chest tightness...again

[**whenwillthisend**]

hi just wondered if anyone else experienced this...i woke up fine this morning went in the shower,as i was nearing the end i could feel my chest tightening and im sat here now and i feel as though my chest is being screwed up...ive noticed this has happened before in the shower and i can also get chest tightness for no apparent reason(except the constant anxiety) i wonder if i panic subconciously in the shower or something....ive had chest symptoms now for months but its still dam scary every time it comes back.....

[lizmarshall]

Yeah, as i found out your not the only one, i have it at the moment, it's really starting bug and worry me at the same time.

Your not alone.

Liz

[Trev]

Yeah, I had that alot. I once had a very horrible deep spasm as well in the left side of my neck and down my top left chest. Scared the you know what out of me.

My thoughts on why I got tightness in the chest during showering are these :

Because you are in a highly sensitised state with anxiety it makes you hyper sensitive to anything as you probably know. Light, temperature changes, etc we feel much more acutely.
By going in the shower we bombard our highly sensitised body with lots of sensations all over our body. The skin has hairs all over it and the tiny hairs on our sensitised body react to the feeling of flowing water. We also have the temperature change. We also may have the feeling of being enclosed behind the door or curtain. We have the smells of the shower gel and shampoo. We may have the thoughts going through our head of "Oh no, I had chest pains last time I had a shower........what if this time?!"

All of these sensations in a sensitised body can only lead to one thing.......mild tension at best and panic at worst. Mild tension is enough to cause the muscles in your chest wall, shoulders, neck etc to tense. Holding muscles tense is tiring and exhausting. When they tire they start to feel painful. You can prove this by tensing your leg muscle for 10 minutes. If you can do 10 minutes you are doing well!!! After a short time you leg muscle will ache and given more time it will bloody well hurt alot!! How long do we tense our muscles before and during the shower??? Exactly.

It's the same process.

Try to actively relax your whole body (and attitude!!!) in the shower. It is much more difficult to relax than it sounds, I know but do try.

So, to put your mind at rest, you know it must be only anxiety as it happens mainly when you go in the shower. It will decrease over time if you actively relax and stretch the muscles. I had this problem with the shower (and the bath) for a while and now it's ok. (I still had them though.....I'm not a smelly tramp by the way!!) It's funny because people used to say "have a bath and relax" but for me I was lying there just worrying about the tighness in my chest. And with the worrying of course it got worse!

Yoga worked for me but it's not for all I suppose. Take half an hour a day a try gentle relaxation and mild stretches as this will help.

Anyway, as usual, I've rabitted on again but basically, you'll be ok

Cheers,
Trev

[**whenwillthisend**]

thanks for that..i know what you say makes sense, even when i think im not particularly anxious it comes on...so i must be tense and not realise it..i sooooo know its related to the thought pattern we have!!

[Trev]

Yeah, you are perfectly right. Thoughts lead to feelings, but don't beat yourself up about it.

The key is to relax everything as much as you can muster......physically AND mentally. And you'll be surprised how much more you can relax even when you think you are relaxed!!

Just accept it for the minute as much as you can. It's that whole thing of "don't think of a pink elephant". What's the first thing you then do? Mmmm, huge pink elephants spring to mind.