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Suffering From Extreme Panic Disorder. Feeling Shortness Of Breath And Loss Of Appetite. Looking For Cure
Posted on
Sun, 4 Nov 2012
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Sun, 4 Nov 2012
Answered on
Fri, 23 Nov 2012
Last reviewed on
Question : I suffer from extreme panic disorder. I've been under extreme stress for the last 2 months (moved long distance, new job, car accident, got engaged), primarily from working 12hr days. For the last two weeks, I have had bad anxiety and felt loss of appetite (i've lost 7 pounds in 4 weeks) and not been able to sleep. For the last 3 days, I've had a tightness in my chest, a fluttering that feels like constant spasms under my sternum and a racing heartbeat with bouts of shortness of breath. Today, is my day off and I've just relaxed and watched TV all day, but the symptoms seem not to be improving at all. It's day 3 and I'm starting to worry, but could it just be all from stress and anxiety?
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
Yes stress and anxiety can cause such somatic effects like tachycardia , breathing difficulty , insomnia and weight loss .
However considering you are on oc pills , have had long working hours , severe stress etc it's definitely advisable to get your cardiovascular status confirmed at least by a blood pressure & ECG check up to rule out any cardiac disorder .
Since you have insight of your anxiety and you have taken steps to destress yourself without any results it's all the more important to rule out a pathological cause for your symptoms rather than a psychological one .
It's always better to get yourself evaluated by your physician or a urgent care facility to be on the safer side .
I assume you are not taking any medications presently ( as you haven't mentioned any ) which could cause such sideeffects .
Meanwhile you can try XXXXXXX breathing and relaxation techniques like yoga and meditation to cope up better with your anxiety.
Hope I have answered your query.
I'll be available for any follow up queries.
Regards
Thanks for posting your query.
Yes stress and anxiety can cause such somatic effects like tachycardia , breathing difficulty , insomnia and weight loss .
However considering you are on oc pills , have had long working hours , severe stress etc it's definitely advisable to get your cardiovascular status confirmed at least by a blood pressure & ECG check up to rule out any cardiac disorder .
Since you have insight of your anxiety and you have taken steps to destress yourself without any results it's all the more important to rule out a pathological cause for your symptoms rather than a psychological one .
It's always better to get yourself evaluated by your physician or a urgent care facility to be on the safer side .
I assume you are not taking any medications presently ( as you haven't mentioned any ) which could cause such sideeffects .
Meanwhile you can try XXXXXXX breathing and relaxation techniques like yoga and meditation to cope up better with your anxiety.
Hope I have answered your query.
I'll be available for any follow up queries.
Regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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