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Old 03-29-2007, 01:11 PM   #6
blu3crayon
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Re: I am really scared and need advice.

To Boxer [thanks for the responce] - I have a little chest pain each day.. a stap here an anch there a tingle here sometimes near the breast bone. And when it races like that the idea of a heart attack does cross my mind but if it had been I am fairly confident I would be dead. But I have been hyper vig. about my hearts speed (always feeling the beats and such bordering on obsessed though I did have an EKG as noted above.. does that matter?) not so much the pain. I fear it will "Race out of control and never return to normal".. And you are correct I spoke on a high speed. and I honestly could not tell you the highest speed it reached. Because I did not wish to check I; and wisely so believed , it would cause me to become more panicky. but I simply guess 150-180. And what seems to happen.. is it gets high and it takes me several hours ( 3-5 ) to return back down.. I have now grown to fear this greatly and am always waiting for it to occur again, and thus my doctor has now increased my xanax from 1.5mg per day to 3mg perday.. Now you know the time lines.. what do you think? And my GP wants me to come in so I have an apt on the 3rd of next month to go in. I believe beta blockers may be discussed. But I am curious to your opinion, Thanks in advance
Blu3~

Last edited by blu3crayon; 03-29-2007 at 01:39 PM.
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Old 03-29-2007, 02:44 PM   #7
boxerlover227
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Re: I am really scared and need advice.

Hey Blu3~

Well I have to say you are right I think if you were experiencing heart related pains, there wouldn't be an ache here and there and the pain and symptoms would be getting "a lot" worse. That being said, I also get the aches in the chest area along with some sharp shooting pains mostly on the left side near the breast area. I could pin point exactly where the pain is, and when I told my Dr. this I was informed that heart related chest pains almost "always" can not be pin pointed. It is much more of a widespread pain.
Yes the EKG that you had is a "rule" out for heart related problems as well as other test. But I guess your Dr. felt those other test were not necessary after reading the EKG results. That is a good indication that all your symptoms stem from anxiety related issues.
I also suffer from obsession about my heart rate, and the more I think and check it the faster and more anxious I become.
I think at the time not checking your pulse was something beneficial to you being that it would have only caused you to become more anxious when getting a reading rate that is high. (normal response to a anxiety suffer)
I was also informed that xanax would "not" help when having a heart attack. So being that the xanax helped control your panic and bring your heart rate back to normal is also another indication.
I was given a beta blocker years ago for the same issues and it slowed my heart rate down to the 60's when I normal run in the 90's throughout the day. Yes I am a hypervigilent person as well. So I can tell you this a beta blocker will indeed control fast heart rates. But I discontinued the use of it because I felt really sluggish and tired on it. I could barely function all I wanted to do is sleep. So I switched to the xanax. I found that the xanax did it's job and controlled the panic, anxiety and fast heart rates without the sluggishness that the beta blocker caused me.
I still take xanax when needed a very low dose.
I think discussing it with your Dr. is the best thing. Perhaps the beta blocker would be a better choice for you. You are going to have to test run it. But I can assure you that it will calm you down and you will feel very relaxed on it.
You mentioned that you are always waiting for these episodes to come again. You are just suffering from what is called anticipation anxiety, it is so common and so real. I do this with panic attacks. I had one then I just anticipate and wait for the next and in the process I am creating "all these other symptoms" while "anxiously" awaiting. It is all a cycle. And the main root of the cycle is "FEAR"
Now when I have a panic attack or am in "panic mode" my heart rate can stay this high as well for long periods of time. And when it does finally slow back down to normal rates I feel wiped out from all the adrenaline.
I think you are just like me walking around in panic mode, on guard just waiting for the next sensation to trigger an attack.
The good news is there is hope, treatment and you just as I can "learn" to control these fears, these attacks, these thoughts and these symptoms.
You must retrain your mind just as you are by not obsessing and checking your pulse. You are breaking the pattern!! Let me know how you do at your appointment. And if you feel you need reassurance I am "always here" to offer my support, experiences and comfort in letting you know that you aren't alone and I have been through this for many, many years and truly understand your fears, and symptoms. Take Care Boxerlover
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Old 03-29-2007, 02:53 PM   #8
blu3crayon
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Re: I am really scared and need advice.

I truly hate to sound like a broken record.. (hears the squeaky noise lol) so it isn't bad if it takes 4-5 hours at a high rate like I said above to calm itself down?... And yes you were right my doctor looked at my BP results to 160/somethinkg and my EKG and said really point blank "we need to control your anxiety" .. But she did bump me up to 3 mg a day and if im worse i may take an extra .50 mg JIC .. but I went down to CVS to pick it up I even got all the way there (very rare for me) and the panic feelings started right up again.. a the door I wound up not making it and coming home.. and now I am low on gas so I need to go back out and do booth and as you said, I fear that episode happening while I am out.. (and when home for that matter.) But I really am obsessing.. I keep picturing my heart rate shooting all the way up again and im in the CVS or even more so at my drs next week etc etc.. sigh the cycle. On a side note can both xanax and - beta blocker - inderal be taken at once?

