Pains Near Left Armpit?

[mtatum4496]

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.

[NMcC]

Hi,
I too suffer from armpit pain, more on the left than the right. But I've figured something out. After charting it on the calendar I've found that it occurs 3-4 days before my period, then eases as the week wears on. Now, for the last five years I've also been suffering panic attacks that are triggered by these armpit worries, which are very dark and awful. I've been to the doctors and I'm evidently quite healthy, but I think now the armpit pain is connected to breast health and lymphatic drainage around menstruation, and now wonder that as I retain water and swell my underwire bras are too restrictive. So I'm getting rid of the underwire bras, using salt crystal deodorant, doing a little stretching/yoga, and mostly, being very kind, loving and respectful to my upper body and breasts.

In addition, I've learned that a lot of what I feel is more closely related to a congested feeling in the glands/nodes, rather than a muscle pull, and that congestion might be related to "getting things off your chest" in a very literal way. So, before I get too freaked out, I'm being mindful about ideas or concerns that I'm keeping trapped in my body and try to figure out a way to get rid of them.

[mtatum4496]

Thanks, NMcC. Isn't it amazing how the body responds to different situations?

Just to update everyone, all the tests, including the chest x-ray, showed no problems with my heart. But a thought did occur to my doctor, and it seemed to have right on the money.

As part of my ongoing treatment, I've been taking rather large doses of B vitamins to augment the bupropion and the alprazolam. Way back when, this was because I was so ran down that my immune system was compromised and my nerves were shot from stress. It occurred to my doctor that maybe it was time to reduce the dosage on the vitamins to something closer to the minimum daily requirement.

So, I did. And guess what? The pain was gone in a couple of days. I am still taking the bupropion at the reduced dosage we agreed on a few months back, and still take the niacin (for cholesterol) and some vitamin C, but he thinks I now get enough of what I need of everything else from my diet (which, admittedly has improved significantly over the last couple of years).

Anyway, this past Sunday was a wonderful day. Other than some jitters when I attended a worship service, I was able to come and go as I pleased with no real discomfort. I did have some anxiety the following day, but nothing like what I've known in the past.

Now, we'll see what the weekend brings...

[Sookie]

I have nerve damage in my neck and shoulder c5-c7 and the pain is in my neck, back of head, shoulder, arm pit, chest , side, down my arm into my hand with numbness in my middle and pinkie finger.