Troubling visit with PA

I went to an urgent care center today as I couldn't get in to my Doc.  I have had a really bad sore throat for several days and just wanted to make sure it wasn't strep.  He examines me and concludes it is a sinus infection.  Gave me a shot of dexadron, which of course increased my anxiety because every medicine I put in my body I worry about side effects and especially whether or not they increase anxiety (such fun :).  He also gave me a prescription for augmentin, again afraid to take.  The worst though was that for my last two Dr. visits my blood pressure has been 140/80.  I consistently run 115/65.  I am wondering if this could be a side effect of Zoloft which I began a little over six weeks ago.  To top it off the PA tells me he hears a faint murmur.  Off to panic land I go.  He told me not to worry and just get it checked out by my regular Dr.  Yeah right!!  Zoloft is working so well for my anxiety and depression and now I am worried it may have caused a murmur, high BP and I have to switch.  Also worried about what if I now have a terrible irreparable heart condition.  Breathing and trying not to google symptoms.  Any insight into any or all of this would be appreciated.  

S.C. to the rescue again. Thank you so much for your quick reply. I WILL NOT GOOGLE!!! I WILL BREATHE and put it all in God's hands. I am seeing my regular Doc next week and will report back. On a good note, the Zoloft is working. Before AD'S this news would have sent me for a week long obsessive thought walk in panic park. Thanks again!!

"It is not time to worry about that now". I will add this to my mantra list. I have a fun dinner planned with friends tonight and I am not going to let this ruin a good evening.

Good job on waiting...I know that it is nearly impossible to do!

I am pretty confident that all is going to be fine with your echo results.:)

I hope that you get it schedule and done quickly, so that you can get past this and feel better soon!

Let us know how it goes.

S.C.

So I had my echo a week ago and yay, I waited a whole week before prompting the Dr. for the results. He told me 24-48 hours but I decided to just wait and see. Anyway they called today and said I have a slight mitral valve leak and that it is not a big deal. Of course I googled, couldn't help myself, and everything I read pretty much agrees with that. I asked if I could exercise strenuously as I love to hike and play racquetball. They said that was fine and the only thing I need to do is not take diet pills. I am overweight but I have never taken diet pills and don't plan on starting. The silver lining in all of this is that it has given me a renewed motivation to get serious about losing weight. I am sure that will not cure my wonky valve, but it will sure help my heart in general. My GP did not refer me to a cardiologist but I think I am going to get one anyway as I still have and probably will have questions as time goes by. That's how I am wired but I am going to practice being rational and WILL not panic!! :)

Thank you SC for your ever encouraging words. What books do you specifically recommend for dealing with health anxiety? I think it's time to start working harder on this aspect of my anxiety/ocd. Ever since my GP confirmed the murmur I have had chest, arm and back pain. 99.9 percent of me knows it its from anxiety but the nasty little .1% keeps the anxiety up which results in more chest pain. A vicious cycle that I would like to really work on conquering. Thanks again for all you do here for us.

THANK YOU!!