Hi everyone,

This is a going to be a long one so forgive me for it. Over the past year I have had the worst year of my life in terms of health. It all started during a workout routine. I had been working out harder than ever (I am not a fitness freak) and I went to the gym 3 times a week and ran most nights. One night while running my heart started to skip / jump and flutter a lot. It scarred me and I walked home wondering what would happen over the next 30 mins. I did a physical and the Doc said I was in good shape but I lost the confidence to push my body or even work out. Several weeks past and one day while eating I swallowed and food stuck in my throat. This has been a common thing for most of my life and I am a really slow eater due to it. However on this occasion, when the blockage freed itself (can take between 10 seconds and ten minutes and it hurts a lot) my throat felt like it had a lump in it all the time. This went on for months and I saw a gastroenterologist who prescribed me with Protonix 40mg. A few more months passed and the throat issue didn’t seem to get any better and I also had more of the heart palpitations. However the health issue now moved into a new phase that brought an incredible amount of anxiety. Sometimes I could not eat at all due to this anxiety. Sometimes I was so hungry and as soon as food went into my mouth it felt like my body panicked as it was telling me not to eat. I went for an endoscope (I had completed the barium swallows during the initial stages – nothing showed up) and the Doc told me my lower esophagus was very red. He also noticed I still had food in my stomach and I hadn’t eaten in over 12 hours to prepare for the test. He scheduled a stomach emptying test which showed I had mild gastro paresis. I started having soups at night and basically I starved myself a lot and did not eat unless my stomach rumbled. After a few weeks I felt that I was on the road to recovery. As each month passed I got better and better and now I can eat quicker than ever as the Protonix has healed an esophagus that was being eroded over a period of 15 years. However my Doc could never explain the anxiety and I can guarantee you it’s a result of all of this. When I say this I don’t mean that it had me on edge but rather something happens in my body and the body reacts by becoming anxious. Anyway, after a few good months I started to slip back into poor heath and now I am close to what I used to be like. Sometimes I eat and feel the anxiety coming on like a large wave. It makes me sad as I thought this illness had left my body and I didn’t do anything different to bring it back. My aunt seems to think it may be aggravating my vagus nerve which makes sense but why doesn’t it happen all the time and it really feels like someone has slipped me a drug and my body just reacts. I also completed a stress test to look for the cause of the palpitations. Nothing showed up. It’s a pity as I feel that all the specialists only focus on their division of medicine and what I need is for everyone to get together and add all the pieces together. The gastrointorogists doesn’t care about the heart issue and the cardiologist doesn’t care about the stomach issue.

Its worth noting that prior to last year I was only at the doctors twice in my life. I wanted to say this so I don’t sound like the sort of person that worries about every little problem or twitch (although I empathize with those that do). Why had my body developed this problem.

B

PS: Its common for my pupils to be different in size while not feeling good. Ive noticed my pupils do this since I was 15 thus figured its nothing serious. I just thought I would through it in here incase it shed some more light on the subject

Thanks everyone.
:p

:confused:

Yeah, anxiety stinks the bit one doesn't it?? It can cause all kinds of symptoms and really throw you for a stoop sometimes. The problem is its hard for one to know if its the anxiety that's causing the symptoms, or if the symptoms are from an underlying disorder which is causing the anxiety.

You also wouldn't believe the range of things anxiety can cause. I am getting ready to graduate college next week, and this week has been very stressful. It has caused all kinds of weird feelings under my right rib cage. I was at the doctor two weeks ago and passed with flying colors in every test they did. I also am in great shape, but the anxiety can fool me anytime. Sometimes with pretty bizarre symptoms.

The palpatations you describe from your heart are classic anxiety symptoms. I would go check out the boards there, they might help. As far as the digestive problems go, I really couldn't tell ya; but anxiety/stress can make any digestive discomfort alot worse (as I'm sure you know already)

Hope this helps, good luck.


One other thing that might be of help; anxiety is an associative disorder. Meaning that once you get it with an event (such as your earting) it comes back, even if you think its gone, at any time. Its a form of classical conditioning (think of pavlov).

Thanks for your reply