[Frankz]

Hi, I was wondering if stress and anxiety can cause pain in your body, if it's bad enough. Sometimes my chest hurts like HELL and I wonder if that could be the cause. My anxiety is really bad..especially towards my mom..I nearly have a damn breakdown when she leaves the house because I think if I'm not with her somethings gonna happen. The pain can stay for a few days and then just vanish for a few months, then it comes back. Could my anxiety and stress be causing this?

[Elysium]

Hey Frankz,

My anxiety and depression can cause me to have chest pain/tightness as well as pain radiating down my left arm, and nausea.

I'm fairly young (32), but I'm also an RN. So....theoretically, yes, your chest pain could be caused by your anxiety. Yet, at the same time you definitely want to follow up with your MD with this.....or take a trip to the ER the next time it happens because it could very well be cardiac related....even if you're young.

So....if I were you, I would call your MD and schedule an appointment for some testing or to see a cardiologist just to rule out cardiac issues. If you neglect it, you may be fine, but it would really suck if this pain wasn't related to your anxiety and it was a heart problem.

Take care....hope I didn't scare ya, but definitely get a check-up K!!

[Pomegranate]

Yup, I have had all kinds of tests done on my heart over the years, nothing ever found wrong with me, tg. But I had pain, flutters, tightness, just like you and Elysium describe. So like she said, it could be anxiety related but get it checked out for sure. It helped me reduce my anxiety knowing I wasn't having heart problems. Although if I ever do I will probably die from it cuz I'll think it's "just anxiety."

[Pikku Myy]

Yes.... Stress on top of anx... can make you have even more medical issues Take care..

[suec]

Yes, I also had the chest pains, blood press would go up, nausea and dry heaves and was totally afraid to be alone. My panic was 24/7 and the insomnia was horrendous. My doctor ran the usual heart tests, xray and stress cardio, eveything was fine. Then they put me on Ativan 1mg and Klonopin. The stress would go away while I was on the Tranq's. Finally I was put on SSRI and it is now gone. I was diagnosed as Major Depressed with severe anxiety.

[Atalia]

you can absolutely get physical problems from anxiety, and many weird and scary variations. I think chest pain is one of the most common.

Thats one of the hardest things i have to deal with, i have congenital problems that are rare and docs know little about, and a common problem with anxiety is believing there is something serious going on medically the doctors have missed. The balancing act is working out what is illness and what is cause by tension and stress. The hardest bit is stopping the behaviours that cause the anxiety related symptoms.

[Frankz]

Originally Posted by Atalia

you can absolutely get physical problems from anxiety, and many weird and scary variations. I think chest pain is one of the most common.

Thats one of the hardest things i have to deal with, i have congenital problems that are rare and docs know little about, and a common problem with anxiety is believing there is something serious going on medically the doctors have missed. The balancing act is working out what is illness and what is cause by tension and stress. The hardest bit is stopping the behaviours that cause the anxiety related symptoms.

Yes yes yes! The bold = a very big part of my stress. I ALWAYS think something serious has gone wrong like a bump or a pain in my chest or anything actually.