Posted 6/15/2015 8:11 PM (GMT 0)
The facts: I'm 26, female, eat decently, but don't exercise I have a skinny build and have been the same basic weight for about 10 years. Last check up was 5 years ago, and all was well. Between then and now my blood pressure is normal-low, but generally normal. I've had dizzy spells/vertigo for at least a year now.
Over the last three months I have moved to a new area, and quit my job to go freelance. I am more sedentary than usual now. Alcohol consumption has been up--a few beers sometimes multiple times a week. I'm a light weight and they normally get me pretty good, but not trashed. I wouldn't consider myself an anxious person, but for months, from even before I moved, I started to become hyper aware of my heart rate- which I've read is an anxiety red flag. I've always been a somewhat mousy person- afraid to do things on my own, but when push comes to shove (LOTS and LOTS of shove) I can do things without any obvious anxiety symptoms. So...I don't know. Maybe I have anxiety and I'm good at hiding it from myself.
The issue:
Came to my parents house to visit for half a month and bam- symptom city. Twisting feeling in my gut whenever I talked to my family, difficulty breathing/asthma like feeling (this is the scariest one), loss of appetite, weakness in arms, more dizziness, getting easily winded, and a crying session after feeling too overwhelmed to drive. The breathing problem scares me the most, because sometimes it's harder to breathe when I lay down, but...only sometimes?
And this may or may not be related- but about 3 weeks ago I had a very stressful week where I put myself out of my comfort zone a LOT. It was a confidence booster, but maybe took a toll on my body/mind? I'm not sure how anxiety works, but I hear it can have delayed reactions. Maybe my body is just done coping with stress.
I guess my biggest question is if this is somehow related to heart disease, are the symptoms supposed to be constant, or can they go away and come back multiple times a week? I guess if I think about it I usually feel symptoms most when I worry about them or sit around the house all day. Still scary, though. I have no insurance, so if this is in my head I would be like take care of it before going to a doc. I am a generally healthy person and don't really want to put down the money because I'm just being paranoid.