how do we know....all these horrible symptoms we feel when having an anxiety/panic attack....how do we know its not something "real" this time?

I know exactly how you feel. Every time I get a new symptom, it's like - 'this is it. This is the big one' But, so far, they've all gone away. Sometimes it takes a while...like a couple months. But, my doctor said that when something is wrong, the symptoms are persistent and they usually will get worse. People like us get these symptoms and dwell on them forever, so how could they ever go away when we can't stop thinking about them? Right now it's my armpit. My friend just had an infection and got a swollen lymph node. All of a sudden, my armpit started to feel funny, I was a little wheezy and I assume the worst. What else is new. Now, I just have to wait it out till my brain gets sick of thinking about it, and moves on to something else. Sucks eh?

Once I had every blood test, every heart test, every x-ray and every other test know to man...some more than once and everything was always perfect I finally had to realize that the Doctor was right and what I had was panic disorder.
My Husband told me one time that a heart attack doesn't last for weeks or months on end and if I really had all of the terrible things wrong with me that I was convinced that I did I wouldn't be here anymore.


My attacks would come on for no reason at all, nothing in particular would bring them on I'd be fine one second and freaking out the next.
My Mother, Grandfather and several other people on my Mom's side of the family suffered with panic disorder, so for me they were an inherited thing.
So if got to the point that since I had no idea what was or wasn't going to freak me out, I just stopped doing everything.

I know it's hard, but there just comes a time when you have to stop dwelling on every little thing you feel.
I never thought I'd be able to do that, but I just got so sick and tired of worrying about everything all the time 24/7 365 that I just had to let it go and realize that I wasn't going to let it beat me.

I don't have attacks anymore and I've weaned off of my medication and I'm doing fine, I haven't felt this good in ages.

Like I said I know it's easy to say just let it go and don't dwell on things, but when I finally did that, that was the turning point for me.

Well, I know exactly how you feel... For me its not bodily ailments though... for me its the inlaws, or my baby, or my husband, or the gazillions of other things that I think and worry about daily. Its crazy...it never ends.

I wonder sometimes if there are actually people out there that feel normal, that don't worry and over obsess about things. I could enjoy my life so much more if I didn't worry so much.

Its like you don't have a disease, and your not sick, but you think you are so you in turn make yourself sick by worrying and then having anxiety...???? See what we do to ourselves?

last night for example...i am not on any meds except for xanax as needed ....this has worked for me for 10 years now...altho i was almost panic free for 8...so its only been in the last 3 or 4 months that it has resurfaced. and no i wont go on any other meds. i tried the AD's and i want nothing to do with them. i beat this 10 years ago with out them and i can do it again. just started therapy again last week after all these years.

but anyway, last night as i was leaving work (a hospital)...i had been fighting nauseau all night...i have gastritis....i got stressed over the hours of fighting it and as i was leaving and walking to my car i jsut got this real cold type sweat....and of course it escalated from there...to the point that as i was driving all i could think about was turning around and going back to the hospital...i felt like i couldnt swallow even tho i could take a deep breath...so of course all i could think of was this is different...never felt this cold type of sweat before...it must be really something wrong....xanax took more than 45 minutes to work...i think cause i waited too long...i dunno...all i can say is that this tires me out...it cunsumes me and tires me....so today i feel fine...i am on guard tho...just waiting for it to happen again.

angel, know exactly how you feel. Have fought this monster on and off for 26 years . Most of the time I could keep it in check but last few months have been awful. Now its my arms and legs going numb along with cold sweats, feeling dizzy, etc. Of course after battery of test on heart, brain, etc., was told that anxiety and Panic Disorder was the culprit. Cognitive Behavior Therapy worked great for me a few years back so I think I will get a "refresher" session or two....

i will talk to my therapist about that thurs...how does it work exactly??

Really just education in how nervous system really works, and behavior modification exercises that build on "facts" of medical testing along with breathing, relaxation etc. Shown to be very effective in majority of those who try it. Good luck.

I was so relieved to see these posts! I am so going through this right now. I am in a very stressful period of life right out and my anxiety and panic are rampant and always hit me with fears of a physical problem - especially for some reason when I am driving. Somehow it helps to know I am not the only one it hits like this. I have infected sinuses which are giving me vertigo, among other things, but I still think it is something else, something worse making me feel this way. Then the panic goes all out and I'm a wreck.
Thank you for helping me feel less alone!

