Panic attacks and arm & shoulder pain Posted: 12-03-07 18:02pm
i suffer from panic/anxiety which started
about 2 months ago. i've always had a
little anxiet but never panic the first
once scared me. i've been to the hospital
acouple of times, the gp a couple of
times, and the cardiologist and everything
with my tests check out good. what is
scaring me me is my left arm and shoulder
aches that come and go and they trigger
sometimes full blown panic attacks , i
feel like i'm having a heart attack. the
thing is i had these aches before the
panic attacks started, but now when i feel
that twinged of pain i panic.why? i'm 43
have my b/p under control cholesterol
under control and take a beta blocker,
xanax and also exercise and eat right.
although heart disease runs in my family.
why does this ache scare me so much when
i've been reassured that my panic is just
making it worse. i know at at premeno age
and have palpitations also is this a
symptom? does somebody know what i'm
talking about. Have you been there?
sometimes i feel like i'm out of control.
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panicky83
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Jan 2008 Posts: 3
Common In Panic Disorder Posted: 01-06-08 04:29am
Hi, I have the same symptoms. i was just
on another blog on this same site that was
a full page of people who have panic
attacks, anxiety, and chest pain
accompanied with left arm pain. I am only
24 and i am pretty sure I dont have heart
disease, but just because of the chest
pain i get from anxiety, I recently
started panicking that I may be having a
heart attack or some problem with my
heart. Originally it was just chest pain.
Then I looked up heart attack on the web,
and I think that the knowledge of left arm
pain psychologically brought it on as a
symptom. If you look into panic
attacks/disorders, one of the major
symptoms is thinking one is having a heart
attack, to the point of the person going
to the er. It is quite common. So far i
have had and EKG which came out normal. I
think if you have had all the necessary
tests done to rule out any real heart
disease, even if it means having second or
third opinions so you can really sleep at
night, you need to seek new anxiety/panic
treatments until you find something that
works for you. You might want to look into
interoceptive desensitization. It does not
sound like a fun treatment, but to me it
sounds like the most effective treatment
out there, because your psychiatric
professional basically induces a series of
attacks on you, thus teaching you that the
symptoms you frequently feel are nothing
serious, and you survive, etc. I have read
that this is very effective, and often
cures the patient. If heart disease runs
in your family, you are smart to take your
symptoms seriously, and you should not
consider yourself crazy. But based on what
you have described, it is probably the
anxiety. The problem is that people who
suffer from this, myself included, think
that the anxiety comes from some specific
source, like remembering a traumatic
event, or feeling a physical symptom like
chest pain and thinking they will die, or
whatever. But I have recently discovered
that a lot of those symptoms eventually
start to just come on their own, even if I
am out at a party with friends, feel
perfectly fine, have not been thinking
about the stress in my life, my anxiety,
have no symptoms of anything, and out of
nowhere, boom, a symptom for no reason. I
think that when the disorder is in
developing stages, you are more likely to
have what seems like a clear reason to
have an attack. But over time of not
having it treated properly, I think
symptoms like left arm pain, along with
any number of other possible symptoms,
just recurr on their own because of the
subconscious fear that you have developed
and that has been associated with your
fear in general. I myself know at this
point that I need professional help. I was
just on the wikipedia.org site titled
panic attack (please read it) and between
physical, mental, and emotional symptoms
listed, I had about 21 symptoms that I
experience in any given week. I think
there are tons of people out there with
this problem, who are constantly trying to
diagnose problems, and they (actually we)
need to focus on being treated for
anxiety/panic disorders. Hope this is
helpful. http://en.wikipedia.or
g/wiki/Panic_attack
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choll
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 30 Jan 2008 Posts: 9
Posted: 01-30-08 12:59pm
I go through the same exact thing. I get a
pain in my chest, then arm, maybe some
shortness of breath and then boom, a panic
attack. I am 24 and went to the ER in
september, they ran tests and said I was
okay. I went to my physician and they
cleared me as well. I was still worried so
i got a third opinion, and they cleared
me. I got two EKGs, had 2 blood tests and
they listened to my heart and family
history and gave me the all clear. I am in
counseling now, I go once a week. It
helps. I am also on cymbalta and and
ativan (when needed), and I recently got
on Calms Forte, although i only started
that like 2 days ago. I started it so I
wouldnt have to be on ativan my whole
life. With all this info I still get
scared that Im having a heart attack. I
dont know why.
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adasmama
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 3 Location: south carolina,
Posted: 02-03-08 10:03am
im 25 and ive been dealing with this since
i was about 14- you know the funny thing
is, i didnt start having the pains in my
arm and chest until i was about 22 or 23,
old enough to realise my own mortality.
and i really think that that is all that
this is, my own mortality. i dont know
what really gets the ball rolling. but i
tell myself when my head spins around and
the panic stes in that "this is only a ten
minute thing" and "you think if you were
having a heart attack that you could
actually sit down and evaluate your
symptoms?, no, youd be on the floor
gasping for air"and that usually helps my
re-center myself a little. i find that the
attacks are worse when im having a hard
time dealing with things like excess
stress or if i have too much coffee during
the day.
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Therapyanyone
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 5 Location: Toronto, ON. Canada
What a pain ..... Posted: 02-03-08 10:47am
I have had the same thing for about 2
years...pain in the left shoulder down the
arm funny feeling in the fingers, chest
pain is another thing...I have
Costochondritis, it's a condition that I
have inflammation of the cartliage between
my sternum and ribs the pain at times is
so intense I fell like I'm having a heart
attack and that brings on anxiety...then I
feel detactched from my environment (light
headed) I have been checked out by almost
every specialist and they said it stems
from anxiety....at times I didn't beleive
them and I thought they were just trying
to brush me off...
I take Adivan (PRN) and that usually
helps....we are not crazy when we have
these syptoms but trying to explain to
anyone about the way you feel when you
suffer from anxiety they just look at you
and say I know what you mean...uh, you
don't...
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choll
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 30 Jan 2008 Posts: 9
It's gone Posted: 02-04-08 10:02am
My arm pain and chest pain is gone. I just
figured I'd let you guys know. I would
like it to go away forever. I read up on
Cymbalta and it mainly treats depression,
but I need something to help with
depression AND anxiety. I'm going to talk
to my doc about it.
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lafae
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Apr 2008 Posts: 8 Location: , United Kingdom
Posted: 04-13-08 10:07am
I have had the same symptoms as other
posters here.
I usually try and reassure myself that
it's my anxiety showing itself.
Yes, it's scary because it's what we're
told a heart attack is like.
I have been given beta blockers, but I'm
forever forgetting to take them. This is
usually a reminder for me that I need to
start taking them again.
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jodie 16
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Posts: 261 Location: south wales, wales
Thanks: 1
Thanked:0
anyones Posted: 04-15-08 10:25am
Anyones shoulder pain and anxiety pains
get worse while walking?
