Breathing problems and pain - just anxiety?

[Angie122]

Hello all

I am new here but have been reading articles on here for about a year.

I've had chest pains/breathing problems for about a year now. Still don't know what it is. My fiance's grandmother died of esophageal cancer in December and my grandfather died of lung cancer in April so of course these things are prominent in my mind. I have had multiple chest x-rays which have come back clear, a gastroscopy (in February) which came back clear, tested for Helibactor P (came back clear), tested for asthma, came back clear... had an ENT look down my nasal passage and throat, all clear... what is wrong with me???

I was given diazepam back in January and I think I felt ok for a little while on them but then I didnt again. I havent tried any other type of anxiety medication. If it is anxiety only then I think I could deal with it, but I am so scared that it is something else which is being missed!

I have a few questions:

1) If I had my gastroscopy back in February is it worth getting another one done? If cancer was there would it have shown up in the first instance? I do feel the need to burp a lot, sometimes I feel like omeprazole does help, and I am starting only past few weeks to notice a little stiffness in my throat when I swallow - but this could just be my imagination/anxiety.

2) I have only ever had x-rays on my chest. Should I be getting CT/MRI? Could they pick up something the x-ray didnt?

3) I also have a painful back (on and off). I have bad posture. Could this be linked?

4) Any other ideas what could be wrong with me??

To summarise the problems I suffer:

- Feel like I can't get a deep enough breath
- Feel like I need to yawn, then can't do so
- Always feel like I need to shrug my shoulders to encourage air to move
- Tight 'global hystericus' at my throat on numerous occasions
- Tight, painful crushing pain in chest which goes through to my back
- Sometimes waking up as falling asleep, waking with a 'start' gasping for air and sitting upright
- No other panic symptoms; never 'feel' anxious, no headaches, no shaking, tingling, etc.
- No sickness

[Andria24]

Angie - do you want to be told you have a chronic illness? Do you want to keep subjecting yourself to all those tests, or would you much rather be free of the illness that you do have?

Make an appointment with your doctor. Explain just how low you've become, about the intrusive thoughts, the fear and anxiety. Get yourself onto a combined treatment program - therapy and meds. And start looking differently at your life.

You are ill, you can recover, and the way to do so is to pour all the energy wasted on searching for horrible diseases into your recovery from anxiety disorder.

Final word - welcome to NMP :hugs:

[HoneyLove]

Angie a lot of this, even the breathing stuff, sounds similar to stuff I go through with acid reflux or gastritis. I have a really sensitive stomach and when it flares up I get a lot of these symptoms.

You said you were on omeprazole - have you been diagnosed with GERD? Omeprazole will only work properly after you've been using it every day for at least two weeks and will take up to two months to reach its best performance.

You know anxiety and stress makes acid reflux much worse, have you been doing anything to manage the anxiety?