Last edited by blu3crayon; 03-29-2007 at 03:17 PM.
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Old 03-29-2007, 03:18 PM   #9
boxerlover227
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Re: I am really scared and need advice.

Your not a broken record you just a mirror image of what I use to be and sometimes still am.. Lol
I can tell you for me that it wasn't and still at times isn't uncommon for me to have a fast heart rate that last for hours, and hours at a time. It is because you aren't just having panic attacks that last the normal few minutes to peak and then level off. You are walking around with panic disorder and you are "always" stuck in panic mode. This is creating "all' the symptoms you would experience during a panic attack just over a longer span of time.
I would drive to the store and the second I would park the car and look at the door my heart would begin to race, and I would feel as if I was "frozen" with fear. I would become so dizzy from over breathing and all the panic I was creating that things would just become a blur and I would think for sure I was dying right then and there. I would race home to my safe place and it would take a good few hours to become calm again.
Then I began to have them at home in my safe place from anticipating the thought and the feelings of the next attack. Eventually I didn't feel safe anywhere, the only time I began to feel normal was when I would sleep. So I stopped doing so many things and became depressed from just sleeping all the time. All part of the cycle!!
Your Dr. knew right away that you were suffering from anxiety just from the test results. I am POSITIVE that if she/he thought that you had heart related Tach that you would have been to see the cardiologist right then and there. Dr.'s aren't going to take chances, meaning that she/he isn't going to send you home in risk of law suite if you were having heart related problems and they just sent you home with a diagnosis of anxiety. They are going to run more test and send you to more specialist if for any reason they thought for one second you were having a heart related issue.
All your signs are classic anxiety and panic disorder. I know that is hard to believe when you are the suffer. I KNOW!!
I know some wonderful techniques that can help you rebuild your freedom and be able to start living a normal healthy life again. I will post them for you in another thread when I get a chance.
I am wondering are you in any sort of therapy for all your anxiety? I found this to be the road to recovery for me perhaps you should look into this as well.
If you are going back to the store, by yourself then my advice to you is to sit in the car a few minutes, tell yourself you are okay, you can do this, NOTHING bad is going to happen. You aren't going to die, you are not going to faint. You drove all the way there and made it without dying and you can get you medication without dying as well. I KNOW this seems imposable but I can assure you that you can do this if you tell yourself you can.
I am going to forward you a post I wrote awhile back called my disease called anxiety. I think you should read this post and really see the pattern here. I hope it will be as helpful to you as it was to so many others. keep me posted. Boxer
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Old 03-29-2007, 03:27 PM   #10
boxerlover227
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Re: I am really scared and need advice.

I forgot to mention that I know others who were prescribed xanax and a beta blocker. I MYSELF personally do not know if the one you mentioned can be taken with xanax. That is something you and your Dr. must discuss. But I can tell you this when I took the beta blocker toprol XL there was no need for me to take a xanax. I was way way clam with the beta blocker alone. No panic in site!! Here is the post I mentioned to you that I wrote~

