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tight chest is it a wd sympton


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hi blood pressure 113/71 is that normal i am a 51 yr old man pulse 71 tapering off diazepam down to 2.2mgs per day seen dr he said tightness is tension, i suffer with G.A.D so worry about myself all the time,any advice would be grateful as into 3 days from last cut.

:)

 

 

Terry

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Many of us have suffered from a tight chest, even pains in the chest. But advice is to always have your heart checked out by a qualified physician to be sure.

 

M.

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hi blood pressure 113/71 is that normal i am a 51 yr old man pulse 71 tapering off diazepam down to 2.2mgs per day seen dr he said tightness is tension, i suffer with G.A.D so worry about myself all the time,any advice would be grateful as into 3 days from last cut.

:)

 

 

Terry

 

Hi terry,

 

I'm sorry that you are feeling worried.

 

You might be reassured to know that your BP is with normal rage at 113/71. Normal BP is around 120/80. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_pressure

 

And your pulse rate at 71 is in the normal range too according to this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate

 

Do seek further medical reassurance if you are worried.  Could you try and distract, and do some deep breathing exercises?  Breathing deeply and fully is a very good counter active measure for stress responses.

 

Betsy xxxx

 

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Hello,

 

Just thought I would post this as Betsy mentioned about breathing exercises. It does help and did them myself when some of the more severe panic anxiety set in. There is nothing wrong with being checked out as the other buddies have said, it does give one peace of mind in knowing everything is OK.

 

Heart and lungs.

Palpitations, pounding heart, rapid pulse, flushing, sweating, and breathlessness are usual accompaniments of panic attacks, but may occur without panics. They do not signify heart or lung disease but are simply the expression of an overactive autonomic nervous system. Slow deep breathing and relaxation, as described under panic attacks, can do much to control these symptoms. Do not worry about them: they would be accepted as normal if you were running for a bus, and will do no more harm than if you really were!

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha03.htm#13

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I had a tight chest and that sense of not getting air. Ended up, at night, I try to lie down on my back without a pillow to expand my lungs. When I got it during the day, I realized I was getting really hunched over, so I tried actively to get my head up and straighten my back so my ribs could move. I know it sounds sort of military, but it really made a difference. I am not sure what caused it, but the only solution for me was physical. Having said that, I went to the doctor about my heart and had it checked out, before all of this.

 

So, see your doctor if it is bad, because we just don't really know the causes of these things, though we can guess.

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thankyou all for your advice needed reassuring  i guess dr sounded my chest yesterday and oxygen levels said it was tension as to my anxiety they seem to blame everything on it once your diagnosed i need to have more trust in him but every sympton gets exaggerated in your mind as being something bad the tightness and heaviness is a new thing to me so i panic,nice to know your there guys thankyou

 

 

Terry :)

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I'm glad your doc told you it wasn't your heart. But tightness, inability to take a deep breath in, well, these are very scary things to deal with!

 

It does fade in time, but sometimes it can revisit us.

 

Asking questions and getting supportive answers from fellow buddies is what we are all about here!

 

Best of luck on your healing journey.

 

M.  :)

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thankyou how would he know my heart is fine though by just listening to it and doing bp test and oxygen levels in the surgery,i should trust him i know but my anxiety is telling me other things he shouls send me for x rays ecg but never does.

 

 

Terry :)

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I would think that any gentleman of your age should have a thorough and complete physical exam, which would include a cardio work up.

 

Perhaps you could call and have this scheduled.

 

M.

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yes i agree but as i am tapering he seems to think its all sympyons of wd, by listening to your heart and checking oxygen levels he said my hearts fine.

 

 

Terry :)

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Hi Terry.  I'm about your age.  Have you had a stress treadmill, echo cardiogram or coronary ct scan?  I had all those a few years ago when I had  palpitations that landed me in the ER (after the vertigo came on subsequent to c/t off valium). 

 

Do you have any family history of heart disease?  How is your cholesterol? (not total but the HDL and LDL?). Are you over weight or have other risk factors to be concerned about?

