Am I having Anxiety??

[Unregistered]

I am 48 years old and female. My life truly is great, other than PHYSICAL symptoms that are very frightening. My heart pounds and feels like it is beating to slow, especially at night. I have insomnia, I get up in the night to urinate at least 10 times, if not more. I have difficulty swallowing like I have a glob in my throat. My arms and chest feel tingly like pin ******. Nothing in my life has changed so I cannot understand what would cause these feelings. I am retired, have a wonderful family and I have no financial worries!!! What is happening to ME!!! I feel like I am losing my mind. My doctor started me on Paxil 5 weeks ago, but I do not feel myself. Anyone out there who has had these type of symptoms, I would love to hear from you.. Thank you for your time....

[Unregistered]

Hello, I have a psych degree and my father does have anxiety disorder and is on paxil.

First, those symptoms do describe anxiety, however it cannot be anxiety disorder unless you also have internal emotional and mental symptoms going along with the physical ones. For example, do you suffer from boughts of insecurity, confusion, apphrension (especially concerning deadlines, schedules, or having to interract with people/strangers), unnease, fear, racing thoughts, and "fear of fear itself?" Basically, are you a very sensitive person?

Second, be careful with Paxil. If you don't even know if you really have anxiety disorder, I have no idea why you'd take a powerful psychiatric drug! My father believes his paxil helps him. I have observed that it has slowed his thinking and generally made him zombie-like but jovial. I personally would never trade anxiety for paxil-land, even if I had anxiety.

You can alter your mood substantially with nothing more than regular exercise and normal substances like caffeine, nicotine, suger, chocolate, or light drinking before sleep. Before using prescription drugs I'd at least try some of those "self-medicating" substances.

[Unregistered]

I have had anxiety issues since I was 16. It comes and goes. I may have it for a few months and then it disappears for years. I am 51 right now. Some times I get anxiety about having anxiety. First... some people are more susceptible to it. you are built that way and this is how your body reacts to your mind. I have read books, taken Valium and Xnanx for short periods of time, gone to a number of psychologists. Anxiety prone people tend to have parents or grandparents that have it. My father had it (worried about getting a fatal disease), I have it and I think one of my two some will have it (he seems preoccupied with his health when he is sick). I live with it but realizing it doesn't last forever and i will have long periods of time when things are ok. I have 2 children, married for 22 years and am very successful at my job. This all being said I would be lying if I said I wish I didn't have it. When I read what I have written, I make it sound like I have won in my battle against it.... I have not... I have learned to live with it.....I try and treat it as a game... sometimes it will win... sometimes I will....good luck.. remember... anxiety is your bodies reaction to your mind...keeping a positive outlook when you are going through a period of anxiety is your minds reaction to anxiety.

[ShawneeGirl]

I am 48 years old and female. My life truly is great, other than PHYSICAL symptoms that are very frightening. My heart pounds and feels like it is beating to slow, especially at night. I have insomnia, I get up in the night to urinate at least 10 times, if not more. I have difficulty swallowing like I have a glob in my throat. My arms and chest feel tingly like pin ******. Nothing in my life has changed so I cannot understand what would cause these feelings. I am retired, have a wonderful family and I have no financial worries!!! What is happening to ME!!! I feel like I am losing my mind. My doctor started me on Paxil 5 weeks ago, but I do not feel myself. Anyone out there who has had these type of symptoms, I would love to hear from you.. Thank you for your time....

To the person with the psych degree:
THANK you for saying that!
I've always been given the whole "Why don't we put you on a very strong, mind-altering drug, just to see if it does anything!" trip.

Look into Peripheral Neropathy That would explain the prickly feelings.
Also, the heart pounding leads me to believe that you may have some blood pressure problems.

If tou've been put on propranolol for this, and the symptoms get worse, get off of the propranolol.
I was put on propranolol for anxiety, and it only made matters worse.
I started to swell, breathing was difficult. It sucked!
BTW, a few medications can make some symptoms like these worse.

