Health anxiety, general unwell feeling

Posted by noendinsight @noendinsight, Jul 8 9:33am

Hi all, 47m
Just needed to vent and let it out.
I've been dealing with panic and anxiety for over 20 years. For the most part it's been somewhat under control with medication and some therapy. I don't do so well with therapy unless is just talking and letting it out like I'm doing now. My anxiety is focused on my heart and having heart attacks(never had one). I've had my ups and downs with it and currently I'm on a down swing. I also have pvcs that were pretty much under control but last summer after a mild bout with covid I noticed they started getting worse. My primary switched me from atenolol to metoprolol ER. Didn't feel much relief. At the same time I had a new psychiatrist and she started weaning me off of a benzo I've been taking for a few years because "it's not good long term" and their office doesn't prescribe them long term. She prescribed me gabapentin instead which did absolutely nothing. Fast forward to April/May, I was starting to feel burned out and didn't pay much attention but my anxiety was creeping up on me. I started to get panic attacks while driving to work, fatigue and general malaise. I also noticed I was having stomach issues and loss of appetite. My anxiety and depression was getting worse and I told my psychiatrist so she added buspirone to the mix. That seemed to help ever so slightly for a little bit but I was calling out sick from work because I couldn't get out of bed in the morning. I've lost a little over 20 pounds since May. Eventually psychiatrist took me off of paxil and buspirone and switched me over to Lexapro. I found another psychiatrist that doesn't have a problem prescribing benzos as long as it doesn't go over a certain dose and I'm fine with that. I don't abuse drugs and I always follow the doctor's direction. I'm 3 weeks into Lexapro and I feel slightly better. I still have anxiety and fatigue but not as bad. I've been to the cardiologist and had a 7 day monitor and it did show pvcs but not enough for concern. I also had an echo of my heart and that was ok. Im still concerned with my heart, I still get anxious and restless about my heart. I'm constantly checking my pulse ox and doing research on my symptoms. I'm just to the point where I don't know what to do. I feel desperate for some relief. I keep feeling my pvcs and have all kinds sensations and feelings. Anyway, sorry for the long rant.

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@dani349

@noendinsight Prayers and hugs to you ! Have you had you vit d levels checked ? Try sitting in the sun for a few minutes or going for a walk ! Hope you find the issue so you a feel better !!

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Thank you. I have had my D checked and it was extremely low. I have been supplementing but I stopped a few months back.

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@hisdreamweaver

I lived Lexapro was on it for over 20 years. I’m off about a year now. Have you had your iron b12 folate or zinc checked I’ve read that deficiency could cause a tornado inside. Best of luck to you. Keep moving and fighting

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I had the same thing. My father died of a heart attack, and also had anxiety.i ended up with the same thing. Panic and anxiety certainly makes it worse. It like the fight and flight. When you get anxious you get the adrenaline going in to help in case a lion is chasing you. lol. The best you can do is believe the
Doctor, and reliese that you have no control over what’s going to happen. Live life each and every day, and stay calm.

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@jyjyjy

I had the same thing. My father died of a heart attack, and also had anxiety.i ended up with the same thing. Panic and anxiety certainly makes it worse. It like the fight and flight. When you get anxious you get the adrenaline going in to help in case a lion is chasing you. lol. The best you can do is believe the
Doctor, and reliese that you have no control over what’s going to happen. Live life each and every day, and stay calm.

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Thank you

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I can totally relate to the anxiety. I had a ventricular Tachycardia incident 4 years ago and had to get a defibrillator implanted. This past Easter i had another incident with my implant needing to shock me 6 times. I was afraid to go to sleep for fear of not waking up. I was off work for over 3 months. I've been back to work 4 weeks but feel myself slipping back. I freeze up when I feel the pvc's. Trying to make myself relax. I wish you and everyone else the best of health

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@stacye125

I can totally relate to the anxiety. I had a ventricular Tachycardia incident 4 years ago and had to get a defibrillator implanted. This past Easter i had another incident with my implant needing to shock me 6 times. I was afraid to go to sleep for fear of not waking up. I was off work for over 3 months. I've been back to work 4 weeks but feel myself slipping back. I freeze up when I feel the pvc's. Trying to make myself relax. I wish you and everyone else the best of health

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Thank you so much for your reply. Have you noticed if your pvcs get worse after eating? That happens to me even if I eat very little.

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@samcal9977zz

We can simplify this entire issue. If your health is greatly impacted, it is certainly going to affect your thinking, moods and emotions.

We don't have to get into the specifics to know that if we have many medical problems, it is a constant emotional strain on us and that leading into worry generally and then worry about passing? That is all extremely normal.

I agree with another post...keep investigating, keep looking into aids to the medical problems. Do all that, absolutely.

And yes, use therapy as an aid.

Everything helps.

Might want to look into relaxation work, stress management and stress reduction. That can only help.

How much will it help? A powerful cure-all? Unlikely. Some help? Very likely.

And under stress reduction will include things like breathing exercises and meditation.

I was a violent crime victim. Kidnapped in 1982 and held for a time. About a year after I escaped, I started to have panic attacks. I was able to control them through breathing exercises. I really don't remember how long it took for that to work. I think it probably started to help after a few months and really did the trick after a year or two.

