Scared

[Edbeverdavidson]

Hey all, So I am a 41 yr old male (actually a Nurse) and about 3 weeks ago began feelin like I am going to die...can't explain it, just felt like something bad is going to happen...Well a couple of weeks ago, I slept an unusual length of time (like 14 hours) when I did get up I was very numb and tingly all over but esp in my arms, my vision started getting dim, I ran to take an aspirin, then hit the floor...I came to after a few seconds, went to E.R. they did the works, ecg, chest x-ray, tons of blood work, all was neg, they sced a stress test and sent me home...

Same thing happened Sunday, then again this Tues...They kept me in the hospital for 3 days, I had the stress test and passed, not cardiac, and they sent me home! Had to pull over on the way home as I almost passed out again! I am soooo dizzy, and keep feeling tingly, and like I'm going to die...

help!,
Ed

[Edbeverdavidson]

Hello,

Had E.E.G. yesterday (was interesting) wont have the results till I meet with the neurologist Tues 9/11 GREAT date for news hu?

Anywho the STRANGE thing is...I did call my Doc yesterday morning and requested antibiotics, have taken 4 doses, this morning I woke up, NO VERTIGO, NO NUMBNESS, NO TINGLING!

I am afraid I am speaking too soon, but I have been up for 3 hours and NOTHING!

One of my co-workers mentioned inner ear infection...I said if so, it's the MOST expensive ear infection on the books! lol

Thanks again for your support, will letcha know how it turns out...

Peace,
Ed

[Quixotic1]

I think you have to listen to yourself.  You don't recognize yourself as a "hopper" (ER hopper???) That's a legit assessment.  Then you feel really bad.  I think you should present to the ER and be checked out.  You're the one with these symptoms, not us.  One of the first things that goes in peritonitis is the BS, so I doubt you are that far along.  Go!  

Let us know when you get back from the ER and get a night/day of sleep what turned out.

Take care of YOURSELF!  Quix

[Edbeverdavidson]

Hey again...
So I am not ruling out the panic attacks, cause I think I am freaking myself out here, however, slept another 14 hours last night, have felt VERY strange all day...Flu like, buzzy, kinda numb, Quixotic I forgot to mention that last spet I was diagnosed with diverticulitis, and hospitalized for 4 days, was so bad I perfed, I have not had an episode since (thank god) now that I know what NOT to eat...However, I kinda feel like I felt when I was sooo sick with it, MINUS the GI syptoms...Have been slightly constipated with "Thin stools" and also some bloat, have active bs all 4 quats, no pain on palpation...Could I be having an infection without gi syptoms/fever? Gosh I am sooo scared I now want to go back to er and say I am having gi symptoms to get a scan of my abdomin...I just KNOW something is wrong, and I feel like they aren't going to find it in time...Peritonitis!? or something, then my original feeling of dying would be correct...Gosh I KNOW I sound like a total hypocondreact (sp) BUT I"M REALLY NOT! have been relatively healthy all my life, not an er hopper I promise, I just KNOW there is something wrong, I barely got off the couch today, felt soooo bad...
Thanks for listening,
Ed

[Edbeverdavidson]

Thanks everyone!

[Quixotic1]

Your MD sees "you"  which we really can't.  If he is suspecting MS, then the next step is an MRI of your brain and spine with an without contrast.  You also need a very thorough neuro exam.  There may be lot to this story that we didn't hear or understand.  You were clearly describing something that sounds exactly like a panic attack, whcih would be far referable to MS.  But, if that is a suspicion you should proceed to rule it out.

Panic attacks can happen to anyone at any age.

Keep us abreast.

Quix

[Edbeverdavidson]

And to Quixotic, to answer your question about fear of MI, I am hypertensive, smoke and am about 45 pounds overweight...I am a NEW non-smoker beacuse of all of this (everytime I smoked the vertigo became unbareable) done with those! lol

Thanks again,
Ed

[Edbeverdavidson]

Okay this is weird! 2 of my co-workers (also Nurses) have been saying panic attacks and anxiety all along...Gues it's weird to think I'm 41 and NOW I am having panic attacks...

So today, I met with my General M.D. he did lots of reflex type tests in his office, then tells me he thinks I am either having TIA's/Seizures, have had a brain bleed, or may have M.S. and scheduled me an appt for NEXT THURSDAY to have ct scan and eeg...LIKE I'm gonna WAIT ANOTHER week! Meanwhile, started having strange pains in my head and neck (thinkin I'm REALLY crazy now) I called the E.D. and explained, if I'm bleeding I can't wait a frickin week (I MAY ONLY HAVE HOURS/MINUTES to find this and fix it) OMG!! So I went o E.R. they FIRST gave me some drungs for the vertigo (didn't really work, but the Ativan injection did wonders for my nerves) I'm still dizzy, only now it's funny (ativan) ha ha ha...Had my cat-scan, NO BLEEDS NO STROKE and he has referred me to a Neurologist for next week...Feel a lil better but still not right! Think I'll sleep good tonight though...lol Thanks all for your kinds words and attention...

