Thank u :p

I think I have had the kind of pain you describe, and this is not an unusual symptom in men with anxiety, as far as I understand it. When I get really anxious, and in the past, I would feel a sort of burning across my chest, or sometimes an ache on one side of my chest or the other fairly near my heart. Freaked me out for a long time, but now I know it is muscle tension. Also sometimes is caused by the upset stomach caused by anxiety -- too much stomach acid can lead to heartburn, which is a similar feeling to what you describe.

For me, laying down helps. Putting a heating pad on the chest always helped me, too. I know you're not supposed to sleep with a heating pad, but whenever things are bad, I do, and it does seem to help. Look into progressive relaxation techniques, too -- by tensing different muscle groups and allow them to relax, you will let your body relax and let the pain minimize itself.

Sometimes, anxiety comes on in comfortable places (like your home) because the psyche perceives itself as "safe," and consequently able to deal with things it wouldn't necessarily deal with in other settings. So though it could be something is stressing you out at home (expectations, chores/jobs, to do lists, etc.) it is equally possible that nothing is stressing you out, and that is what is allowing the symptoms to come forward.

Just my own observations over the last 5 years.

Peace and blessings,
paul

Paul-
thank you very much! That makes a lot of sense. I will try that heating pad thing and see how it works. Maybe I should try yoga... Lol
thanks again,
kelly

Pathologic anxiety is a concept invented by psychiatrists due
to ignorance and it is still used because there is nothing to be done
yet against the vascular and organic changes that cause these
symptoms.
The accurate medical term is actually "endothelial dysfunction"
and as long as there is no cure for it and the people afflicted by it
due to congenital heart and arterial abnormalities, people will still
be committed into psychiatric torture for decadece to come.
Psychogenic medication helps against "anxiety" (aka endothelial
dysfunction) but for long time. There is a time that comes when
nothing works and the patient exhibits "psychiatric" behavior (or
at least labeled so) and then they are committed into psychiatric
hospitals.

i think you're well intentioned, but misinformed. There is a distinct difference between endothelial dysfunction and symptoms associated with anxiety. When the body is tense due to stress, muscle tension is a symptom. Whether the tension exhibits itself in tics in the arms or legs, pain in the muscles (including those in the chest), or digestive problems, it is still caused by the same thing. Additionally, not all people with anxiety experience this sort of symptom. So to say that ed is really the problem instead of anxiety is simply not true in most cases.

Most individuals here acknowledge that the primary cause of our stress is an inability to stop worrying about things. Many individuals find relief from anxiety with psychologic treatment and stress reduction. This "cures" the anxiety and the symptoms by changing thought patterns that lead to anxiety. If ed were the cause, then these things would not be able to solve the problems.

Sure, people should talk to their doctors about these symptoms and rule out ed. However, in most cases, anxiety patients are given a clean bill of health by their doctors. I have had these symptoms in the past and have had every manner of test run on my heart (ekg, echocardiogram, etc.), all showing my heart is completely healthy. Additionally, I was quite young at the time I first exhibited these symptoms. My symptoms are clearly related to anxiety.

Your statement that anxiety "does not exist" flies in the face of everything this forum is about. Millions of people suffer from it, and to be told that it does not exist shows a definite lack of knowledge and sensitivity on the issue.

I have read this debate about the significance or not of the
endothelial dysfunction. Don't you think that you overreact a little bit?

This guy, gallos, may be an insensitive jerk, but he opened a few leads
of thought and research for the patients following this forum. It seems
that nobody found a solution to the problem, but everybody looks like
they would like to fry this guy because he told us a totally different story
about anxiety and panick attacks and burry the whole argumentation
with what seems to be a witch hunt.

Are we trying to find the truth, through dialog, regardless of what that
truth is or if it hurts or not, or are we going to chase our tails with
different stories that cannot be measured, observed or quantified?

Did any doctor cured the panick attacks or at least gave a definite
explanation (that can be verified by tests) of what happens with the
panick attacks? Because if not, I don't think that the patients on this
forum can come up with an efficient solution.
Nobody can make a claim about the cure of the panick attacks as long
as his health is not followed up for years for stability, because otherwise
we are just talking about a health snapshot.

It seems that the state of the art in the study of panick attacks and
endothelial dysfunction revolves around genomic research which escapes
to most if not all of the people on this forum
but for some reason there are people that after a brief internet search
can dictate that they found out that a certain disease is of a minimal
significance and therefore we do not need to worry about it anymore.

Myself, I have read on the web that the severity of the endothelial
dysfunction can be measured by the levels of the c-reactive protein,
also called crp. The bigger the value, the more serious the endothelial
dysfunction (ed) is. And the fact that ed is progressive, we have to
think about it where does it stop? Because if we can cope with it now,
in a few months or years when it will be worse we may not be able to
do it. What happens then and how are the doctors will respond to that?

These questions are very important and we have to think and respond
to them through dialog. Some of them are actually more deeper and
more philosophical than they appear.

Thank you for an articulate message on the subject. Especially in a field that has primarily focused on brain chemistry, i'm sure a study on a link between ed and panic attacks would be welcome! Care to carry the torch on this one? i'm also going to pass along the info to some people I know that do protein research -- who knows where it might lead? The clarification of constriction vs. Calcification of the blood vessels was a necessary one, as well -- thank you!

I don't think anyone here is closed to the idea of seeking other causes for panic attacks, in fact we welcome it. The reaction to mr. Gallis was to the abusive and pervasive nature of his posts, saying that anxiety does not exist and anyone who has anxiety (or erectile dysfunction -- see his other posts) will die a slow, painful death. If he had not been an "insensitive jerk," perhaps we could have had an open discussion on the issue. Thanks for opening the door again.

My intention on the other thread was simply to see what was out there in the literature about this condition. I have no medical training, but I am a good researcher. Since people with anxiety can tend to be hypochondriacs as well, simply the thought of having an uncurable disease can be devastating, and carry the anxiety to fever pitch. This was beginning to happen with several members of the forum, judging by their posts. My intent was not to say that ed does not exist or is not important, but until its mechanism is further studied, there's not much that can be done, and it should not be a cause for worry at the level that we with anxiety tend to worry about things. I hope that makes sense...

To take this to an existential level, no one knows when we will die, so even if anxiety is linked to ed, unless we are in medical fields ourselves, what can we practically to do prevent or counteract this condition? Until it is futher studied, not much -- we can simply live healthy lives and deal with the condition as best we can with the tools that currently exist. So to spend time worrying about it is fruitless -- we risk our lives every time we get into a car, and could be gone before a chronic condition would reach a critical point. Awareness is good, worry is bad

so you mentioned the crp test for the extent of ed. Anything else we should know about the condition that we can consult and educate our doctors about? What is your background with the condition -- or are you, like me, also an amateur researcher here?

Peace and blessings,
paul

I also had another question:
any time I smoke pot I also get that feeling. Is it because I get too worried?

Using street drugs created hypotension and in time accelerates the progression of "endothelial dysfunction". That shold explain pretty
much what you experience.
Give up your habit for good.