mtatum4496
31-07-10, 17:46
Hi, everyone.
It's been a long time since I've posted, although I do visit from time to time. I'm still moving through my depression and anxiety disorder, although I am happy to report that my agoraphobia is almost gone and some of the worst of my panic attack symptoms (thoughts of immediate death, feeling as if I am about to pass out, rapid heartbeat during an attack) seem to have gone away. There are a number of places I go to now without giving it a second thought that a year to eighteen months ago scared me out of my wits. Unfortunately, the occasional dizziness and sensitivity to various combinations of sounds is still with me, although I can often use ear plugs and manage pretty well.
Still, I have something new to ask you guys. About a month ago, I had an episode where all of a sudden I had pain in the area of my left armpit and across the top of my left breast, just below my collarbone. The pain was somewhat like someone dragging a pin across the area. It only lasted for a few seconds, but has come back often enough to be of concern.
I saw my doctor, who reminded me we did an EKG a couple of months ago and my heart was fine then. To be on the safe side, he ordered chest X rays, and I expect to hear about those results this coming Monday. He also drew blood to test and see if there was any evidence that I may have experienced a minor stroke (my family has a history of strokes, especially on my father's side). The bloodwork has come back clean, which is somewhat comforting.
Since I sleep on my left side, my doctor suggested that I may have pinched a nerve or strained a muscle in my upper chest region and it is still healing. There are no lumps or bumps in the area, and since I sometimes get relief by applying a little muscle rub to area, the idea of a strain of some type does seem feasible.
He also noted that random aches and pains come and go while recovering from an anxiety disorder. According to him, the fact that I have not had these pains before may simply mean my anxiety is closer to resolution and is manifesting itself in a new way.
I have noticed the pains do seem to come more often when it has been a few days since I've taken any Xanax, and that if I take somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 milligrams, they seem to subside much faster.
As I'm sure many of you can understand, my first thought was that something is wrong with my heart and in spite of my doctor's counsel to not jump to conclusions, it is kinda hard to put the thought out of my mind.
For those of you that are familiar with panic attacks, have they sometimes brought on twinges of pain in the upper left chest region for no apparent reason? Perhaps if someone else has experienced something similar, it will help me not dwell on the worst case scenario between now and Monday.
It's been a long time since I've posted, although I do visit from time to time. I'm still moving through my depression and anxiety disorder, although I am happy to report that my agoraphobia is almost gone and some of the worst of my panic attack symptoms (thoughts of immediate death, feeling as if I am about to pass out, rapid heartbeat during an attack) seem to have gone away. There are a number of places I go to now without giving it a second thought that a year to eighteen months ago scared me out of my wits. Unfortunately, the occasional dizziness and sensitivity to various combinations of sounds is still with me, although I can often use ear plugs and manage pretty well.
Still, I have something new to ask you guys. About a month ago, I had an episode where all of a sudden I had pain in the area of my left armpit and across the top of my left breast, just below my collarbone. The pain was somewhat like someone dragging a pin across the area. It only lasted for a few seconds, but has come back often enough to be of concern.
I saw my doctor, who reminded me we did an EKG a couple of months ago and my heart was fine then. To be on the safe side, he ordered chest X rays, and I expect to hear about those results this coming Monday. He also drew blood to test and see if there was any evidence that I may have experienced a minor stroke (my family has a history of strokes, especially on my father's side). The bloodwork has come back clean, which is somewhat comforting.
Since I sleep on my left side, my doctor suggested that I may have pinched a nerve or strained a muscle in my upper chest region and it is still healing. There are no lumps or bumps in the area, and since I sometimes get relief by applying a little muscle rub to area, the idea of a strain of some type does seem feasible.
He also noted that random aches and pains come and go while recovering from an anxiety disorder. According to him, the fact that I have not had these pains before may simply mean my anxiety is closer to resolution and is manifesting itself in a new way.
I have noticed the pains do seem to come more often when it has been a few days since I've taken any Xanax, and that if I take somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 milligrams, they seem to subside much faster.
As I'm sure many of you can understand, my first thought was that something is wrong with my heart and in spite of my doctor's counsel to not jump to conclusions, it is kinda hard to put the thought out of my mind.
For those of you that are familiar with panic attacks, have they sometimes brought on twinges of pain in the upper left chest region for no apparent reason? Perhaps if someone else has experienced something similar, it will help me not dwell on the worst case scenario between now and Monday.