Hi

I have been suffering with pain for years now , my symptoms include..

Chest pain (left side, middle back, centre and right side )
stomach pains
Palputations
pains down my legs and arms
dizzy spells
shortness of breath
tingling in hands and lips

For years I have been going to the doctors and they have never found the cause. Ive been in and out of hospital had ecgs , scans, cameras in my stomach , blood tests ~ all coming back clear.

The last few months Ive been house bound , I am scared to go out of my house , I have panic attacks, and the pains that spread about my stomach and chest makes me feel like I am going to die. I am convinced the doctors are not treating me right, everytime they say to me that I am too young to have a heart attack, I feel like my life is over , Ive just spent 2 days in hospital and the doctors brought 2 councilers in to see me , they think I have been suffering anxiety for so long and I am damaging my body ,


I was very upset after talking to the councilers and same day had flash backs , I felt like I was going to crack up and I couldent escape my own mind. when things get too much for me I self harm to relise the pain . I drink on a night to get me to sleep . I feel trapped alot of the time and I have strange thoughts, Im paronoid and I can create a bad situation out of nothing for myself to worry about .

I just cant put the 2 together :confused: I dont feel anxious and I have pain, can anxiety actually cause this much pain?

well, i'm not sure of the answer. because i wonder that too.. for about 7 years now i have had all those symptoms you mentioned.. had all the tests, everything comes back fine.. and the only thing i can say for sure is, when i am on paxil the feelings pretty much go away so it has to be anxiety.. but, then i think i can get off the paxil and the symptoms come back.. thats where i'm at now.. i have such bad shortness of breath and i cannot believe there isnt something wrong with me.. i just lost my mom to lung cancer 3 weeks ago so probably wasnt the best time to get off the paxil. so, i gave in and started again.. do you ever get woke up when your sleeping and like gasp. like maybe you just stopped breathing??? i hate that.. my heart skips every day too...

sorry to hear about your mum

yes I get woken up in the night , feels like my heart is pounding out of my chest , Im haent a clue where my panic attacks have come from , they started a few years ago, I started being scared of driving on moterways , and then it progressed to heights then open spaces , then being in a shop and not being able to see the exit , I can have a panic attack if sat in my car at traffic lights it feels like I cant escape.

My heart skips beats all the time , then I get the pounding like its trying to regulate itself.

I really cant put this down to anxiety I am convinced I am going to die of heart attack, Or mayme im just looking on the black side as usual and cant believe the this could all be conected to anxiety

I can relate to every symtom and feeling your mentioning. Started 15yrs ago and I have had periods of thinkin I'm back to normal and then BOOM I'm back again... I had ecgs, heart tapes, treadmill heart tests, brain scans, lumber punture, chest x-rays etc. Nothing found apparatly I am healthy, HA, HUH.. Well how come I'm not normal then??? I to am housebound at the minute and have been for a couple of months. Its a nightmare and I have pulled myself outa this horrible hole before and I can't believe I'm back real deep again. The answer I think is positive thinking and keeping busy with a home task to keep your mind occupied. Then little steps, set little goals everyother day, like a small walk then a walk to the shop and slowly build up. A friend whos understanding when your ready to go further is a must, as your less to panic when you know you can go home and not feel trapped. I can honestly tell you in my experience of dealing with this over and over again, that YES my symtoms are real but why is it that they slowly fade and then go . Its been a cycle of events for me over the yrs and I really thought I'd beat the anxiety so this time I have just started meds and soon to start counciling. One last thing another thing is that I have read up on stress etc and from what I have researched people always suffer there stress AFTER the situation. Fingers crossed for us all xxxx jules:angel:

Boxermad,

I have felt most if not all of those symptoms and there was a time when I was completely house bound, no, I actually couldn't get off the couch for many days. Anyway, from what you are describing, it sounds to me like panic dissorder with agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is fear of the outdoors and means you become housebound. It sounds like you have exhausted the physical symptoms out and it looks to me like you don't have a physical ailment, but I would definitely see a psychiatrist as soon as you can. Your quality of life CAN and will be much better.

Also, if you have felt:

Chest pain (left side, middle back, centre and right side )
stomach pains
Palputations
pains down my legs and arms
dizzy spells
shortness of breath
tingling in hands and lips

Then you have already had panic attacks. Anxiety is sneaky that way. It can manifest itself in all kinds of ways including strange thoughts.

Please go see a doctor. It may take some work, but you can get better.