Can you please help the guy who suffers from serious anxiety issues? (long)

In My Humble Opinion
1

The story pretty much goes like this: Last semster, starting my sophmore year in college my life completely derailed. You, I did the stuff that would be the nightmare of most parents: drugs. I’m not just talking about a simple marjuana joint every day, but the harder, more dangerous stuff: cocaine, ecstacy, mushrooms, LSD, roxicet, xanex and the legal drug alcohol.

It all started one weekend of excessive partying. Not that this weekend was specificaly crazy, but It was rough on my body. I did some of the white powder on sunday and felt relatively fine. After the effects of the drugs passed, I went to sleep, no problem. The next day, being a monday I smoked marijuana later that night. This triggered some serious heart plapitations, something which I wasn’t particularly new to. I’m not sure if Marijuana alone caused the rapid palpitations, as is the case with some people who use the drug.

The NEXT day, on tuesday, was a drinking night. I drank till’ I threw up.

Wednesday, I woke up feeling fine, except for a little hangover. Anyway, on my way to class mid-afternoon, I felt a strange sensation in my heart, a palpitation sensation I had not felt before whilst being sober. This caused me to become very anxious, as I thought that my drug use messed my heart up.

I asked my roomate to take me to the hospital in which I proceeded to tell the embarrasing story of how I was slowly destroying my life by doing drugs, and that I though this might have messed up my heart. After doing all the regular heart related tests, my doctor told me that I was perfectly fine, all I had was anxiety, and that this strange chest pain should go away in a couple of days, once the drugs got out of my system.

Well, days later and I still felt this pressure in my chest and was not convinced with the original diagnosis of the doctor, I went again, and I got the same conclusion. Anxiety.

The doctor prescribed some Xanex, which I did not take, for I was done with heavy drug use as far as I was concernec.

3 months later, in December 07, I did continue with a habit of drinking, which obviously only helped medicate my anxiety temporarily.

This one day, I felt particularly strong palpitations and told my mother about the chest pressures I feel everyday that agonize me and sometimes cause my heart to speed up to the point of discomfort.

Off, I am to a psychitrist who said I suffred from generalized anxiety and she provided me with a treatment of Alprazolam, to be taken for a limited period of time, in combination with therapy, and she assured me that my chest pressures and palpitations would be just fine.

Fast forward 3 months from then, and I am still miserable. I had been able to limit my alprazolam use to once every 2 days, only taking a .5 miligram tablet, and I would just ignore my left chest pressure as if it didn’t really bother me. My palpitations, however, were almost completley gone once I take the alprazolam.

I’ve been going through a rollercoaster of emotions as a result of this. But there is still something that puzzles me:

If my issues are all mental, and this pressure that i feel in my upper left chest is all due to anxiety, why do I continue to feel it even once I take the alprazolam?

Even if I take a full 1mg tablet of alprazolam the pressure does not dissapear, it only dosen’t bother me becase the tablets make me feel so at ease.

However, the fact reamains that this pressure does not leave my chest, and I do not want to be dependant on Alprazolam to treat this issue.

I’ve been to various doctors (3), to two therapists and I still see no satisfying results.

I stopped all drug use, except the very occasional joint and I lead a pretty healthy life-stlye. I eat healthy, I exersice, I sleep well and I try to avoid all the stress I can given the fact that I live i college.

I have read books, I have tried all types of techniques, and believe me, I do everything in my conscious power to forget about these chest pains that often are accompanied by stong panic attacks that literally drive me insane.

Is there anything you guys can think of that can help me, given all I have told you and all I have already done to try to lead a normal and sane life?

2

I am not a doctor.

However, I did have an episode of chest pressure, including a raised heartrate. I went to my doctor, got an EKG and a general looking over and he ended up diagnosing me with gastric reflux. It seems that serious heartburn can mimic angina by causing spasms in your esophagus. I now take Prilosec every day and it has helped.

By the way, alcohol can exacerbate reflux, especially if you drink right before bed.

3

I really think you need to continue looking for a therapist until you find one who addresses all of your concerns, and, until you find one and are convinced your physical symptoms are mental in origin, continue seeing medical doctors as well. I can only imagine what it must be like seeing many doctors and therapists and still not having any improvement, but I don’t think you’re in a position to handle this without professional guidance.

4

the only thing i can say with a degree of certainty is that you will not find a solution to your problem. my answer is for you to learn to live with it.

5

See, TheFury, this is exactly why you need to seek help from qualified professionals rather than a message board.

And telecommunications, that was a completely inappropriate and unjustified thing to say.

6

I suspect that you need to examine how you’re feeling about the pressures of college and other stress in your life. What is prompting you to do these drugs? It sounds like you hadn’t done drugs in the past and your description has an obsessive-compulsive quality to it.

