Posted by yxibow on July 31, 2008, at 1:48:37
In reply to Need some serious help here guys..Just read inside, posted by WhatToDoNext on July 28, 2008, at 19:32:41
> Hi again everyone, I have been having bouts of Hyperventilation that last as long as 3 hours, then resolve on their own. My rate gets up to 35-45 breaths per minute at rest. I'm 5'10" 200lbs, in good shape for the most part. I went to the ER a month ago for the same and they said I was having a panic attack. I know what a panic attack is as I've had them when I was younger, and these are not panic attacks. I've also been experiencing tachycardia 120-145 at times with no exerction. I'm wondering how this can be while on a beta blocker.
>
> It happened again today, and I was taken to the ER as after 3 hours, I was still breathing 35bpm. At first the ER MD offered my Ativan. He thought I was having a panic attack. I refused it, as, believe it or not, I wasn't anxious or panicking. I started getting angry and told him to treat this as a medical condition or I wanted another ER MD to treat me. He than began to take me a little more seriously and ordered a head CT with contrast and a chest CT with contrast. The Chest CT was normal. My blood gas was also normal. Here is the report from the Head CT:
> [b]
> The report Conclusion is as follows: No acute intracranial process. Tortuous looping left vertebral artery contacting the medulla and left inferior cerebellar peduncle.[/b]
>
>
> The ER MD said it's nothing to be concerned about, but couldn't even tell me what this meant. My other symptom is tachycardia sometimes with the hyperventilation and sometimes without. I'm on a beta blocker (Propanolol 20mg bid), Klonopin 1mg bid, Xanax 0.5mg-1.0mg prn, Zoloft 50mg QD. I do suffer from anxiety and thats why I'm on this board, but for the most part I have not had anxiety with these episodes. My only recent med change was stopping Xanax XR 1mg bid, and switched to Xanax 1mg qid. I also increased my Klonopin from 1mg bid to 1mg tid.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> SteveAs a sufferer -- and this can be transference, so take it for what its worth, of somatoform disorder, this sounds like some of the classic cases that appear in ERs every day of some form of Somatoform Disorder.
Don't get me wrong, these are real physical symptoms, and no they're not panic attacks, but ultimately they are anxiety generated. The most common kind seen are pseudoseizures -- more often in females than males I believe, I forget, but at any rate, people will manifest "caught" and "trapped" anxiety directly into a seizure. Palleative care such as Valium to stop the seizure may be offered, but referral to a doctor who specializes in somatoform disorders is the best place to start.
They're not the most common of things to diagnose, and mine doesn't even fall into the category 100%, but I have been suffering from an amplification of normal psychiatric vision for close to 7 years, an orphan somatoform disorder basically, combined with OCD and other things.
You're have quite a list of duplicative anti-anxiety medications but they may not be addressing an undiagnosed somatoform thing lingering in the wings. The tachycardia with and without hyperventilation is key for someone in "good shape for the most part." And in fact focusing on the symptoms themselves could land you in the ER again as there is a loop to the whole somatic presentation in the first place.First thing -- this isn't your fault, none of these syndromes ever are, and as noted before they are real. You are experiencing real bodily symptoms instead of the anxiety that is built up within.
In the old days they used to use conscious sedation (e.g. with Versed) to try to "figure out" someone's root cause for somatoform symptoms. Its not only bad medical practice, its illegal in a lot of hospitals. And the patient doesn't learn from it because they never remember it, they're put out in a daze, like a truth serum.
I would highly suggest asking your doctor about what he or she thinks about somatoform disorders or whether he knows of someone who might be able to evaluate you.As they say, your miles may vary -- you could still have some sort of also very real heart condition, but it doesn't sound like it from what the doctor had performed on you.
-- best wishes
Jay
poster:yxibow
thread:842682
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080727/msgs/843194.html