Do you ever go a day w/o physical symptoms?

Hey there. This whole panic and and anxiety is pretty new to me. It has been pretty intense to say the least. Since my first attack I can say th chest tightness and pain in the left arm has been a constant. Been experiencing stiffness in my neck and shoulders as of late to. Throat has been tightening up some to. It seems to help if I stretch out my arms and shoulders with some deep breaths. Hope that helps

You are not alone. I experience physical symptoms of anxiety daily. Some days are worse than others, and the symptoms vary.
Today I'm having tingling in my right cheek and hand. I'm also having dizziness and irritability.

I'm 39 and have been experiencing anxiety as long as I can remember but has gotten unbearable since my daughter was born 6 years ago. Like you, I felt at my healthiest when I was pregnant!

Meds and I don't mix well, and I'm too anxious to talk to a therapist ..lol.

Breathing techniques and relaxation help for the short term, but tomorrow I'll wake up and have to start all over again...ugh.

Keep your head up and try to stay positive!

SpoiledSAHM...I've often wondered if some of the worst symptoms are sparked by hormones. I just find it so odd that we felt the best during our pregnancies. Perhaps it was the extra vitamins too. I have been looking into vitamin b12 and magnesium. It looks like deficiencies in these vitamins can cause nerve damage. My neurologist said that taking fish oil can help repair the outer layer of a damaged nerve as well. So I am taking all of those now. I know growing up I didn't eat right at all nor did I take vitamins.

I'm glad you are doing pretty good Larry! I get dizzy and light headed too. I swear I am full of symptoms and I am sure others think I am crazy, but they are all real. The only one's I don't handle so well are the one's that make me feel like they will end my life, like the swallowing. It's extremely scary for me. It's like it just stops and so does the breathing, then begins again within about 10 seconds or so. It doesn't seem like a long time, but it feels like it. Then....my mind goes to, "what if I don't regain the ability?" and I am stuck like that until I pass out? Scary stuff!

I too feel so blessed and I know that we all have our hardships. I guess sometimes I just have a pity party for myself. Mostly, I get sad for my family. Today for instance...I pumped the kids up for our "big" park and picnic. I am there playing with them and within 30 minutes I am having a hard time swallowing and start to have twinges of pain in my left arm. I instantly think to myself "Omgosh, something is going to happen right here, right now and what will happen to the kids playing in the park all by themselves next to the highway?". Classic panic, right? Then you would think the symptoms would go away, even with medicine, but they are still here. I can't get rid of them.

I also have an Endoscopy scheduled soon (after I pay all my other medical testing bills). During my barium swallow, they said that I have silent reflux and my esophagus is small and needs to be checked out and possibly dilated, but that wasn't causing the swallowing and tongue sensations.

I haven't had a symptom free day in years. Every day is horrible and most days are almost unbearable. I think we both have come to the right place to start getting help. You are not alone. I am just learning that for myself

S.C. is right it can get better. I have days without feeling miserable though my visual disturbance is constant or always there. Sometimes a day can pass by without noticing them. It took me years until I had anxiety to realize nothing is perfect. Now it's up to me how to make my weaknesses my strengths, my abnormalities to my new normal.

Hey I am new to the anxiety area I seem to have symptoms every day sometimes a quick sting in my chest or arm, constant worrying and fear I am dying it has made my blood pressure high too. I start with a counselor on Wednesday. I hope everything goes well for you and to everyone suffering from this!
Kyle

I'd like to make a quick post about CBT.

First of all, I really was always a sick kid, and not just "not feeling well, psychologically," but I had, (especially for my age) experienced such a drastic and bizarre fluke of the most unusual symptoms. So add to the "not being believed," also being "dismissed" and constantly "referred" to so many other physicians....I genuinely felt it was because they just wanted to get rid of me.

This set up the ground work for what was to follow.

Many years of not being treated well or effectively, I came to think that was the norm. That I had to "just deal with it." After all, no other medical professional would.

With this slew of growing problems, I became reclusive, my days were run by paranoia, afraid to be seen, afraid of embarrassment, afraid "what if" something happened and I had to go to the hospital.

In my case, it turned out to be one very good friend of mine who didn't treat me any different, didn't look at me any different, (even when my whole body was covered in bizarre and undiagnosed lesions)... She spent every night with me applying aloe vera on my skin.

I'm not suggesting that's what did it, but it helped. It was being accepted, not ostracized. It was that I trusted her, and she would encourage me to,....one small step at a time,...go out, face the world, then come back home.

It took a long time, this doesn't happen over night. But she showed me the power of friendship, acceptance and trust. She still went out with her fiancé, she still went to work, it wasn't like she put her world on hold just for me.

But by doing both, she showed me the power of: It can be done.

I didn't try to make it work. I didn't even necessarily believe in any power of this interaction, that it would have an effect. Then just as suddenly as things started, they also started to go away.

She brought me into Boston to get my biopsies, came with me to my appointments, she slowly would distance herself to show me that I really can do these things.

Exposure therapy, a little at a time. Not trying too hard. She had seem me have full blown panic attacks, she had seen me not want to leave the car or the house, she saw me depressed and angry....

I think the point of this post is that not only does CBT work, but it helps when you have at least one friend who believes in you and understands, that you're free to "wig out" around, and who helps you when it's time to take those baby steps to expose yourself to the things that scare you.

The surprise came when,...it didn't even occur to me, (but it did occur to her), that I didn't ask for her help. I just sort of forgot, and drove myself to Boston (from the Berkshires in Western MA). That was what stood out in my head the most: I forgot!?

For me, I found the avalanche of awesomeness came after I started "forgetting more" and just started "doing more" and facing those things that scared me. Each time I faced it, it made me stronger, it made the fear weaker. And I'll tell you, that is one of the best feelings in the world!!

This is very real!



M.


EDIT: Well,....so much for my making a "quick post," eh? Sorry guys!

I have a lot of sx however, if I keep busy I don't notice the bothersome minor sx that seem to be a part of my everyday life.

Be Well,

Kitt