Anxiety Support Group

Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...

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Squarley 01/02/2012

I GET UP A LOT WITH MY ANXIETY,SOME TIMES SAME SYMPTOMS OF HEART ATTACK,SWEATING SICK TO STOMACH CHEST PAIN ,SHAKEY ,HOW DO WE KNOW THE DIFFERENCE? ANY ONE HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, i HAVE BEEN TO ER MANY TIMES AND HAD THE TEST ,EKG, STRESS TEST, BLOOD WORK XRAY OF CHEST AND MRI, I JUST TAKE XANX SOME TIMES IT HELPS. BUT WONDERING HOW MANY OTHERS MAY EXPERIENCE THIS,HOPE SOME ONE ANSWER ,SOME TIME KNOW ONE DOES IT IS DEPRESSING. SQUARLEY

deleted_user 01/02/2012

You will know. Although anxiety and panic can tighten the chest area causing pain, cause rapid breathing and tingling and numbness in the left arm, hand and jaw, heart attack symptoms are quite distinct and you do not recover from them with a short period of breathing exercises or a dose of anxiety medication. A cardiac event requires immediate care, as heart muscle damage occurs and if not tended to right away permanent damage and death can occur. They are usually acute, but some symptoms may be present long before an attack occurs, but are ignored. Know your bp numbers, know your cholesterol, HDL and LDL, know your history and if you have a predisposition. Have a medical once a year, with blood work and a cardio stress test once every other year. Squarley if you've had the tests, including stress test, and they came back good, you can rule out cardiac problems. It is anxiety. You just have to convince yourself. The tests bear this out pure and simple. what more do you need? Many suffer this, thinking heart attack or stroke. Often counseling helps with obsessive, intrusive health anxiety thoughts. The feeling of heart attack is the number one complaint of an anxiety sufferer in the throes of a panic attack. Keep in mind anxiety is constant, worry and angst. Panic is what you are feeling and causes the more intense physical feelings you are experiencing, with a probable level of 7-8 on a scale 1-10, 10 being full blown panic attack.

koolman 01/02/2012

Thanks, widespread. That is good news!

I do indeed get those sensations at times. My LDL cholesterol is high, but I've had my heart checked repeatedly, and EKG and blood pressure checked out completely normal.

deleted_user 01/02/2012

I always get those same symptoms and my fear is that one day it will actually be a heart attack and ill treat it like anxiety and ill die. Sometimes I wish it was my heart so it could be treated :(

smilesomeday 01/02/2012

I have had the exact same symptoms. I was in and out of the hospital for years til the doctors finally cinvinced me it was stress and anxiety and not my heart. Sometimes I can actually feel them coming on now and can "work" my way through them through self talk (i dont have insurance and am not on medicine) Although right now I have had a major life crisis and they are back with a vengence :(

Squarley 01/02/2012

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH IT RELIEVES ME TO KNOW I AM NOT ALONE, I HAD THE TEST TREE YEARS AGO AND NEVER WORRIED NOW I THINK MAY BE THIS TIME,I AM FEELING A LITTLE BETTER TONIGHT BUT STILL IT TAKES SO MUCH OUT OF YOU AND I THINK WE ALL NEED REASSURED SOME TIMES, HUGS SQUARLEY

KRYPTONITE 01/02/2012

Hi. I actually awoke this evening with the same problem, thinking it was Heart attack, but it's anxiety, and to me it's always a damn heart attack, I find it so hard to convince myself otherwise. Once my heart starts palpitations, that's it for hours.

I certainly know where your coming from on this, as are countless others. Worse feeling in the world. I hope our ok. Take care.

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