horrible center of chest pain getting worse need help

[stressed_out]

hey sorry to make another post here but i need help
last night i had a small weird chest pain around heart, i had a feeling that it was a sign of something horrible about to happen, just a smaller version of it. i tried to brush it off as an ocd though as i've learned in mindfulness therapy and tried my best to ignore it and go to sleep. i woke up this morning with same pain but a larger area of my heart area. again i tried to rationalize its anxiety and went on with my day. i had center of chest pressure pain like crushing in center and worried about it and took my anxiety medicine (500mg of GABA, trying to get off of xanax) and it didn't get rid of the pain. the pain eventually went away though.

about two hours ago i had an even bigger worse feeling similar to the one i had last night before bed.i could literally feel what felt like a huge vein one inch wide convulse along with that feeling mixed with garbled heart vein feeling, its extremely hard to describe. it felt like everything also whited out for a split second or at least most of my vision along with my body shutting down for those seconds. i took my second GABA for the day about an hour before this and i didn't notice the usual effects of lessened anxiety.

i had horrible center of chest pains that were getting worse by the second, felt like pressure inside the sternum (i'm not sure if pressure is even the right way to say it. hard to describe and awful). this sent me into borderline panic, i had the depersonalization for a few seconds. i kept feeling like i couldn't breathe suddenly, like i was seconds away from throwing up, got shakes (still am), felt cold all over my body and had a horrible pain on the inside armpit / bicep area of my right arm. the pain was getting worse and i was developing other symptoms of chest pain at the same time, left arm felt weird and weak like i couldn't lift it up, it got extremely tight. stabbing through back. pain in left ribs - inside. pain going from squeezing (again, hard to describe) somewhere inside where i can't pinpoint just somewhere in the center and to the left.

during the time it took to write this i was calming down still feeling high anxiety but now i have a horrible sudden pain coming on and off in the left side of my sternum and i'm feeling like i'm going to pass out and dizzy. like a stab almost. now it feels like it's spreading to the left ribcage. right now i just felt like my entire upper body was going to have the sternum pain and i was about to collapse.

can someone please help me

i got diagnosed with anxiety when i thought i was having a heart attack 2 months ago but never followed up to get an echo (the doctor said she thought it would be normal but don't do any exercise or anything until i got it double checked)

i also developed the squeezing after my 2nd round of tests (january 21) and am worried about it. i'm only 23

---------- Post added at 04:40 ---------- Previous post was at 04:38 ----------

i have been taking therapy to deal with my anxiety but i live with my parents right now and my therapists think my problems are from them. they stressed me out a lot today and are ruining the progress i make from therapy so i'm hoping that all these symptoms are from the stress but again i'm worried because they feel very severe and on paper sound horrible combined with never get an echo... more tests etc. and the feeling i had last night before bed

i also feel generally sick and unwell and different from all the other times i've had anxiety attacks or borderline panic episodes.

[glassgirlw]

If you've never had the cardiac tests done I wouldn't think it would hurt to get those done. That being said I have had some very odd sensations during panic attacks....and my HA is related to my heart so that tends to make the symptoms feel worse in my experience. But I have had heart tests to rule out any physical heart issues.

[stressed_out]

If you've never had the cardiac tests done I wouldn't think it would hurt to get those done. That being said I have had some very odd sensations during panic attacks....and my HA is related to my heart so that tends to make the symptoms feel worse in my experience. But I have had heart tests to rule out any physical heart issues.

i've had 2 blood tests, numerous EKGs and x rays done. do these count? its just i've never gotten the echocardiogram. all the test results came back normal. i've read that going to see doctors for reassurance makes HA worse and i've noticed after the 2nd and 3rd times i saw the doctor my symptoms were getting more severe and i would get more anxious.

also i'm worried about this:

i was feeling better but am having even worse symptoms now i don't know if it's from anxiety of thinking about what happened or if its progressing. i keep getting weird symptoms. it felt like that enlarged vein or whatever but so much bigger and i heard a noise when it happened with dizziness. and then a horrible sensation on side of ribs to lower rib cage on left, like the whole area. i can' then describe it. felt like it went through to my back and i need to couch every time. not exactly pain or discomfort but it feels wrong. then more dizziness and felt like i couldn't breathe. and a weird heart beat. it seemed to get harder feeling to where i could hear it with the pain and then really soft and quiet. then a horrible sudden chest pain in the center for a few seconds i literally shut my eyes and fell forward grasping from pain and i felt my heart beating weird and it was synchronized with the pain. it wasn't like my normal anxiety reaction to the pain.

has anyone experienced anything similar or should i wake my parents up and go to the doctor

---------- Post added at 08:01 ---------- Previous post was at 07:45 ----------

can anyone help please i woke up my parents and they said they're not going to do anything about this. i don't want to get say too much but they are known for not being smart about things. i'm terrified of something happening to me in my sleep or when i wake up because i've never felt these symptoms before or so severe

