Weak pulse and other symptoms

[pgw84]

I'm having a few problems as I type this. I've had feelings of unreality all day, then a couple hours ago I started feeling a bit sick too. I was sat down and started feeling light headed and weak, as well as a bit shaky. I checked my pulse (automatic reaction) and a first I couldn't feel it, like it had stopped, then I found it and it feels really weak, but not faster or slower than usual. I'm still getting lots of chest pains lately and keep getting breathless, which I hope is just my asthma. I was considering getting myself to the hospital and now I'm sat here not knowing what to do. I'm sure something is wrong.:weep:

[Alabasterlyn]

All of those symptoms sound like anxiety to me. Unreality is a very common anxiety symptom and just worrying about that can make you feel light headed and weak. I often think my pulse feels weak too, although it's been like that for years. Chest pains are usually due to muscular tension and feeling breathless is a typical anxiety symptom too. I know all these symptoms feel awful when you have them all at the same time but I think as soon as you start to accept that they are just symptoms of anxiety and they can't harm you then they will start to go away. I hope you feel better soon.

[pgw84]

Thanks for the reply, Alabasterlyn. I can't accept it is anxiety though, I'm terrified to do anything as I think I'll drop down dead, which is making me depressed. I think I'll die and then people will say he was right afterall. Today has been dreadful. It makes me feel so angry and helpless.

Do you happen to have any tips for accepting anxiety as a diagnosis?

[Alabasterlyn]

I'm sorry you are still feeling bad. I don't know if you've been to your Dr and been diagnosed as having anxiety but if you haven't then it would be a good idea to go as often when it's all explained to you it can help alleviate the symptoms.

I would also suggest reading some books on anxiety, I particularly like the books by Claire Weekes as she goes into great detail explaining all the physcial symptoms and helping you understand them. I really believe accepting our symptoms and finding coping mechanisms to bring into play when we feel bad are the keys to getting better. Perhaps your Dr can refer you for some CBT which many people with anxiety disorders find helpful.

You should also watch your diet as that can aggravate anxiety symptoms. You should try to cut out all caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and cut down on refined sugars as all of these make anxiety symptoms worse. It's also good to try and get some regular exercise to burn up the excess adrenalin that is coursing round your body when you are anxious. Also exercise releases 'feel good' endorphins.

[pgw84]

Hi Alabasterlyn! The doctor has said to me it's because of anxiety, but I have a hard time accepting it. He told me that young people don't get heart disease, but I'm not worried about the kind he was on about, I'm worried about having an undiagnosed defect that will cause me to die soon at a young age. All my symptoms seem to point to this. I had a blood test, which was fine. I had an ECG too, which was checked by another doctor, but my doctor quickly looked it up on his computer and said it was fine, which made me worry, like they hadn't been properly checked, if at all. Also, my heart was racing due to having it done (which is the anxiety I can accept), which I now worry may have hidden any problem which would otherwise have shown.

I have Claire Weeke's Self Help For Your Nerves. I've read through it a couple of times, and has helped enormously. I keep relapsing as I'm not convinced it's anxiety causing these symptoms. I may go for a few days feeling brave about it, then something will come out of the blue and send me down again.

I've got in contact with the Primary Care Mental Health Team, which is a self-referral service. I have an appointment for 2 weeks time, which feels a long way off.

I must admit my diet could be a lot better and I could be more active. I have a hard time doing anything though as I think I'm going to die soon, I can't enjoy anything I want to.

[looking4answers]

Be willing to bet its anxiety .This sounds like my typical day.I just went outside and tried to manhandle about 200 pounds of rolled wire.I barely rolled two roles to where I might be able to hoist them into our truck to take back to where we bought them from ..they were extra..

Well long story short.I got weak .. my legs felt weak..I got breathless and im talking about the coughing kind of breathless and also felt faint.. and I came in and it was almost like I couldn't catch my breath but well as you said a natural reaction to check your pulse..Guess what me trying to breathe and coming in from outside I mean just plopping down and my pulse was 70 .. and weak.. now you figure that one out. We all have those feelings.I got a little agorphobic at one time.. and wouldnt get out of the house and was getting others to go to town for me. The first few times i went to town I just knew I was going to have a racing pulse..Thats another shock..I couldnt find my pulse so it happens to all of us..I figured im driving and breathing and reacting the way I should if I can't feel my pulse then i must be ok .. Im still moving around. Later when I got home i sat and rested and waited a few moments and checked it and it was very slow..Now you tell me..I was anxious and moving around and unloading things and my pulse be normal.. thats odd..but thats anxiety...so dont worry I think that you are fine..and we all feel pretty much like you do .. and fight the battle everyday .. Hope things get better for you ..Michael

[**twinkle**]

pgw84... you post could have been written by myself. I am 20, and convinced that the doctors are not checking things properly and they find it too easy to put all these things down to anxiety. Every day i am waiting for my heart to just stop. I constantly check my pulse and find it is very "weak".
This just makes things worse and i start to feel sick and have terrible chest pains.
I have been suffering for about 6 months now. I am alot better than i was, but sometimes the symptoms feel too real to be panic.
I really sympathise with you.
Its so hard to accept that its only anxiety. And as they all say, you need to learn that these symptoms are not going to harm you, then you can finally be free of anxiety and panic.