Meditation has helped as well. It is, for most of us, not an easy discipline. I have a good meditation maybe 1 out of every 20 times I sit down. However, every time I sit down it helps some. And if I am extremely agitated, it almost always helps out.

There are thousands of different forms of meditation. The field is very very very vast. So, not only would the goal to be a meditation practice, but finding the form that is really suited to your particular needs.

You might want to start with something very simple. Like just taking time to listen to some gentle classical music. Mozart is said to be very good for relaxation. A nice walk on the beach or in the mountains is itself a meditation. Takes the mind to a more relaxed place. Even fishing in a quiet place is a meditation. Without doing any techniques. Just relaxing the mind is itself a meditation.

So, you know, might want to start off there. And this is all discussed in the discipline of stress reduction and stress management.

My wife and I like nature relaxation videos. Here's one we like...and the company that makes them, makes a bunch that we like. Many available on You Tube for free. It's made by a young guy, in this 20s, a hiker who just likes nature:

this one is beautiful aerial footage of Scotland (Isle of Skye) with some relaxing music:


and I will leave you with one breathing exercise.

Now, this is art, craft, as much as a technique. Like with meditation...sometimes you hit the target, sometimes you don't.

We use "key" words to stimulate an effect. The words, in themselves don't mean much. They are a tool to "get to a place."

Any time you try and describe techniques like this, it immediately sounds like new age nonsense.

But breathing techniques are very very widely used and recognized as having benefit. And by very mainstream sources.

Many professional athletes regularly use breathing techniques.

Anyway...so here it is.

Just sit in a chair, in a quiet room without distractions. Just take five minutes to start and just sit in the chair..do nothing, no techniques, just rest your bones...period. Just take five minutes to let that sit in, that you are now in your "relaxation" time and you don't have to spend it worrying about the bills or whatever else is in your life.

Just relax.

Then, to the breathing.

The phrase is..."when you breathe in, imagine you are breathing in peace." "Imagine that you are not breathing in air, but breathing in peace."

Now those words sound like nonsense. But what we are actually doing is using those words, to train the mind...even the unconscious mind, to just let go of the stress. That is the work. The words don't mean anything, unless they help you establish that connection.

You breathe in. Relax. Imagine that the breath is relaxing you. Exhale. Imagine that all the stress is leaving you when you exhale.

You breathe in and relax...you exhale and let all the stress go with the breath as you exhale.

And that is it. Period.

And just do that for a few minutes. And, I do mean, maybe 3 minutes max.

Other words that people connect to: calm, tranquility, serenity, ease...whatever works for you.

It is a technique. And if you get good at it, it can really attack stress levels. Like I said, I was kidnapped. In the real world, people wanted me dead. Like anyone I had real fears. These goons were never caught by the police.
I had real fears.

But even in that kind of scenario, it is still a choice whether to let your mind dwell on the possibilities and the fears...or to simply divert your mind to something else. Oh, a memory of walking on a beach at sunset. Simple, simple stuff.

Now, the mind can get triggered. The amygdala can capture the mind, and put you in fear or flight. That is that kind of animal "brain." And that does not want to give up control easily. But, it actually can be controlled...to varying degrees.

And it can be as simple as allowing the mind to be absorbed into something peaceful, pleasant, calm.

I would say the analogy is like this. Someone just got mugged. Lost a lot of money and was in fear of their life. You see them 5 minutes after the event. They are in that moment of the fear. Trying telling that person, in that moment, to just give up thinking about the mugging. That is the kind of tug of war between a powerful force pushing you to dwell on fear and worry...and that tiny tiny voice trying to move you somewhere else.

It is a big big big fight.

But, if you enter into the breathing exercise day after day, a few minutes each day...bit by bit, you can learn to calm things down. Like I said, for me...about 3 months to start to feel some relief and a good 1 to 2 years to really get a powerful impact where I could say...I really don't get panic attacks anymore.

And, experiencing what I have an knowing what I know...I absolutely can not say this will work for you. It might.

Again, the idea here is that a lot of people quit before the expertise rises to a level that will make a difference.

take care now...

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I’m sorry to hear that you're feeling unwell and dealing with health anxiety. It's a tough situation, but you're not alone. Many people experience similar feelings, and there are ways to manage them. Here are some steps that might help:

Understand Your Symptoms
Track Your Symptoms: Keep a journal of your symptoms, noting when they occur, their severity, and any potential triggers. This can help you and your healthcare provider identify patterns.
Education: Sometimes, understanding the nature of anxiety and how it manifests in physical symptoms can alleviate some of the fear. Resources like the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) can be helpful.

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@noendinsight

Thank you so much for your reply. Have you noticed if your pvcs get worse after eating? That happens to me even if I eat very little.

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No they don't. They actually seem to calm down some or perhaps it's the eating that's calming me down. I'm not sure 🤷🏾‍♀️

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@stacye125

No they don't. They actually seem to calm down some or perhaps it's the eating that's calming me down. I'm not sure 🤷🏾‍♀️

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Yeah, it's so weird and worrying at the same time.

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Does anyone have feelings that their heart is beating so hard and fast that it's going to burst through their chest? Also have beat skips during the episodes. Last night lasted for an hour. Occurs periodically. Taking metoprolol daily for high blood pressure which is normal except during and after episodes. Have had thorough heart exams which appeared normal except for the skipping of heart beats.

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