New to anxiety disorder, doubtfull of diagnoses :(

Ok so 2 weeks ago in the mornign I was getting ready for work and a feeling like someone slowly poured warm water on my head and then it came over my whole body in a wave.

I became dizzy, scared, very bad chest pain, tingling and numbness of face and extremities. I really thought it was a heart attack or a stroke. I went to the ER they said I had an anxiety attack gave me xanax and sent me on my way. When it happened again the next day I went back to the ER and they told me it was anxiety(they gave me the second ekg of the week) gave a shot of something for the pain and sent me home.

It's happened small scale since then. but I'm always thinking about when it's going to happen again. I'm scared all the time and I don't want to stray too far from home because my house is near the hospital.

I don't believe the doctors because if these were isolated anxiety attacks... Why do I feel the pain all the time. My extremities are always tingling the chest pain is on and off all day panic or no panic, the light head, head pain..

It's really taking a huge toll on me emotionally, I've taken a week off work this week to see doctors.

Can anxiety really cause persistent pain/discomfort like this?

Hello DennyDee, Welcome to the forums!

You sound like you have very similar symptoms to me. I too was skeptical of my diagnosis at first, a little over two years ago. After all of the tests I've been through that keep coming back normal and 4 trips to the ER, I can safely say, absolutely Anxiety and stress can cause the symptoms you are describing. Always get the big questions out of the way with y our doctor of course, heart, ect. but if the doctors can't find anything, more than likely it is indeed stress and anxiety. You don't always notice stress, you can think you are completely stress free but that is not always the case. We live in a very fast paced world and biologically our bodies were not designed to deal with today's modern fast paced stress's. Evolution is a very long slow process and our body and mind can never keep up with the times.

In your own words you describe now you are even more worried about when it's going to happen again. This worry can be very stressful on your subconscious and body whether you realize it or not. Anxiety feeds off of your thoughts. It cannot differentiate between right or wrong. If you convince yourself to act a certain way because of the way you feel, you are actually reinforcing these feelings and telling your body and fight or flight mechanism through your subconscious that it is correct for making you feel this way by expecting it to happen again, or waiting for it. The best approach with Anxiety or stress is realizing that it is perfectly normal and just a somewhat temporary feeling. When it happens you need to fight through it, don't run from it or situations where it might occur more frequently, just take a few deep breaths and recognize what it is and move on the best you can. Anxiety and stress can manifest as both mental and physical symptoms, the mind is a very powerful thing. You need to try to retrain your body not to overreact to these feelings.

Take some time to browse the resources available on these forums and read some other members posts. You will see there is a ton of helpful information on how to cope with these feelings and symptoms they may be causing you. I would personally suggest not taking any medication unless absolutely necessary, as in the end, they can be very hard to wean off of. I would first suggest trying yoga or many other relaxation techniques before putting chemicals into your liver. I;m sure a mod will be by shortly with some links to some very helpful information.

You are in good hands here, you came to the right place. This community is always here for you whenever you need us! Until next time, take care and stay positive.

My first really bad anxiety attack out in public was on the city bus, I was on my way to Publix, I couldn't even get off the bus, and had to just be taken back home after they took every one to their destinations. So the bus became an anxiety trigger for me, just anticipating another attack.

I did take the bus again, did well on the ride but when I got into Publix I did my shopping but felt like I was dying, got my groceries checked out, and went and waited at the bus stop, I had such a bad panic attack( I thought it was a heart attack)that I called 911, the ambulance picked me and my groceries up, and took me to the ER, they ran every test imaginable, the only thing that came up negative, was that I was a little dehydrated.

So going out became a huge issue with me, I had to have someone with me at all times, and then saw a Psychiatrist who prescribed me xanax, so I would literally have to take a xanax before any outing just to make it.

I understand some of your symptoms, but haven't had all of them, having things ruled out should ease our mind, but with anxiety it seems like we think it is something they are missing

I hope you can find an answer, and possibly see a doctor that can help you through this.

Hi DD,

I would say anxiety can cause pretty much all of those symptoms because I have had all of those plus some. I had tingling in my left arm and hand, also my left leg for about a week on and off. Kept thinking it was a stroke or onset of MS....nope, MD said anxiety. After that symptom left my scalp began burning throughout the day with an accompanying headache. This went on for a week or two. Once again anxiety.

My anxiety is almost always physical. I have frequent chest pain which I have finally come to realize is not my heart, just a tight muscle in my chest and usually my upper back. Sometimes there has been a lump in my throat (that of course I thought was cancer) for days. Many days I can't seem to be able to take a deep breath. Sometimes the right side of my face feels numb. I also get scared and feel like I'm going to pass out quite a bit. Taken me awhile to get that one under control.

I could write for days, but ultimately I've missed a lot of work and sat in a lot of medical offices and emergency rooms for very scary symptoms that have turned out to be all in my head. Every time I finally get a new symptom under control my body decides to invent something new and scarier for me to try to overcome. It has taken me three years and numerous different medications to realize that there is nothing PHYSICALLY wrong with me. I take Buspar daily and it keeps me from large scale panic attacks, but the chronic, daily physical symptoms I have to fight on my own.

I wish you the best of luck. Please trust your doctors. I also work in the medical field and these people really do know what they are doing.

Jen