Have you always been like this? If not what triggered it. Mine was triggered my a stillbirth. Like you I have been having chest pains. Do you only get them on one side? Like you i also got my heart checked. It was not my heart. The thing that is causeing you to have pain is that your sooo tense, and when our anxiety is high we tend to shallow breath which causes extra air to get trapped. I have also desided to get back on mt=eds but i am trying my hardest not to. I would like to over come this naturally. I promise you are not alone,.

Hi,

Anxiety in itself is not only a psychological response but a biological response as well. You may get sweaty palms, increased heart rate, chest tightening from shortness of breath, sweating, feelings of disassociation (feeling like you're not "there") or increased blood pressure. These biological reactions come from the psychological triggers or responses which we may consciously or subconsiously give our brain.

If you are not willing to at least try medications-you have to be willing to have an exact plan of what to do when you have periods of anxiety or have a panic attack. If you do not have the tools necessary to get a grip on this, you will find yourself paranoid and spiraling out of control. Do not worry about what I or anyone else thinks; if you think a counselor is necessary-then please go. As a matter of opinion, I think everyone needs a psychologist because life sucks at times, and we all have some behaviors and thought processes that we all can work on.

You're setting yourself up for failure even by having the thought in your head, "but only if I try a counselor and it doesn't work..." You haven't even given it a try yet-so just try it. Not just one session (because trust me, the first session or two you'll probably be crying, or just trying to "trust" someone"). Using your past experience on meds doesn't necessarily mean that you will have future bad reactions with meds-especially if a psychiatrist prescribes a drug out of that class of medicines.

I don't know your history or know you-however, I do know that many people that do not understand anxiety related disorders or depression, ocd and so on often view these disorders as a sort of taboo that can be bandaged with medicines. Perhaps we can use medicines to help aid us or perhaps we can use these medicines in the beginning of treatment-however, we do not have to be dependent on them or take them for the rest of our lives. Some people would rather just drug you up than just deal with the situation. You can have a repressed memory, a history which can bring on panic attacks and you just don't know.

Let me tell you this-I have a panic attack damn near every time I go to the OB-GYN; especially a Pap Smear. Not because I'm paranoid, but because I had a moment in my life where I was molested when I was younger. So an environment where someone views that "area" and I don't "know" that person so to speak is of course, a trigger. Does this make sense to you? I know now that I can breathe deeply, use meditation, and other tricks that I was taught by my therapist to reduce and alleviate any panic attacks.

You can only change if you are willing to change-and you are open to trying many devices, techniques and routes that you are not familiar of.

i think any counselor would suggest you try meds in addition to the therapy. meditation, yoga, that kinda stuff can help, but meds are sometimes the only thing that works to calm the attacks. it would at least be good to have something on hand if all else fails, right?

you may know this already, but all counselors arent alike. just because they possess the same degrees and training. i think its rare to find a very compassionate therapist that truly want to help their clients. mor often its, the patient talks away, they sit there, perhaps thinking of what they want for dinner, the fight with the spouse, their golf game. thats the kinds ive had. so rather than waste your time, it would smart to do some research before picking a counselor. if you have a primary care doc you trust, or you might phone the local natl alliance on mental health in houston for their advice on a provider.

here is their link.
http://www.nami.org/MSTemplate.cfm?MicrositeID=155

Everything says that meds and counseling in combination achieves the BEST results. Hope you remain open to both!

Take good care of yourself.

First get a complete check up, and set up a appt with a counselor.
Counseling is good and has helped me tremendously, so has this site. If you have to take meds, its no big deal. I know you don't believe me. There are soo many people out there who take anxiety meds, you are not the only one. The meds do not take a way the anxiety completely, you have to work on that. Counseling is good, I wish everyone saw one. There is nothing like having someone to talk to who is completely non-judgmental and is trained! A friend, a husband, a family member can not be bias . You tell a spouse or a parent---they want to fix it. You tell a friend (which is good) they will feel for you.