weird shaking-fluttering feeling in chest

These are the symptoms I usually get when I feel anxious and tense, really. Especially feels like my cat is sitting on my chest for 24 hrs. I really don't think it is related to your lungs. The tense muscles is the culprit here. I am sure.

And, I am very glad that you quit smoking.

I agree with Rrakkma-

It sounds like anxiety. I get the exact same symptoms. It's hard to believe they're "just" anxiety bc the physical sensations are very real.

Also, quitting cold turkey could definitely be increasing your anxiety. Don't start back up lol but your body was used to the nicotine so it may just be that your body is adjusting.

Side note- I saw a previous post a couple of years ago when you were switching from Zoloft to Vibryyd. Did the Vibryyd ever work for you? We have a current member of the forum who's been asking about V bc her psych wants to switch her to it. She posted recently asking about it.

Sending you much support! You're defibiteky not alone with your health anxiety. Many of us are seeing therapists to learn coping skills with how we react to things and how we can apply those skills to our life.

Lisa

Hey everyone,

I also have the same problem. I have never smoked but since a drastic fallout in my marriage, I have been experiencing anxiety and panic attacks. It's so weird, I can be having a good day and than all of a sudden my I get pains in my chest and feel light headed. I take .5 mg of loazapam and 30 min later I feel better. Don't know what to do because the lorazepam is becoming less effective. I feel so lost in my home life and now within myself

I know I should just go to the dr but I am really scared that he's going to find something wrong. my chest has been feeling a little better but now my throat feels tight. Not like a sore throat but almost swollen. my voice sounds normal. I feel like I have to burp and have a few times and I usually don't burp a lot. also when I swallow I get a pain in my ears. Now im freaking its throat or esophageal cancer. im a mess. I was doing good on the not smoking then yesterday I have 3. now im all panicked again. i have an appt with my therapist today at least. I just keep looing at my children and feeling like I took their mother away from them cause I am convinced I am dying. this is horrible.

oh and as for the Viibyrd I hated it. It was awful. I felt angry and out of control. so I told my dr and we switched to Effexor but I don't know if I like that either. Ive been on it for awhile now but I missed 2 doeses once when I forget to fulfill my prescription over the weekend and by Monday I was violently ill. I was puking and had vertigo - it was awful. I will NEVER do that again. honestly I miss my Zoloft. I was on it for a long time - like 10 years. my dr switched cause he wasn't sure it was working anymore. but I felt more comfortable on it.

thank you everyone

so I ended up rescheduling my therapy apt and made an apt with dr instead. I went to the dr and he said he did think I had an upper resp infection - which I just had a few weeks ago. he said I might just need another round of antibiotics. he did say smoking could make it harder to go away. he ordered a chect xray to rule out pneumonia and ease my mind. but then I was like well do u think I have lung cancer? he said doubtful esp since im not coughing (and not coughing up blood) and since im not losing weight (Ive been gaining) but that he cant say 100% no - which really freaked me out. my next apt with him is not till next weds. he said he wanted me to come back to dicuss anxiety meds options and help to quit smoking. as well as look at xray results. he said it takes them 36 hrs to get the results so I want to wait will mon to have it done because im afraid if I do it now and get "the" phone call I will be freaking out. I had a VERY bad day yesterday. I went home hysterical crying. my mother in law saw me like that. I explained to her everything that was going on. when my husband got home from work I told him everything - the smoking (he didn't know) about all the stress I feel with him and the kids and with how unhappy I am with my life. thankfully he wasn't too bad about the smoking - he was upset and made a few comments but at least he didn't yell at me. anyway I took 2 Xanax and went to bed. today I feel calmer but my chest still hurts and I still feel like I cant breathe. only I have noticed I only feel that way when I think about it. I also feel like under my arms are sore - like my armpits. so im scared I have cancer in my lymph nodes now too. my head hurts something awful today from all the crying I did yesterday and my legs are very shaky. I also cant eat. I didn't for 24 hours. I just forced myself to eat some toast and got it down but it tasted awful.

SC - I have been on Effexor now for over a year so it is built up in my system. (when I was talking about viibryd etc that was from a few years ago - someone had asked me about my viibryd use) but my dr had given me a script awhile back for 150 mg instead of the 75 I take and I never upped my dose. but my dr told me yesterday that I really should. that it wouldn't hurt and could help me with quitting smoking. he said 75mg of Effexor is really the starting dose for it and that at this point its probably not having much effect.

how do you all get past ur panic attacks? thos eof you who have them from fear of illness or death - how do you get past it? this is my first bad episode since have kids 7 years ago. I don't want my kids to see me like this. my 2 yr old was telling my husband last night that "mommy crying". my 8 yr old keeps asking me if im ok and I just tell him I don't feel well. this is horrible - I want to be there for them. I don't want them to see me like this. im just so scared im dying and they are going to lose their mother anyway and its all my fault. even though im terrified of death I don't know how I can go on feeling like this throughout my life - and its only gong to get worse the older I get. I think a lot of this is coming from the fact that im almost 40. and ive been hearing too many sotries on the internet of moms dying from cancer or like that girl who's taking her life on nov 1st. add that to marital problems, stress with the kids, having no friends, no family here, no job, basically no life of my own - and we are in the process of selling our home and im hugely aversive to change - this was all bound to happen. everytime I have a life changing event this happens. grad college/first job, getting married, first child. anyway id love it if pppl could keep talking to me as I don't have anyone else to talk too. thanks

thanks SC - I started reading some of the info and found a few things about health anxiety. I also saw ur post about divided breath - I have been trying that also.

to those of you who said you used to smoke - did u have panic about lung cancer too? how much and how long did u smoke for?