Concerned/Mixed symptoms

okay generally I have chest pains, numbness/tingling in my hands/fingers, feel dizzy, sick, fainting (often), heart pounding, headaches/migraines, vision problems, ringing ears, sweating/chills, ice cold hands and feet yet my body is hot, have to pee alot/urgently, disconnection from reality, confusion, fear im 'losing it', fear im going to die and my doctor attributes this to my panic disorder, however i want to ask him for a spinal xray and an MRI of my brain because I feel like there is MORE to it than just 'panic'... however i'm embarassed because when I describe my pains/symptoms i get the speech on 'your a healthy young girl for the most part and your not going to have a heart attack, or die, or go crazy' and its usually left at that with me feeling uncomfortable, scared, worried, and simply NOT convinced that I'm okay, or going to be okay. Every night that after i fight with myself/panic/freak right out, once i hit the point of exhaustion and i eventually just fall asleep, i wake up and think 'okay, just panic, im fine, im here, im alive im okay'... problem is, i have been getting REALLY sharp pains in my calves, under my arms (armpits) into behind and aroung my left breast, and its become more frequent than ever. I have seen a cardiologist and was dx with mitral valve regurgitation w/o prolapse (heart murmer basically), and so everytime my chest hurts i worry, but then nothing happens so i feel stupid for worrying/getting upset... Anyways after my LONG babble here (im sorry for the book!) I wanted to ask if this IS infact all because of my panic disorder, or if there could be something MORE going on??? I also feel tired, weak, ill VERY often and and my back constantly bothers me ever since I had a spinal tap for knee surgury 2 years ago... Could it be a nerve problem in my spine? could it be a problem in my brain? or should i calm down and accept i have panic disorder and its NOT going to kill me???? Any thoughts? advice? things I should ask my doctor??? tests that could/should be done to rule out anything major?....thanks in advance and again i appologize for the BOOK lol

i've had a heart murmur for as long as i can remember and i've never been caused one problem by it.

panic can cause our bodies to do all sorts of really crazy things. i do wonder about the physical pains though. my panic causes me to have things like muscle spasms, occasionally, but never pains that radiate throughout my body.

how do your parents feel about all of this? have you sat down and talked to them openly about your fears? did the doctor prescribe anything for the panic?

don't worry about the length of a post....i'd rather read a long one and know what's going on than have to guess and try to read between the lines........xoxoxo pat

My parents are somewhat at a loss as to how to help me with this (i am 23) they both try to understand it however they take the doctors words at face value only, ruling every symptom out as 'Panic'... They know my fears and my doctor has prescribed me Clonazepam however I'm terrified to take it, terrified of what it could do to me, terrified I'd feel the same as I did with a really bad reaction to another drug that made me like I was on LSD for 5 days, Not good So this is why I'm at such a huge loss...

i'm so sorry.........wish i could help more..........xxoxo pat

no worries i appreciate your response(s) believe me i do, i just am so unable to get past this 'mental block' of mine... grrr

You said :

okay generally I have chest pains, numbness/tingling in my hands/fingers, feel dizzy, sick, fainting (often), heart pounding, headaches/migraines, vision problems, ringing ears, sweating/chills, ice cold hands and feet yet my body is hot, have to pee alot/urgently, disconnection from reality, confusion, fear im 'losing it', fear im going to die.

Wow - can I remember those days ! I was positive I had a brain tumor - I mean - what else could cause anyone to be so sick and scared ? After literally $1,000 (closer to $100,000) in tests, and everything ruled out from cancer, to anything known to man, I accepted I had panic disorder. Every single symptom you say you have are part of the "fight or flight response" that our body goes into when scared. We might not recognize we are scared in our thoughts, but something trips that trigger anyway - just as if a bear is about to attack us - so we prepare to "fight it - or run like heck" (thus the name fight or flight). Perhaps when whatever happens with your heart issue happens - your body freaks out. I had alot of triggers.

Once I accepted it was panic disorder - and that was in 1990 after suffering 17 years - I found a specialist in treating panic and anxiety disorders. He put me on Klonopin - and within 2 weeks - no panic. It took longer than that to get the full benefit - but I knew in 2 weeks I was on the right track. I cannot tell you to take the medication, but I can tell you that it gave me my life back. I know you have struggled with taking the med for quite a while - having read that post some time ago, but I would encourage you to try it. I remember about your bad reaction - to Paxil I believe it was - and they are not related - do not work on the same parts of the brain etc - and you should really not assume you will have a bad reponse to this med because of that one.

I cannot tell you that you only have panic disorder - altho it certainly sounds like you DO have it - but of course, I cannot say you dont have anything else wrong with you, but, with that said, IF you were to get the panic under control with your medication, and 90% of your symptoms go away, think of the relief you would feel ! Think of the improvement in your quality of life ! I DO know that we can experisnce true physical symptoms from panic and anxiety. I hold stress in my neck and shoulders - therefore I have horrible neck and back pain - sometimes headaches as a result. When that happens, I work on relaxation technques, and rational self talk - and try to reduce my stress level - thus relieving the pain.

I do wish you luck - no one should suffer needlessly. I truly would give the medication a chance. Talk to your parents about your fear of taking it - and make sure you are around them - or someone - when you start taking it - to relieve the worry some. I sure as heck would hold your hand when you start it if I could - I have that much faith in it helping you!