I can't imagine living with something like this.

Been there. I obsess over my allergies because a doctor traumatized me as a child. What I do is I distract myself so that I don't think about it and it goes away. Watch TV or something. =)

I do the same thing when I get too anxious, except I get hives on my arms and chest. You just gotta relax, OP. Usually things you worry about are never as bad as you make them out to be :)

It's like the media, they make a huge thing out of nothing.

if you over-obsessed about it, that means you thought about your chest pains constantly - every day. in those days, why couldn't you have visited the doctor to get your diagnosis and treatment faster instead of worrying? :-/

oh OP I have the EXACT same disorder! I ALWAYS felt horrible chest pains and felt like I couldn't breathe. It really is absolutely horrible and miserable. It was always terrifying because no one believed anything was wrong! Finally, I got taken to a doctor who specializes in anxiety and got the proper medication for it. As much as it sucks to say "meds fix everything!" it really has been a complete 180 since I started taking them. you should really get treated OP. I know how this is and it can cripple your life. No matter how many times people'll tell you "You're FINE! Nothing's wrong!" or how many times you tell yourself, it'll still be hard to convince yourself. I am so SO much happier now since I got treated. Really, I hope you can be too! TL;DR I have it too, got meds, all better now, I empathize OP

My girlfriend had this same problem. If she could tell herself to relax it would make her life a lot simpler. People with anxiety usually have trouble calming themselves, especially when they first learn they have it. It is hard for people to understand.

what do Australians even stress over?

92 - Oh you know, Koalas invading our kitchen, Echidnas in our sheds, not being able to ride Kangaroos down to the pub because they've got sore legs. You know, the normal stuff.

i have that too OP, lots of times mainly during te end of the year it causes me to vomit anything ive eaten.

Take a chill pill, dude. If you don't have a chill pill, take a chill strip. You put it on your tongue, dissolves, chill.

man it's funny, all these years I thought I was the only one... my anxiety was so bad at one point, the doctors thought I was having a heart attack (I was 17 at the time, much too young for something like that) I've been on meds for 2yrs as well and it's done wonders. I still have an occasional chest pain but it's more once a month rather than 3 times a day... anxiety bites. an causes real health problems because of it. but don't just take meds, also try counseling or sone kind of self therapy like art. Things will get better you just got to get the right help first :) good luck OP and best wishes!

ps, LOVE the Adam Lambert profile pic ;)

kheartz- What're the odds? Two Adam Lambert fans with severe anxiety! ha, :p ps. I do art as well. It's SO helpful for easing panic and anxiety

I feel stressed out just reading this.

Hypercondria

I don't think I would want to be unique by having social anxiety..

trust me having social anxiety disorder colud never possibly be a good thing!!!!

O I know I have social anxiety 2. But I'm on medicine 4 it. Maybe it's time op gets some 2

To be honest, taking pills for everything damages your internal body. It's better if you find a therapist to help you talk it out and reason what's causing your anxieties

I agree. I've been taking meds for years, I've stopped and feel exactly the same as I do when taking them. Been a few months since I've stopped also.

I have exactly the same thing, taking pills makes me worth..

Nanall, please explain how medicines damage your internal body. I must have missed that day in medical school when they explained how medicine is actually bad for you. I'm fascinated by this.

No offense, doc, but there are many negative effects on the human body from prescription drugs, and in my opinion, many times over prescribed. No, they don't teach you that in medical school, you need to look outside the box for better answers sometimes.

I think Nanall may have meant it as, many meds have side effects. If there is a way that the OP could cure/control his/her anxiety without popping a pill, perhaps it would be best to find an alternative way. I don't suffer from this disorder so I don't know what some that have it go through. If medicine is the /only/ way to fix the problem than by all means......(:

Thiscrazything - I'm going to reasonably assume that you didn't go to med school. They taught us everything about medicines in medical school, including side effects. I know damn well what side effects are, and every medicine has them to some extent. 99% of side effects do no harm, but the comment I was referring to said that meds "do damage", and that's utter bullshit. There are always these sorts of asinine comments on any FML having to do with medication. It drives me bat-shit crazy.

Not trying to be a smart ass or anything but cant some medicines destroy the liver and what not?

Ahem, sorry but I have the exact same anxiety problem as the OP and Talking it out doesn't work!! it's not like regular anxiety, it's a full on disorder! I tried, I really did. I KNEW that my anxiety was irrational and that my physical problems weren't serious but I STILL felt the anxiety. I AM taking medication now and YES it does work and NO it isn't causing me any nasty side effects It has HELPED me tremendously and completely flipped my life around from constant stress and misery to a normal life. Don't assume "All meds for mental problems are evil!!!" actually because of people in my family who thought like that, it took me way longer to get the medicine I needed. I'm sorry for the rant, but I know EXACTY how the OP feels and they really need a chance to feel happy and normal.

I don't want to sound like a troll but everyone is wrong. To finish this off, here's a quote from Socrates for you : "I am the wisest of men, as the only thing I know is that I know nothing. Melon."

56, if you overdose on anything, it'll mess something up. But that's why you do as your doctor says, and don't self-medicate And you're probably thinking of Aspirin. It's notorious for causing liver damage because people underestimate it and take too much.

Lots of medicines have side-effects that can damage some organ or another. The key is to pay attention to what your doctor is telling you and don't assume you can change the dosage on your own.

It's advisable to take the least medication you can, because regardless those substances are not naturally occurring chemicals in your body and can cause some harm. Medication should only be taken when absolutely necessary, even if it's only Tylenol, while I respect your "expertise" ob this subject matter, Doc. I'm a 2nd year pharmacy student, no offense but we deal more with the medication than doctors do.

