Second Opinion

[DCope22]

Hi, Im new to the site and forum.

Ive suffered from depression for 2 years now, on and off.

My first bout of depression was back in 2008, i was at work (Care Assistant). I was on another basic nightshift, felt alil tired, but nothing new. When my supervisor at the time was explaining what had happend during the day, i suddenly felt faint. I was escorted outside by a fellow colleuge for some air. I lasted through the night, but the syptoms of feeling light headed got worse, especially when out. I went to see a doctor at a local out of hours clinic and he diagnosed me with Depression. I took Citalopram 20mg for 6 months, until late October. Where my dosage was upped to 40mg. I was on 40mg until December and later wheened off Citalopram all together Febuary 2009.

I was great until December 2009, when one night (30th) me and my partner got broken into, with the kids in bed. The people who did this had hammers and was demanding drugs (Previous tenants were growing drugs in the attic). We moved straight back to our parents, each with one of our children, we later found a new place (Current) and moved in (Jan 10). In Feb 2010, I started to feel chest pain like symptoms. It later got worse and other symptoms (Light-headedness, Weakness, Tingling). I went to see my new doctor and he gave me another bout of Citalopram 20mg. The Citalopram didnt really work as i was having Pulputations, sweats, Light-headedness, Chest pains, Pressure in my head, etc.

In May i went for a Echo-Cardio Gram on my heart to make sure everything was fine, Thankfully everything came back positive. I have been put on 40mg and now 60mg of Citalopram and Have been referred to a councillor.

A Symptom that i still get that really worries me, is the fact that i have a pain/ache at the top of both my arms, sometimes its just my left but its mainly both together where i get this pain, Also i get light-headedness when i get these pains (not always though). Im just wondering if anyone could put me at ease and let me know if you have any symptoms like this as the doctors say it must be Anxiety.

Im still young (22) and havent really experienced these symptoms of anxiety yet, so im always relating these pains or numbness with heart attack/stroke. Please Reply.

Thank You.

[munkeyinblack]

hey ,

anxiety makes us tense and panicky , which can manifest itself as a physical symptom which can be pains in any part of the body, so your pains are perfectly normal. light headedness sumtimes comes from anx as ur anx makes ur brain short of oxygen.

it sounds to me like this is what your experiencing
hope you feel better soon

munkey
x

[DCope22]

Even when were not feeling anxious?

To make myself clearer, as in sitting down watching T.V and then getting the pains?

PS. Thanks for advice

[munkeyinblack]

personally even if im not feeling anxious its always under the surface so my symptoms are always there.. and i always think its somthing else but it never is

munkey
x

[JAYQ]

Even when were not feeling anxious?

To make myself clearer, as in sitting down watching T.V and then getting the pains?

PS. Thanks for advice


This is the part that makes it hard for me to understand or accept. I can just be chilling browsing on line, watching tv, eating, or what have you and i will get a sudden weakness feeling, short of breath or dizzy feeling out of the blue without me even thinking of anxiety or health problems.

That is what always discourages me to accept its anxiety cuz i dont understand how it can manifest that strongly without you feeding a cause for it too. Idk but i do know keeping occupied does help lessen the amout of times it does happen and the severity, but still i will still get the out of the blue sudden symptoms.

[paula lynne]

Hi and welcome, youll be fine Im sure, and make lots of new friends and get lots of support here. You are having anxiety symptoms by the sound of it, even when your not anxious, they are underneath. Check out the threads on the left about panic and anxiety. :welcome:

[TheScientist]

yeah I kind of get that too. I'll be feeling fine but then I get a symptom, and the symptom makes me anxious. looking at it in retrospect, what I can say is that I had the symptom and I was definitely anxious. maybe they happened simultaneously, but I noticed the symptom before the anxiety. never the less, if I wasn't anxious, then the symptom wouldn't have bothered me so much. certainly its because of my condition in the first place that I even cared that much at all.

I think that if you're anxious a lot, the stress hormones are hanging out even if you're not aware of them at a given moment in time. what you described doesn't sound very unusual at all to me. still, if you're concerned about symptoms, its always a good idea to ask a professional to rule out anything. I'm actually on my way to my dr right now to do that very thing.

[TheScientist]

also, I think we've all been scared of heart attack/stroke. I know I have.

[kenboon]

The light headeddness is down to your breathing and I also found that I had simular symptoms with the pains. It sounds like typical anxiety symptoms to me. The first stage of beating it, is acccepting that all the nasty palutations etc are anxiety related and not anyting else.

You will get there :) Hope your feelinf better soon

[kenboon]

also, I think we've all been scared of heart attack/stroke. I know I have.

Agreed, Healt anxiety is very high on the list of symptoms.

[DCope22]

Thank you for all your comments! Greatly Appricated!

Ken, i have heard people say that before that to move forward you must accept whats happening is just anxiety and nothing more. But personally iv noticed that when im not getting a symptom im strong enough to say "Yeah this is just anxiety, nothings gonna happen" but when the situation occurs (Like right at this very moment) where im getting arm pains, my first instinct is to think, "Oh god this is it".

I know 100% that i didnt have any chest pains, arm pains, light-headedness before me and my partner got broken into. It just seems like my brain knows this but my body is still causing the pains (Sorry if you dont follow, its hard to explain). I know what im explaining is anxiety aswell, but what im asking is how someone can put what you said about accepting it into theory when actually getting a symptom, whatever it maybe. Cause surely thats half the battle right?

Thank you ken,and everyone else that replied.

[racdun]

A good book to read is Claire Weekes Essential Help for you Nerves. If you look to the left of this site you will see Research/Info. Under books you will find a list of recommended reading. She has a great way of explaining anxiety so that you fully understand what you are going through. Also watch your breathing. When we are anxious our breathing changes and this results in the faint/weak feeling. Look up overbreathing or hyperventilation. Then look up diaphragmatic breathing exercises. Incorrect breathing causes changes in the carbon dioxide - oxygen ratio and this cause more changes down the line in the body which can result in muscle tension. Practice the correct way of breathing everyday so that you can automatically do it when feeling stressed.