the next you feel as though your about to lose it or die . I have only recently began to feel such things and never fully thought about or understood what a panic attack was{ ignorance is bliss } i now worry about this almost daily and really struggle to keep my mind off the negatives. I think if you are busy you are less aware of yourself and seem to flow through time again without a care but as soon as your still things begin to happen. I just hope that this will reduce as time goes on as to live with this is difficult and a right pain in the a**e. i just want to get on with my life, as does everybody else here. I wish us all peace and contentment with the ability to enjoy life like we should.
I hope thats not too heavy but sometimes it comes flowing out, i hope you understand.
thank God for this site. it helps me, i hope it helps you too.

[Antonio2301]

Hi James .. This is exactly how I started many years ago when I was 19 years old
This is a FULL BLOWN panic attack you are describing . You're adrenaline is pumping that fast which causes the pins and needles and numbness and a faint feeling as though you're ready to pass out . I have had a lot of these in the last 21 years but I have never passed out and probably never will ! .

I was out shopping about 3 weeks ago , stood in the que and felt it building up .After years of having these , when I feel this is coming on to do breathing exercises I've learnt, It will definitely help !

Just a reassuring you that although these are very unpleasant they are harmless and nothing bad is going to happen .My advice is if you haven't already try to learn some breathing exercise techniques, it really will make a difference.

All the best Tony

[james_grimble]

Thanks for the replies !

Since it first happened I thought I have heart problems, breathing problems, blood clot in my legs, brain tumour, leaukemia, lymphoma.

Every a new pain I have now I relate to another pain and then I build that into a case for why I have one of the above.

What really concerns me is the underarm pain though. I am going to get that checked out, ask for an xray to make sure nothing is going on in my chest and then if that’s all clear just finally accept im am ok and its just anxiety.



---------- Post added at 10:56 ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 ----------

Well since my last post i feel very strange.

i Woke up felt fine, drove to work felt fine but for the past half hour i have felt off.

My head feels strange i cant explain it and my face is flushed. My chest also feels weird.

When people say do breathing exercises will this make me feel normal again or will it just hold off a full blown panic attack but i will still feel the way i am now ?

Thanks

[ankietyjoe]

Thanks for the replies !

Since it first happened I thought I have heart problems, breathing problems, blood clot in my legs, brain tumour, leaukemia, lymphoma.

Every a new pain I have now I relate to another pain and then I build that into a case for why I have one of the above.

What really concerns me is the underarm pain though. I am going to get that checked out, ask for an xray to make sure nothing is going on in my chest and then if that’s all clear just finally accept im am ok and its just anxiety.



---------- Post added at 10:56 ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 ----------

Well since my last post i feel very strange.

i Woke up felt fine, drove to work felt fine but for the past half hour i have felt off.

My head feels strange i cant explain it and my face is flushed. My chest also feels weird.

When people say do breathing exercises will this make me feel normal again or will it just hold off a full blown panic attack but i will still feel the way i am now ?

Thanks

This is the reason for my initial post. Your symptoms will change and evolve, and it's this that causes problems for people most of the time.

Breathing exercises are the first step in keeping yourself calm. It's also important to keep telling yourself that you're ok and it's just anxiety causing the problem. This isn't just to take your mind off things, you're instructing your subconscious not to over-react to everything that you feel.

Breathing exercises, meditation, mindfulness are all excellent ways of beating anxiety over time, but it does take time. You have to take a view that it's like trying to lose weight. It's something that takes effort over a prolonged period of time.

If you do some research on what symptoms anxiety can produce, it can be literally anything, and a lot of the time it will be a number of them at the same time. The key is to accept this, and don't worry about it. Which of course is harder than it sounds.

It's worth looking into CBT as well, and of course some people use medication to help.

[cactusjohn5]

I'm 28 almost 29 and i had my first attack a little over a month ago, it's been a battle, the dr keep telling me it is just anxiety, but that is so hard to accept. Over a month of little to no sleep and it starting to take a toll on your body, so now your pains PEAK your anxiety for things like chest pain or headaches. All of these can be linked back to just being fatigued and anxiety.

The best thing you can do is to start seeing a therapist.

You are not alone and you can get through this!

[Mr Mannering]

Hi James, this is an all too familiar story with many members here no doubt. By reading your post it is very similar to my own experiences and I don't generally feel stressed but what I do have without a doubt is a fear of having another panic attack and this may be your case also. So you are super tuned into any tingle pain etc etc...which will trigger the internal panic button.

[james_grimble]

Hi all, over 2.5 years since i first posted and i thought id come back and give you all an update.

After about 18 months of living anightmare thinking i was having a heart attack, cancer etc etc well i can honestly say i feel fantastic !

i havent had any episodes in nearly 8 months, my fear has lifted and i feel virtually 100%.

nothing changed externally ive been doing the same, i did cbt which did nothing for me, but i gradually though, if my heart was packing in, id be dead by now, its been 18 months....andif i had cancer it would be everywhereby now and id be really ill !

i started training again and now ive been great for months, no longer wory about my heart or if i have cancer.

i feel great !

hope everyone can come through the other side like me !

[faithfulone]

I was just reading through your thread and glad to hear you've been fine. That's great news! I started CBT and it's helped me quite a bit. In a way the thinking you used as an example above is similar to CBT in that you've told yourself something that makes the anxiety go away. Such as the symptoms are not dangerous, etc.......CBT may have helped more than you think. That's great!