constant/everyday chest pain and shortness of breathe... normal?

You are fine, we need to be strong.... no matter how hard it is. 

Hi zeidy....

It is horrific having anxiety/panic.

What you have described could have been written by me about me, the chest tightness the breathlessness and utter terror that I'm about to pass out or die.

But you know what, having done CBT I've learned to accept these physical feelings, and just try my best to accept them as a result of my mind being very attuned to my bodily sensations due to my health anxiety.

It's going on nearly 10 years I've been a health worrier and I've accepted that if these symptoms were something more serious I'd probably be long since gone.

Stay positive and believe it is only anxiety.

Take care

John

hey tee mine started randomly one day I was fine the next it all went tits up iv had it over 10yrs now although mine took doctors and hospital 3yrs to diagnose after countless tests and scans and basically everything you could think of but it was the chest pains that finally got me a diagnosis iv had loads of different meds but didn't work for me but that doesn't mean they don't work they just didn't for me I found distractions are my way out I always have my headphones with me as music seems to be the best one but anything that can take your mind off it or distract your mind seems to help

Please know you are not alone! I recognize the problems you describe all too well. I too have suffered with shortness of breath and feelings of suffocation. It is a sign of anxiety and stress. You will not die due to this, be certain of that!

For me i first felt this merely aged 10- my mother thought i had asthma when i said i felt like i couldnt breathe. Doctors did all the standard tests, found nothing and were oblivious, probably never considering a child could suffer such anxiety. But nontheless i did. It went away on its own eventually, only to return at especially stressful times. I have been medically evaluated in adulthood, having had bloodtests and EKG´s performed all displaying no physical anomalities. 

Everytime this has occured it has resulted in severe anxiety, which in turn makes it worse. When i have suffered this, the shortness of breath has been present throughout the day and for days on end and led to obsessing about my breathing, which only maintains the problem. The loss of apetite you describe fits perfectly into this, also occuring due to your anxiety.

My advice for you, and i know it is hard- Try to carry on with your daily activities, be calm, be reassured in that you are not in fact dying or subject to any physical harm, You will not feel this way forever. Eventually and be patient- you will notice when taking your mind off it by doing other things, that wow, its been hours and i dont feel neither chest pain nor shortness of breath. It will go away. However being a person prone to anxiety, most likely at some point you could experience this again. But hopefully then it wont be as strong, cause you will know what causes this and how its not harmful (albeit damn horrible). 

Im hoping if you see this (and anyone else reading) that youre feeling better and that i could be of some help sharing my experience. 

I have the same thing happening to me it's really frightening especially at night when I'm lying down I end up having to sit upright until I fall asleep and so,etimesi cant lie on my side as it hurts?! The shortness of breath and headaches can be worrying

At least all of us now know we're not dying and are all in the same boat so to speak. I've read about an problem called pericarditis where there's inflammation around the heart I wonder if it's this? Or the anxiety of feeling ill all the time??!

 

I know this post was 2 years ago and you probably don't get on anymore but I wanted to ask you how are you doing? I am 23 years old and feel exactly the same way you do. I have shortness of breath although my oxygen levels are good! I have fast heartbeat even though I have taken every heart test and my cardiologist said my heart was normal. Have sharp left side chest pains but xray and Ct scan show nothing! GI doctor said I don't have much acid reflux. All blood work are normal. I don't know what's wrong with me! I have these symptoms every single day every single minute sometimes worse than other times. I have a husband and a 2 year old that I'm scared theyre going to lose me. I have to see a pulmonary specialist before my doctor can rule out everything and tell me that it's anxiety. I know my anxiety has a big role in these symptoms but I'm still scared that it could be something serious that doctors are missing. I've been taking natural anxiety medicine which I don't feel any different from them. I'm scared to take anxiety medication because of the side effects but am willing to try anything to make me feel better!