1. Community
  2. Mental health
  3. Anxiety Disorders

afraid to die

Posted , 8 users are following.

cuki20
cuki20

i went to the ER yesterday coz i am having stabbing pains on the left side of my chest and my left arm in feeling weak...i thought i am having a heart attack and feeling very anxious...the doctor then examined me and ask for my family history  so in the end he said im having hypertension and unstable angina and prescribed meds for the blood pressure and the chest pains...he said that i would be in that meds for a lifetime now that i have to accept in even at the young age coz i inherited my father's sickness...honestly i am not convinced of the diagnosis coz i failed to mention that my bp isn't really that high on normal days and the chest pains come and go though he also said that if the chest pains come and go it is why it is called unstable angina and it will never go back to normal since i have it already. on normal days my bp range from 120-130/80-100 so that isn't that bad i think...what i think i really need is the reassurance that this is just anxiety...the truth is im afraid to die that's why every weird feeling i get i automatically think that there's something wrong with me, or that i am sick and the "what if's" thoughts came rushing in and my mind is racing...that when my heartbeat started to race, then i fell dizzy and more thoughts will came till i cant contain it and feel like fainting. i can't stop the "what if" thoughts and everytime it stumble my mind it caused me to what i believe are panic attacks...my body is in constant pain: back, neck, head and lims...usually accompanied by numbness and tingling sensations...sometimes there are cold spots in my chest too...i always feel bloated, belching, gagging, stomach pains and sometimes choking feeling...my stomach aches as sson as i finished eating and is usually followed by diarrhea. there are times that i feel so alone even though i am surrounded by family and friends that i know trully cared for me... and i have trouble sleeping since i got this weird feelings...i am afraid to sleep whenever i feel these symptoms coz i'm afraid i will never be able to wake up again... i tried laying down and deep breathing whenever i feel my hertbeat in starting to race and it helps a bit...reading also helps as it takes my mind out of what i am currently thinking...i tried taking melatonin 3mg last night and i don't think it is good for me as all i can feel if my head is spinning and i wake up every hour...we are trying to get an appointment to a psychiatrist on april 4 hoping they can tell me what's going on coz i feel like i can't deal with thgis no more and feel like losing my mind...and i hate it! i just want it to stop now coz i can't be myself...i want to try doing exercise but i am afraid it will make my heartbeat faster or even cause a heart attack...also whenever i go out..i feel dizzy that's why i stay in most of the time...i have difficulty concentrating and seems like my mind is at random thinking of all kinds of thing..most of it makes me anxious too! can anyone please give me a good advice on how to deal or lessen this until i get checked by someone or therapy coz i feel like i am loosing it...

0 likes, 70 replies

70 Replies

Prev Next
  • lynsey90326
    lynsey90326 cuki20

    Posted

    Hi hope you are doing okay what age are you? I have the same symptoms as you on and off doctor put it down to anxiety and acid reflux. What tests did doctor do to determine it was unstable angina?
    • cuki20
      cuki20 lynsey90326

      Posted

      i just turned 31 last march 20, whenever i go to the hospital they focus on the symptoms that most bothered me, maybe that's why i was never diagnosed with anxiety yet...even though i told them every symptom i am experincing..they seem to ignore it...i was prescribed pantoprazole for my stomach ache before...i believed it was acid reflux...he just assessed me using a stethoscope, ask me what kind of pain i was experiencing and to what part of my chest...then asked me if the pain goes on and off and i said yes...after that he said it was a good thing since i am not having a heart attack at that moment but the fact that i have chest pain on anf off in that particular spot suggest that i have unstable angina
    • lynsey90326
      lynsey90326 cuki20

      Posted

      I an also 31 and went to hospital 3 tines back in January with chest pains and numb left arm each time I had 2 ecgs and blood tests all came back fine and said it was either anxiety or sone sort of stomach problem. I visited my own gp who said was nothing to do with my heart but was anxiety and acid reflux so I am in medication for this. I think maybe you should get a second opinion do you get short of breath a lot when exercising or anything? I read that angina pain is more in centre of chest and is like pain pressure or tightness
    • cuki20
      cuki20 lynsey90326

