Chest pains again : (

[pengalor]

So, I've posted about this chest pain before over a month ago but it happened again and I stupidly googled it and now my mind is just filled with doubt : (. For the past 4 days I've been really stressed out, I'm an agoraphobe and live with my dad and lately when he's been going to work I've been getting stressed out about it. Well, was just general anxiety until tonight when I was lying there, got a little extra anxious and my chest spasmed again. It only lasted for a minute or so but it was enough to set my mind into overdrive thinking I've got congestive heart failure because I've been occasionally listening to my heart with a stethescope and one site said you might hear bubbling when listening to the heart (I haven't eaten today so my logic says it's just gas but my anxiety disagrees). This whole situation is not improving my stress level and I'm having trouble relaxing.

Anyone had this kind of symptom before? It was my understanding from when I googled further back that serious heart pain doesn't just come and go in a minute. I just don't know though, anyone have some reassurance they can lend me in this rough time : (.

[MOchp]

One of the most common complaints on here and with anxiety sufferers in general is chest pain and other weird chest feelings. It is anxiety/stress that triggers it and you can also have muscle tension in your chest which can cause 'chest pain'. I had tests done a few years ago because I swore I was having heart problems because I was having non stop chest pain and other odd things, but the tests came back normal and the pain went away after I worked through my anxiety.

[pengalor]

One of the most common complaints on here and with anxiety sufferers in general is chest pain and other weird chest feelings. It is anxiety/stress that triggers it and you can also have muscle tension in your chest which can cause 'chest pain'. I had tests done a few years ago because I swore I was having heart problems because I was having non stop chest pain and other odd things, but the tests came back normal and the pain went away after I worked through my anxiety.

Well, I think that's what scares me. When I hear other people describing their anxiety chest pains they say it lasts for a while. Both times I've had mine it was less than a couple of minutes and that's making me think it's not the same : /.

[laura124]

I've had chest pains and they are always short and intermittent but they hurt.  Christmas morning, I woke up with chest pains and had them on and off all day.  I was so depressed about it I felt like crying all day.  Not only that, I get a crushing chest pressure that accompanies it...and that lingers with me.  It's muscle spasms and the tightness-deep inner muscles.

I've also had excruciating neck, back, shin, hip, leg and head pains.  If you take a benzo (I have Ativan) and it subsides, you know its anxiety.

[pengalor]

I've had chest pains and they are always short and intermittent but they hurt.  Christmas morning, I woke up with chest pains and had them on and off all day.  I was so depressed about it I felt like crying all day.  Not only that, I get a crushing chest pressure that accompanies it...and that lingers with me.  It's muscle spasms and the tightness-deep inner muscles.

I've also had excruciating neck, back, shin, hip, leg and head pains.  If you take a benzo (I have Ativan) and it subsides, you know its anxiety.

Thanks for the reassurance. I was getting shortness of breath 10 minutes or so ago but I recognized it as the feeling of shortness when there's really no problem breathing. I went ahead and grabbed a sandwich since I hadn't eaten all day and distracted myself and I'm feeling quite a bit better now. Thanks everyone, we all know how much of a struggle this is, it's great having others around to help me see the logical when my anxiety isn't allowing it : ).

[marc]

Congestive heart failure typically happens in the elderly.

[gcalex]

So, I've posted about this chest pain before over a month ago but it happened again and I stupidly googled it and now my mind is just filled with doubt : (. For the past 4 days I've been really stressed out, I'm an agoraphobe and live with my dad and lately when he's been going to work I've been getting stressed out about it. Well, was just general anxiety until tonight when I was lying there, got a little extra anxious and my chest spasmed again. It only lasted for a minute or so but it was enough to set my mind into overdrive thinking I've got congestive heart failure because I've been occasionally listening to my heart with a stethescope and one site said you might hear bubbling when listening to the heart (I haven't eaten today so my logic says it's just gas but my anxiety disagrees). This whole situation is not improving my stress level and I'm having trouble relaxing.

Anyone had this kind of symptom before? It was my understanding from when I googled further back that serious heart pain doesn't just come and go in a minute. I just don't know though, anyone have some reassurance they can lend me in this rough time : (.

Do yourself a favor.  Put away the stethoscope.  Self-monitoring is the road to ruin.  And you don't know what you're listening for, I would be willing to bet.

[pengalor]

So, I've posted about this chest pain before over a month ago but it happened again and I stupidly googled it and now my mind is just filled with doubt : (. For the past 4 days I've been really stressed out, I'm an agoraphobe and live with my dad and lately when he's been going to work I've been getting stressed out about it. Well, was just general anxiety until tonight when I was lying there, got a little extra anxious and my chest spasmed again. It only lasted for a minute or so but it was enough to set my mind into overdrive thinking I've got congestive heart failure because I've been occasionally listening to my heart with a stethescope and one site said you might hear bubbling when listening to the heart (I haven't eaten today so my logic says it's just gas but my anxiety disagrees). This whole situation is not improving my stress level and I'm having trouble relaxing.