I guess all I can say is that at least I am not the only one :p that we all understand how we feel,and for me thats conforting.Iam so glad to have found this board. :wave: maria

go to the american heart association website.....if you read the warning signs of hear attack! i have these every day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how to NOT panic!!!???

That's probably the worst thing in the world that you could do.
I used to look up every symptom I had, it got so bad that my Husband threated to have the internet disconnected.
He also threw out the medical dictionary.
Everything I felt, I looked up.
So in my mind I had at one time or another, a heart problem, a brain tumor, MS, ALS, cancer and a stroke just to name a few.
Of course I didn't have any of them.

I know I've said this before and I know it's easier said than done, but once you've had all the tests and everything comes back normal there comes a time that you have to realize that what you have is panic disorder.

I've said this before too, but it helped me come to grips with the fact that I was suffering from panic disorder and not something that was going to kill me.
My Husband just looked at me one night and told me that a heart attack doesn't last for weeks or months and if I really did have a brain tumor or cancer I wouldn't be around any more.

I'm not trying to make light of your fears, believe me I'm not because I've been there and back myself.
But looking things up on the internet is probably causing you more harm than good.

god bless our husbands...i know mine has said the same so many times! he will be a saint one day! its just so hard for me to distinquishe when to worry and when to not.....will we be able to tell the difference between anxiety symptoms and God forbid the real thing? and yes....i go to the dr regularly and i am fine.

But how long can a heart attack last? I've been in pain now for about 15 hours; upper back shooting pains, sternum pain, left shoulder and down arm pain, pain in my chest when I take a breath. I've had panic attacks and acid reflux before, and I AM SURE that these pains now are worse than ever before. I have been burping quite a bit and I thought the chest pains may be from the gas inside, but what about the pains in my back and down my left arm, and in my wrist? How can that be from GERD? I woke up twice last night and almost went to the hospital, but I talked myself out of it for fear that the ER will look at me like a hypochondriac. I am 39yo female, non-smoker, drink daily, normal BP and cholesterol, not a big family history of heart problems. In the past all my EKGs have been normal. How quickly can heart problems manifest themselves if in the past there has been no signs of any? Is heart disease something that I might be developing. Should I ignore all of these signs, which are mirroring that of a heart attack, or should I get myself to the ER right now? I have read that heart attack symptoms in females include indigestion (I have it) and I am really scared. And look at John Ritter-- didn't he go to the doctors with chest pain and they brushed it off, then he died of a tear in his heart or something. Is this what's happening to me?

i have had chest pain that lasts seconds....i know not not worry....but FRANKLY??? HONESTLY?? if i were YOU?? i would go to the ER...its not letting up....please take care of yourself and not worry what anyone thinks. its their job. its better to be safe than sorry. i wish you luck but pls go.

I agree - I'm not purposely trying to feed into your panic disorder - but I would go to the hospital and get it checked out. Even if it turns out to be nothing - better safe than sorry.

About me - I'm 39 otherwise healthy female (Ok I'm overweight), but right now I'm going through testing for gallbladder disease or some other stomach/intestinal stuff. In two or three weeks I'm supposed to go and talk to my doc about further testing since my abdominal ultrasound revealed nothing. But now I'm convinced that I have colon cancer :( The pains were mainly at the top of my abdomen, now they are moving down lower. BUT over the past year and a half I've also had weird headache symptoms and breast pain - so I had a brain scan and mammagram. Both said nothing is wrong. The funny thing is that in both cases after the test said that nothing was wrong, my symptoms go away. My next abdominal test is a bit more complicated and I'm so worried what I should do. Anyhow as soon as I figure out what's up with my abdomen, I think I'm going to have a Virtual Physical - where they scan your entire body (colon too) and I think it costs about $700 - might be worth it for peace of mind?

So I'm always wondering - how do you know if it's something or not.

WOW weez! i am going thru the exact same thing!! i am on gastritis med...seems to work. but as i was reading it was like it was me who wrote it! i just got my abd. dt scan results back. negative. they told me the gastritis could take a few months to heal.