My Disease Called Anxiety~ By Boxerlover227
I decided to sit down and write about my disease, anxiety with panic disorder. So many of us here question whether or not we are alone in what we are feeling. So many of us question whether or not these are indeed symptoms of anxiety. We tell ourselves yeah I have been alittle stressed out lately but not enough to cause all these horrible physical symptoms I am experiencing. Or is it enough? My only interest in writing this is in hopes to find others out there who maybe suffers as well and perhaps "think they are alone" and maybe come to realize they are not and find some comfort in knowing this. Or perhaps you are reading this saying to yourself, boy I know how that person feels I have been down that road more than once and offer some support or advice to others on things that may or may not have helped you. I must note that everything I write today is real life experiences that I myself have had. Nothing is taken out of a text book or off of any website or documentary. They are real feelings, real symptoms, and real daily struggles. Also I must add if you are looking for a short read, this post is also not for you, as I mentioned this is years of struggles and years could not be summed up in two sentences. My true goal in writing this is to possibly help others including myself, or perhaps find or give comfort in others as well.
So everyone knows that feeling you are on an airplane and dropping altitude, you feel a falling sensation from within, it almost causes you to reach for those nice bags they offer you cause your stomach begins to feel queasy, or your in an elevator and you are going up or down, and again you are struck with that dropping, falling sensation. Only thing is you know you are not on an airplane or in an elevator you are sitting at your desk at work, or reading the paper at home, or perhaps just cooking dinner in your kitchen going about your day. So what just happened? Your mind starts going on overdrive, Did I just have a stroke? I am having a heart attack that must be it? You begin to Have hot and cold flashes, you feel pins and needles all over, your heart rate starts to speed up, your chest is hurting cause your heart is pounding so hard, you feel like you can't catch your breath, a smothering sensation, like a pillow being placed over your face, you feel the urge to crawl out of your body and run, but where? Where is your safe place? Your head feel so heavy like you just had a mask of funny gas placed over your face Your legs can't possibly hold you up anymore they are so weak and shaky, you know you are going to pass out at any moment, BUT you don't so now what?
Your in the grocery store, already you are having a hard time focusing and walking down the aisle without falling over, so you fingers are gripped to the cart for balance purposes. You approached the check out and suddenly you feel hot and cold all over, your starting to feel like you might pass out or perhaps go crazy. everyone's voices become much louder but for some strange reason you can't understand what they are saying, the fluorescent lights seemed intensely bright, you knees start to feel that shakiness you know all so well. You suddenly have the urge to leave and run to that safe place again, the sheer terror is beyond anything you could control. You shove your cart to the side inspite the need for food, and run as fast as you can out of the store. You wonder to yourself, again what just happened? Your still feeling the effects of panic. Your trembling fumbling for your keys, your still trying to catch your breath, driving away for the store approaching your home you begin to feel your heart rate slowing down. Why is this happening? I feel like I am losing my mind. Realistically I know that there was no reason for fear, but why does my body and mind seem to think there is? Suddenly, for no immediate reason, my body was overwhelmed by a surge of elemental panic. Everything seems to race out of control, I could feel my vision go off, everything faded out and became detached, and my heart felt like it wanted to jump out of my chest. Is this just panic and anxiety or is there really something physically wrong with me? There has to be something wrong, I know there is.. These are all the thoughts that follow hours, and days, and weeks after.. Which trigger the feelings all over again. Like a spinning wheel just keeps going around and around. But how do you over come this? I know next time I will breath better, I will tell myself over and over again that there is nothing to fear, I will handle it better next time....
Next time Your driving along singing to your favorite song, suddenly you are stopped at a red light, A red light that seems like an eternity to change to green, suddenly this overwhelming fear comes over you, your breathing starts to become fast and shallow, the song you were just singing along to begins to sound distorted, your beginning to feel detached, your trembling so hard you can hear your teeth chattering, your chest is hurting, your heart is pounding, you start to feel your vision blur, Your lightheaded and just know at any moment you are going to pass out.
I have to get out, those are the thoughts running through your head, You begin to feel like everything around you is closing in. You are sure this time that you are dying. The light turns green, you proceed with traffic, suddenly you are struck with a intense headache, pressure feeling to be exact.
Your still feeling the effects of what your body just went through, You keep asking yourself what just happened, If I only could make it home I will be okay. You pull up to your house and you feel a sense of being safe. You spend hours, feeling the effects of fear, terror and adrenaline that just raced through your body. You ask your self why? You would think by now your body was so use to the surges, But in fact each and everytime the feelings and symptoms are just as strong as if you were experiencing them for the first time... Again you promise your self next time I will handle it better.
You begin to research... And research and yup you guessed it you have every single symptom or every single disease out there. You begin to obsess and believe you are plagued with everyone of these illnesses, and this in turn causes you to obsess about it day in and day out. You wake up feeling sick and go to bed feeling sick. You experience every symptom form a chronic rapid heart rate, to chills and hot flashes, upset stomach, headaches, dizziness, disattachment from yourself, even disappointment in yourself.
You stop doing all the things you once loved and enjoyed. Everything you do has become a major challenge to this beast. You start to feel as if your life is not in your control anymore. You can't control these feelings, you have tried over and over again.. You simply feel like you are going to die at the hands of this beast. BUT you don't.. You continue to live in a vicious cycle of fear, and terror along with an array of symptoms that are horrific.
There are so many treatments out there for suffers just like myself. There are medications, therapies, and most of all support groups such as this one that can help others to feel comfort in knowing that they are not by any means alone. I feel that this is the most effective for me, speaking to others who know what it feels like first hand, who understands your daily struggle, offers you support and comfort when perhaps you can't find that in the one's you spend most of your days with. My sole purpose today is to offer that support, share my terror of anxiety disorder with you all and hope that somebody out there reads this and finds some kind of comfort... Believe me feeling alone in this makes everything more of a challenge.
I must mention that there are illnesses that mimic anxiety as well as trigger anxiety, so proper diagnosis is important, Once you are diagnosed and know you suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder, The Rest OF the Battle is excepting the fact that this really is anxiety!!!
I hope reading this has help many of you. I know writing it has helped me some.. Still I continue to battle my daily struggle with anxiety disease and panic disorder.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all you suffers such as myself.
Everyone feel free to comment on this post, perhaps your experiences could help others as well... As always my best to all... Boxerlover
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