My past month

Hello all,

I'll try to keep this story short and sweet. I'm 18 and very active. I didn't have a worry in the world until around a month ago when I had my first and worst panic attack after I had a very scary nightmare. Since then I've had around six panic attacks. But what worries me most isn't the panic attacks anymore, its the physical symptoms of anxiety. Recently every time I lay down my heart feels like it's beating too hard and I get palpitations. Also sometimes when I stand up too quickly I get dizzy which lead to my sixth panic attack last night. After my second panic attack thanks to googling my symptoms I went to the ER to get checked out. EKG, echo, and blood tests all came out normal and they said it was anxiety/panic attacks so I know that I'm physically ok. However these symptoms still scare the crap out of me and make me even more anxious. Since then I've stayed away from google and I've been trying to ignore the symptoms which both help but it's still very scary.

Hey Soccer1! You are going through EXACTLY what I went through close to 8 months ago. It is a viciously terrible phenomenon....anxiety... ugh..... It's so confusing, scary and just plain icky!!

How can we help?

Thanks toomuchanxiety for your response. I'm sorry that you went through this too but it's good to know that it's all normal and that you made it past it!

I basically had the same exact experience in my early 20's, I was in the ER at least once a week thinking I was having a heart attack, I had all the test run and they usually were fine, till one day they decided they were going to take me upstairs and do a Eco-cardiogram, I got a call back from a cardiologist and they said I had cardio pulmonary hypertension, no cure for it and that one day my heart would explode(not really what you want to hear)

So I freaked out, had no insurance but paid to see a doctor, he put me on nitro, I go into the ER again and they ask what medications am I taking I told them, after doing all there heart routine checks, he told me to stop taking they nitro immediately.

So I called a Heart Institute located near me, the lady said if I had this heart problem it is very serious, that she had a simple test and if I can up there she would do it for me for free, so I went up there she did the test and I was fine, that is the first time I heard of it being anxiety related, she told me to drink lots of water.

So me and my second guessing I saw another cardiologist who got the tape of my Echo, and I was fine, he did not at all see what that other cardiologist saw, but said I suffer from "bad nerves" and need to be put on "tranquilizers" or take a stiff drink(his exact words)

So long story short, anxiety can reek havoc on us, and it doesn't help when doctors don't seem to really take it seriously.

You are young and hopefully with early intervention you will be able to work your way through it.

Thanks guys for your stories, advice and support.