Anxiety Update 😫
Heavy topic for this one… where to start..
A month or so ago while I was working, I think I had my first panic attack of my life. I had to lay on the couch and just be overwhelmed for a bit. Took the rest of the day off work and just did my best to relax. It felt like every single thing in my life was a giant monster that was coming to get me. I got through that day and didn’t give it much more thought. Assumed it was an outlier and that for some reason, things just got to me that day.
I was lucky enough to enjoy a good two weeks away from work after this thanks to some leftover vacation, and the Christmas break. The night before the first day back, I was feeling some stress about going back to work, but this time it came with some chest pain I’ve never felt before. I stubbornly sat on the couch and went to bed with it, and it lasted a good 6 hours or so..
The next morning, I felt okay so I went to work as normal and felt fine all day. It was a nice productive day, with very little stress really. The moment I got off work, I laid down on the couch and started feeling that same feeling again. I strong pressure on the chest the felt like it reached all the way up to my neck and made breathing harder. This time I decided to move around, and get some air. Going for a walk should help. It was around -15℃ outside, and a kilometer or so from the house is the hospital, and I was going to pass it on my walk. I figured with the family history of heart issues, and free healthcare, I should pop in and get looked at.
I think “chest pain” is the magic word for being admitted quickly. I was only in the waiting area for a few moments before they called me in and started taking vitals. My heart rate was around 120 and my BP was pretty high which was a shock since I’ve never had issue with it before. They took blood and ran some tests, and the doctor said he wanted to run the same test again 3 hours later, so it meant I’d have to lay in the ER bed a few more hours. They hooked me up to a EKG and a machine to monitor my BP while I waited. It auto fired off every 15 minutes, which was good, because I could see the screen and see my BP returning to normal which made me feel better.
After the 3 hours, the ER doctor came back to run the same blood test again, but he wasn’t sure what was going on and decided to admit me. I ended up staying the night there with a portable EKG to watch me while I slept. I say slept.. but there wasn’t much sleeping happening. At this point of laying down it was already like 3AM.
In the morning a few hours after breakfast, another doctor came by and gave me the news I went in for. While they weren’t 100% sure what was causing my chest pain, it wasn’t my heart, and it wasn’t anything that was immediately dangerous. The unplugged me and let me go home.
I booked a chat with my normal doctor to talk about the sudden crushing anxiety I’ve been feeling and after a nice long talk with him, he prescribed me some anti-anxiety meds and asked to see me again in a week.
Just having some answers, reassurance, and having the meds whether I take them or not has been a big source of comfort. It’s nice to know I have some backup if things get bad again. I’ll see him again this Friday, but for now, all is well. 🙂