Chest Pain and Anxiety

[Owlunar]

Hi @Appleblossom@utopia@Maggie@Former-Member

I'm so glad you like my humour Apple - and I am sick of winter already this year and it's only 31st of May - not a good start

I like what you wrote about BP medication and under-anxiety and so glad you got off them - there is hope for me yet though I am taking a something more appropriate now after being ill for weeks on the wrong one 

It took me a while to get my head around chronic pain and anxiety causing high BP still needs treatment - seeing as taking less for the pain means the pain is worse - strange idea some people in the medical profession have about the pain getting worse if we take less pain medication when the cause of the pain itself has never been treated - like I ask - how can the tablets make the pain worse? btw -rhetorical questions but the pain increases BP as does stress and it seems your psychologist has treated the stress successfully - I am glad of that for your sake

But I am not seeing anyone about stress and anxiety right now and wonder if there is any help to be had there if I start with pyschologist number 5 - long story - it's not as if I set out to ch op and change but the last one and her fee for non-attendance meant I have managed to successfully avoid the fee but now I don't have a therapist - and all of that was stressful

Is it possible to live a life without all this stress - I really don't think so

So - the first BP medication caused all sorts of symptoms like fatique, dizziness, lack of appetite but it wasn't until my feet swelled up and my socks caused deep grooves in my ankles and my shoes felt uncomfortable that my dose was cut in half and I am on a different kind of medication that I worked out I had pressure in my head causing so much confusion - now I am okay and I can go out and walk around the streets and build up my health again

What a relief 

I am soooooooooo glad you are off the BP medication and now I feel like taking my daily walk

Dec

[Former-Member]

Hi @Owlunar
Good to see you ❤❤❤

[utopia]

Hi @Owlunar. Everyone has stress in their lives. It can't be avoided. But for those of us who react 'negatively' to stress, that's where we need to try to reduce our stress loads and find ways of trying to reduce the effects it has on our body.
It's a tough one. But I keep hearing the same things. Breathing exercises, meditation, mindfulness, yoga, exercise.
I struggle with doing these at the moment. I used to do them. But stopped when I got sick again. Will have to force myself to do them.

[Owlunar]

Hi @Former-Member

Great to see you - I'll catch up with you soon

And @utopia

Stress is inevitable and I accept it but it seems there are so many things happening that need not and seem to make life harder - I am sure everyone has these things - like My Aged Care - I have yet to hear about that working - and the help I do have atm is good but the council staff who organise this make my life a state of nervous flux - I do not like phonecalls at 9.00 am - I have the sure knowledge as I pick up the phone it is the council changing my shifts and this is an on-going and frustrating issue that gives me a pain in the rear-end I could live without

Maybe My Aged Care will help with the uncertainity of all of this so atm I am waiting and seeing

I am seriously into my versions of meditation and breathing techniques - after all these years it has become habitual - I hardly think of doing it - I just find a place to rest and take myself into some other dimension - so good at it I can even float away having and MRI but it has to my variation on a theme

Alas - my BP does it's own thing  OR maybe it would be worse without my inner life - who knows? I think it might be a form of self-hypnosis - 

However - seeing as my blood tests are okay - I knew they would be - I am feeling so much better on different medication I am walking each day - once around the block which is a fair sized block - and I will extend that next week when I get used to it and my BP has even-out - it's on the safe-side all day and no more desperate lows in the morning - low BP is something I had when I was younger and fainted in public now and again - ah well that is enough

Yes - do your best to get back into your own relaxation patterns - but here's a thing - I get bored stiff doing what other people suggest - I am of an inventive turn of mind and made up my own imagery - I don't often fall asleep but I can if I want to at night - I have a lot of places I can start with - it's more fun that turning my mind off - in fact I have never been able to do that

Yes - stress is part of life and I think life would be darned boring without it - still - it is not pleasant having things outside of our control interferring - 

But I do feel better this week and walking outside is something I really like doing and I have missed all these months while my legs were sore from one thing or another

Cat wants in  - cya

Dec

[utopia]

Cat wants in lol @Owlunar. I can relate. My dogs dictate opening and closing the back door depending on when they want to go outside or inside. We can be ruled by our pets. Lol.
I also struggle with the stress of Centrelink and WorkCover. Again, I have no say. They controlit all. Not bbeing in control causes me a lot of stress.

[Owlunar]

Animals do rule our lives @utopia but I would not be without this little miss - in fact I have had her for so long I can't imagine what life would be without her - she came here just after I moved in here and I believe she was conceived with the sole purpose of my enjoyment

But the front door and the cat is establishing epic proportions - I have trained her to stop scratching the furniture and look at the door - now - I could hear her scratching the furniture but I can't hear her staring at the door - then there is the door dithering thing - I stand there holding the door opening counting "One..........twooooooooo - threeeeee!!!" at which stage she will charge through the doorway before I close the door or look at me innocently and jump onto the back of the couch - [sometimes Dec feels a bit crackers - all this door stuff for a cat!!!!!!!!!!!! What?]

Of course I love her but still - ah ha ahhhh    sheesh

We could do with some peace from those Government Bodies that have so much control and still give us grief. I know what you mean about not having any control over it - having some stranger making decisions about how we live and somehow get by is so hard to be easy about - and the person who makes these decisions for us is usually a stranger - been then in my distant past now - when I was on the DSP I was convinced I was being watched to see if I was really having a disability - chronic pain - it's an eerie feeling that disappeared when I went onto the Age Pension - we never have to prove our age thank God for that

All the best with Work Cover Utopia - I understand that they want people to go back to work asap but what they are doing is just making it harder for that to happen - I really wonder who is the dingbat who works out the decisions for that

Sending more hugs

Dec

[utopia]

Yes I never get to meet these people that make decisions about my life @Owlunar.

[Owlunar]

Of course we never meet them @utopia - they don't want us to know they are only 18 and have been there for a week on temporary assignment or maybe someone in year 10 on work experience

I really hope that is not the case 😞

ooohhhhhh

[utopia]

I don't think they could meet their targets @Owlunar, if they had to look us in the eyes.
WorkCover expects to have an 80% rejection of claims. That's there target. And they expect a certain number of people to pull out of their claim because the stress is too high.
But to look someone in the eye and try and deny your claim or your need for a hospital stay or treatment - that would be too hard.

[Appleblossom]

I was on the anti cholestrol and high BP meds for about 8 years. I am glad I am off them as I am taking enough other stuff now, but maybe one day I will get off those.

Yes I count at the front door with my cat ... not holding the door open for ever puss. lol @Owlunar

Neuroleptics depresses respiratory function, which worries me, and is an extra reason to pay attention to breathing exercises I guess.

@utopia Wish you had decent experience with WorkCover/ Centrelink.