struggling with anxiety bad

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Leo123

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Hey bro,

Yes its definitely possible for a death or sickness of somebody close to you triggering of the anxiety. For me I correlate my daRAB sickness (when I was 16) to the beginning of my anxiety attacks. He suffered a major brain aneurysm and by the Grace of God he did not die, but he was really young (only 46) when it happened it to him. After his aneurysm he was never the same and it had a profound affect on me as I was very close to my dad.

As far as what happened to your Pap as you say he was a smoker, I'm sure he was much older than you are and he worked in the steel mills in the good old days with who knows what kind of long term environmental things he was subjected to at the mill after working there for many years.

So any connection between your Pap's heart and yours is not even relevant.

As far as your blood pressure is concerned you are correct that 120/80 is considered a good reading and you while probably having anxiety while your checking it have a blood pressure reading of 126/81, which by the way is considered good in its self. When I'm even the least bit anxious my BP comes out in the 140's/upper 80's low 90's and much much higher when I'm very nervous. Based on your body type, I bet if you were perfectly relaxed you would read something like 108/69.

I'm going to be frank with you, taking into account your blood pressure, numerous trips to have your heart checked and all tests came back as normal, your low weight and obviously very lean body type, and your fast metabolism you heart is probably in excellent shape if anything. As matter of fact if you wanted to be a person who has the least chance of suffering from any type of heart disorder, you would want to be you. You are probably in the lower end of the spectrum of people who are at risk for heart disease. Believe me do everything possible to get the notion out of your head that you are at risk for a heart attack. Setting that aside though that is what anxiety often is, and that is worrying about irrational things. So I completely understand what you are going through.

as far as the gym is concerned I also can completely relate to your concern over "oh no what if I work my heart to much and it can't handle it". It was the same for me when I first started hitting the gym again. For me I think I actually had what to be concerned with as I was almost 30, I had not done any physical activity in almost ten years, I had been smoking for 15 years (3 packs a day at times), imy diet consisted of McDonald's for breakfast, lunch and dinner and to add to that I was on high blood pressure meRAB and had a host of other issues including being somewhat overweight, high sugar, etc.. So I was totally freaking out like every other workout I would think I was going to have a heart attack, one time I was getting ready to tell the gym to call 911 (actually a few times). But I continued exercising in spite of that and today I look forward to going to the gym and getting my heart rate up. I run 6 miles every other day, I also take on the toughest spin classes at the gym, etc...

Our hearts are a lot tougher and stronger than we give it credit for. For a guy your age, non smoker your max working out heart rate is close to 200 Bps. And honestly considering you weight, how lean you are and your fast metabolism, you heart can probably even handle more. It took me almost a year half to get to my level of conditioning. So start slow you don't have to run 6 miles tomorrow.

But get back up on that exercise horse and as you work out more you will get more comfortable with your heart rate, like I said exercise can and will do wonders for your sense of well being, frame of mind, confidence levels and of course overall health.

Also if you don't watch your diet, even though your body can burn of anything and you won't get fat. What you put in to your bosy does have an impact on how you feel. Try to eat more fresh and natural (fruits/veggi's), drink lots of water, cut out the sodas, too many sweets, salty things, etc...you will see that having a clean diet will impact how you feel as well.

Sorry to keep going on for so long, I just hope to see you well. You sound like a good guy and you have your whole life ahead of you, don't waste your time and energy worrying about things that have no relevance to you. Remeraber you feel you heart rate going up and you get worried remind yourself "I'm healthy, I'm strong and nothing is going to happen to me" keep repeating it over and over and over again until you stop stressing.

Let me know if you have anything rio add.

God Bless.
 
