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New Here and Struggling

Posted , 6 users are following.

mike38031
mike38031

Hello everyone I am 42 years old and a long time sufferer of anxiety and depression. My anxiety has always centered around my health and mainly my heart. My anxiety worsened after losing my mom and sister in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The last two years I’ve gone to ER several times and had multiple X-rays, ekgs, and blood work done. I’m always sent home. After the most recent visit I was prescribed 10 mg lexapro and I noticed a difference after a few weeks. I followed up with a psychiatrist who thought I’d do better on Zoloft. Man I tell you after about a week on Zoloft my anxiety has been off the charts. I feel like anxiety is constant and my hands tremble all the time. I think I made a mistake not staying on the Lexapro honestly. To make matters worse my last ekg was borderline abnormal due to possible right bundle branch block and possible left atrial enlargement. I have a precautionary echo tomorrow and am worried sick literally even though all my chest x rays, ct heart scan, and blood work showed nothing significant. Someone please reassure me I’m losing it.   Thanks

1 like, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • mike38031
    mike38031

    Posted

    Ps the scary thing about anxiety is the changing symptoms which convince you it’s someth serious. Once I convince myself it’s just an anxiety symptom another symptom replaces it.
    • kg00
      kg00 mike38031

      Posted

      Yes, that is me I wake up happy a symptom is gone only to have a new one by the end of the day
    • laura79036
      laura79036 mike38031

      Posted

      You just said it all right there in your PS post.  That is so very true to my experience with anxiety.  Try not to worry too much.  Besides, all those precautionary tests are for the good.  When they can catch something early, it's easier to treat.  I'm sure everything will be fine.  I see a lot of the elderly community where my mom is living and wonder how they made it to their age and I'm always scared a simple cold or flu will do them in, but I see how resilient the human body is with these older folks and wonder why I get so terrified at my age of 56. It's just anxiety. smile

      So when you go for those tests, let the technicians know you don't want any false scares! lol 

      Take care and hope all goes well for you.

    • mike38031
      mike38031 laura79036

      Posted

      Thanks Laura I’m sure my pulse will be sky high during the echo tomorrow 
  • alesha59336
    alesha59336 mike38031

    Posted

    Make sure to tell your doctor that the Zoloft is not working for you. Not every mediciation works for everyone. YouTube some breathing techniques to calm down and talk to us. It always helps me to read this forum!
    • mike38031
      mike38031 alesha59336

      Posted

      Thanks Alesha I’m definitely letting her know when I see her next week to switch me back to the lexapro for a while as that was helping my anxiety and panic attacks 
  • mike38031
    mike38031

    Posted

    Thanks everyone for your replies so far and I’m so glad I found this site. It’s good to know people are going through the same things. Glad also I decided to try meds. What led to that is my anxiety gets so severe I’ll spend nights at the hospital parking lot sleeping in my car.😞

  • harriet67221
    harriet67221 mike38031

    Posted

    Hi Mike I think you need to get off these drugs before u run into cardiac problems to be qute blunt. Your anxiety can be dealt/managed in ways tat do not involve taking any medications because it sounds to me that you are hypersensitive to these drugs. I am in in a similar position and believe you me I wish I had known years ago what I know now. These drugs do not appear to be doing you any good whatsoever. It will be hard getting off them but well worth it in the end.  Good luck.
  • racheld1975
    racheld1975 mike38031

    Posted

    Hang in there!!! Tell your psychiatrist you want to switch back to the lexapro if it worked better for you. If he/she doesn't agree, find a different doctor. You are the one living in your body, you know what is working and what isn't, and you know how you are feeling. I had the same experience with zoloft and lexapro, lexapro is one of the combo of meds that works for me. I've been doing this for over 20 years and tried pretty much everything. Try to relax as much as possible about your echo, it is easy and painless. You need to focus on the positive. I found this in an article I read..."However, RBBB also commonly occurs in normal, healthy individuals, and the screening exam therefore often turns up no medical problems. In these cases, the RBBB has no apparent medical significance, and can be written off as a “normal variant,” and safely ignored." So even if you do have an rbbb it can be normal for you and not a problem. Best of Luck!!!

  • mike38031
    mike38031

    Posted

    So the nurse of the cardiologist called me today. She said my heart was strong and nothing was abnormal except that I had mitral valve prolapse with mild regurgitation and that they may prescribe me beta blockers for the symptoms . It sucks to have a medical condition but I’m relieved to maybe have found the cause of my panic attacks and physical symptoms. I’ll need to research how to manage this disorder.
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