[Dazo]

I have alot of that feeling that i cant breath, almost every night.
My heart pounds really hard and my chest gets tight.

I guess its "just" anxiety even if it is hard to understand.

[marius]

Pgw,
It`s just anxiety. :) You have a hard time to accept this, but, as you can see, doctors and many of us, who have been through this, tell you that it is anxiety.
I really don`t know why you are seeking for advice if you are not willing to open yourself to what others have to tell to you. Everyone seems to be wrong, except you. :) Do you want to hear something else, I mean, do you really want to be told that you are going to drop dead?...
Well, I cannot tell you this, cuz I have no single evidence from what ive read abt your symptoms, that you are somehow in danger. Your blood test is ok, your EKG is also ok.

You are constantly checking your pulse rate. OK, can you tell me what does the pulse tell you, in fact? I am not sure you have an answer for that. My opinion is that you just found an instrument to freak out. "My pulse is too high, i`m gonna die". "My pulse is too slow, i`m gonna die" then, why check your pulse? You found out that you cannot feel your pulse. What happened next? Nothing. :)

Also, lemme quote you: I'm worried about having an undiagnosed defect that will cause me to die soon at a young age. All my symptoms seem to point to this. I had a blood test, which was fine."
Wow! I did not know that if a blood test is ok this indicates that your life is in geopardy. Your ECG was also ok; two doctors said this; yet another sign that you are in danger?
..............
You may think that I am being judgemental. In fact I am not. I only want to reveal that your mind might be trapped in a vicious circle. Until you find a way to break this way of thinking, you will not find the peace of mind. You will always find some hidden disease, lurking somewhere in your body, instead of just checking your symptoms and your thoughts and see that ALL of them match with anxiety:
# Feelings of unreality: derealization
# feeling unwell;
# lightheadedness; feeling like you are going to faint or to die;
# chest pain (it`s not heart disease, it is anxiety) I know of no person with anxiety who has not experienced chest pain.
As for the fact that you have feelings of breathlessness, you have asthma, which is a known condition.
Anxiety can also make you feel like you are not breathing properly. Sometimes is hyperventilation, sometimes is just in your mind.

Now, If I were you, I would definitely conclude that I suffer from anxiety.
I am sorry to disappoint you, but all your signs lead to this conclusion.
marius

[Captain America]

pgw,

i just want to add one thing. as an anxiety sufferer for the last year or so (just diagnosed a year ago after 2 stress tests, countless scans and ER visits) i have to say that reassuring myself that i was fine was less effective for me than when i finally got to the point where i didn't care if i lived or died anymore. that sounds worse than it is, i mean, i don't have a death wish or anything. but i guess i just kinda said to myself, well, if it happens, it happens and it could just as easily be a heart attack as a car accident.

now that may not sound comforting, but in a way the only way to truly beat anxiety is to DO, not think, the complete opposite of what you fear, even to the extent that you feel inside that you are risking your very life by doing it. i, for example, started to exercise every time i started to get the chest pains. (with your asthma that might not be the way, but you get what i mean). so basically i started jogging in place every time. at first i could only do like 50 steps before my racing heart would make me stop. now i can do it for 5 minutes or so to the point where i know that if it was my heart i would have killed myself by now.

so anxiety went away for me for a long time, just doing the opposite of what i fear. it's back today because i'm getting a wisdom tooth out.

along with it? chest pain, skipped hearbeats, lightheadedness, and i've been waking up at night gasping for air. a while ago that would have freaked me out, but i doubt it's a coincidence that it's happening leading up to some dental work.

hang in there. it gets easier. eventually you survive long enough that you realize that you haven't been dying all this time after all.

[NoPoet]

Look at it like this. The human body is constantly bombarded with cosmic radiation, we breathe in crap from motor vehicles, our immune systems are on red alert 24/7 as they fight off infections and disease that we don't even know we have caught. None of this hurts us or even slows us down.

Our organs can function for 120 years or more without service or replacement. Our minds are the most complex and powerful machines known to exist.

A machine as powerful as the human body doesn't just die. It is designed to endure the most horrendous punishment and keep going. Depression and anxiety are horrible conditions but in the end they are simply illusions which make you see the world and yourself in a way that isn't real.

Your doctors have done all the work they can and they have found nothing. Not one thing. Allow yourself to hold onto that. Don't let anxiety win. The professionals have told you there is nothing wrong, you are in good health.

Instead of worrying about being ill, look for the reasons why you are so upset. That's the real problem. If you deal with that, you might find yourself forgetting all about it.

[NoPoet]

By the way, I can't always feel my own pulse. In fact I was convinced I hadn't got one until I was 12.

[Grimbot]

I also have feeling that my pulse is weak.:weep: