Worried...left Arm Pain! (Page 1)

Hi honey! I am 28, and since I was in my early 20's have been experiencing "symptoms" wich to this day all my doctors have told me were caused by anxiety, or panic attacks. My most frequent trips to the er were for chest and shoulder pain that spread down one or both my arms. All my ekg's were always normal, and I even had a stress test ( where they hook you up and you run on a treadmill and then they ultrasound your heart) and normal too.
I would tell you if you are worried, get a second opinion, and tests done to rule out your heart, but it is probably from anxiety. To this day I have not found a solid "cure" for any of my symptoms wich also include annoying dizziness. Most meds just have awful side effects. I have just leanred to deal with the annoyance of the symptoms. Getting more worried about them and thinking they are from a heart attack or other disease makes the anxiety worse, and causes them to happen more. Get checked out, and releive your mond, and hopefully it will reduce the frequency.
It will be all right! :) good luck!

Thankyou for replying, it's reassuring especialy as you seem have a lot of the same symptoms as me.
Well if I go to the hospital again i'm sure they won't be too happy to see me so i'm trying to avoid that.
It's amazing the stuff stress and anxiety can do to you though,
for the last 8 months or so i've been completly debilitated still I think i'm improving now though, just this left arm pain and fatigue has been bothering me...I used to get dizzy and lightheaded a lot but that doesn't seem to happen so much now.
The left arm pain seems to be going now anyway thanks...

Hey! I completely understand! There was a point when my symptoms were on the verge of becoming very debilitating! I personally hated the dizziness the worst! But it gets better, and you get more used to it. Once you start to understand it, and stop thinking you are dying, it gets easier! Good luck!

Its like having a different symptom every few days, when one goes, you start worrying over another! I have always worried about my health excessively but since the anxiety started its out of control!!

I have had anxiety problems for over 1 year now. I am 28, been up to then very healthy and normal male. Was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder after an earthquake in taiwan where I was trapped on the 32nd floor. Ever since been ot the emergency room 3 times convinced I was about to die, had pains everywheer, dizziness like crazy, nausea, pain in my arms, chest, lungs feel like I cannot take deep breaths, absolutely everything. Constant weakness aswell.

Been to 6 different doctors and all say its stress, anxiety, ptsd. Just have to learn to live with it and wait. Its awful and you feel like you are wasting so much time but just be happy its notning serious!

Take every day at a time and enjoy all the small times and happy times as much as you can, whether you are sick or well! Live life, dont just think about the future or the past! Good luck to all of you.

Hey thanks this was quite helpful for me as I am experiencing these things I also have ptsd and was diagnosed a year and half ago. Ever since I've had intestinal problems also and all scans or operations come back with nothing so thanks alot

Hey thanks so much for this topic. I was getting scared to about my left arm, I would get this kind of pain inside my arm too. And my fingers would feel a bit numby. I've been told I have general anxiety. I always find one problem or another to pick at. I was getting scared that their was something extremely majoraliy wrong with me. My friend told me if you take vitamin b100 complex it helps with stress. I've been takign it for a while and i've noticed a difference i'm not as worried as much as I used to be. I didn't know that anxiety could make your arm kind of hurt and feel weak. Its also my left arm. And I can feel it in my two of my fingers sometimes. It used to be really bad before. It would be extremely swollen and all. Its not as bad but it still gets me scared tha their can be something wrong. This forum really put me to ease. Thanks so much :d

Hello I have something to tell u first of all I readt your letter and I think u have something serious thats why u need a consutatio of the doctor.

Take care
great health to u

Wow. I was watching a movie with my husband tonight and my left arm started to feel strange. I tested both arms for sensitivity and it wasnt numb, but it felt llike it was. Then it started to hurt. In the meantime I was starting to have spasms in my feet and upper left arm.. Of course convinced that it was my lastest worry..Tetnus.. But I realized that I was having an anxiety attack. I guess left arm pain is associated with that. I feel so much better knowing that other people have had the same thing.

hai

i am also getting the same problem some times.but that pain spraeding across my heart.i am just 23 now working as software engineer and no work pressure.upto now i was not cosunlted doctor.plz give replay for me.

thanks in advance mahendra

hai

i am also getting the same problem some times.but that pain spraeding across my heart.i am just 23 now working as software engineer and no work pressure.upto now i was not cosunlted doctor.plz give replay for me.

thanks in advance mahendra

I had my first panic attack back in April of 2007. I am a 35 yr old man in decent physical shape. I just lost my job had to move back home into my mother's house with my sister and her husband and two kids. It's a mess.
My anxiety level is causing me all kinds of "phantom pains." I have been to the emergency room twice and they ran all kinds of tests. CAT scan of my heart, 7 xrays of my chest, blood work, ekg , doppler scan of my left leg looking for possible blood clot. Everything came back negative.
I am still having a heavy feeling in my chest with periods of sharp pains on both sides of my chest. I even get them going into my arms.
I have felt alot of the things that you on here have felt and then some. Lump in the throat, feeling sick at times .
The doctors tell me its anxiety but man its hard to believe that anxiety can make you feel this crappy. I was on xanax and they just switched it to paxil. I dunno if i really feel better over all on paxil it just seems to numb me to the world. I'm really trying to be positive about this.

I feel for all of you. Will be 40 on the 31st. I am in the same boat. I'm a worrier and I have 4 children and tend to worry about them alot - so, I've had anxiety for a long time - never really thought of my worrying as anxiety, but it was form of it. Now it's different. 3 years ago my blood pressure and cholesterol was up and I was 45 lbs heavier than I am now. My doctor wanted to put me on bp meds and I decided to lose the weight and my bp was down within the first 10 lbs I lost. I experienced such anxiety everyday and was afraid to be left alone. I didn't experience arm or chest pain, but I was always afraid of something bad happening. Like you, I had every test ran on me, ekg, echo cardiogram, stress test and mammogram. With that all coming back normal, I felt better and I managed my anxiety through exercise and I did well with it until 3 or 4 months ago when I started experiencing Panic Attacks in the middle of the night where I felt I couldn't breathe for a second and then the constant worry. I went to the doctor after a couple of weeks of the attacks and she gave me xanax and zoloft. I haven't taken them yet. Knowing that I have the xanax itself, helps me . I started taking Omega 3, Vit. 3, b12 and I felt better. Recently I haven't been taking all the vitamins and i've been experiencing anxiety all day long - I've been reading that meditation is the key. Try meditating with 4 kids! I keep telling myself that I am ok and will be okay. My annual physical came back good - cholesterol and bp were perfect. I tell myself not to worry that I am healthy, yet lately it's been bad. Yesterday, my arm was bothering me when that's all I could think of. Once I got busy my arm felt fine. Before I started writing this my arm was bothering me and now it's gone. Today I started the Omega 3 and other vitamins. Also, I drink calming teas which help. I've read that anxiety and panic attacks are your brains way of not being able to handle the stress you are under. I also use a product called Rescue Remedy (it's actually my bf!) That has helped through moments of anxiety and works fast. You are not alone and stress can do some crazy things to our bodies. I am trying my hardest not to let this get the best of me. Breathe through your nose - it helps too. I wish you all the best.

This sounds like what I am going through to the letter. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with high bp and cholesterol. It really scared me. I had the test(most of the ones you had). I even had a heart cath. Been to the ER a lot of times. Told I had anxiety. I never knew that anxiety could be like this. Still learning

This sounds like what I am going through to the letter. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with high bp and cholesterol. It really scared me. I had the test(most of the ones you had). I even had a heart cath. Been to the ER a lot of times. Told I had anxiety. I never knew that anxiety could be like this. Still learning

I will give you all a bit of advice because I've been there. In my case, such symptoms as those mentioned above were all related to a blood sugar imbalance corrected by simple dietary changes. Always make sure you're eating healthy and get yourself on a good level before settling on any psychiatric diagnoses. You'd be surprised what various diseases and simple metabolic problems can do to your mind.

I am a 25 year old male who is in excellent shape most of the time (those long leaves can put on a few pounds). I had my first anxiety attack in 2003. I have been on 25 mg's of Zoloft for about 2 years now, it helps keep the attacks from being quite as bad, but no one wants to be on meds. I have found that my diet and exercise routines affect my anxiety just as much as other stressful things in my life. I lift weights 4 days a week, but even that does not seem to help when I start to gain weight and eat a poor diet. When I am getting a lot of cardio type exercise and eating healthy most of the time, my anixety levels go way down. I have also noticed that when I have a bad hangover, my anxiety is through the roof.

When I am on the verge of having an attack (I do not usually get full blown ones anymore), my heart begins to race. My face, neck, and hands become numb, and my left arm begins to hurt. I have had EKG's and blood work done, with no negative or abnormal results. My family has a strong health history, though Anxiety is prevalent.

Obviously if you think it might be something more serious you might want to get it checked out, but generally speaking if you are not in the heart attack category (eg a smoker, over weight, over 40, all that stuff), I would say it is anxiety. I know that when my levels rise in the winter (lack of sunlight), I can almost instantly notice a difference in my chest. It becomes tighter, I can feel my heart beats and pulse more frequently, and my mind instantly begins to race.

Anixety can bring a grown man to his knees. I am in an area of the specials forces for the us military, I have been in some sticky situations, but I have never had anything as bad as my first panic attack. I remember one line from a doctor I had one time, he told me this, it is hard to do, but a great idea. He said, the next time you are about to have an attack, try to tell yourself that you can beat it, tell yourself what is the worst that is going to happen, your heart will get a little workout, and you will get a little bit of a buzz, but you will come out okay, so get the mentality that you can beat the attack, and they will dissipate. Easier said then done, and when I asked him if he has ever had one, he said no, haha, but that is a good mentality to have.

Okay, I am done babbling, hope some part of it makes sense and helps someone. As far as the Zoloft, you feel funny the first two weeks, but after that I was not affected at all.

My husband had all the same symptoms that you descride the put him on Cymbalta
then a few weeks later he was haveing the wierd feeling in his chest and had to breath he got shortness of breath after what we thought were anxiety attacks, come to find out he had Multiple Pulmanery Embolisms (blood clots) in both sides of his lungs. We almost lost him he was in intensive care for over a month on life support, they had checked his legs for clots with the doppler but they had already moved to his lungs. So any one who thinks they are having AXIETY attacks it might be worth it to get a blood test called a D-dimmer it will give you a good idea or have a chest ct (not xray) good luck

it happens to me everytime i have anxiety. i feel better though knowing it's not heart related.

I still think that when you have any symptoms like that you should notify your doc.

What if you really were having heart problems and ignored it because you thought it was anxiety?

For me if I miss take a heart attack for anxiety, and I died. Well then I would no longer have to deal with the attacks. Mine are so bad I am not allowed to work any more. I am only 33 and had them my whole life, they just keep getting worse. does not help I also am Bi-Polar, ADD/ADHD PTSD and have a sever mood disorder. Well Just had to interject. But I do know diet, exercise and and some good old fashioned mediation work wonders most of the time.

you're right georgia59 , because even an ekg is not enough to rule out heart problems. so absolutely if you're having any symptoms related to heart attack or problems, get it ruled out before anxiety is decided the cause.

I too have been experiencing pain in left arm, chest discomfort, sickness etc. for about a year now. To start with my bp was 185/103, persistant so in the end put me on medication \9lisinopril 10mg), brought bp down but my heart rate was too fast, over 100 at rest. started palps, scared the living daylights out of me,then put me on 25mg atenonol-beta blocker said if problems persist go upto 50 which i did. I have had ecgs. heart fine, and to be fair through the summer have not suffered much but the earlier post about sunlight rings true, also a very busy time of year at work of course but the last week i have been suffering all the symptoms again. Long hot baths really help to relax, good look to anyone with this complaint, its great to hear about it, seems almost reassuring.

Hello All....has anyone of you tried taking potassium?? I have had the symptoms of all of you described above, and looked up lack of potassium symptoms and since i have been taking it, for the most part my symptoms have disappeared. Potassium is a vital mineral for our muscles, and our heart is the biggest muscle in our bodies, so doesn't hurt to give it a try!!