---------- Post added at 08:35 ---------- Previous post was at 08:01 ----------

i've calmed down from earlier and am trying to rationalize... the spot on my left pec that i always feel the vein sensation on has what feels like a lump under the spot, poking it feels like i'm poking my heart... a horrible pain sensation from the muscle i'm guessing. and i have a knot where the pec meets the shoulder. i was sitting strange on the couch and the way i was bent is kind of where the strange sensation was, and there is a spot on my sternum that hurts if i poke it. it's just why is the pain coming on suddenly? why is it so much worse? from the stress of today? why does it hurt to breathe in? what if i have valve prolapse as its the one thing i haven't done other than a holter device (which i really don't want, coming from someone with HA). also why do i get dizziness and sweating with the pain? why does the beat come on with the pain? it's all very scary. i spent almost an entire month googling heart attack symptoms when i had sternum pains from gastritis from antibiotics i took. it's hard to get those articles out of my mind even now that i've been diagnosed with anxiety even ending up in the ER from chest pains due to a panic attack. its just today this wasn't coming on with a full blow panic attack and the pain was awful. i just need some extra help.

if this IS just anxiety what did you do to get over it? every time i try my mind gets right again but i have pains and try ignore the physical symptoms only to eventually stop having those and develop a new worse symptom. it's frustrating. do i just deal with it until i'm immune to them? or is it a real problem like my feelings have been telling me? just need some advice

[Elen]

if this IS just anxiety what did you do to get over it? every time i try my mind gets right again but i have pains and try ignore the physical symptoms only to eventually stop having those and develop a new worse symptom. it's frustrating. do i just deal with it until i'm immune to them? or is it a real problem like my feelings have been telling me? just need some advice

Have a look at some of the posts from people who have gained control of their HA.

A good therapist who can show you ways to challenge these thoughts and get a perspective is invaluable.

There are loads of CBT courses available on line as well

[stressed_out]

Have a look at some of the posts from people who have gained control of their HA.

A good therapist who can show you ways to challenge these thoughts and get a perspective is invaluable.

There are loads of CBT courses available on line as well

the success stories thread was helpful. thank you for the response. do you know of any good online therapists off hand? i'm still having a hard time believing this is anxiety, its been 3 hours since this happened and i've been too scared to sleep. i need some reassurance :(

anyone? i feel like i'm about to pass out i'm so tired

[Fishmanpa]

Unfortunately, reassurance is a temporary fix at best. The thing with online self help courses is the self discipline, inner fortitude and focus required to work on it and have it be effective. Check out CBT4PANIC. I personally found it beneficial but it requires a consistent and concerted effort. The real life, one on one therapy you're getting makes you accountable for your progress as you have to "report" to your therapist the work and progress you've accomplished. Perhaps ask him for a recommendation that would assist you between sessions and help you more effectively deal with the stresses you're experiencing.

Positive thoughts

[stressed_out]

Unfortunately, reassurance is a temporary fix at best. The thing with online self help courses is the self discipline and inner fortitude and focus required to work on it and have it be effective. Check out CBT4PANIC. I personally found it beneficial but it requires a consistent and concerted effort. The real life, one on one therapy you're getting makes you accountable for your progress as you have to "report" to your therapist the work and progress you've accomplished. Perhaps ask him for a recommendation that would assist you between sessions and help you more effectively deal with the stresses you're experiencing.

Positive thoughts

hey thanks for always answering my posts... i appreciate it so much. the thing is that i'm moving soon (away from a bad home environment) which i think will help my mental health a lot, the online is mostly a temporary fix until i move out. i will definitely look into CBT4Panic thank you so much. i just have two questions... are these symptoms anxiety? and i have a form of OCD called Pure O, i've read CBT doesn't help with Pure O very much. Has anyone one this forum use breakthrough? I've read that they're pretty good on the site looks like the best I've seen. I really need the reassurance right now as a temporary fix until i see a therapist tomorrow, I've cut down from almost constantly in real life to about maybe an hour on a bad day.

---------- Post added at 10:54 ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 ----------

11am now, really need some reassurance as i've been worried since 7am this morning...

[Fishmanpa]

Sitting here waiting for reassurance isn't helping you. If anything it's making you worse as you're dwelling on your negative feelings and thoughts. Why not log off and go for a walk or something? :)

Hope you feel better soon!

Positive thoughts

[stressed_out]

Sitting here waiting for reassurance isn't helping you. If anything it's making you worse as you're dwelling on your negative feelings and thoughts. Why not log off and go for a walk or something? :)

Hope you feel better soon!

Positive thoughts

i haven't been able to sleep all night, when i tried to go to sleep a few hours ago i got a weird hear sensation right in the center along with dizziness and feeling like i couldn't breathe with a weird heartbeat... I'm too tired to even get out of bed now. i just need to know if i should call a r myself or if this anxiety and i can get some sleep :( its scary