How does doc decide if it's anxiety

[eggonmyface]

For as long as I can remember I go through phases of not being able to breathe properly/heart palpitations/feeling sick. I tend to be able to distract myself and carry on as normal. Last few weeks I've been getting palpitations much more often, especially at night / when resting. Is it worth a docs trip or will they just think I'm wasting time? Is it anxiety or is it likely to be something worse?

Also been feeling quite shakey last two days

I genuinely think my GP sighs when he sees my name. I've been slapped with a "hypochondriac" badge so everything is "there there it's anxiety".

I haven't been to my own GP for three months now (but an ooh) which is a long time for me.

Like you, I go through cycles but everyday something is "wrong": headaches (severe), breathlessness, palpitations, chest pains, numbness.

I've had cbt but unfortunately this is just me.

Should I bother with the doctors?
Everyone always comments on the fact I've always got a headache or something going on... don't no wether it's just a waste of time knowing it goes away at some point anyway

Its not a waste of time at all to get help for what might be anxiety. Talk to you Dr and they might either see it as anxiety straight away (really could be that or stress etc) and send you to a MH consultant (the ones I've met have always been lovely) or they might suggest CBT too (I have never found this to work tbh but I know for many people it does) and/or they might send you for a few other tests. I do recall at the start of my anxiety disorder diagnosis I was sent for heart checks etc. But it was pretty clear it was all anxiety induced I think.

Good luck OP. Sorry you're struggling

Thank you. I'm going to try and go Tuesday. I feel like I should know if it's anxiety or not? I feel as if it's one of them things that should be obvious and I should know..!?

Not at all, symptoms are crazy scary sometimes and it's not until someone points it out you think about it. For example, first time I had a panic attack I honestly thought I was doing (tbf I still feel like that at times with them) and I took myself into bloody A&E convinced I was having a heart attack or a stroke or something! And that's when I already knew I had anxiety issues.

So no, you might not know.

But equally, you might have another health issue so go get it checked out like you have planned for sure x

i had this but not the palpitations around ten years ago after I got a serious illness. I had an ambulance called out for me as I couldn't breathe. I was furious/embarrassed they told me it was all in my head and I was fine when in my head I quite clearly couldn't breathe. I've never spoke to a doctor about it again.
Is it possible the palpitations can just be a new anxiety symptom I never experienced before? It's also mainly when resting / at night time when I notice them

Yes I get these and it was all part of it. They will talk you through when you get them and what might have triggered them, if anything else in your life might be concerning you etc. I was having terrible trouble sleeping. 1 - 3 hours a night, using more wine and cigs to cope and generally second guessing everything. Weirdly I also found inertia and an inability to actually do this that would help (clean the house for eg) quite paralyzing. I'd overthink everything I did (why did I do/say that) and wonder what people thought of me all of the time. It was completely overwhelming. I was put on sertraline (150mg) and it did the job...although I often felt tired in the day and lethargic generally. Be careful about coming off them though as I got severe vertigo type symptoms when I felt I was getting fed up with being "dozey". They will explain all of this. Deffo go to the doc and get some CBT or talking therapy if you can too as that will help you manage the situations that trigger it. I wasn't offered any for mine so do ask for that too as I'm sure I should have had it.

It could well be health anxiety. I went to the doc saying I thought I could feel pain in my lung...he basically said the lib has no nerve endings so that would be impossible. I was also v. embarrassed about that but never put 2 and 2 together that so of these health symptoms could be part of general anxiety. For me it was Brexit that threw me over the edge...complete lack of control over my future and my child's. Good luck op x

I also struggle to sleep, fall asleep / stay asleep. I'm up 3/4 times between nodding off around midnight and getting up at 6. I never thought all these things could be related. I know it sounds daft but what if I don't know what I'm anxious about? Becoming ill again is probably one but I'm not always thinking about that, that only starts to come in to my mind when I get all these palpitations and dizziness etc

How do I start the conversation with the go? I just don't know what to say

Your are suffering horribly OP, and by talking to your GP hopefully you can find some answers. Having health anxiety or any other anxiety is understandable. I guess we can't always know why, or what's triggering it, but its very real and nothing you need feel embarrassed about. Your GP will see that you are suffering as a result.

I really hope you have a sympathetic GP that can help you get some answers and relief.

Sounds like sertraline might be helpful as pp said, get thing s back under control a bit better.

