Finally Went to a Therapist

[sydneymom]

Yesterday I finally finally went to therapy. I had been in therapy twice in my twenties. Now I am 43 and have been suffering with HA for the past almost seven years after my car was totaled in an accident and I had lots of incidental findings on my scans at the hospital.

Sadly, it took my dad being hit by a train and killed a month ago, followed my a month of PTSD symptoms to finally get me back. It was very difficult for me. The woman seems good. She is trained in CBT and is also in favor of meditation techniques and holistic things after I mentioned I have reflux. Hopefully this will be something positive for me.

That being said, I am wondering what you think about these symptoms. In October, I had shortness of breath. I thought it was maybe from my silent reflux. Ive had that for about a year and a half, but never had any lung symptoms, though I understand it can lead to that. My ENT says it is mild, and I dont take medication. I also thought I had bronchitis, and the doctor said the shortness of breath was from an upper respiratory symptom. But the only symptom he saw was a red throat that did not hurt me, so I thought maybe it was still reflux. It went away and was gone for two months.

Right before my dad died, I was having the shortness again. I am basically torn if this is LPR or anxiety. The therapist says it is anxiety and from not breathing deeply. My ENT says it could be the LPR. He wants me to have his transnasal endoscopy so that he can see if I have any damage to my esophagus, or else go to a gastro for a traditional one. I cant tolerate the ENT one. So I have been stressed. He says if I have no damage I can loosen my diet, but if I do then we have to talk about meds. I was also thinking of going to a pulmonogist. During my car accident they found a lung nodule that was rescanned in 2008. They said it was stable but saw some granulomas and wanted another scan six months later. I refused. And the pulmonologist agreed it wasnt necessary.

Yesterday, while trying to find the therapist office during the day so I wouldnt get lost at night, I had a chest pain sort of to the right high up on the ribs above the right breast. I thought it was anxiety. It came back again today though, about two hours after the gym. I should mention that I go to the gym four days a week and never experience shortness of breath or chest pain during a workout. I think it could be anxiety but also feel like it could be reflux. In the past, I would get sharp chest pains midchest from gas. But I havent in a long time. Now tonight I have the pressure in the middle of my chest and feel a bit short of breath. 15 months ago I had a stress test and ekg to make sure of my reflux diagnosis. I tried to distract myself playing ping pong with my kids and it worked for a bit.

I just wonder if you think it is anxiety causing this or the LPR? I had a swallowing test in November that showed it was mild and for the past year even drinking caffeine I never had these symptoms. Now Im on a strict diet so it seems weird to have it. Maybe this is all from my dad dying and not wanting to deal with it. Please help. I am praying therapy will help me.

[gcalex]

If you are not experiencing shortness of breath while you are taxing your body during a workout -- when you would expect any physical problem to be worse -- I would say it sure SOUNDS like anxiety.  When distraction makes symptoms go away, they are usually anxiety.

[hypomom]

I agree... ANY time distraction eases symptoms you can bet it was caused by anxiety.

Just a note about therpy... I noticed a bad increase in symptoms when I went at first. This is normal. Don't give up. I need to get back into therapy too...just need to get the funds to do so. Good luck to you and i am sorry for the loss of your dad.

[laura124]

Sydneymom,
I agree with the last posts.  Think about it.  Do you really think you would be able to endure cardiovascular exercise at the gym with no chest pain or shortness of breath if you had a medical issue?  And you've had these symptoms for quite some time too so if it was a serious illness, it would have progressed and surely by now the gym would at the very least, be extremely taxing--if not impossible!

Give yourself a break and realize that you have been through a great deal of stress in the past few months and losing your dad was traumatic and sudden.  This could cause anxiety in a person not even predisposed to it!  I was having the same symptoms you are having.  I didn't understand the tickley cough with mucus, the throat and chest tightness, the chest pain.  I was thinking GERD, post nasal drip, post nasal drip because of GERD, and also bad things like lung cancer or cancer of something in the worse case.  Some days were better than other days--I coughed more on some days than on others.  It became a bit of an obsession.  And I have to say, I thought about what someone said that responded to my post that perhaps I'm just paying too much attention to a benign symptom (such as a cough that didn't even keep me up at night) and eventually it began to subside.  It actually took all the members of my house (accept for me) to get the flu, and being extremely busy taking care of everyone to forget about myself for awhile.

So I quit taking all that crap , Zantac, Pseudophed, etc. and kept up my running on the treadmill and my natural vitamins, probiotic and fish oil--and I feel so much better.  I still have a little mucus in my throat and some days chest tightness but it's not bad enough to worry about and I just keep busy, focus on other things.  Also, I read somewhere that if you have a slight cough and it's relieved by a cough drop, it is most likely NOT GERD.  And if the tickle starts in my throat, I pop a Halls and its gone completely.  I know you have been DX with silent GERD and that COULD be causing some of your symptoms--but I would think twice when a doctor won't even try a course of anti-acid medications without an expensive more invasive procedure.  Get a second opinion. Don't jump to conclusions!

[sydneymom]

Thanks for the replies. Laura, I hear what you are saying. I do take probiotics as well. Today I was busy taking care of my son and no issues. My doctor did try giving me PPIs but they made me feel worse. I refuse to take them anymore. I asked him how I could know if I need to worry about the silent reflux and he said the only way is to check if my esophagus is damaged.

I decided to wait on it and see. I am going to give therapy a chance, and take time to go through the grieving process about my dad. I will follow the reflux diet (no caffeine, no chocolate) in the meantime. Thanks again for everyones reply.

[MamaDragon]

I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad. I lost my father very suddenly in August (he took his own life), so I can say with certainty that, even I'd you aren't aware of it, a shock like that will make your mind and body go all kinds of wacky. In the ensuing months, I have developed digestive problems and back and pelvic pain, which the HA beastie told me was ovarian cancer or colon cancer or any number of awful things. All my tests so far are normal, although I don't see the gastro until next month.

But what I noticed is that, when I was totally freaked out 24/7, I had diarrhea constantly. When I started seeing a psychiatrist and a counselor and got on the right medication, I started only having problems on and off. I still feel kinda funky, but I am starting to believe that alm the stress may have triggered irritable bowel syndrome. I read that 50% of people develop it after a stressful event. (In the past year, I have given birth, lost Dad, had Mom move in with us, and bought a house).  So really, the whole year was one stressful event.

I am starting to feel better though, and I feel confident that you will too. Stick with the therapy and the exercise and meditation. Don't worry about the incidental stuff unless your doctors do. My abdominal ultrasound showed a hemangioma on my liver, which sounded scary to me, but my doctor just shrugged it off and said it was nothing, so I made myself take the same approach. Sure, there are awful stories on the Internet about doctors who miss something and someone suffers because of it, but that's not the norm. Most doctors are very good at their jobs. They had to go to school for a very long time. They want to help you. They don't want to get sued.

Good luck with your journey. I didn't know your Dad, so I am just guessing here, but I bet he would want you to be happy and really enjoy your life. I know mine would have.