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Originally Posted by 11PM
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However, stress and anxiety affects your health in other ways, producing chemicals and toxins that aren't good for anything. ....
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I'm in the special class of having an anxiety disorder + heart attack survivor.
I'd say that the life I was leading was filled with stress and constant anxiety. The toxic nature of this life was wrecking me physically and mentally. Prozac did help this so much! Changing roles at work really helped this. Just having fun helped this.
You ought to know the following things about your heart disease risk: blood pressure, cholesterol numbers, normal resting heart rate, BMI. If you smoke, then quit now, this week, this month. If you have diabetes then keep your blood sugar regulated. Do you exercise vigorously 3 times per week?
Those are the MOST important things to arm yourself against cardiovascular diseases.
However, I did have a heart attack at 43, just one year after cutting my stress and lowering my cholesterol into the "good" range. My heart attack felt much worse than any panic attack - jaw pain, arm pain, chest pain, dizzy. A big feeling of dread that this was very serious. I let someone call 911, I did not care if it ended up being nothing, I was ready to submit to the system, go to the ER.
I've been very pleased that one of the BP medications I've been given counteracts the effects of adrenaline on my heart. It's a beta blocker, a low dose. Things that used to set my heart racing (meeting with a boss, choral audition, getting a ticket) do not have this same effect now. Eh, I still feel the rush in my body, but I stay physically more calm. I started psychotherapy and that helps so much. It gives me new things to be triggered by (rrrr) but I've learned self-regulation.
Good for you - go to the doctor, find out your numbers. If you are in the healthy ranges, then continue to take good care of yourself. If you need to make changes, then make those changes as your doctor guides.
And keep getting treatment for your anxiety, those from a doctor or therapist and those you do on your own (yoga, mindfulness, music, etc). Show your body some love