Full day at work tomorrow so will definitely try and go Tuesday. Give me chance to work out what to say too. It's been going on so long I'm sort of thinking it's just me and how I am, does that make sense?
Do I just say I've recently started getting heart palpitations? See what they say to that. Will that lead to any anxiety questions or do I say I think I've got some anxiety? Sorry I've just got on with this for so long

Just to give another perspective OP- my sister had very similar symptoms and ignored them for almost a year as she has known MH issues and presumed her anxiety was taking a (massive) turn for the worse.
An unrelated blood test happened to show that her thyroid hormones were sky high and she got an urgent referral to the hospital. She's now on medication and the symptoms have gone.
This may well be nothing to do with your issues but couldn't read without mentioning it.

I think if you share your symptoms with the GP, they should be able to help work through whether it is anxiety or something else. I would describe the sleep issues as well as the palpitations.

Is it anxiety or is it likely to be something worse?

I once had acute anxiety and in all honesty I can't even imagine anything worse. My GP took it seriously and yours will too. Just describe your symptoms, the doc might go through a questionnaire with you which is useful for assessing anxiety symptoms, and don't forget to ask any questions you have.

You know it's perfectly possible to get stuck in a vicious circle of being anxious about having anxiety...it's self-perpetuating. But to quote the great JK Rowling "of course it's all in your head...but why on earth should that mean it isn't real?"

It's not a waste of anyone's time to seek professional help for anxiety. Too many people think it's just something you can snap out of if you pull yourself together. It isn't. See the doc.

How old are you? Everything you describe is exactly what I've experienced for the last year. It got so bad that that I've had two full on attacks which were so bad, I was convinced I'd had a seizure. Saw GP and he told me it sounded like anxiety attacks brought up by the menopause. I KNEW it wasn't that. I didnt feel anxious and one of the attack happened on a day I was really looking forward to (and was totally ruined as had to go come back). I am not an anxious person by nature.

I therefore took over and persuaded him to do many tests, a number of blood tests beyond the standard ones, referral to ENT, referral to cardiologist, brain MRI... and all came back normal.

A year on, having done a lot fo soul searching, learning more about myself, doing some self-taught mindfulness exercises and cbt, I now know that GP's diagnosis a year ago was correct.

The surge and drops of hormones is messing about my nervous system. I am no anxious in that I don't get scared but I'm anxious by anticipation. I find myself feeling always wired up and unable to relax as if something in my brain refused to let me. I'm always rushing, analysing each situation, rehearsing potential future conversations over and over.

As a result, I also don't switch of at night and so it is a vicious circle. It took me months to realise how physically tense I was. It was various masseuse making huge 'OMG I havent had a client with so much knots in her upper back/neck for a long time' comments to realise that indeed, it's not just my mind but also my body that is all tensed up.

This constant state of anxiety is affecting my nervous system, giving me headaches and muscles pain, and impacting on my heart, in my case, getting it to slow down living me with very low BP.

So yes, anxiety, even if it doesn't feel like this can make you feel very unwell and I do think there are many people getting nowhere with the medical system who suffer the same but don't accept that it is anxiety related because this state of being is so ungrossed in them that saying so is challenging their whole self being.

Mindfulness and cbt is really the best medicine. I've embrassing it but it takes a long time to change years of bad habits and the hormones don't help but now that I know what it is and more importantly that it won't kill me, I don't get anxious at being anxious as I used to so it's a lot easier to live with on a day to day basis and I'm confident that I'll get to that stage where I can let go and enjoy life in the present rather than constantly trying to protect myself against a potential nefast future.

The talking therapy can help you identify things that trigger anxiety, which is why I think it is important to ensure you get that and not just drugs. GP will not mind you saying you've recently had palpitations and are feeling anxious but for no apparent reason. There are always reasons, sometimes a sense of a lack of control over your own life for example, but the GP isn't there to sort that part out. GP will refer you for talking therapy or similar and possibly provide medication, or ask you to come back in a few weeks and see how you are feeling if you think it is manageable (unlikely but if you don't tell them everything they may hope they won't need to put you on medication as it's not a fix). If you have had any life changes, job/house/family/separation/death/marriage etc they may be underlying causes. I think we are so on edge these days with constant news and information we are in a constant state of high alert. Some people seem to feel this more than others and feel responsible for more than they can reasonably deal with. That's part of how I feel anyway.