Hi! I'm new here and wanted to share my story and ask for some advice. About 10 years ago in high school, I thought that I had anxiety problems. However as I grew older, those seemed to go away. Turns out, I didn't really know what anxiety problems are until quite recently.
Here's what I'm experiencing:
- About 3 months ago, I almost passed out after a shower. Everything went black, loud ringing sound in my ears, head felt weird, arms hurt, etc. I went to urgent care later in the day after I still felt weird and they did an EKG (fine), blood sugar (fine), blood pressure (fine) and basically said that maybe I was coming down with a virus. After some googling (always a bad idea) I realized that it was most likely a panic attack that came out of nowhere.
- My mom had a heart attack in her early 40s. She was obese (but had lost a lot of weight), smoked, drank, and had a ton of stress.
- In the past 3 months, a few times a week I've been experiencing chest discomfort. Logically speaking I know that if I were having a heart attack each time, I wouldn't still be alive. My heart rate averages in the low 70s, after some minor exertion I'm up in the 120s. I get the warm feeling in my chest and get anxious about my symptoms which most likely makes it worse.
- In the past week, I have had stomach problems. Everything I eat makes me have strange burps that I need to force out, the feeling of acid rising in my throat, loss of appetite, etc. Most recently my hands have been tingly. Again, logically I know that these are most likely due two some sort of stomach problem and my back hurting lately maybe causing some sort of nerve compression.
- Normally I feel better after research, I'm an overpreparer. I'm able to logically convince myself that I'm fine. However, because the symptoms of anxiety are often the same symptoms as other health issues I've just been freaking myself out even more as I educate myself on things (angina, pulse pressure, thyroid issues, etc)
Here's what I need help with:
I get nervous about going to the doctor because I'm worried of being judged for being not super in shape, not really watching what I'm eating, etc. I'm nervous that they'll just tell me that I'm overweight (not terribly at all) and need to make some lifestyle changes. I'm worried that they'll overlook all of my issues and just treat me like I'm over reacting.
How can I make sure that when I go I am treated seriously and not just like another "stressed out millennial"?
I also get concerned when it comes to health insurance. I have health insurance, crappy health insurance. But I have an HSA and a solid amount of savings, so I'm not as concerned about costs as others are (I recognize my privilege here). But I am worried that something like this that SEEMS small will ruin my hopes of health insurance and life insurance rates in the future.
What were your experiences when you first started having anxiety? Were any of you actually diagnosed with heart issues or stomach issues that were causing your anxiety? What kinds of tests did your doctor run, or were you right away just put into the anxiety diagnosis without having anything else checked out?