Good luck!
Sheena

[Unregistered]

At 48, and female I have similar tingling in hands, need to use the bathroom in the night and heart palpitations at night. After much reading, I am convinced that many of my symptoms are menopause related and that the anxiety I have had in the past is related to my lack of understanding of this process. Christiane Northrup has written the "Wisdom of Menopause" which I have found most helpful. Even if it is not entirely related to your particular case, through her you will be educated about your hormones and about the changes your body is/will be facing in the coming few years.

[Unregistered]

Hello, I have a psych degree and my father does have anxiety disorder and is on paxil.

First, those symptoms do describe anxiety, however it cannot be anxiety disorder unless you also have internal emotional and mental symptoms going along with the physical ones. For example, do you suffer from boughts of insecurity, confusion, apphrension (especially concerning deadlines, schedules, or having to interract with people/strangers), unnease, fear, racing thoughts, and "fear of fear itself?" Basically, are you a very sensitive person?.

I just wanted to say that having anxiety/symptoms of anxiety does not equate to having an anxiety disorder - either generalised or other - in the diagnostic manuals used by physicians such as ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases) or DSM (commonly used in the UK).

Second, be careful with Paxil. If you don't even know if you really have anxiety disorder, I have no idea why you'd take a powerful psychiatric drug! My father believes his paxil helps him. I have observed that it has slowed his thinking and generally made him zombie-like but jovial. I personally would never trade anxiety for paxil-land, even if I had anxiety.

I absolutely agree about being cautious about drugs, but while some people seem to have very bad experiences with drugs - especially if it seems the decision to prescibe is quite arbritrary on the Doctor's part - but sometimes the opposite can be true.I resisted pharmocological intervention for depression and anxiety for years because of mistrust of medication, and it did me no good to struggle on regardless.I eventually took the medication prescribed, and I can honestly say I feel 100% better, and wish I'd done it years ago.Commonly, it's only a fairly short-term intervention (my Dr has recommended up to 6 months, max), and many new generation drugs do not feature the negative side effects you describe. Unless you've been in this position, I'm afraid I don't see how you can say you 'wouldn't' with certainty.

You can alter your mood substantially with nothing more than regular exercise and normal substances like caffeine, nicotine, suger, chocolate, or light drinking before sleep. Before using prescription drugs I'd at least try some of those "self-medicating" substances.

I agree with this, and have had many health professionals saying this to me too.This has been proven in the literature.There's no substitute for lifestyle changes to address anxiety.

I also agree with the lady who made the point about menopause, which I feel may be a significant one - you could be experiencing associated symptoms.

[fair]

to unregistered. I hope you did not neen to consume caffiene at bet time, did I miss read? That would make matters worse...Fair

[Unregistered]

I think he/she meant avoiding caffeine, nicotine etc!!!

[kicker]

I have anxiety sympoms without actually feeling emotionally distressed all the time. I used to have both. I think that since you have quite a few years behind you, you might have learned to control your emotions and concerns better than most.
And having a good life doesn;'t necessarily mean you aren't anxious. I have a good life, but an analytical mind, and I think that is where I tripped up. Invest in one or two therpay sessions, see if it helps.

[acuann]

To original unregistered poster:

Please understand that paxil is extremely strong and has horrible "discontinuation" (aka withdrawal) symptoms. Please look up paxil on www.drugs.com to find all of the possible side effects - this is a very detailed and informative website. Please don't ever just stop taking this drug - I have had patients have strong side effects even if they missed a dose by a few hours! Please be careful and if you are on any other medications look them up on the above website - click on the drug interactions checker tab.

We as consumers MUST become educated in the drugs we are prescribed.

On another note, your symptoms show an imbalance between your heart and kidneys, according to Chinese medicine diagnosis. Please consider trying acupuncture - it works amazingly well for nocturnal urination, UTI's, urinary incontinence, and also for anxiety and palpitations. The feeling of something "stuck" in the throat is known as "plum pit Qi" in Chinese medicine and is thought to be caused by Qi and phlegm stagnation. There are very effective herbal formulas to treat this.

Have you had a urinalysis done? Do you have any other urinary symptoms such as urgency, burning pain, or cloudy urine? Have you had any cardiac tests done? The doc who so quickly prescribed paxil doesn't sound like he is looking at the whole picture - try to find another who will!

Best wishes
DOM