This is getting ridiculous
I've been having a thoroughly lousy time lately. Yesterday, as my nausea was easing up, I started getting very bad chest pain. (This has happened before, and I know it isn't heart related.) But normally it eases up after an hour or two. This one kept getting worse as the day, and night, wore on. Eventually the pain started radiating through to my back. It was miserable. Giant panic attack? Who knows. All I could think to do was try to be unconscious -- I went to sleep very early.
The chest tightness is much better today, but it feels like it's still in there waiting to explode again. And I'm having a very bad pain day on top of it. I wish I could just stay in bed today, but I have responsibilities. I have to be there for Connie's mom, who has Alzheimers. And I have to take care of 3 doggies. They're wonderful, full-of-love, pups. But they require attention. Attention that I just don't feel up to giving today.
But I will do my best. It's all I can do. I just have to remember that, like most of us, I'm usually able to do whatever I need to do no matter the obstacles. I just wish it could be easy sometime.
The chest tightness is much better today, but it feels like it's still in there waiting to explode again. And I'm having a very bad pain day on top of it. I wish I could just stay in bed today, but I have responsibilities. I have to be there for Connie's mom, who has Alzheimers. And I have to take care of 3 doggies. They're wonderful, full-of-love, pups. But they require attention. Attention that I just don't feel up to giving today.
But I will do my best. It's all I can do. I just have to remember that, like most of us, I'm usually able to do whatever I need to do no matter the obstacles. I just wish it could be easy sometime.
Replies
AM sorry to hear you\'ve been having a bad time of it.
I get chest tightness due to anxiety sometimes, the tightness got quite bad one time and it was due to my blood pressure going sky high. I was at the doctors at the time and they told me to go to the ER immediately. They helped to get my blood pressure down and I take a medication now every day.
High blood pressure can lead to a heart attack or a stroke.
Do you have high blood pressure? Be sure to get it checked.
I think it would be a good idea to get the chest tightness checked out by a doctor if you haven\'t already.
Do you do any breathing exercises to help relax or practice any kind of meditation? It can help lower anxiety and stress.
Doing your best is all you can ask. That\'s how I am. I feel that I do my best. And I\'m ok with that now. I use to be really hard on myself and expected more. I understand it\'s not easy dealing with our health challenges.
I have one dog and she\'s work. Lol. I love her to bits. She\'s a cute love bug but like you said dogs need taking care of and need attention. So I can imagine having 3 is a fair bit of work.
It\'s really nice of you that you take care of Connie\'s mom. does Connie take over from you when she\'s home?
I definitely do not have high blood pressure. In fact, my doc tells me my blood pressure is pretty near perfect. That\'s one of the reasons I don\'t think this is heart related.
I don\'t normally do breathing exercises, and meditation would be impossible. But I have found myself doing some breathing work these last few days without really being aware of it. I notice it after doing it for a few minutes. It\'s like I\'m trying to calm myself down.
Connie not only takes over her mom\'s care when she gets home, she takes over the dogs\' care too. So that is a major help to me.
I was going to go to the ER last night if the pains came back, but they didn\'t. And I feel okay today, except for a very slight tightening sensation. I realize everyone is telling me to go to the ER, but it\'s not as simple as that. Connie\'s mom would have to go with us and I wouldn\'t want to do that to her. And Connie, who is bipolar but well medicated, is always exhausted at the end of the day. Yesterday, in particular, she had lengthy emergency dental work done and just wanted to crawl into bed when she got home. But I don\'t think any of that affected my decision not to go last night. I
I really don\'t have any excuse except that I just didn\'t want to. (Do you know what I mean?) I\'ve been to ER\'s and you\'re always there for hours, and (I get the irony) I just didn\'t feel up to it.
The upshot of all this is, if the intense pain reoccurs, I will go. Otherwise, I don\'t think I will. I have my yearly physical coming up soon, and if I can wait till I see my regular doc, I would rather take care of this that way.
Hi,
do you have your gallbladder? if so, i would suggest that you get an ultrasound. asap........your symptoms sound very much like what i experienced as my gallbladder became worse and worse.
tightening of the chest......as gallstones kicked up in that area very closely resemble a heart and/or panic attack. the nausea is because the gallbladder is unable to work properly anymore and will need to be removed. as the symptoms escalate the gallbladder becomes diseased.
my pain also radiated from the front of my chest into the back area........right where the back of the bra connects.........i also had serious nausea......the attacks would come and go. as the symptoms worsened i couldn\'t eat, felt like i had a terrible flu.......lost weight......fluctuating body temps.
please go have the test via an ultrasound to see if this is what is going on.......as soon as possible. i don\'t know how long you\'ve had these symptoms, but if you\'re like me.........they slowly increase and the pain worsens over time........
by the time i went to the ER for care........I was very very ill and had lost the ability to eat even.........it felt like i was having a heart attack.......I sincerely wish i had gone sooner...........
I actually thought that I was going crazy for a good long time.......cause some of the symptoms didn\'t seem to add up .......they changed up and the attacks would come and go...........and when i was diagnosed, I was so relieved......that they could fix it, that it wasn\'t all in my head..........
i know, i could be wrong, but reading the symptoms you describe is all too familiar to what i went through.........by the time i sought care i was in a lot of trouble, my gallbladder was diseased, my body temp dropped to 94........and had to be removed STAT.
it\'s worth it to have it checked to be proactive and in care of your body ----- i don\'t mean to be an alarmist........and i know we don\'t know each other just yet, but I truly hope that you will get this checked right away..........
these symptoms represent illness and you need to seek medical attention right away tenderwolfe. softest hugs.........
Glad for the friends you have on here. I know I don\'t like going to the ER. Sometimes we have to. Each time we hope to make the right choice. Since you\'ve had pains like this before, you probably know much better than us what is going on.
It sounds great that you manage to be a help with Connie\'s mom. It is so hard to care for others when we are suffering. Remember that the caregivers need to care for themselves first. Hope this finds you feeling better.