heart problems or anxiety

I've had odd problems with health over the last year and a half. I've had minor anxiety problems all my life, but they were very minor. Usually about things when I was a kid like being afraid of a storm.

A year and a half ago after I had been shoveling outside I went into the doctor with a feeling in my fingers like they had been left in the cold too long, and a weird numbness in my neck..I got a whole bunch of odd seemingly pinched nerve related symptoms from there. I had an MRI done that showed "nerve degeneration from age." I started going to the chiropractor, and I know that does affect the problems. For a year I had a consistent condition where I would just get numbness if I sit with my back pressed up against something like a chair too long.

Over the last year, I've developed horrible anxiety...The slightest feelings make me immediately freak out about a heart attack or stroke. Lately I've been freaking out about a deep vein thrombosis because of that 20 year old that died from one a few months ago..and while I do excersize a lot, I spend more time than anyone should reading at the computer, even though I do get up atleast once an hour. Every little twinge now makes me believe I've had a blood clot come loose and become lodged in my lungs or heart. Even though I have no real risk factors (I might be a couple pounds overweight and im tall, though those aren't huge risk factors). I have irrational thoughts constantly about things that are wrong with me. My worst problem is that I google every symptom I get and I see this rare disease and I match the symptoms up and I instantly believe I have this disease even though there are a thousand more common and not so severe alternatives.

Anyway, back to my body and what seems to be non mental issues. Even though I am younger my back does have a hunch to it. (I attribute it to a heavy backpack in school). I've developed vertigo type symptoms that I cannot figure out. I know when the nerve seems to pinch worse in my back, I will feel groggy the whole day, then I'll get a massive dizzy spell, followed by numbness in my neck and chest. Occasionally a soreness follows in my arms, a light or heavy feeling in the arms. Odd things. I can tell that this is affecting my entire central nervous system. I am entirely unsure of the true cause..I dont know if it can be a pinched nerve doing all this. I've seen...Atleast 7 different doctors. All find nothing wrong. My blood pressure is usually perfect if im not having anxiety. My pulse is usually around 60 if im not having anxiety. I had a blood test at a doctor last year. Everything was perfect. I had an EKG at the hospital, two months ago. It was perfect. I had a chest x-ray at the hospital two months ago. It was normal. I had blood test at the hospital. It was perfect, except my potassium was just the slightest bit low. I had an EKG at the doctors office last week. It was perfect.

Last week I started having chest muscle pains and what felt like bad acid reflux. After 4 intense days of almost non-stop anxiety I went to the doctor..Who did the EKG, and found nothing wrong.

Can this all be anxiety?

reply to post by whaaa

I'm kinda in your camp...Laid off in Aug 2008, off & on slight anxiety...but since BP it increased & in Jan 2011 funds no longer coming in, MAJOR increase in anxiety. Would see Dr for routine check up or lab work for my Thyroid (have to take 150mcg/day) & the anxiety was increasing my blood pressure. It would be high when I arrived & then normal before I would leave. Finally I got a job in April but when I saw the Dr that same week I requested meds, unfortunately for me I have a high tolerance to drugs & have never been a drug user. I can take 2 10mg Flexeryl & drink a Martini & still carry on a conversation & walk around like nothing has happened...but due to displaced disk in my neck & not being able to relax many muscles, I can get the drug likes it's candy, however I DO NOT. Yes I keep it on hand for emergencies, but if I took it all the time I would just become immune or whatever the proper term is & it would no longer work.
Xanax has helped some, especially when at work, after work anxiety really increases. Walking 4 miles a day helped, but now I have to work too many hrs just to cover bills & don't have a proper schedule yet to get back into the routine.
I'm sure following BP & Fukushima has NOT helped, but Bloody Hell you have to know what's going on in the world. I don't have TV so I get most of my news from here...If I didn't work in the animal health industry I too would have thought I was having a stroke or heart problem. I 1st noticed when looking for jobs on-line that I was breath holding, would take a good deep breath & I could actually feel my fingers & toes tingling.

Ektar

reply to post by 2Unknown

stayed for some time on the meds and felt better. i even talked to the docs at the hospital.

How long did you stay on the meds? It can takes months to even START to feel the effects. I hate admitting this but I had to be on them for awhile and they really helped me. The other thing that made a huge difference was exercise. Even just 20 minutes walking a day made me feel a million times better. Trust the docs, and realize this happens to a lot of people. Think about talking to someone. If cash is tight you can easily find services.

Best of luck. Someone said something that made me feel better when I was feeling panicky. 'Has anything actually changed?' Made me realize it was in my head and now I'm doing 100x better.

There is no conspiracy among your doctors to lie to you. I would say you are spending way to much time on ATS if that is your conclusion!

There are quite a few medications that can cause your heart to act up. I study these in school (nursing) and I know first hand from taking my own ANXIETY medications that my heart acts weird with one specific one. If you care to PM me any medications you are taking I will look them up for you and let you know of adverse side effects for the heart.

Otherwise, anxiety will put your body through a ton of stress and your body will act accordingly to a stress response, including your heart. Anxiety has no face and it is one of the worse experiences we can go through. Finding spiritual balance, reassure yourself you do have control over many things in your life and do what you can to get balanced and grounded will help. St. Johns Wort with 3% hyperion? (ugh forgot what it is but its 3% something) is another natural way to help but without the 3% it doesn't do any good. And honestly, spending less time on this website will do you a ton of good. Sorry people, but there are so many on this site that are completely out of balance and see a conspiracy in everything in their lives. This is not healthy! Proving to the world you are right about something is not worth losing your health over!