Anyone had this kind of symptom before? It was my understanding from when I googled further back that serious heart pain doesn't just come and go in a minute. I just don't know though, anyone have some reassurance they can lend me in this rough time : (.

Do yourself a favor.  Put away the stethoscope.  Self-monitoring is the road to ruin.  And you don't know what you're listening for, I would be willing to bet.

Yeah, I haven't been using it anymore. I was using it for a calming thing to show myself that my heart wasn't beating super hard or fast and just hearing my heart beat was comforting. I did want to bump this with a question that's always bugged me though.

When do you guys experience your physical symptoms? Whenever I've read about anxiety they list a lot of symptoms that I get often but I can never figure out: are they saying those symptoms show up during an anxiety/panic attack or they can pop up when you think you feel fine? My chest pains almost always come at times of anxiety but I don't feel like I'm having an attack, just a lot of stress, and they stick around for a few days after I manage to calm myself down. I think it's subconscious because even times where I think I'm relaxed I can feel myself tensing some of my muscles. You guys ever get physical symptoms even when you aren't consciously anxious?

[pengalor]

Sorry, just wanted to bump this topic once, really hoping for some reassurance about the consistency of symptoms. For me I will have minor chest pains that sometimes last a while but aren't super painful, more annoying but they keep my mind on the physical symptoms and they're driving me nuts. Then I'll get some shoulder pain or a pain on the outside of my arm or a throbbing vein that subsides soon after but these seem to come and random times. I can't help but feel like my heart is failing or I'm having minor heart attacks or something. I just don't know what to do with this stress but I still can't bring myself to see a doctor : (.

[mollyfin]

If you were having heart attacks, even mild ones, you would know.  They are almost always extremely painful.  Unless you have a very high pain threshold coupled with a disorder that regularly mimics heart attacks (and I don't mean panic attacks, I mean something like a severe hiatal hernia), you will never have to wonder about having a heart attack. 

Chest pain and tightness with shortness of breath is very common with anxiety.  When I first started having panic attacks in my teens I was sure I was dying.  I'm still here :)  I used to call my dad at work freaking out about it and he'd get super-annoyed.  Poor guy. 

See your GP; chances are they'll tell you it's just stress.  After they tell you that, I recommend finding a psychiatrist who can prescribe anti-anxiety medications. 

[bertybotts]

So, I've posted about this chest pain before over a month ago but it happened again and I stupidly googled it and now my mind is just filled with doubt : (. For the past 4 days I've been really stressed out, I'm an agoraphobe and live with my dad and lately when he's been going to work I've been getting stressed out about it. Well, was just general anxiety until tonight when I was lying there, got a little extra anxious and my chest spasmed again. It only lasted for a minute or so but it was enough to set my mind into overdrive thinking I've got congestive heart failure because I've been occasionally listening to my heart with a stethescope and one site said you might hear bubbling when listening to the heart (I haven't eaten today so my logic says it's just gas but my anxiety disagrees). This whole situation is not improving my stress level and I'm having trouble relaxing.

Anyone had this kind of symptom before? It was my understanding from when I googled further back that serious heart pain doesn't just come and go in a minute. I just don't know though, anyone have some reassurance they can lend me in this rough time : (.

Do yourself a favor.  Put away the stethoscope.  Self-monitoring is the road to ruin.  And you don't know what you're listening for, I would be willing to bet.

Yeah, I haven't been using it anymore. I was using it for a calming thing to show myself that my heart wasn't beating super hard or fast and just hearing my heart beat was comforting. I did want to bump this with a question that's always bugged me though.

When do you guys experience your physical symptoms? Whenever I've read about anxiety they list a lot of symptoms that I get often but I can never figure out: are they saying those symptoms show up during an anxiety/panic attack or they can pop up when you think you feel fine? My chest pains almost always come at times of anxiety but I don't feel like I'm having an attack, just a lot of stress, and they stick around for a few days after I manage to calm myself down. I think it's subconscious because even times where I think I'm relaxed I can feel myself tensing some of my muscles. You guys ever get physical symptoms even when you aren't consciously anxious?

Yes. Most of my symptoms are not consciously triggered by anything in particular. Your mind has 2 sets, sort of. One is totally conscious. It sees, hears, makes decisions. The other is entirely unconscious to you. You have no control over it, but it does SO MUCH WORK. You can easily influence it to make you feel funny things. Trust me. Your brain is the single most powerful object in this entire galaxy, I bet - if not, at least on this planet.

You can trick your brain into absolutely anything. ANYTHING. Even without meaning to.