Anxiety about health and sleep

[tjr1228]

About 3 weeks ago I started to notice this dull pain in the left side of my chest. I didn’t think too much of it at the time because I work out a lot and thought it was just a sore muscle. But I guess my subconscious brain thought differently because a week into feeling that chest pain I woke up in the middle of the night and had a full blown panic attack. Normally when I have a panic attack I can talk myself out of it but since I had chest pain and my heart was racing, I thought I was going to cause myself to have a heart attack, so I had to resort to taking a benzodiazepine. I hate taking those because I know they are habit forming and I do not want to be dependent on them. I have GAD and have had panic attacks in the past but haven’t had one for over 6 years since this latest episode. I went to my pcp and he gave me a clean bill of health but I still had the pain so I asked if he could do a CT scan of my chest. The test didn’t show anything of concern but I still have the pain. It comes and goes but my brain is still in that fight or flight mode, going on two weeks now. This lead to me not being able to fall asleep, which lead to more anxiety the next day, and it repeated itself in a vicious cycle. There were some days I literally felt like I was going to have a mental break. I lost any desire to eat, losing 10 lbs in 1 week and literally had to force myself to eat at times, which is very uncharacteristic of me because I love eating. My anxiety started seeping into other aspects of my life. My wife doesn’t know how to help and she is worried about me, the sleeping is so bad I have been sleeping in the guest room for 2 weeks now, I don’t spend as much time with my 3yo daughter because I’m anxious all the time. After seeing two psychiatrists, I had to increase my SSRI, and since my anxiety is causing insomnia, I am taking another med for sleep, and I still get very interrupted sleep, even on the med. I wake up at about 2:30am every day, drenched in sweat and anxious. I plan to talk to a therapist who can teach me some CBT techniques and I started to do mediation and a little yoga. Everyday is a struggle but I think things are getting better, whether it be the bump in SSRI finally kicking in or all of the other things that I’ve been doing for self-help. I just wanted to get my story out there and see if it resonates with anyone else and to see if anyone has any advice ok managing their anxiety.

[ford08]

Yes the anxiety is like a dreaded curse.I wake each morning with it ,and the only way to manage it is to take the dog for a 3 mile walk.I cannot get up and not go out,it does not cure but it does help a bit and at least I’m getting some exercise.Anxiety is a curse,meds’ and CBT are no help.Sorry your suffering get well soon

[tjr1228 in reply to ford08]

Thanks for your reply! That’s a good idea, to get outside when you wake up! I’m finding that meds, some mindfulness, and some exercise gets me back to “zero” by the end of the day. Every day seems to be getting better but I still have this anxiety for when I am out of my “bubble”, e.g. going on a trip with the family or with friends.