Ed

[angela5674]

Hi Ed, I'm a therapist, and "Panic Attack" was the first thing that kept flashing through my mind when I read your post.  I myself had a bad run with Panic Attacks about 7 years ago, and the first couple were the scariest things I've probably dealt with in my life.  I thought I was dying.  Everything started to go black, and my first reaction was to jump up and move to prove to myself I wasn't dying (I guess I figured as long as I was moving around, I couldn't be dying).  This one passed, and when I had the second one, I went to the emergency room.  I learned that, although my heart was beating fast, it was no where near the speed of a heart attack.  This is when I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety and Panic Attack.  Once I knew what I had, I was able to calm myself from the beginning, making the "attacks" no where near as bad as the first couple.  I just had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't dying, even though I still questioned it because of the feeling panic attacks give.  As a therapist, I would definitely get a full work up in order to rule out any other causes.  There are medications that can help if the attacks persist.  Anything from SSRI anti-depressants that are taken everyday to "as needed" medications like Ativan and the like.  Hope things get better for you!  Angela

[sllowe]

Hi Ed,
I too am sorry to hear about what you are going through.  I just had one thought to add, which as a nurse, you may already know.
You may want to consider scheduling a visit with an electrophysiologist, they are specialists in cardiac electrophysiology. They can do the work up that Quix has mentions w/the tilt test, etc. I only know this because I have scheduled a work up for my daughter, who is young, however has fainting spells.
Hope you feel well soon,
SL

[grannyhotwheels]

Hi Ed,
I'm so sorry for what is happening to you.  It must be just aweful.

My Father-in-Law did almost the exact same thing as you did except the only thing different with him was that he would go almost blind when all of this was happening.  Turned out he was diabetic.  It might be something to check in to.

I'll be praying,
Carol

[Quixotic1]

What a horrible thing/sensation to be going through!  Let me first preface this with I have a great deal of respect for "odd" or foreboding feelings.  I am a physician, but not a neurologist and no longer in practice.  I am absolutely not dismissing what you are feeling.  BUT - Your very words describe the classic panic attack;  the tingling, the fear of dying, the dimming of vision, the dizziness and even the syncope.  (Many of those are presyncopal events, they are all also associated with hyperventilation).  The intense fear of being very close to death is especially strong in panic attacks, which is why they perpetuate so readily and why they modify people's behavior so quickly.

To answer your next question (probably), yes, panic attacks can begin without any obvious precipitating event, though sometimes the very first one is the subsequent precipitant.  What I mean by this, is the sleeping soundly and overly long may have caused a deep relaxation of the vasculature.  When you got up and felt the first symptoms (which may have been of orthostatic hypotension), your first thought, then fear, was that you were having a heart attack - hence running for the aspirin.  That initial fear began a physiologic cascade of adrenaline-driven events which have since repeated - apparently out of the clear blue.

I took me a long time to realize, even as a physician, that panic attacks were not just loss of control over anxiety.  They actually "bypass" anxiety. If there was always an identifiable feeling of anxiety one could (and can learn to) begin relaxation techniques to counter.  More often they first need to be controlled with medication. The triggers for a panic attack can be incredibly subtle, but once triggered, the whole cascade of adrenaline, tachycardia, fear of dying, hyperventilation, dizziness, tingling, and if they go that far, dimming of the vision and syncope ensue.  These things are very real subjectively, very real physiologically and extremely terrifying.  People trivialize them.  Well, actually only people who had never had one would trivialize them.  They are not psychiatric in my opinion.

Now, that said, I would not ask you to accept that until you have been worked up a further.  The stress test ruled out imminent myocardial infarction. So you have a good, strong heart.   But, because of the circumstances of the original episode (getting up after sleeping extra-long, and then passing out) I think they should also rule out (neuro)cardiogenic syncope.  I think you should see a cardiologist about having a Tilt Table test.  I am not a cardiologist (but I did have teens in my practice with similar episodes).  I don't think it would be a bad idea also to have a Holter Monitor or Event Monitor (I don't even know what's available).  It also wouldn't be a bad idea to get something calming (an anxiolytic) for a short time while you are feeling this desparate.

Not trying to practice psychotherapy, I was wondering if you have any idea, other than your medical background, why one of your first thoughts was that you were having an MI.  You're quite young, do you have a family history of early cardiovascular disease?  I am 15 years your senior and if I felt tingly and faint (as I often have) I don't think "cardiac" would even cross my mind as the problem.  Do you have a history of health anxiety or have you have a huge trauma (of any kind) recently in your life?  These are sometimes conditions that set up someone for panic attacks.

The other thing that your post made me think of, but it is less likely, was prompted by your dizziness.  Online "dizziness" is impossible to assess, but if you feel like you or the world is swirling as opposed to tingly lightheadedness, then you might also want to be evaluated for vertigo like with a VNG (VideoElectroNystagmogram) These are usually ordered by ENT or Neurology.  I actually have chronic vertigo and have attended support groups where people descibe a fear of dying initially in their attacks of vertigo.

You posted on an MS site (and maybe a few others?)  But, your description of events and symptoms does not sound neurological, except where neuro-regulation of the heart might be concerned.  Specifically it does not sound like a presentation of MS.  I hope this has given you some ideas and that you are not affronted by my suggestion of panic attacks.  You might discuss all of this with your physician.

The best of luck to you and I hope you begin feeling better soon.  Quix