what does your chest pain feel like?

[NoPoet]

I feel a sort of "awareness" of the centre of my chest which seems to spread out to both sides of my ribs like a kind of white butterfly. I first noticed this when I started taking citalopram. Back in those dark days my anxiety seemed to "shift" inside my chest like it was a living animal warning me that it was still there and still in control.

These days I'm in charge most of the time and the feeling that I have an "animal" living inside me is long gone. I was diagnosed with a possible stomach ulcer which would explain some of the symptoms.

I think at the end of the day, chest sensations are just one of the many weird symptoms of anxiety. It's where anxiety can live.

[SINGLE_DADDY]

Those are the same pains I have had for months. I went to the ER several times thinking I was having a heart attack. Dull ache in the center of my chest and then arm pits then up my neck into my jaw. It would throw me right into a full blown panic attack. I finally went to the the most repsected cardiologist where I live here in Atlanta. I had a stress eco (ultrasound of the entire heart) everything was fine. I was put on Xanax .5, 3 x a day to ease my mind. The doctor said that when the muscles contract in a panic attack it will alot of times start in the chest and when they contract you can feel the sensation all throughout your arms, neck, back, face etc. ******this may sound crazy too but I sit at a desk 5 days a week so I was also told it could be my posture, Twice a week I let my 75 pound 11 year old daughter walk up and down my back as I lay on the floor, and that really helps. Believe it or not sometimes when you think your chest is hurting its really your back******** Hope you get to feeling better.

Bo