Hi male 19 110lbs about 5'5-5'6. when i was 16 i was sitting on my couch when out of nowhere my heart started racing couldn't catch my breath thought i was having a heart attack. parents drove me to the ER, HR 140 ekg checked out good, blood test all good BP good everything they checked was healthy normal 16yr old. i went back and forth to the ER and doctors for 2 years same thing all good healthy. i was on meRAB for a bit but had bad side affects to everything they tried. anxiety went away for a bit about 6months or so.

now 19 im freaking out again im feeling breathless my heart will race get heart palps sometimes i get pain around my chest im in a constant state of worry anymore. i have no health insurance until January sometime when i can go back on my daRAB health plan so going to see the family doctor is expensive ER is even more expensive. im afraid to do anything even going to like walmart i used to like to look around now i just go for what i need and get out. ive spoken to my doctor via phone over the summer i was having acid reflux(still am) he told me to get prevacid for it so i did he told me acid reflux can give me the breathless feeling and the heart palps. and said my anxiety is just making everything feel 10 times worst.

i know this is long but if anyone can give me some relief or have similar symptoms as me or anything i just feel so alone my parents dont get it fully they just say its your anxiety just dont worry stuff like that.
 
Hey Bro,

Hang in there bro, yes I've had similar symptoms (actually the exact same symptoms over the years) as I'm sure many on this forum can relate as well.

Obviously your a healthy young man physically (on account of the numerous tests and doctors visits over the years) that have said everything is fine with you.

I have a couple questions for you;

One, You don't mention this but are you still 5'6" tall and weight 110lbs.? Two, when you say you are afraid to go places how do you mean that, is it that your just afraid to be out in places in case you have a health scare? Three, How often do you get an actual panic attack, racing heart, palps, etc..?

(PS> its perfectly normal for a healthy heart to have palps everyday and as a matter of fact most people do get an extra heart beat or various other heart rhythm change, except they don't notice it, hence you can't really call it a palp. All palp's mean is that you have an awareness of your own heart beat.)

Let me know the answers and I could maybe help advise you a little more, also add anything additional you believe pertinent, but it does appear to me that you have all the classic symptoms of anxiety.

Hang in there buddy you'll be fine I know it.
 
hey thanks leo really given me more confidence that im fine usually i get sharp chest pains and then i get the rapid heart beat i know chest pains is a symptom of anxiety but its hard to not think a chest pain isnt serious as well as the breathless feeling which i know is also a sign of anxiety. i know when you have anxiety it tenRAB to make our adrenaline go up and cause that breathless feeling anytime i do work i just feel out of breath prob the anxiety working me up for nothing. im also kinda hypochondriac like ill see something on TV about heart problems and think i have it i was told by my doctor 2 years ago to not google your symptom since its not a good thing to do with a person with anxiety ive also learned that the hard way.

yea i drink a lot of soda its always been my favorite drink but we got some Sunny D im going to try and put that in my diet more i dont really care for water juice i can drink. i eat junk food but not a lot at one time my doctor said being slightly underweight its ok to eat some junk as long as i mix healthy fooRAB in my diet as well.

again thanks for the replies man it really means a lot.
 
Sure, its my pleasure and again I hear everything your saying as I experience those same kind of chest pains, heart palps, feeling like I'm not getting enough air, etc..myself.

I know what you mean, its like you feel a pain and its real, how could it be nothing or all in your head. Somebody else wrote a thread about something along those lines, which is having all these symptoms that we blame on anxiety, while not even feeling anxious. For example I could be laying down on my couch perfectly relaxed and comfortable, all of sudden zap, I feel a sharp pain in my chest or my heart skips 5 beats in a row. So now I'm left to wonder how could all my symptoms be a result of anxiety when I get them when I don't even feel anxious.

They say people with perfectly normal and healthy hearts get skipped beats or have their heart throw off an extra beat all the time and it is perfectly normal for a heart to do that. But, most people don't even feel it, unfortunately for us I think anxiety or maybe our personalities cause us to be more tuned in to slight changes in our body, hence we are more sensitive to the slight heart flutter/palp, while another person may have the heart flutter, just never notice it. If that makes any sense.

Its like what came first the chicken or the egg, or in our case the heart palp or the anxiety. Do we have anxiety on account of feeling the heart palps or pain, or do we have the heart sensations on account of having the anxiety.

