Stomach ache and dizzyness after anxiety attack

Some info about me, im 32, 6 foot 220 pounds. No medications (anti histamines when I was young but thats it) and no major complications in my life. I havnt been active much in the past but the last 3 years I have been working a very physical job, on my feet and walking for 6+ hours a day lifting and pushing moderately heavy products. I don't really have a special diet but I usualy cook my meals, dont eat out much, and dont snack much. I've never smoked nor drink.

That said, my family history includes high blood pressure. About 9 months ago I had a doctors visit for strep throat and he said my bp was a little high but didn't touch on it any further. So recently having access to a nurses portable electronic cuff thingy, I took my blood pressure. The first reading was a 190/120 which kind of sparked off a rather bad anxiety attack (I never get anxiety attacks either. However my body is kind of sensitive about itself, ie I get very light headed and nauseated at the sight of my own blood and so unconsciously it got scared). When I was able to get ahold of the nurse she measured both arms and her readings were down, to about 160/110. Not as bad but thats still something to worry about now.

Unfortunatly this anxiety attack pretty much lasted through the night, and the next moring when I went to work I was very light headed and would sweat easily. No matter what I told myself, my mind was analyzing every heart beat, every little pain, trying to determine if I had any damage from HBP. When I got home however and told my father of this, he knowing very well how high blood pressure works told me to sit down and take my reading again. It came up as a normal 120/80, and he explained that exorcise helps bring it down and that because I had the last 2 days off where I did nothing but sit around, it read high. So I was somewhat releaved, of course it was hard to tell my body that.

I was able to calm down abit from then, however some symptoms didn't go away, or I got new ones. It feels like irritable bowl syndrome, but I am missing like half of the required symptoms. I have an ache in my stomach area, normaly its a feeling I get when I have large pockets of gas in my intestine. I can also "feel" gas moving around alot. But I don't have any unusual amounts of gas expelling from me. I am not constipated, my bowl movements are regular (often one a day, sometimes none, sometimes 2 or 3) and they look perfectly normal. With these symptoms I am also feeling light headed (a more accurate description would be the urge to fall asleep. At night and anytime im laying down I have to fight the urge to close my eyes and fall asleep right then and there), and one that I can't figure out is I am feeling small, sporadic "pains" in my limbs. It dosn't happen often, but for a few seconds I might get a slight burn in my armpit, a twinge in my arm, or my leg (a spot on my upper thigh felt like it was getting scrapped by a pointy tip of something when ever my pants touched it). Sometimes my low back might hurt but I think that happens when iv'e had the stomach ache for a long period of time.

Now for WHEN this happens, I have lowered the cause down to 2 things. The first being physical, the pain usually starts up at night when im infront of the computer (several hours at a time) and it may slightly be there in the morning when I wake up. The pains tend to all but disappear however after several hours of being at work and moving about. Yesterday I had been walking for approx 5 hours, eating a small lunch which included meat, cheese, and an orange juice, and I felt great.

The second cause I have lowered these symptoms down to is chemical, what I eat. I have found yogurt and small or medium sized meals seem to go down well, However within several minutes of eating some chocolate while at the computer, my stomach cramped right up. A pasta meal take-out that I cut in half only produced mild symptoms. Alot of my symptoms seem to point at a digestive disorder, however the fact that my movements are regular and normal makes me think digesting things isn't the problem.

All these symptoms frequencies have gotten less since I got them 5 days agom but that can also be inpart to my adjustment of eating habits to accommodate it, what ever it is.

I dont have health insurrance so I am trying to find a doctor I can visit (and afford), but until then I am hoping I can diagnose this so I can figure out if anything is serious or requires urgent medical attention.
 
I'm surprised no one has answered this yet.

I am basically going through the same thing as you. I've had panic disorder/anxiety for a long time....but I had a really stressful few weeks and it has turned into constant stomach problems: cramping, bloating, gas that never all comes out....it just kind of floats around in my intestines and makes me feel crappy. No diarrhea, no constipation. Everything else is normal. I am just bloated, really.

I eat really healthily, and exercise. I take probiotics. Honestly I am not sure how much good any of it is doing. I am waiting for this to pass. My insomnia is back (I get panic attacks/anxiety attacks only at night), but I can eat again....I started this whole charade hardly being able to eat anything. I got all of these blood tests and everything and they all came back normal. So I decided I'm not even going to bother with more of them.

I am pretty positive I am just freaking out and doing this to myself. I got acupuncture a few weeks ago and I felt great the following day, and the day after that....today I am cranky and tired from female issues. Maybe you should look into something like that if it continues. Regular medicine certainly has never helped me.

Anyway, I wouldn't sweat it. If you think it's something serious it never hurts to be tested if you think it's worthwhile. My BP is always high when I get it checked because the doctor's office makes me nervous. A vast majority of digestive issues with these symptoms are caused by anxiety/stress. I have a stressful job and just need to get out of here......hopefully that problem will be fixed soon :)

Let me know how it all goes for you.
 
these days its getting better and better. I belive the random pains were simply lingering parts of the anxiety attack and they up and stoped completly several days ago. The cramping and lightheadedness is are still around bit to a much lesser degree. Infact I thought it flared up again yesterday only to quickly find out I did just have some bad gas from the other day.
 
I've had similar symptoms for 2 months now. I had my first anxiety attack ever a little over 2 months ago and since then have had near constant lightheadedness and stomach issues including gas, which like you say is worse in the morning and the evenings, but gets better as the day goes on. I've also had additional symptoms as well, which has prompted my doctor to have some gastro intenstinal tests done. He also put me on Xanax. This Anxiety is crazy, I felt normal up until about 2 months ago and ever since I've been living this very bad dream. Hope your's get's better. I would reccomend seeing a doctor if it doesn't or you will end up like me worrying constantly. Best Wishes.
 
Back
Top