Craig
13-04-05, 12:25
Hi Everyone,
I've recently started suffering from Anxiety related symptoms so I thought I'd share my experiences. First of all, thanks very much to everyone who has posted here -- it's been a great comfort to me to read what people with similar symptoms have gone through. A friend of mine recommended this site to me, and talking to him as well as reading posts here has really helped me to feel a lot less anxious than I otherwise would have.
At the moment I seem to be getting off lightly as my symptoms don't seem too bad compared to others -- but they are still scary for me. Anyway reading peoples stories helped me, so here's mine in case anyone can relate to it. It'll probably be a bit of a ramble (sorry everyone!) but it'll help to get it off my chest and also to ask some questions that I perhaps couldn't find answers to when searching the forum.
About 6 weeks ago I guess was the first sign. I simply got out of the shower and my heart rate felt high + noticeable (it was only about 90ish -- but I really could feel the palpiations and usually my heart rate is pretty low). I more or less ignored this and nothing happened for a while. About 4 weeks ago I got food poisoning, and had bad diarrohea etc. for about 12 days. Antibiotics I was prescribed got rid of it, but during the course of them I started getting kidney pain and other pains when urinating (ouch!). So I felt a bit anxious and started worrying that my kidneys had packed up -- which is not like me to think along those lines. Anyway, antibiotics stopped and the pain + food poisoning seem to have vanished. However I did have another day of high heart-rate getting out of the shower, which made me a little nervous.
During this time I'd stayed off caffiene and alcohol (I don't drink much now anyway) completely. About three weeks ago I had a coffee whilst waiting for someone and was fine, but later that night a had half a glass of red wine and my heart rate instantly shot up. It calmed down though when I went to bed and I slept ok. The following day I went to the gym and did an easyish work out and felt much better. That evening though I had palpitations most of the night and that started to worry me.
So a call to NHS direct (not much help) and a trip to the docs later suggested I had anxiety. Since then I've felt ok most of the time, but every now and then whilst walking around I get a feeling in my chest of nervousness for a couple of seconds (no other symptoms at all) -- and then it goes away. This continued for a while and recently I've had numbness/cramp/pain in my left arm. Tight chest, pains in various locations over my chest (inc over the heart). Also general pains in various places all over (feet, inside leg, etc..). Most of these only last for few minutes, but occur at various points throughout the day. Very rarely do I actually feel anxious though -- this website in part helped calm me down and I just try to think positive 'it's only anxiety, it'll pass' thoughts when I feel the pain. My wisdom teeth have also been letting me know they exist too.
Anyway, the past 2 days going into work has been worrying. My heart rate was 100+ from the moment I got up, until getting into work about 2 hours later, then it went down. This prolonged high rate probably worried me more than the pains (don't know why..). Monday I had trouble getting to sleep but managed a few hours with no inturruption. Oh whilst I remember, I've also had lots of fun with my stomach, it seems tight/upset most of the time and fluctuates between v. hungry and urgently needing the loo. Last night I woke up twice, I felt my heart rate was high but when I measured it on my arm it seemed to beat ultra-fast for four beats and then instantly settle v. low -- not sure if I imagined the fast beats or not). This morning I went to the docs again and had an ECG. She said everything checks out ok (hurrah!) -- and has prescribed me some beta-blockers (which I didn't really want - I don't like taking pills), but they are to take just in case my heart rate really roc
I've recently started suffering from Anxiety related symptoms so I thought I'd share my experiences. First of all, thanks very much to everyone who has posted here -- it's been a great comfort to me to read what people with similar symptoms have gone through. A friend of mine recommended this site to me, and talking to him as well as reading posts here has really helped me to feel a lot less anxious than I otherwise would have.
At the moment I seem to be getting off lightly as my symptoms don't seem too bad compared to others -- but they are still scary for me. Anyway reading peoples stories helped me, so here's mine in case anyone can relate to it. It'll probably be a bit of a ramble (sorry everyone!) but it'll help to get it off my chest and also to ask some questions that I perhaps couldn't find answers to when searching the forum.
About 6 weeks ago I guess was the first sign. I simply got out of the shower and my heart rate felt high + noticeable (it was only about 90ish -- but I really could feel the palpiations and usually my heart rate is pretty low). I more or less ignored this and nothing happened for a while. About 4 weeks ago I got food poisoning, and had bad diarrohea etc. for about 12 days. Antibiotics I was prescribed got rid of it, but during the course of them I started getting kidney pain and other pains when urinating (ouch!). So I felt a bit anxious and started worrying that my kidneys had packed up -- which is not like me to think along those lines. Anyway, antibiotics stopped and the pain + food poisoning seem to have vanished. However I did have another day of high heart-rate getting out of the shower, which made me a little nervous.
During this time I'd stayed off caffiene and alcohol (I don't drink much now anyway) completely. About three weeks ago I had a coffee whilst waiting for someone and was fine, but later that night a had half a glass of red wine and my heart rate instantly shot up. It calmed down though when I went to bed and I slept ok. The following day I went to the gym and did an easyish work out and felt much better. That evening though I had palpitations most of the night and that started to worry me.
So a call to NHS direct (not much help) and a trip to the docs later suggested I had anxiety. Since then I've felt ok most of the time, but every now and then whilst walking around I get a feeling in my chest of nervousness for a couple of seconds (no other symptoms at all) -- and then it goes away. This continued for a while and recently I've had numbness/cramp/pain in my left arm. Tight chest, pains in various locations over my chest (inc over the heart). Also general pains in various places all over (feet, inside leg, etc..). Most of these only last for few minutes, but occur at various points throughout the day. Very rarely do I actually feel anxious though -- this website in part helped calm me down and I just try to think positive 'it's only anxiety, it'll pass' thoughts when I feel the pain. My wisdom teeth have also been letting me know they exist too.
Anyway, the past 2 days going into work has been worrying. My heart rate was 100+ from the moment I got up, until getting into work about 2 hours later, then it went down. This prolonged high rate probably worried me more than the pains (don't know why..). Monday I had trouble getting to sleep but managed a few hours with no inturruption. Oh whilst I remember, I've also had lots of fun with my stomach, it seems tight/upset most of the time and fluctuates between v. hungry and urgently needing the loo. Last night I woke up twice, I felt my heart rate was high but when I measured it on my arm it seemed to beat ultra-fast for four beats and then instantly settle v. low -- not sure if I imagined the fast beats or not). This morning I went to the docs again and had an ECG. She said everything checks out ok (hurrah!) -- and has prescribed me some beta-blockers (which I didn't really want - I don't like taking pills), but they are to take just in case my heart rate really roc