[whenwillitend]

This might get a bit long, please bare with me.

So yesterday morning I woke up with a weird pressure in my chest, right in the middle. I kinda felt like someone was squeezing my heart. It kept getting worse, and I ended up going to the ER. They tested for heart attack and blood clots, but couldn't find anything. 8 hours later I was discharged. By the time I got home I was extremely dizzy, felt weak, especially in my shoulders and arms, I had trouble breathing, I could not stand on my feet because I felt like I was going to pass out, to the point where my vision was getting all funky and my ears were kinda closing up. It was BAD. So I found a friend to watch the kids and called an ambulance, and shortly after midnight I was back at the ER. About an hour and a half after I had left there.
They did another EKG and some more bloodwork, again, nothing. Meanwhile the pressure was getting almost unbearable.
So that doctor, and the nurse, said it's probably an anxiety attack. They gave me Ativan, which didn't do anything. The doctor also said it could be Asthma and gave me a nebulizer treatment which, again, didn't do anything. I KNOW it's neither one, but on the discharge papers it said Acute Asthma and Anxiety. I know they're just running out of ideas, which is why they told me to follow up with my regular doctor and get a referral for a Cardiologist.

So, my question. I have never had an anxiety attack, so I don't know much about it. Is it even possible for an anxiety attack to last three days? (it's going on three days now) I thought they come and go rather quickly? Also, is it possible to have an anxiety attack without being anxious about anything? And, shouldn't have the Ativan helped if that was really it?

The first doctor I saw didn't say anything about Anxiety or Asthma. He didn't check for that either.

All I know is that the pressure is still there, the dizziness, the weakness, now with headache and cough. I just want to know what's going on!!

Anyway, thank you for reading all this, and for any advice you can give me.

Better check w/ a cardiologist.
I went to a doctor for chest pains when I was 49 y/o.
The doctor gave me anti-acid medicine.
That same week I had a heart attack. I had heart problems. Ended up w/ tripple by-pass heart surgury.
Feeling bad for that long, I would predict more than an anxiety attack.
I had an anxiety attack last week. it lasted about 20 minutes, as i was in a full room of people at the doctors office w8ing room.
I get real hot and start to sweat.
i get real nervous & restless. I can't breathe normal and fell a slight pressure to my chest.
I may shake a little also, but this goes away when I change my enviorment.
I shook it off, when I left the w8ing room.

Hope it's nothing that serious for you.

[whenwillitend]

Thank you!
I saw my regular doctor this morning. He, too, thinks it is not my heart, but doesn't completely rule it out, especially since my uncle had several heart attacks in his 40's and I don't know my father's history. So he's going to put in a referral for a Cardiologist.
But he doesn't think it's anxiety either. He asked me if I'm feeling anxious, but I'm not.
So, I'm going to get my heart checked out and then we'll go from there.

Please let us know how it goes..

thx

[healed84]

Have your thyroid levels been checked recently? I know issues with thyroids can cause anxiety like symptoms and that is always one of the things doctor check out when patients present with those issues. You might want to check to see about that. Gl, I hope you find some answers soon.

[whenwillitend]

Originally Posted by healed84

Have your thyroid levels been checked recently? I know issues with thyroids can cause anxiety like symptoms and that is always one of the things doctor check out when patients present with those issues. You might want to check to see about that. Gl, I hope you find some answers soon.

Thank you for your advice! I did have my thyroid checked recently, and who knows what they checked at the ER, they took so much blood, and then some more, and then came back for more, so I would assume thyroid was in there somewhere too. But yeah, I had it done recently. It's always been normal. But thank you for the suggestion!

The chestpain/squeezing feeling has now changed into a general pressure, like someone sitting on my chest.
I really wish I knew what this is all about. I hate not getting any answers.

[Hope1212]

Perhaps try getting a stress test, if you haven't already. Also, see a gastro doctor. You might have acid reflux or similar problems. Sometimes hypoglycemia can give you headaches, stomaches, shakiness, etc.

[whenwillitend]

Thank you all! Well, I had to go back two days ago, because it got really bad. They checked my heart again, nothing. Then the doctor said we'll try a different anti-anxiety medication, since the Ativan the week before didn't do anything, and then we'd go from there. They gave me a Xanax, and about 30 minutes later I could breathe again. The dizziness went away, and all the other symptoms too. I'm still going to see a Cardiologist, just to be on the safe side. But I'm completely floored. I would have never thought I have anxiety. And for that long?? I don't feel anxious either. So weird.
So, they gave me some Xanax and sent me home. So far I haven't needed any.
This is just all so strange.

