scaremonkey
12-02-10, 09:46
Hey, just wondering if anyone has come across similar symptoms / had a similar experience? I feel like I have worked the most logical scenario / explanations out, but stuck inside my own head I still feel some doubt and am seeking reassurance.
Background
Im 22 years old and a student. During my teenage years I suffered badly with depression and anxiety. I am slightly overweight, but mostly on account of a lot of gym training when I used to play rugby (i.e. i have a muscular build). I have also recently given up smoking, I have smoked on and off for 3 years, but never really heavily (usually between 3-5 per day during uni term time, and often basically quitting in the holidays). I do around 4 hours of exercise split between two nights in the week. I used to drink coca cola almost everyday and have a really sweet tooth, my diet was fairly poor, lots of high-sugar and high-salt foods + a fair bit of caffine. I have given up all carbonated and caffinated drinks and cut down massively on my sugar intake, eating way more fruit & veg.
Symptoms
I have had strange episodes where my nose feels blocked and I feel like it is more difficult to breathe, i get a racing heart and I feel sick (sometimes am sick). I have had 5 significant ones in the last 9 months, all triggered by different things, (trying a puff of weed, after eating a curry, after having a beer and some food at my mates house, and then twice triggered by being in hospital for stitches in my arm, and then fractured ribs). My heartbeat goes up to around 120-140 and i feel real stressed out and nauseous. Some of these episodes have lasted 6-8 hours... The hospital ones ended as soon as I left hospital - What I think this is, is a panic attack, (which I understand can often be random) which is then self-perpetuating due to the extreme anxiety it causes me - does this make sense?
I also am very windy all the time (i have been for the past two years or so), and more recently I burp loads as well, often making me feel nauseous and tired. I think this is most likely caused by the fact that I wore ill-fitting dentures for a while which got me into the habit of swallowing air, and also I suffer with regular sinus infections, meaning I almost constantly have stuff running down the back of my throat, again causing me to swallow air... I understand that anxiety can sometimes cause subconcious swallowing of air as well.
I somettimes get chest pains, or rather more uncomfortable twinges (no more than 1-2.5/10 for discomfort), these can be anywhere in my chest, but most commonly feel like they are just underneath the bases of the pectorals (sometimes left, sometimes right)... its a strange kind of discomfort, it doesnt seem to be affected when I take deep breaths, or by stretching, and it comes and goes. Sometimes it seems to be brought on my sitting in a hunched position for a while, and I have been told by a friend that this could be pain in the intercostal muscles. However its no fun, and the slight discomfort often gets me worked up and gets my heart racing.
Recently, the past two weeks or so, I have not been sleeping through the night. In january i had an extremely stressful exam period, where my sleeping patterns and diet were very poor and by the end of it I was an emotional wreck. I submitted my work on a thursday, and then on the friday had one of those panic attack episodes described above. Since then (with the exception of a couple of nights earlier this week) I have found that no matter what time I went to bed, I would wake up feeling burpy and with a slighly elevated heart rate, this worries me, and often I will find it hard to get back to sleep. I have found that i have had very vivid and strange dreams on these nights.
I get cold feet, and can get occasional tingling in my hands and feet.
I am scared of hospital, and more ridiculously, having my heart rate and blood pressure taken... because I am worried it will be high and this worry causes the readings to come out high, and it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle of worry.
I have periods sometimes as short as a couple of minutes, sometimes over an hour, where I feel somewhat detatched and spaced-out, not fully with it. It's hard to describe, I suppose everything feels a little fuzzy and seems to look a bit different, I feel tired, but can't sleep because I feel worried. This again is something that has only emerged recently.
Despite my broken sleep I have been spending at least 8 hours in bed each night, and I havn't been doing too much in the day. I would say that my Anxiety about my health has gradually increased since the middle of last year, but only in the immediate wake of the january exam period have I become worried about my health every single day.
Anyone in a similar situation or who has had a similar experience, your advice and solidarity would be much appreciated.
Background
Im 22 years old and a student. During my teenage years I suffered badly with depression and anxiety. I am slightly overweight, but mostly on account of a lot of gym training when I used to play rugby (i.e. i have a muscular build). I have also recently given up smoking, I have smoked on and off for 3 years, but never really heavily (usually between 3-5 per day during uni term time, and often basically quitting in the holidays). I do around 4 hours of exercise split between two nights in the week. I used to drink coca cola almost everyday and have a really sweet tooth, my diet was fairly poor, lots of high-sugar and high-salt foods + a fair bit of caffine. I have given up all carbonated and caffinated drinks and cut down massively on my sugar intake, eating way more fruit & veg.
Symptoms
I have had strange episodes where my nose feels blocked and I feel like it is more difficult to breathe, i get a racing heart and I feel sick (sometimes am sick). I have had 5 significant ones in the last 9 months, all triggered by different things, (trying a puff of weed, after eating a curry, after having a beer and some food at my mates house, and then twice triggered by being in hospital for stitches in my arm, and then fractured ribs). My heartbeat goes up to around 120-140 and i feel real stressed out and nauseous. Some of these episodes have lasted 6-8 hours... The hospital ones ended as soon as I left hospital - What I think this is, is a panic attack, (which I understand can often be random) which is then self-perpetuating due to the extreme anxiety it causes me - does this make sense?
I also am very windy all the time (i have been for the past two years or so), and more recently I burp loads as well, often making me feel nauseous and tired. I think this is most likely caused by the fact that I wore ill-fitting dentures for a while which got me into the habit of swallowing air, and also I suffer with regular sinus infections, meaning I almost constantly have stuff running down the back of my throat, again causing me to swallow air... I understand that anxiety can sometimes cause subconcious swallowing of air as well.
I somettimes get chest pains, or rather more uncomfortable twinges (no more than 1-2.5/10 for discomfort), these can be anywhere in my chest, but most commonly feel like they are just underneath the bases of the pectorals (sometimes left, sometimes right)... its a strange kind of discomfort, it doesnt seem to be affected when I take deep breaths, or by stretching, and it comes and goes. Sometimes it seems to be brought on my sitting in a hunched position for a while, and I have been told by a friend that this could be pain in the intercostal muscles. However its no fun, and the slight discomfort often gets me worked up and gets my heart racing.
Recently, the past two weeks or so, I have not been sleeping through the night. In january i had an extremely stressful exam period, where my sleeping patterns and diet were very poor and by the end of it I was an emotional wreck. I submitted my work on a thursday, and then on the friday had one of those panic attack episodes described above. Since then (with the exception of a couple of nights earlier this week) I have found that no matter what time I went to bed, I would wake up feeling burpy and with a slighly elevated heart rate, this worries me, and often I will find it hard to get back to sleep. I have found that i have had very vivid and strange dreams on these nights.
I get cold feet, and can get occasional tingling in my hands and feet.
I am scared of hospital, and more ridiculously, having my heart rate and blood pressure taken... because I am worried it will be high and this worry causes the readings to come out high, and it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle of worry.
I have periods sometimes as short as a couple of minutes, sometimes over an hour, where I feel somewhat detatched and spaced-out, not fully with it. It's hard to describe, I suppose everything feels a little fuzzy and seems to look a bit different, I feel tired, but can't sleep because I feel worried. This again is something that has only emerged recently.
Despite my broken sleep I have been spending at least 8 hours in bed each night, and I havn't been doing too much in the day. I would say that my Anxiety about my health has gradually increased since the middle of last year, but only in the immediate wake of the january exam period have I become worried about my health every single day.
Anyone in a similar situation or who has had a similar experience, your advice and solidarity would be much appreciated.