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Feel like I'm dying but doctors say it is anxiety

Posted , 27 users are following.

Tigerlily84
Tigerlily84

Hi all, I haven't been feeling well for a long time now so please bear with me while I explain.....

Around February this year I started getting headaches daily and feeling exhausted all of the time. There didn't seem to be a pattern to the tiredness but I often noticed it seemed to correspond with a slow heart (around 55bpm) and a fluttery or heavy feeling in my chest. At this time I was just trying to ignore the symptoms and didn't let it get to me too much.

At some point in May, I started to get other symptoms such as a tight, choking feeling in my neck, light headedness and depersonalisation. I had an awful panic attack driving home one day where all of a sudden I just felt like I was going to die and nothing felt real. I wasn't hyperventilating and don't recall my heart beating particularly quickly. I then had another awful panic attack at work where I felt the choking feeling and was convinced I was going to die. It was so bad an ambulance was called and they sent me to hospital. I had blood tests and xrays which all came back clear.

I had a couple of days off work then and over the past few months I had a further week, two weeks and three weeks signed off with a couple of weeks actually at work in between.

Symptoms I have experienced during this time are:

- dizziness

- light headedness

- weight on chest

- headaches

- extreme fatigue.

- internal tremors

- neck discomfort below the base of my skull

- palpitations

- slow heart rate (lowest was 49bpm in bed)

- discomfort inside my throat at the back.

- tingling in my fingers

- feeling weak and wobbly on my feet

- feeling like I need to take a deep breath and yawn all the time

- occasional sleep disturbances

I know that many of these symptoms can be associated with anxiety, and I am desperately trying to believe there is nothing else wrong. I have had many blood tests and I do not have thyroid, anaemia or low nutrients. I have also had EGGs which were apparently normal.

I've been back at work this week and actually enjoyed myself but it's been so hard pretending I am ok when all the time I feel physically unwell.

The symptoms currently bothering me most are the extreme fatigue, feeling weak and wobbly and feeling the need (and often being unable) to take a deep breath.

I really am quite terrified as I genuinely feel like my body is becoming weaker and that I am going to die soon. I worry perhaps I may have cancer or I have a heart condition and my body is basically giving up. I try but can't believe it's all just anxiety, although I do accept I am feeling anxious. I feel like I can't plan my future because i don't believe I have one :-( I should also mention I'm a 31 year old female.

Please can anyone advise me what else could be wrong with me and if there are any other tests I could ask the doctor for?

3 likes, 39 replies

39 Replies

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  • brittany2222
    brittany2222 Tigerlily84

    Posted

    I'm sorry your going through this. I too am feeling weak and have the internal tremors. I thought i was going crazy trying to explains the internal tremors and weakness. I have this feeling all day long, and if for 1 second i don't feel the weakness or tremors they instantly start back up.

    • kyla61574
      kyla61574 brittany2222

      Edited

      Please look at neurosymptoms.org

      Functional NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER (FND) is a disorder that includes all of your symptoms. FND is a disorder that many doctors do not understand. All test come out normal. Mass General Hospital has a clinic specifically for FND.

      i hope this helps. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. i was misdiagnosed for decades. It's scary, but there is help

  • ben41166
    ben41166 Tigerlily84

    Posted

    33 year old male here. EXACT same thing happened to me 4/21. It hit me so hard, after I got back from the e.r. I didnt get out of bed for 3 days, ended up going back to a different e.r., saw a "family doc", called a psychiatrist, all said the same thing. "severe anxiety disorder". Never experienced this slightly before. I couldn't eat, felt weak, shaky, scared, cold. Lost 18lbs in 2 weeks. Refused to believe it was anxiety. Oh yeah, and I have cried every day over everything. I don't even remember the last time I cried before this. So I'm slowly accepting that it is what they say. I reluctantly decided to finally take a prescription for Paxil. I'm still within the 2 week adjustment process and still feeling heaviness on my chest 24/7, lightheaded at times, shaky, overall anxious about "what if". I don't know how this all works and why it presents itself so differently to so many. All I've wanted is to be told I'm going to be fine.

    So to you I say, there's literally millions worldwide that have this happen. Alot in the 30s age bracket. You're scared to death as I've been. But it will pass slowly. You're not alone in this.

    • kyla61574
      kyla61574 ben41166

      Edited

      Please look at neurosymptoms.org

      Functional NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER (FND) is a disorder that includes all of your symptoms. FND is a disorder that many doctors do not understand. All test come out normal. Mass General Hospital has a clinic specifically for FND.

      i hope this helps. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. i was misdiagnosed for decades. It's scary, but there is help

  • lisa15002
    lisa15002 Tigerlily84

    Posted

    i had to reply to this. iv been feeling exactly the same for 5 years now. iv had all the tests an the doctor says its anxiety. please please dont make the same mistake as i did. i just left it thinking il get better, i didnt, i ended up really depressed iv just been started on citalopram its only been just over 2 weeks but hopefully they will work because i feel like iv wasted the last 5 years. im a 32 year old female with 2 boys and i cant live like that for the rest of my life.

    • kyla61574
      kyla61574 lisa15002

      Edited

      Please look at neurosymptoms.org

      Functional NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER (FND) is a disorder that includes all of your symptoms. FND is a disorder that many doctors do not understand. All test come out normal. Mass General Hospital has a clinic specifically for FND.

      i hope this helps. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. i was misdiagnosed for decades. It's scary, but there is help.

  • kyla61574
    kyla61574 Tigerlily84

    Edited

    Please look at neurosymptoms.org

    Functional NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER (FND) is a disorder that includes all of your symptoms. FND is a disorder that many doctors do not understand. All test come out normal. Mass General Hospital has a clinic specifically for FND.

    i hope this helps. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. i was misdiagnosed for decades. It's scary, but there is help.

  • katie76422
    katie76422 Tigerlily84

    Posted

    i am so glad i found this! im 18 female and was convinced mg symptoms werent anxiety due to how over powering they feel and ive had anxiety my whole life and its felt more of a panic not a physcial experience

    ive had chest pains, feeling like i can never catch my breath, constantly yawning or just being aware of my breathing and the worst one is the feeling of being faint with headaches and weight behind my eyes to the point where i stutter or get confused with my words. i was honestly convinced i was having a stoke. ive been to a&e multiple times for them to tell me everythings fine. its been about a year of this on and off so hopefully everything gets better!

  • tony59763
    tony59763 Tigerlily84

    Posted

    Wow! This is exactly what I've been dealing with for over 12 years and it will not stop. The worse part is the inside tremor feeling that feels like your heart is racing and you are about to jump out of your skin. but my heart never is racing. I wake up daily with headaches and an off feeling . Its horrible and really leaves you with no quality of life . It used to be so bad I wouldn't be able to eat because of a choking feeling . I'm a male 48 years old and I feel beaten down like im 80. The amount of stress and depression. feeling bad all the time is devastating. How could anxiety possibly cause so very many real sensations and feelings and symptoms ??? I don't understand

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