[RattledPan]

Tend,
I've gone through this, slightly different, but I think I can share that I have had surprises of the different ways anxiety shows up in my life.

I had heavy chest pressure, sweaty, raised pulse and my partner called the paramedics. They ended up installing a stent from some blockage in one of my arteries, but nothing really was discussed about a heart attack, rather a heart "event".

A couple of years later, I was slurring words and had slow and confused responses to questions to me; chest pain back. I got a two day stay because of this, but the general consensus was that it was stress. Stress I understood. Anxiety, in a medical condition I did not really understand.

By this I was going through this, I was working with a new doctor, whom I had developed a great respect for, and finally to the point here: I felt safe with him and his care.

For me, about six months of this, I was actively reading about depression and anxiety, and talking tentatively with him about this as well as my partner. I had been on Wellbutrin for a while (it soften the "sharp edges of life" I described it)

I guess I'm am saying that I agree with others to explore these other possibilities they have mentioned, but consider that perhaps this anxiety physicality that you are having might be cracks in a wall of protection that you have around some of your other issues.

I share some of your same illnesses. Early last week, my "cork" finally popped. In this trusted doctor's care and office, I expressed suicidal ideation. I'm in a three week outpatient program that has helped so much with learning more about communication within myself. I understand that there are so many things that, as an adult, I thought I knew about myself and am realizing there is so much I don't know. (If you don't know, you don't know, that you don't know--ya know?;-)

Please accept this as a suggestion to consider, nothing more. I wish you peace and understanding in your life.

[whenwillitend]

Thank you for sharing!
I'm looking forward to seeing my t next week to talk about all this a bit more. I'm still confused. I'm also seeing a cardiologist next week.

[PurpleFlyingMonkeys]

I've had an anxiety attack last well over a week (this past May) I've had them last anywhere from 12 hours to two weeks. I have panic attacks that last from 30 seconds to 2 hours.

I wouldn't play around with your heart though, it could just be that Ativan doesn't work for you, perhaps something else will. It could be anxiety, but then again it could be something physical. Be sure to make an appointment with your cardioligist.

Anxiety attacks can cause similar symptoms, but anxiety attacks aren't the only thing that can cause these symptoms.

I hope you find some help and some answers

[PurpleFlyingMonkeys]

http://panicdisorder.about.com/od/un...anxvspanic.htm

[LiveThroughThis]

I too experience long anxiety attacks. Though sometimes mine are on a daily basis instead of lasting nonstop for days.

I too have been to the ER for unexplained issues. Did an EEG, MRI, bloodwork, all that, came up with zero.

I recently went to the dr and had my blood pressure/heartrate checked; all healthy. I agree with everyone else to rule out "everything else." Though I find it notable that the Xanax had such a beneficial effect on you. I was on Xanax daily for years (I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, so my anxiety was a 14 on a scale of 1-10).

For me the odd thing about anxiety is how many ways it presents itself. Sometimes my throat closes up/hard to swallow, sometimes my chest gets stiff, feels hard to breathe, and my breath can be shallow. On occasions even my whole body will feel weak/floppy. When my anxiety depletes, the weakness goes away. It can be quite confusing because anxiety can show up in such various ways, so I understand your frustration.

Anxiety can pop up without any obvious correlation to anything. It just "happens." Have you drank a lot of caffeine lately (coffee causes me to get jittery)? Maybe there's been changes in your life/schedule that you've not consciously been aware of?

I hope you get the answers you need.

[whenwillitend]

Thank you all!
I had no clue that anxiety attacks could last that long. I though that's something that's gone after 30 minutes or so, because an old pdoc told me that once. I mentioned at an appointment that I had something like a panic attack the night before, he asked me how long it had lasted, I said about 30 minutes, and he actually said anxiety attacks don't last more than 10 minutes and that was it, it was never mentioned again.
Well, he was an idiot anyway.

I do have an appointment with a Cardiologist on Thursday. I haven't had any more symptoms except for occasional stabbing pain on the left side of my chest. Like right now. But I haven't taken any more Xanax.

I don't really get much caffeine, I don't really drink coffe, except for the occasional Frappuccino, I don't drink soda, and I don't eat much chocolate either because I can't afford it right now.