      Posted

      ill try to get a second opinion next time, maybe after my appointment to the psychiatrist...im not convinced with the hypertension thing coz my bp is high only when im in the hospital coz im already having those attacks...i got two chest pains the lower and center par of the chest i belived is caused by acid reflux coz it was relieved when i was taking proton pump inhibitors....but the other one is more on the upper left side of the chest thats why i think i was having a heart attack and the numbness of the left arm convinced me more...the pain is more like pins ans needles rather than tightness in the chest

       

    • lynsey90326
      lynsey90326 cuki20

      Posted

      Apparently acid reflux can cause all sorts of pains due to the nerves in the stomach people feel it in there arms shoulders neck all over top of body. I read a lot of posts on the reflux forum and it helped me calm down a lot.
  • Altair
    Altair cuki20

    Posted

    I myself have gone through this and i can understand the pain , the agony , the loneliness , and the desperation associated with it .. I hope you recover from it very soon . My advice would be what i tried on Myself and that releived me from anxiety (panic disorder) or more particularly health anxiety . you must do Progressive Muscle Relaxation (look up YouTube for PMR's)... I have drastically reduced my anxiety by this technique.... Its about 20 min procedure. But you must do it continuously for results.... You will see results in like a week... Hope you will benefit from it...

    Regards

    • cuki20
      cuki20 Altair

      Posted

      thank you for the info..ill try this...
  • richard89308
    richard89308 cuki20

    Posted

    angina is not a death sentence. it just means you need to take meds to control it. As for hypertension, you need to remedy this with diet and exercise.
    • cuki20
      cuki20 richard89308

      Posted

      its just so scary feeling too many symptoms at the same time..i am not convinced i have hypertension coz my BP usually rises only when im anxious...angina on the other hand got me really scared thinking it might be heart attack...and what got me anxious more is when the doctor told me i might have a heart attack as soon as next year because of hypertension

       

    • Guest
      Guest cuki20

      Posted

      at my last Drs app I was so stressed out my bp was like 168 I was freaking out my dr checked my breathing and pulse and said good so I'm hoping I'll be okay at my next app sad
    • craig137
      craig137 cuki20

      Posted

      Cuki

      It is scary, but let me explain why.

      It's not hypertension for the reason you explained above. smile

      ​Angina is an ambiguous term and  Dr use it in a medical sense simply to mean (anything to do with the heart) angina is a scary word as it's human nature is to instantly think heart attack, which will of course anxiety which will raise your vitals. That Dr should be shot, there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY he can predict what will happen in an hours time let alone a year. I'm convinced it's anxiety/ panic with possible GERD

    • cuki20
      cuki20 craig137

      Posted

      hopefully the appointment tomorrow will clear evrything out
    • craig137
      craig137 cuki20

      Posted

      excellant news take this printout with you, your gonna feel so much better tomorrow
    • cuki20
      cuki20 craig137

      Posted

      so i get to visit a psychiatrist today, unfortunately i wasn't able to bring a printout of our convo but i made sure to explain everything to her...all my symptoms and life event and everything i feel....finally, she said i am suffering from depression and that my body has its limitations on how many stress i can take...so i guess i failed to cope up with my stress...she said all the symptoms are psychosomatic disorders and once my depression alleviates so are the symptoms...she prescribed escitalopram oxalate, diphenhydramine and clonazepam
    • Guest
      Guest cuki20

      Posted

      are you feeling better now that you know what it is?
    • cuki20
      cuki20 Guest

      Posted

      a feel a bit better...knowing i am not going to have a heart attack...maybe it will lessen the anxiety
    • Guest
      Guest cuki20

      Posted

      hopefully it does!

      If you ever need anything, post on here or feel free to send me a PM,

      you are not alone. 

      Good luck and all the best!

Back to top
Prev Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.