Same thing with chest pain, you may very well be feeling a pain in your chest and the actual discomfort of that pain is likely magnified by your anxiety, but just cause you feel something in your chest does not mean anything is wrong with your heart or whatever for that matter. Your body just fired off a signal for you brain to feel something from your chest area and that's it, so what does that mean, well probably and likely nothing. I can tell you first certain that anxiety can make you feel anything. For me once I get into a full blown anxiety attack, my body fires off all sorts of pain signals, odd sensations, nurabness, tingling, you name it.
 
hi thanks for the reply yes im still 5'6 110lbs

im afraid to go places because i get scared im going to collapse in the middle of the store my legs get shaky feeling when im walking in stores ive been shy all my life i dont like being around lots of people it makes me freak out more.

usually i dont have full blown panic attack usually i just get racing heart breathless feeling i have to yawn sometimes to get a good breath headache and random chest pain

i try to get out as much as i can i know they say staying in your house everyday is bad for people with anxiety its just scary how anxiety can make you feel like you dying or feels like your going to pass out.
 
Hi there! I've had anxiety too, and still do on occasion. I know the awful feeling that usually wake me in the middle of the night. Diet really does have a lot to do with it. So, stay hydrated and eat healthy or at least take vitamins and don't drink the Sunny D! Read the ingredients.....High Fructose Corn Syrup! No good! You're better off with flavored water, like Vitamin Water, or if you like Iced Tea, drink Iced Green Tea, Pomogranate White Tea, very high in Anti-Oxidants and very low caffeine. It's excellent, refreshing and you can drink it hot or cold. If you eat right, exercise which really helps relieve stress, I feel it helps with anxiety. If I miss my power walk, I am very anxious at night. I feel for you and anyone else with anxiety. I am starting Yoga which I heard does wonders for people who are anxious! Good luck to you and God Bless.
 
Meditation could be a best treatment for anixity,because meditation gives relax to our body.it helps in rejuvenating our mind and body. Anxiety arises because we tend to think too many things together. The positive and negative thoughts are constantly in our mind.Study has shown meditation, when done correctly, to be a very successful form of stress reduction. And there is really nothing mystical or hocus-pocus about it.
 
Jma,

Well as far as the weight goes it sounRAB like your very lean person, which right there is good thing as far the health of your heart is concerned. Usually people who are 5'6" and weight a buck ten don't get heart attacks.

Secondly I see you have history of social anxiety, which makes me even more confidant your heart fears and 'very' likely anxiety related.

So considering all that and the fact that you have already had your heart checked a few times and everything came back good, I would do everything possible to at least get that worry out of my head so you can focus on over coming the social anxiety.

Now I know that's way easier said than done, but believe me the heart is a very strong muscle and few weird beats or the heart racing is nothing for the heart. Try to remeraber that the next time you get an attack related to your heart. Keep reminding and repeating to yourself I'm fine and just relax, seriously it works just keep saying it over and over again. It will take time for it to work. So don't give up on trying this if it doesn't work after the first panic attack. (You mentioned on your first post that your heart rate was 140, just want to let you know that is nothing for the heart especially for 19 years old. The heart can handle double that even)

As far the social anxiety is concerned have you ever joined and gym, are you into exercise at all. You sound so lean I'm guessing you might be? If not exercise and getting great shape (try adding some muscle weight) is great confidence booster for any man.

Of course if you still just can't overcome any of your symptoms you may want to try some counseling as soon as you get some insurance or can afford to do so. This can help greatly especially with the social anxiety.

Me personally I'm not a big believer in the medications, so I would think long and hard before getting on any psyc drugs. But that may be an option that could help you.

I'll have to write more later my gym partner just showed up.
 
thanks for the replies means a lot. i used to be very avid in biking i rode BMX and mountain bikes but this past summer my anxiety was so bad i hardly excersised i mowed grass sometimes and was able to do that no problem but i was generally afraid if i worked out my heart would give out.

ive always been skinny im technically slightly under weight my doctor knows that and said im not extremely underweight but just tad but i eat regularly never starve myself or anything ive always been skinny no matter what i eat i dont gain a thing i have fast metabolism i think thats what its called.

ive been to a counselor before i went off insurance and basically told me i relate everything to my pap passing because the christmas after my pap passed is when i started getting anxiety and he always had heart problems but he was a long time smoker and worked in the steel mills. i never smoke or anything tho my dad does so of course get some second hand when im around him. when i had my heart tested they told me all my valves and something else are working properly. i cant wait to get back on my parents insurance to go see a doctor i think if i go see a doctor and he gives me the ok im fine i will get over this. also we have one of those home BP tester my BP last night was 126/81 i always heard 120/80 is good so i guess mine was fine
 
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