i need help

[sg92]

i am on meds and just started so im hoping they will work. i wake up every morning with racing heart rate. its terrifying. i have had chest pains for 2 years now. i have been to the E.R. many times they always say i am fine. i have hypertension that i take meds for as well. i have constant anxiety that i take xanax for and that doesnt even stop it, it just makes it more tolerable. all my ekg, blood tests, xrays, and a echo cardiogram came back normal. my thyroid is normal. im driving myself insane with fear and losing my job over this. i have been having panic attacks for the last two weeks and im terrified waitng for the next one. everyone says just try not to think about it which sounds easy, but when its happening i cant just not think about the fact that i can feel my heart going crazy. i dont hyperventilate so breathing techniques dont help me. i am in constant anxiety so i never get a break its like im stuck on the verge of a full blown panic attack at all times wether im just watching tv or going to the grocery store. im losing control of my life.

[Hidden]

Im gonna tell you how I stopped my panic attacks. Do I still have anxiety? Heck yeah. But panic attacks actually seemed easier to

me.

Panic attacks occur in different ways. There are different feelings you get, because wr all fear different things. If you fear for your heart, well, when anxiety attacks, you will be paying specific attention to your heart.

My panic attacks occured due to a fear of getting sick, so each time, it would feel like a huge adrenaline rush and Id find myself throwing my phone or grabbing onto the bed in an attempt to....I dont even know, it was instinct. And the same thing could happen for different reasons. I would feel dp'ed and suddenly, the same panic attack would come over me. Even though that wasnt what I was afraid of at the time. Its how my brain interpreted a threat.

Anway, my first one was a small one, but it still left me drained and shaky. The second one was the kicker. I was lying on the floor (because the floor is always there for yoh) when I got dizzy, panicked and bam, adrenaline rush. Then another and another. I hadmy mom sitting next to me, holding my hand, asking if we should go to the ER which just scared me more.

Anyway, it left me tired, dizzy, I quit coffee that day and all my energy drinks which resulted in crazy dizziness. dont quit coffeecold turkey. It is a dumb idea and it was bad. Anway, Id get small of those same "rushes." They would come frequently and they scared me quite a lot to the point I could not eat much.

I also had nocturnal attacks, which made me jolt awake, feeling as if I couldnt breathe and that made me worry of my heart. So I had two different kinds of panic attacks.

I got rid of them when I challenged them. I stopped being afraid to get one. I still have mini rushes, but they are controlled and I understand it is just how I react with a high level of panic.

The nocturnal attacks vanished when I stopped thinking, "I hope I don't get one of those again." So I switched it to, "man, I will be irritated if one of those dumb things wake me up. But oh well."

And they stopped.

So try challenging it. Ask it if thats the worst it can do; youve done it before. And you will find....the anxiety ebbs away.

I had this greag mindset and then got into a setback which sucks and I want this thought process back. It is great.

[sg92 in reply to Hidden]

I have been trying to think that way. The chest pains were there long before the panic attacks i guess thats why i always go straight to thinking its my heart. The panic attacks actually started when i forgot to take my hypertension meds one day. That night i felt horrible and very flushed i went to a nearby pharmacy and used thier blood pressure machine, it said 181/98 that was a terrifying number. I paniced and hurried to take my bp meds. Half hour later i went to a friends to use there bp monitor it was 160/85 still high, but at least lower. Since then i have been in constant anxiety worrying about everthing. My blood pressure has been a little better since i dont forget to take my meds after that scare.

[Hidden in reply to sg92]

That does sound scary. But even if the panic attacks did not begin first, does not mean it is not anxiety. On anxiety centre.com, the creator of the site's experience with anxiety began when he was perfectly calm, and doing nothing stressful, sitting in a room with his eyes closed, and he suddenlu got really dizzy really fast.

THEN he panicked.

So we may think something comes before anxiety but that is most likely untrue. It is all tied together.