For the past 2 and a half months, I have been suffering from what I believe is Anxiety Pains, but I'm looking to see if anyone else has similar to this?
I awoke one evening to find my chest in pain and I struggled to get back to sleep.
I then awoke in the morning with the same pain and had no appetite.
During the day the pain did not subside so I decided to go to A&E thinking I was having a heart attack or heart problems. A&E checked me over and kept me in overnight but found nothing wrong with my heart and since then I have had numerous ECG's.
I began getting further symptoms with stomach pains, bone pains, headaches, numbness and constant twitching all over my body.
All of the above pains come and go at various times throughout the day to this day. My doctor believed I may have Costochondritis, but I don't appear to get pain throughout my ribs, it was only around the breastbone but it has now completely disappeared.
The only other symptom I would mention is that I often get what feels like a bubbling sensation throughout my chest.
Please can someone put my mind at rest and tell me this is just all Anxiety.
I had been taking Propranolol but have stopped taking the last couple weeks, but given that all my symptoms have not disappeared, then I may go back on to it.
I have been in your shoes. I had two trips to the ER with full work up and chest CTs to check for clots in my lungs. I was experiencing chest pains, lightheadedness, and shortness of breath. Everything came back fine, but was still sent to a cardiologist due to palpitations and me begging them too. The cardiologist told me everything was fine and it was just anxiety. I started Zoloft the next day but had to stop two weeks into it due to the side effects. I was switched to celexa, but I haven’t been brave enough to try it. My side effects of Zoloft were very severe shaking, brain fog, loss of appetite (which was bad because I’m already underweight.) I still suffer from chest pain almost daily, but I tell myself this is just anxiety. You are not dying. For a few weeks I was convinced I had a blood clot in my lung, but I realized it was just my anxiety. Whenever I am put in stressful situations the pain comes on full force and I feel lightheaded. Just remember to breathe and that everything will be alright.
I understand completely. I went two months thinking it was my heart. Getting the news from the cardiologist was a relief. I actually broke down crying. I’ve never struggled with anxiety before, but talking with my GP we pinpointed what started it. As I said, I get weird pains and chest pains daily, but I just talk myself down so to speak. I have only had one panic attack in the past month. I still haven’t started the new meds. Hoping I can manage without. Trust in your doctor and talking with others has helped me. Best of luck to you! Hang in there.
I’ve had terrible anxiety over my heart for 4 years. Had lots of tests and only found skipped beats. Lately I’ve stopped propranolol as I’ve been doing really well. But I decided to go on a run today and now feel terrible. I felt fine while running but my heart rate stayed around 110 bpm for about an hour afterwards which really scares me. I took a propranolol tablet eventually. I wonder if this is because I’m unfit (as not exercised in a while), if it’s my anxiety or something else!
Hang in there. Try to recognise the dark thoughts for what they are, ie just thoughts. Anxiety feeds these and they aren’t real. You’ll never act on these. The only dark thoughts I have now are that I’m going to have heart failure. Like bailey I try to rationalise with myself. Nighttime is the worst for me. Sleep is a relief if I can no off without listening to my heart pounding!
Rant away! It’s incredibly hard to convince yourself that these pains and twitches are all down to anxiety. I’m with you there. I’m trying to re-read some Cbt books to help me do this.
Thanks for the replies Alison, I’m just happy someone is willing to chat, my family aren’t being very supportive about the whole thing, almost making it worse if I’m being honest!