Anxiety or panic attack? All day?

[litttlepurplecaravan]

Posting for traffic.

I am quite an anxious person and take citalopram for this, it is usually kept well under control.

I have got a few stressful things going on at the moment and they seem to be building up. Monday is a significant day amongst all this.

I woke up at 6am and my chest was instantly tight and felt heavy. I couldn't breathe properly.

I have taken my anxiety meds, used my inhalers as normal incase it was asthma related and I have tried rennies incase it's some kind of reflux problem.

9 hours later my chest still hurts, I feel shaky and I am breathing heavily. I am having to yawn to take a fulfilling deep breath which always happens when I am feeling anxious. I just feel utterly exhausted.

I don't think it's a panic or anxiety "attack" as such but I feel like I have been in a constant highly anxious state all day.

Has anyone else experienced this? Where you aren't having an attack that passes after a little while but your whole day is consumed with attack like symptoms.

I daren't look online or 111 because no doubt it will tell me I'm about to have a heart attack and call an ambulance and I don't for one minute think it's anything like that 😂 I'm healthy and fit early 30s, no smoker etc.

I had a feeling like anxiety when I wasn't actually anxious. It turned out to be a pulmonary embolism - a blood clot on my lung. 🫁
Not to scare you but they can be very serious. In younger women they are often provoked by the combined pill.

Hope it's not, but I think it might be wise to get checked out.

Yeah you should go & see about it. I don't think that's normal. I had chest pain a few years ago, pain woke me up, couldn't breathe properly, thought it was anxiety. GP wouldn't even see me, she just insisted on calling me an ambulance. Turned out to be pericarditis. I get where you're coming from in not wanting to make a fuss, but any chest pain needs to be investigated just in case.

Thanks for your caring replies - sorry I had a nap and got distracted.

I have taken some ibuprofen and it seems to have helped so I wonder if there is some inflammation or infection starting rather than what I initially thought was anxiety.

I feel comfortable watching and waiting for now but I will definitely get seen tomorrow if it's not improving.

Everytime I fill in a form it says call an ambulance or go straight to a&e and it's never actually been necessary. I've just gone with my gut and used a less urgent care pathway. So I'm always a bit concerned about phoning incase they dispatch an ambulance when I really don't need one 😂

Whoops sorry, not sure how I managed to comment on wrong post!

Hope you are feeling better soon, OP

As this isn't normal for you, I echo what others are saying and think you should definitely get checked out. But just wanted to let you know that this is how anxiety that has built up over a period of time manifests for me. I've never had a panic attack as such. I will get a slow build up over days of anxious feelings and then bam, I will wake up one day and feel like someone is sitting on my chest and I won't be able to function and be short of breath. The first time it happened I didn't know what was going on and called 111 who did send an ambulance. For me, this feeling will carry on for several days (sometimes weeks) until it lifts. I now know the danger signs and with medication and self care can avoid it but I have had some life events that have sent me into this state despite trying hard to avoid it.

Please take care of yourself by getting checked out but hoepfully it's what you suspect it is and you know you will come out of the other side of it.