Take anxiety from psychological sources, throw some drugs at it to heighten and aggravate it, and you get a two-headed set of problems. Deal with the psychological stressors while letting the drugs leave your system, and see where you stand and how you feel when you’ve been sober awhile. Be kinder to yourself and consider dropping a class or otherwise making your life a bit saner.

Good luck!

7

the “qualified professionals” told him he’s suffering from anxiety, if he won’t believe that prognosis why push him?

but i have wonderful news. if he is certain that this originated from partying and drugs, and the pros and even the poster above me is so certain he’s just anxious, then we can rule out the possibility of protozoan parasites residing in his heart! hip hip hooray

8

The op is free to correct me on this, but my understanding is that it’s not that he has rejected the diagnosis of anxiety, but that thus far, the treatment he’s been on for it is not resolving the problem to his satisfaction. What that means, IMHO, is that he needs to go back to the doctor/psychiatrist to discuss and modify his treatment plan.

And even if he was denying the prognosis, urging him away from treatment (“qualified professionals”) is counter-productive, to say the least, and evidence that he *needs *“pushed” in the direction of medical professionals. Surely you can see that urging him not to is almost certainly not going to make the situation any better and will probably just make it worse. It seems clear to me that it is not your intent here to help to op, so why are you participating in this thread?

9

I am not a doctor. You should continue to see your doctors and follow their treatment advice.

That said, I suffered from a stress/anxiety disorder for several months that had similar symptoms.

Time helps. If you can take a break from life, and have a supportive environment to do so in; then Do so. Get a job that is mentally and physically peaceful to keep yourself busy. You mention that you are in school, I assume you may have discussed this with your parents. If they are supportive, you may want o consider taking a semester, or even a year off to work on this.

Get lots of sleep, and cut out the booze, coffee and soda. Try to eat good, it really helps.

You may wish to try tai-chi, it teaches calming techniques, breathing, meditation and it a decent workout to boot.

These all helped me get back on track. YMMV Good luck OP.

10

I used to suffer anxiety attacks, and while I wouldn’t get heart palpitations, my chest would tighten to the point of discomfort, and I’d often also have a panic attack.

Sometimes this would happen up to 50 times a day, which is a lot. I have seen a number of therapists over the years, most of whom were simply not effective for me.

When it finally got to the worst stage, then I started Paxil and an antianxiety drug, then with my then ongoing therapist, I was finally able to find what worked for me, and I haven’t had an anxiety attack for six months or so. I’ve also been able to get off all the medication.

If you think that it could be anxiety, then I’d shop for a therapist which will work out for you. Therapy is more of an art than an science, and getting the right one isn’t just a matter of dialing a number.

Good luck.

11

My main concern, one that MAY have been overlooked by the Doctors, is that the pressure on my left chest does not cease to go, regardless of what I do.

Wether it be medication, relaxation or other event that lets me take my mind off things, the pressure remains.

A friend of mine had simialar symptoms to mine, and it turned out she had mitral valve prolapse.

It may well turn out that Doctor’s somehow missed this.

It is just not normal to feel this chest pressure while even on some strong anti-axiety meds like alprazolam.

What were your symptoms like?

12

You certainly seem to know your stuff medically. If you are concerned about cardiac anomalies or damage, then definitely get a referral and a second opinion.

I had the the usual type of panic attack, coupled with a disproportionately aggressive response. Basically, an adrenalin fueled “fight” response that would trash me physically. I would have chest pains, pressure, Joint aches, occasional acid reflux, and headaches.

For the chest issues, I found that slow deep breathing was the most effective thing I could do to loosen up. As soon as I felt the pressure retreat I’d go through a long stretching routine to prevent the muscles from spasming or aching later. Joints and headaches I treated with Midol, and excedrin which both worked better than tylenol or advil.

Following the regimen that I mentioned above, it took me about 6-10 months to get back to normal. At first I could barely leave my home, but I soon chilled down to maybe twice a week. That persisted for several months, until the attacks receded to maybe once or twice a month. I’m now as normal as can be expected, though I still have a bad response to overly stressful situations and have to watch my temper lest I set off an attack.

13

Moved from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion. As I understand it, the OP is looking for advice on how to better communicate about his symptoms with qualified professionals. We’re not here to give medical advice.

Gfactor
General Questions Moderator

14

It’s not clear from your OP, but if you’re still drinking, and if you can, stop immediately. You seem to realize you’re using booze as an anxiety med, but please understand that drinking makes anxiety worse. If you haven’t already, dry out for a few months, you’ll be amazed how much better you feel.

