Has anyone else suffered or are suffering the same?

[dan84sim]

Hey People

Just wondering if anyone has or is going through the same sort of things and if it is all related to health anxiety and how you dealt or are dealing with it..

I'll start from the top and work my way down, Lol..

Headaches, feels very tender, swelling even, They can come out of nowhere and last for hours, Then it is a numbing feeling (it's hard to explain, it kind of feels like my brain is shutting down, I get numb all over and then I feel like I am about to pass out, can't swallow, racing heart etc etc - I feel like I am about to die..) I get sharp stabbing pains down the left hand side randomly that lasts for about 2 - 5 mins.
My nose feels blocked sometimes and my ears feel like they are too..
I can crack my Jaw, but it feels like it's more behind my ears and then afterwards it feels like a build up of fluid there.

I get shortnessess of breathe, the come and go.

I can hear/feel my heart beating. 9/10 it is quite quick which worries me.. When I think about it I get pains in my chest or at the bottom of my ribs or lungs, then I panic and my heart rate increases so quickly that I feel like it is going to explode.

I get hot and cold sweats, Dioreah (Can't spell it - Lol)

I get pains in my neck, back, shoulder, muscle twitches.

My eyes hurt, I get vertigo and can sometimes notice floaters on my eyes..

Sometimes when I eat I feel like I am going to be sick, always bloated and very gassy at times.

Now, I work all day at a PC, I come home then I am back on a PC, My sleep pattern has been disrupted because of this and I don't feel that I am ever relaxed, I feel I am always on edge waiting for the next headache, racing heart or pain.. I am driving myself crazy, I don't feel real at times, it feels like it is happening to someone else..

I have been to hospital, had bloods and eye tests, ecg and been strapped up to monitor so they can see my blood pressure, heart rate etc etc.. I have also been to BUPA and done a full medical..
The only thing that has come back is I have more white blood cells than normal, and I have a lot of creatine in my blood..
I have been booked in for a heart scan and brain scan - now the doctors said that this is to dismiss not to diagnose an illness or condition, I am not worried about having them, I am just at a point now where I need to know what is going on..

GP has prescribed me Propranolol Hydrochloride Beta Blocker and Amitriptyline Hydrochloride Anit-Depressent - I haven't taken any yet as I am worried about the Beta Blocker causing Heart Failure.

Sorry to go on and on, just getting fed up now..

[blueangel]

Hi Dan

I might be able to help you out a little bit with this. As I'm sure you've already been told by your doctor, your symptoms can all be caused by anxiety. I remember being told by a doctor years ago that when people present with loads and loads of symptoms, the most likely cause is anxiety as "real" illnesses don't tend to cause as many. I actually found this a pretty comforting thought at the time, and it did help a lot of the symptoms to go away.

You really do sound as though you need to do things to wind down, whether it's playing sport or doing something else that gets you away from a computer screen (and I do exactly the same thing, as I work on a PC all day then go on the internet at night, but I try to ration myself a bit!)

Exercise is really helpful, as it tires your body out and makes it easier for your mind to shut down and get some sleep.

The meds you've been prescribed are both fairly basic ones that have been around for years. The amitriptyline is one of the old fashioned anti-depressants (not like Prozac or Seroxat etc), and one of the things that the do is make you feel quite sleepy, so I would bet your GP has given these to try and help you sleep a bit more.

The beta-blockers are good at damping down the physical symptoms of anxiety, like the constantly racing pulse. I have taken these for about 10 years as I suffer with bad migraines and for some reason that they medics don't entirely understand, they seem to help. I'm pretty sure that they won't cause heart failure - if anything, they will take a bit of stress away from your heart as it will slow you down a bit and also lower your blood pressure. Have a chat with a pharmacist as they can tell you how the drugs work, which might help you feel a bit less anxious about taking them.

[vicky23]

hi, it's good that you're having the tests to rule out any physical cause but to be quite honest anxiety can affect any function of the body I've had a lot of the sensations you describe and there will be people on here who've had them all.
I've been taking propranolol for the last 2 years and it's really helped, beta blockers can be used to treat people with heart problems ( not just anxiety sufferers)so it won't do your heart any harm.

[anthrokid]

Hey Dan,

You're in luck, I've suffered from every single thing you have. I've written what I know about anxiety and these symptoms for you and some of my experiences with them :)

Headaches, feels very tender, swelling even, They can come out of nowhere and last for hours,
I got these plenty. Especially a tense and pressure feeling in my face and head, like my brainw as trying to explode out of it or something!