 

In my case, once I got checked out, my doctor suggested taking a statin medication because of family history but also because some of my numbers were on the borderline, HDL could have been a little higher for example.  About three months after I had been checked out and found to be healthy, I had my first mini panic (six months post benzo taper). I was caught by surprise because it (meaning panic) had never happened to me pre benzo or during taper although I had lifelong anxiety before this.  Also, a couple months earlier, I did have some elevated blood pressure too, which my doctor suggested a beta blocker for but I elected to exercise and got the BP number back down without extra medication (I instinctively felt it was just benzo healing and didn't want more meds, but some people may have a medical reason for BP meds).

 

When my heart started to race faster at six months off when the mini panic happened, I heard myself saying fearful things to myself like "I might have a stroke or heart attack like my father..." but then the force of reason came up and I was able to tell myself that "I had been recently checked and found heart healthy" so I knew it was just a little post benzo present for me, nothing more.  I don't fear a panic coming on because I know I can deal with it as you can, particularly if you've been checked out by a cardiologist and/or your internist, which at your/our age (50 or more) is a good idea.

 

Hope that helps some,

 

Vertigo

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thankyou how would he know my heart is fine though by just listening to it and doing bp test and oxygen levels in the surgery,i should trust him i know but my anxiety is telling me other things he shouls send me for x rays ecg but never does.

 

Terry :)

 

I'd ask him for a referral to a cardiologist.  There are some things that an EKG can tell but there are other tests that would be warranted and provide more info, given your age.  By the way, I just tried to send you a PM but your inbox is full so you might wish to clear some of it out so you can receive a PM.

 

Vertigo

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The doctor was going through their decision tree.  They can actually tell a great deal by listening to your heart and breathing and combining that with vitals and history.  They assume alot of liability (assuming you are in the us) for sending someone home with chest pain so his confidence is likely high.  If you arent satisfied i would try to schedule additional testing with a doctor such as a stress echo.

 

 

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thankyou how would he know my heart is fine though by just listening to it and doing bp test and oxygen levels in the surgery,i should trust him i know but my anxiety is telling me other things he shouls send me for x rays ecg but never does.

 

 

Terry :)

 

Hi Terry,

 

Your experiencing another typical benzo withdrawal phenomena, that being "health anxiety" that can get to the point of hypochondria. I had had it bad, as well as many others going through this. 

 

Years ago my doctors had all said that I should be more concerned about my health and come in for check-ups and various tests. Well, since benzodiazepine withdrawals, I have been into the ER six times and numerous doctor/specialists appointments that leave me some short-term relief from the health anxiety. But as these symptoms linger on or as new ones arrive, the health anxiety sets in again and can get overwhelming and seem to feed the general anxiety that makes the symptoms much worse, especially the lack of sleep and what it does to the adrenals and overall hormonal system.

 

I wish I could say to you to not worry, but I know it can be near impossible to do that. I think the issue that messes with our minds is the long-term nature of the symptoms and the up and down's in severity. This is really an unusual if not unnatural course of most illness, as we usually have an expectation of progressively getting better and much quicker with all past experience with illness and their symptoms. Compound that with the numerous numbers of symptoms that benzodiazepine withdrawal tends to illicit and you have a recipe for hypochondria.

 

The thing about "stress tests", they only will show a deficit in cardiac output at the time during the tests and show general condition of the heart. They do not show blockages of the arteries and vessels. I have read of many patients having heart attacks within weeks or months after receiving a stress test.  I wish I had your BP of 113/71, your BP is considered near perfect! I "had" a BP of 117/74 prior to withdrawal and now it often will run hypertensive-ly between 124/78 to 142/82 with heart palpitations I've never had before. These are protracted withdrawal symptoms that should settle down with time. The only thing left for me to fret over is a lack of an angiogram with die contrast, a very risky and invasive test that I am not going to do.

 

After more than 7 months I am tired of chasing ghosts from benzo induced health paranoia. My best advice to anyone going through this is to tell yourself if you didn't have it before the benzodiazepine use or withdrawal, then it's more than likely a symptom from the withdrawal itself.

 

Best regards,

 

OTM

 

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