Frustrating symptoms...not sure where to post..... - Open to All Other Health Topics Message Board

lcweid · 11-19-2005, 07:07 AM

Hi! I've "acquired" some rather unusual (for me) and frustrating symptoms. I'm not asking for a diagnosis from anyone (unless you are a doctor) as I know most of us are not qualified to do that here. What I need are suggestions of websites where I could research my issues so that I can try to figure this out.

I am 41. Until recently I have been very healthy....going to the gym 5 days a week, eating healthy, working, etc. In the last year, the year from hell I might add, several things have caused stress. Usually, I have stress (everyone does) in my life and I've been able to handle it. But this last year I had one issue on top of another on top of another, without any breaks in which to recover and regroup. Things have stopped now, so I've been able to relax a bit.

Now, I seem to be having some weird and at times frightening symptoms. I have reason to question all these symptoms because we have stroke, heart issues and insomnia with ALL the women in my family.

My symptoms are: Sharp, continual (all day), chest pain right in the center of my chest to deep under my left breast, constricted breathing (I can't seem to get a deep enough breath), difficulty swallowing (I feel a lump in my throat right above the collar bone)...it hurts to swallow (feels like when you get a piece of hard candy stuck in your throat, not a sore throat from a cold) and when I do swallow food it feels like food gets stuck in the center of my chest and struggles to finally go down, hurting as it goes.

This has been going on now for almost two months.

I went to the doctor. He first put me on a beta blocker which he said "I feel confident that this will alleviate all your symptoms." Well, it slowed my heart rate, which is fine, but all the other symptoms have persisted. I did some research and thought, well, maybe it is GERD related, so the doc allowed me to take Prilosec. Bad idea! It made my stomach feel like it was on fire and didn't help any of the symptoms.

I went back yesterday because on Thursday when I was walking I had severe dizziness, severe nausea, felt like my blood sugar took a plunge (sweaty, clamy, shaky), and severe sharp chest pains in the center and left of my chest and into my left arm pit. I didn't think I would make it home from my walk. This was the first time in 2 months that these symptoms scared me.

The doc yesterday decided all the symptoms were due to panic. (The visit to the doc was not a good one. I think he really isn't sure what is going on.) He suggested anti-depressants. I told him I have taken many of those in the past to help the sleep issues and I never have good results taking them...they make my personality change like Jekyll and Hyde. Nevertheless, without listening to me, he slammed 4 boxes of Cymbalta down in front of me and said "When these four boxes are empty come back." End of visit. I brought the boxes home and my husband took one look and, with much emotion on his face and in his voice, said "Please don't take those. They'll change you."

I have researched: panic, panic attacks, panic disorders, anxiety, anxiety attacks, anxiety disorders, stress, stress attacks, stress disorders....with no luck. I disagree with this "labeling"of panic. I don't have three fourths of the symptoms listed for panic and anxiety. NO doom and gloom,fear, depression, no feelings of fear of more "attacks". My symptoms are ALL DAY. If this was an "attack" wouldn't they come and go and not hang around all day?? And how can I have "Panic Attacks" when I am out walking enjoying myself and in the fresh air and feeling great and positive?? Or when I am watching tv and crocheting?? Or when I am playing with my pets?? I dont' get it.....

I have had a stress test, two EKG, and have a barium swallow scheduled for Tuesday. I have had a blood test done for my thyroid. I will not, and cannot, take the anti-depressants. I don't see how they will remove pain in my chest and throat. So far all tests are normal. But, because of female health issues in my family I am concerned that I am getting this diagnosis and feel the doc is just giving up. I don't want anti-depressants that are just going to make me crazy and just cover up the symptoms and not actually get at the cause of what is going on.

Any suggestions as to where to get more info?? Any suggestions as to something I am missing or something I should have checked? And how do you get a doc to actually check other things without feeling like you are a pest and not worth his time?

Well, enough droning on and on......just frustrated.....

Lois

Misty800 · 11-19-2005, 03:46 PM

Lois, you need to see a doctor who is "interested" in finding the real problem and not just tossing anti-depressants to you to shut you up.

It took 10 years for me to find a doctor interested in properly diagnosing me and my spiking bloodpressure in stroke territory. Turned out my breathing had jumped track and I was blowing off too much carbon dioxide causing my body to panic and spike the blood pressure. Cheapest prescription ever was a paper sack, rebreath in sack 5 minutes every hour for 3 months. This stopped the spiking bloodpressure and after 5 years I still rebreathe in a sack twice or more a day to keep lungs exercised and not shallow breathe. I went to a hypertension specialist at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. Had been to 3 internists and 2 cardiologist, none were able to properly diagnose or help me. Yeah, a beta-blocker was tossed to me too and it put such a brake on my heart I could not function very well.

You would do well to learn all you can about hyperventilation. It is possible to be a hidden-hyperventilater and not realize it. That was my problem.

Seek help from a doctor who is "interested", one who will listen to you.

If there is a medical school in your state or other, go there for proper diagnosis. Professors also have private practices and stay on top of things.

If you are having problems with anxiety, rebreathing in a paper sack off and on will help calm your nervous system.

To answer some of your questions, yes, anxiety can surge over you even when you are enjoying what you are doing at the time. Some people have sensitive sympathetic nervous systems. I am the queen of them all.

lcweid · 11-19-2005, 06:59 PM

....how in the world does one actually find a doctor that is "interested".....I don't have the money to spend to keep trying on new doctors......and, I'm kinda at the point where I feel no one really gives a darn anyway so I should just endure.....I read so many postings on different message boards with the advice of getting all sorts of tests and have doctors check this and that....how do you get them to do that?? I asked a doc that question once and he said that doctors don't do testing and checking anymore because of all the insurance red tape......with that in mind, how does one get taken care of anymore??

ticker · 11-19-2005, 07:31 PM

Hi Lois. I recommend that you have a complete thyroid panel done. Besides the TSH, T3, and T4 tests request Free T3, Free T4 and thyroid antibody tests. They are not normally done but are necessary for a comprehensive view.

I also suggest posting your symptoms on the thyroid board here for feedback. The people are wonderful. They can also help you interpret your results when you get them. Even if results are in the normal range, it does not mean they are optimal for you.

I agree with Misty about finding a doctor who cares. Doctors are hired by us to help. It is their job. If they cannot or will not help it is time to find one who will. We would do the same with a bad mechanic, contractor etc.

Do not give up. You know yourself better than anyone. Good luck.

lcweid · 11-20-2005, 06:29 AM

I had a thyroid test done...a TSH test. I had to fight with the doc to get the results. As usual, everything was normal.....It came back 1.5.....but if you look at the scale, which is .3 - 5.0, 1.5 doesn't seem so normal......I asked about the T3, T4 numbers and the doc's response was "Oh, we only check those numbers if you have an ongoing thyroid issue." I'm dumbfounded by that response....you won't know if you have an ongoing issue unless you check those numbers! And the internist doc I am going to now said "You have every classic symptom of hyperthyroidism....but I am confident in blood tests which show you are normal." I feel like I am beating a dead horse. How does one find a doctor that cares?? In my lifetime, with different things popping up, I have run out of doctors that I thought "cared" and I don't know how to find one that does......and, my God, the money spent trying to find one.....I'm running out. I will post on the thyroid board and see what the response is......