Then it is a numbing feeling (it's hard to explain, it kind of feels like my brain is shutting down, I get numb all over and then I feel like I am about to pass out, can't swallow, racing heart etc etc - I feel like I am about to die..)
The numbness is about the most terrifying symptom I've had by far. It just feels like everything's numb and it really does feel like your brain is shutting down! I understand this feeling all too well! Mine doesn't happen often at all anymore since I've been getting treated for anxiety/panic attacks and since I've accepted it as anxiety and not something bad. Only time it happens is when I'm afraid of it happening.

I get sharp stabbing pains down the left hand side randomly that lasts for about 2 - 5 mins.
Get this too a fair bit. So does my mum (who suffers from no anxiety at all) but whenever she's had a stressful day at work she gets these sharp stabby pains too. The best thing I can tell you about these is that it's definitely not your heart or anything dangerous :) Hearts don't make stabby pains as I've been told by my doctors enough times for it to have finally sunk in, lol.

My nose feels blocked sometimes and my ears feel like they are too..
This happens to me when I'm panicking, especially in a panic attack. I just can't breathe through my nose and my ears feel funny.

I can crack my Jaw, but it feels like it's more behind my ears and then afterwards it feels like a build up of fluid there.
A lot of jaw discomfort and pain and cracking is actually caused by tension int he jaw. Especially if you can feel it behind your ears as this is where your jaw muscles are. I find that I tense my jaw all the time without realising and only notice when my jaw starts to get sore or numb.

I get shortnessess of breathe, the come and go.
This one is a massive thing for all anxiety sufferers. it's generally caused by hyperventilation and the biggest problem with it is that we don't feel or think that we are hyperventilating. A lot of the time it becomes the normal way we breathe. For example, normal breathing is breathing in for 7 counts and out for 9. When my psychiatrist asked me to breathe like this I realised that I could only breathe in for 2 seconds and out for 3. I've always breathed this way. it's known as chronic hyperventilation. Check out your breathing and if you breathe quite fast and shallow (even if it doesn't feel like you are) it's probably this that's causing your shortness of breath.

I can hear/feel my heart beating. 9/10 it is quite quick which worries me.. When I think about it I get pains in my chest or at the bottom of my ribs or lungs, then I panic and my heart rate increases so quickly that I feel like it is going to explode.
The heart is an amazing muscle. And the more we focus on it the more aware of how fast it is beating we will be. With anxiety we tend to focus on the heart a lot because it's already going quite fast, then because we focus on it we get anxious and the increased anxiety increases our heart rate even more. it's a normal body response. Think of it this way - athletes spend hours purposely making their hearts beat at this speed. It's all about the amount of adrenaline in our body. remember, it always feels like it's beating faster than it is, and the more we worry the faster it will go. Trust your heart and he'll calm down :) My resting heart rate (even from a young age) has always been between 70 and 90. Generally at the 80 mark. This is still normal even though it is fast.

I get hot and cold sweats, Dioreah (Can't spell it - Lol)
This is another common thing with anxiety. Just hormones in your body changing because of anxiety which changes your heat perception and skin temperature. Also with the runs it's generally because your body is constantly on edge which irritates your stomach and bowels. very common.

I get pains in my neck, back, shoulder, muscle twitches.
With anxiety we tense our muscles allll the time. Even if we feel like we don't. Thsi means our muscles are always been used, especially the neck, shoulder and back which become the most tense with anxiety because we tend to curl up or hunch because it feels 'safer' to our body. All this tension and muscle use causes them to be very sore and stiff, much like when you've just had a workout at the gym and used your muscles. Because we do it all the time our muscles are always tired. The twitching is also a symptom of muscle tension.

My eyes hurt, I get vertigo and can sometimes notice floaters on my eyes..
Eyes are very sensitive and are always seeing things. They don't really get much of a break until we are asleep. Anxiety causes our nervous system to be very very very active, which means our eyes are looking out for EVERYTHINg, making them more tired bcause they are being used much more than usual, which makes them hurt a bit! Vertigo and dizziness is also big with anxiety.

Sometimes when I eat I feel like I am going to be sick, always bloated and very gassy at times.
Stomach and bowel irritation because our body is always in nervous/panic mode



Remember, anxiety can cause every single one of the symptoms you've listed, and you've had heaps of tests to rule out dire illnesses so it is very likely to just be anxiety. The doctors will do everything they can to check that it's nothing else, but once it's all been ruled out it may very well just be anxiety.

Don't be afriad of taking the medications. They are designed to help. Tell your doctor about your worries and they may be able to explain all the possibilities and likelihoods of side effects and how it may affect your heart. They wouldn't prescribe a medication if they had and feeling at all that it might cause heart problems :)

If you have any other worries give me a PM. Good luck!!

[anthrokid]

Sorry, i didn't realise how huge that post was!!