Next, keep trying therapists, don’t give up! I have anxiety, and react atypically to antidepressants – Prozac turns me into a raving asshole. After months of trying 3 or 4 different antidepressants, I found a P-doc that decided to try a different tack with non-antidepressant meds that have off-label uses for generalized anxiety, and I’m a whole lot better than I was. It took me 3 doctors and a hospital visit (self medicating with booze, what a surprise!) to get there.

Do be careful of any benzodiazepine (lorazepam, chlonazipam/klonipin, alprazolam, etc) , they can be extremely addictive. But at the same time, understand that a) they give short term relief (and I stress “short term”) so you can get treatment (antidepressants, or whatever) that makes sense long term; and b) some will provide that short term relief, others less so, its different for everyone, so your therapist may have to try more than one of these to give you a reasonable amount of relief. It sounds like Xanax isn’t doing its job very well for you.

I agree with ** lobotomyboy63** – examine the stress in your life, and see if there’s something there you can change. You do have the power to do this – your life is yours to live in ways that make you happy and less-stressed. If that means changing things, then do so.

I have absolutely felt chest pressure, and “heart ache” in the non-love-lorne way, from my anxiety. When my angst is under control, it lessens and mostly goes away. When I let my irritability can anxiousness propel me, some days its like I’ve been punched in the ribs.

All the usual provisos, IANAD etc.

Good luck!!

15

One question to anyone who may know the answer:

Do EKG’s always check for mitral valve prolapse?

What could cause pressure/ discomfort on the upper left chest, above from the heart?

Can anxiety specificaly make me feel pressure on my left chest, or dosent it make more sense to feel a general discomfort in the whole chest area?

What other symptoms are evident in mitral valve prolapse?

It has come to my attention that this can cause panic/ anxiety disorders, and this could make sense in my case…

16

I see an un-cited mention to that effect on Wiki, but googling in the AHA site isn’t turning up their precise position. I wonder about causation – is it that MVP causes anxiety, or that people think they have anxiety because of chest discomfort, when they really have MVP? I think you’ve been arguing the latter case here, which would make more sense to me than the former. But what do I know.

17

Some googling turned up this, if you want more things to worry about:

ETA: these actually sound like nagging but ultimately benign issues, if that makes you feel any better and leads you away from worrying your ticker is in the red.

18

Thanks for the info.

I have had EKG’s, and other exams done to me, and they all say I’m okay.

But after 5 months, and even while on Xanex, I feel a constant pressure, not that strong, though sometimes it does get worse, and it ***never ** * goes away.

It has been getting quite worse recently and it is torture.

I guess I have to go to another Cardiologest and make 100% that I do not suffer any serious heart issues and I hope he can tell me why the heck do I only feel pressure on my left side above the heart…

Anxiety has been the response so far, but its has been way too long with the same pressure…

19

To be fair, it was in the thread title.

20

I would expect that a doctor who hears a patient complain of chest pains is going to be extremely careful. He’s going to rule out all serious problems before telling you that you’re normal. It sounds like you’ve gone the route with doctors a couple times, they’ve tested, and still aren’t diagnosing anything physiological. A counselor confirms that it’s an anxiety disorder. IANAD but IME they’re damn good at what they do and I’m very inclined to believe them, especially if you’ve seen more than one. I.e. something might slip past one, but a different doc is going to catch it, especially if he/she knows that you’ve already sought help.

Suppose for instance you experience a pain in your hand. It could be that you injured the hand, but it could also be that a nerve is sending faulty signals or that the brain is in some random fire mode. The subjective experience is that it’s “real” but doctors can usually pinpoint where the breakdown is.

My body often ‘talks’ to me at bed time…all the psychological junk from the day manifests as pain here and there. My leg, which didn’t bother me all day, suddenly hurts. If such things happen to you and you start getting sleep-deprived, your reasoning starts to suffer. It can be a pretty vicious cycle…pretty soon you’re wondering, ‘Will I be able to sleep tonight?’

We don’t know much about your situation from the OP. Are you working two jobs to finance school? Lost any significant people in your life recently? Living in a new location, trying to make friends? Carrying a killer class load with profs putting unbelievable demands on you? Trying to please parents who are never satisfied? What’s triggering the desire to escape?

As for drugs not working…not everything works for everybody, and dosage for some meds is tricky. Are you following the directions, i.e. “Take EVERY day” or whatever? Some need to build up in your system before they’re effective. They may have good initial effects but require time to address all symptoms. If you haven’t been following the prescription to the letter, start doing so.

And speaking of triggers, I would identify the situations in which you’re likely to lapse. E.g. if you like hanging with a particular friend and that friend always has drugs around, stop seeing that friend. If talking to certain people always frustrates you, avoid talking to them.

If your pain persists of course you’ll end up going to see the doctor again. But if you stop the chemical experimentation and follow all doctor recommendations, your body can probably start to heal itself.

Good luck!