Day 16 - BP / Anxiety / Sweating / Chest Pains?
 

Hey everyone! Today is Day 16! I seem to have problems with small amounts of exertion being very difficult. Sometimes I start sweating and even had what felt like a panic attack a few times. I have been to a GP and my BP was 160/100 (i am NOT in great shape - overweight etc..). He is seeing me again in two weeks. Having blood work done etc.. I have been feeling things in my chest that aren't pains but definitely something. Yesterday after walking in the heat (I live in Tampa) it was incredibly pronounced. Have cardio appt but isn't until the 15th. I am wondering if this could be due to PAWS and if anyone else has had similar symptoms in early recovery? I just put a load of wash in a while ago and started sweating pretty hard. Not much exertion and in AC! I am hoping it is anxiety due to the lack of alcohol and nothing serious. The incident yesterday was a little unnerving. I have had a bit of depression the last few days as well. Thanks to everyone and love this forum!

To the ER, yes?

Alcohol affects heart rhythm and that's nothing to mess around with.

They can do some pretty simple tests to determine if what you're experiencing is cardiac-related. A few years back I had similar symptoms and went to the ER...it turned out I had shingles in my left ribs and arm...but they were able to rule out a heart attack pretty quickly.

Please have someone drive you to the ER or at the very least an urgent care place, okay?

With your BP that high, very little physical exertion will cause you do get winded and sweat. Glad to hear you are seeing docs in the future. Hopefully you can get that BP down a little. Stay sober, it might drop on its own.

Thanks, guys. I actually was in the ER when I detoxed and they did chest xray / ekg / and ultrasound. Everything looked good. Urgent Care a month or so ago EKG was good. GP said not to worry about it but I can't help it and am new to him so haven't built up trust.... A girl I am seeing tonight - just friends - works at Urgent Care so will have her check me out. Think only thin getting to ER would do is mean more $ that I don't have and they would refer me back to my GP like they did when I was released.....

I also have HBP. I have an at home cuff just for peace of mind.

I did find that when I first stopped drinking that any exertion at all drained me. And panic attacks? Totally. I'm glad that you are in regular consultation with your doctor and taking care of yourself.

It has been my experience that these things did subside. It's been a long haul but worth every step.

Thanks a lot coco...I have a home cuff and calibrated it against the Urgent Care and it was within a few points. It read 118 / 76 before I went to doc and I am wondering if they used too small a cuff on me.... You would hope not. My machine has been pretty reliable. I am going to check it against my friends cuff tonight. Chances are the docs was right but not sure why mine is so off all of a sudden

I use to get bad anxiety with my BP soaring and palpitations so bad it felt like someone was punching me from the inside out, leading to quite a few urgent care visits, all to find I was perfectly normal, just having bad anxiety issues.
Having the home BP unit is good to keep things in check until you get back to your docs to see what they have to say.

Thanks, Forward12! I believe that may be the situation I am in too. Gonna continue with docs but try and not let the worry about it make it worse! Catch 22 - anxious about being anxious = more anxious!

I had all of those symptoms you describe for almost a month. Racing heart, short of breath and high BP. My BP was 140/95, I was sweating profusely just doing household tasks. Anxiety was through the roof. Every night going to bed I wondered if I would wake up.
I am still having shortness of breath on and off at day 51 but my BP is back to normal and the sweating has stopped. It seemed to improve after about 35 days. I too will have to follow up with a doctor (I am terrified). I wish you luck and hope things improve for you soon.

With the recent chest x-ray, EKG and ultrasound saying everything was looking good you should be ok WME3. Hopefully when your friend at urgent care checks you out it will put your mind at rest.

Congratulations on 16 days.

She did. It was still pretty high - think 140 something over 89 - but think it is something just gonna have to get through. Maybe when see doc again after blood work is still high he will give me something else. This is a great forum! And thanks! Feels good to have 16 days regardless of how I feel physically right now!

Thanks DarklingSong! Keep me posted on how you are and wish you the best. 51 days is great!

See a doc. Asap.

If you're still worried, a second opinion wouldn't hurt.

D