Health Concerns
For the past few weeks, I've experienced prolonged mild chest discomfort. The best I can describe it is like congestion, except it's non-respiratory. There is the occasional very faint aching in there. I particularly feel it while trying to get to sleep, because there's nothing else to distract me.
If I had health insurance I would get it checked out. Maybe it's hypertension, or an ulcer or something.
I got the suggestion that it is a very mild panic attack due to stress from Penguicon and under-employment and needing to find a new place to live. I've seen people have panic attacks, and they tended to get very emotional about it, but I don't.
I would love to know if there is a change I need to make to my lifestyle, perhaps stopping caffeine or getting more exercise, or a different kind of exercise. Or perhaps I need to get less exercise, and stop walking to school and the bus stop all the time.
Comments
tenebram on Mar. 1, 2009 7:38 PM
'chelle has been having a lot of anxiety attacks lately, more often when trying to go to sleep. They often don't have an emotional component. I'll ask her if this description sounds familiar later today.
tlatoani on Mar. 1, 2009 8:57 PM
I would certainly consider backing off caffeine.
While you don't want to risk winding up with a pre-existing condition on your record, some of the possibilities here could be life-threatening, so you should get some knowledgeable advice. Consider an off-the-record conversation with a nurse or physician you know personally, or even a visit to a neighborhood clinic that isn't part of any health system's medical records network.
thefile on Mar. 2, 2009 3:44 AM
I agree with halting the caffeine. The chest discomfort sounds like me back when I was going through 4 or 5 cans of Diet Coke a day.
Caffeine has an actual physical withdrawal. If you go cold turkey it'll take 4 days to come off of a regular caffeine habit. You can expect headaches and extreme fatigue for days 3 and 4.
sarahmichigan on Mar. 1, 2009 11:16 PM
Could also be acid reflux/heartburn, which tends to be bothersome at night and aggravated by stress. It doesn't always manifest itself as an acid feeling in the throat, either- sometimes it feels like something in the chest or a lump in the throat.
netmouse on Mar. 2, 2009 7:49 PM
nodnod, that was my first thought - when I was in high school my mom took me to a doctor with chest pains and it turned out to be a combination of acid reflux and gas. Which can be affected by stress, of course, but doesn't have to do with the heart even though it felt like that was where it was as far as the pressure and pain.
cosette-valjean on Mar. 2, 2009 1:34 AM
It still sounds like anxiety attacks to me. They don't have to have any emotional trigger just a general feeling of stress that is constantly around. I think you get them at night when you are trying to sleep since that is the time your mind is most quiet and you can't distract yourself. When you notice them and pay attention to them they feeling gets worse, right. That certainly would hold true for an anxiety induced state.
habibekindheart on Mar. 2, 2009 10:45 AM
anxiety perhaps?
users on Mar. 2, 2009 12:14 PM
Everytime somebody asks a medical question on the Internet, I'm reminded of this thread.
That said, it sounds like an anxiety attack, and there's a lot going on to make you anxious, even outside of Penguicon in two months...but I'm not a doctor.
rachelann1977 on Mar. 2, 2009 3:31 PM
Listen, I know I'm not the top of my class, but my ambulatory medicine preceptor from last month says I'm one hell of a diagnostician. If you have a way of getting to Randy and Sheryl's this afternoon/evening, or to our place in the next couple of days, I'd be more than happy to give you at least a cursory physical. I don't have an EKG machine, and I can't measure your heart enzymes to see if you've had a heart attack, but I can take your blood pressure, and listen with a stethoscope, and follow through on the rest of your symptoms.
Just sayin', depends on how worried you are. There are 4 levels really.
- Ignore it.
- Complain about it but do nothing
- Get cheap help from friends.
- Go to ER and screw the bills.
It's deciding between 3 and 4 that becomes problematic. I think you've already decided not to do 4, so doing 3 is probably in your best interest.
matt-arnold on Mar. 2, 2009 3:39 PM
I will be there are Sheryl's.
atropis on Mar. 2, 2009 5:31 PM
stress reduction never fails to be good for health, if one can manage it.
brendand on Mar. 3, 2009 3:30 AM
It doesn't sound to me like panic attacks. That doesn't mean it couldn't be anxiety and caffeine addiction. Easiest thing to do is cut back on caffeine... if not break the habit. Give it a week and see if you're better. That should help alleviate the stress, since the physical stress on your body will be less.
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