Anxiety and Stress related Physical symptoms

[Adzwest]

I’ve been having problems for 3 months now, out of nowhere I have been having constant chest pains and moments of dizziness and sickness, waking up panicking, being constantly restless and struggling to relax. I have been to A&E 3 times when having bad turns and each time had an ECG, each time I was told my Heart is fine and it’s all stress and anxiety.

The chest pain is really getting to me and sleeping is hard, I have had acupuncture which has helped a little and practice meditation / breathing techniques but chest pain keeps coming back and sudden spells of feeling dizzy and scared.

It’s hard to deal with especially when working as it’s hard to concentrate, this all stated in a meeting one day that I have done so many times, my work is quite high pressured but I do well and am good at it so I don’t understand why these anxiety problems have started first at work, and now a meeting is like a trigger and I get the same feelings every time, I feel light headed and dizzy, have chest pains and just feel like running out the room.

I feel for anyone dealing with this kind of thing and understand now how mentally and physically straining it can be, trying to do all the right things to feel better and not seeing results can make you feel really Low and I have these chest pains and turns even when for example having a lovely time with family over Christmas!

Does anyone have any further advice or experiences they can share that may help me? My doctor has proscribed me Lorazepam to help me relax if I have a bad turn which does help but can’t take it when at work, I am about to start taking Seraline but I know these take a month or so to start working. Is there anything else that may help me?

Many thanks in advance,

Adam

[Agora1]

Unfortunately Adzwest, something must have triggered your anxiety/stress three months ago which has now led to physical symptoms. It's not unusual for chronic anxiety to produce these physical issues. Whether we think we are relaxed or in control, our mind

is telling us differently. The mind starts lying to us and playing the "what if" game. So once

you give into that feeling and want to run from your meetings, anxiety has already taken over.

The idea is to beat anxiety at it's own game. Practicing methods at home that can allow

you to relax both your body and mind will eventually help when you are at work or out.

Anxiety feeds on us getting scared. Once the adrenaline starts, it overflows with fear

hormones and is much harder to stop. Accepting that anxiety is not harmful and is not

producing a catastrophic physical symptom can help immensely. Have you ever read

Dr. Claire Weekes' book on "Hope & Help for Your Nerves". It's a highly respected book in getting back control of your life through Acceptance.

It can also be viewed on YouTube videos.

This does not have to be a lifetime sentence for you. Since you've had several EKGs done,

I would say that the chest pain is coming from the chest wall and not the heart. When over stressed or anxious, our muscles automatically tighten up. The more they tighten, the more

distress we feel. If we ignore what's happening physically by deep breathing, bringing down

your shoulders and just sitting calmly, the pain will subside.

As for the lightheadedness and dizziness, that is usually caused by our breathing shallow

or rapidly again due to fear. Slow down the breathing to deep inhalations and long slow

exhalations. You will actually feel better in a few moments. Also for this "head feeling",

make sure you are always well hydrated. Water, water and more water will keep your

muscles functioning properly as well as the blood flow. It's going to all work out my friend xx

[hypercat54]

When you over breathe you can start hyper ventilating which causes a temporary build up of carbon dioxide in your system. This can cause dizziness and makes you feel faint.

You need to learn some breathing techniques so have a look online especially YT x

[Thissucks562]

Breathing techniques don't help me. I feel worse lol for me I have to ground myself,(I forgot what it's called) I look around and see 5 things I say to myself I can see x and then I listen for sounds, I can hear y and I can smell xy and I can feel xyz. That helps your mind focus on other things and it relaxes you a bit so you start breathing normal and the dizzy feelings go away. And I literally tell myself a loud "there is nothing to report here, there is no emergency, stand down." I also do in front of the mirror and tell myself that. Something about hearing it a loud helps my mind to calm down. Oh also my brother had gotten me a stone to rub (he uses it for spiritual purposes) I use it to rub it because I focus on the feeling of the stone rather than what I feel, kinda like a stress ball type thing. Good luck.

[PeterDunn]

Where are you based?