-48 I always find docbastards comments very amusing to read. Gotta say, I like the guy.

Lol DocBastard's*

The medication still goes through your digestive pathway, taking medication when it's not absolutely needed can cause various liver complications and can also react with your stomach acid.

drawmesunshine - You're thinking of acetaminophen (Tylenol, paracetamol) that can cause liver damage. Aspirin can cause ulcers. margie2194 - I never said that everyone should take every medicine for everything. I only prescribe medicine when necessary (especially antibiotics). I have no idea what you're going on about with meds reacting with stomach acid or doing damage to the liver- only drugs that use the cytochrome P450 pathway can cause liver damage. Let's just say I'm very impressed with your credentials, and even more so after reading your profile. I don't claim to be an expert on everything, but I guarantee I know more on the subject than you. You still don't know jack shit about pharmaceuticals, so finish pharmacy school first, and then we'll talk.

DocBastard, oh, snap.. Well, we all have our moments :/

Oh geeze, get over the 'medication is bad for you' stuff. I am on an interferon which can affect liver enzymes. If this becomes a problem, I could go off the medication and the situation would return to normal. Interferons can also reduce the number of white blood cells in a patient making them more susceptible to infections, and carry the side effect if a flu-like complex for months requiring regular doses of NSAIDs. My next option is one that has caused fatal brain infections, but rarely and only in combination with other treatments. After that is one that must be monitored at the first dose because it slows the heart rate. A good doctor will look for these things and make adjustments as necessary. It's also up to the patient to weigh the benefits against the side-effects. The benefit of drugs like this is the fact that I CAN STILL WALK.

Lmao all of this for a comment... I'm just saying why put more drugs into our body when maybe a simple solution such as finding a therapist can solve it.

DocBastard, chill and take your head out of the box it's stuck in. I suppose that you laugh at natural cures and eastern techniques like acupuncture and stuff like that. Some medicines work, but the majority are not needed even when prescribed. Your extreme ignorance surprises me for such a well educated man.

Nanall- Sometimes therapy DOES NOT help. Even for something that SOUNDS like therapy could help, such as anxiety. These things are just as easily causes by a chemical balance in the brain. Like me for example, talking it out and therapy did JACK SHIT. I KNEW that it was irrational and just anxiety, but I still was terrified and had panic attacks. It only went away when I took medication to fix the imbalance. I feel FANTASTIC now. No more panic. It depends on the situation. Sometimes drugs really do help. Sometimes therapy. Don't discount an options

I am aware, everyone has different issues so that's why I said maybe.

bfsd42 - What in the name of Harry Houdini are you talking about? Box my head is stuck in? What the **** are you going on about?? Are you honestly trying to tell me that more than 50% of all medicines that are prescribed are NOT NEEDED? Please tell me your sources, because I'd love to learn something. I agree that antibiotics are often unnecessary, but your statement is completely outlandish and, I'm guessing, fabricated. You're making all kinds of assumptions about me, namely that I "laugh" at natural cures and "alternative" medicine. WRONG, dumbass. Go get a goddamned clue and stop thinking that you know one little thing about me or what I believe. For the record, I believe in whatever works.

Nanall- sorry for being defensive. Just having been there myself it makes me so upset when people say things like "Just chill out! Just talk it out! Calm yourself down!" sometimes it's not that easy

With all due respect doc, after two years I think I know a little more than "jack shit".

With all due respect, Margie, I didn't know jack shit about medicine when I was halfway through medical school, and I didn't realise it until after I graduated. After you graduate, you'll also realise just how little you know now. Of the two of us, only one of us is speaking from experience.

There's no need to talk down to people, like you said Doc, each one of us believes in what works. Maybe she studied more than you did in your first years in medical school, idk I'm only studying nursing but I think I would also say I know just a bit more than the average. Then again that's just me. And this is an online site, we can type away all we want but at the end of the day these are just words.

Sassy, there are a tremendous amount of things that doc knows that I do not, but I can assure you that pharmacists go way in-depth into the study of drugs than doctors do. So while he probably has a "vast" knowledge of the medical field. Pharmacology is my expertise, and that's probably the only thing I know better than doc.

This argument is virtually futile. You believe what you all want to believe. I'll believe what I want, at the end or the day I don't give two flying ***** about your opinion :)

Damn doc, got many anger issues. If you talked like that to my face, you would need more than medicines to make you feel better. And yes, I say the fabricated medicine world is at least 50% bullshit and targets ignorant people. Just like you dipshit.

Rofl

What exactly are the medicinal values of weed?

It's great at controlling nausea, pain, and eye pressure. It's lousy at controlling appetite.

Actually with anxiety sometimes that can backfire on you. The worst panic attack I ever had that made me feel like I needed to go to the hospital was after smoking weed.

Pendatik - THC reduces intraocular pressure quite effectively for patients with glaucoma.

My cousin's doctor actually told her to smoke some weed and drink lots of beer. She has some disorder that caused her to lose a lot of weight and the prescribed drugs cause a lack of appetite. Of course he couldn't write her a prescription for weed.

Doc, I'm curious why some drug company hasn't already synthesized THC and sold it with some fancy obscure name (Tetranol)? They've done that with other substances. What makes pot so different?

Red - it isn't any different at all. Look up donabinol (Marinol). It's apparently very effective.

It's super effective!

They've tried, but so far lab synthesized THC is far less effective. The magic of the plant comes from its wide range of naturally occurring cannabinoids and terpenoids which complement each other and have separate but similar properties. For anxiety, it would actually be more prudent to use a CBD or CBN (both being mostly non-psychoactive) heavy strain/product/what have you.

Thats probably the worst thing you could possibly comment here.