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Telling the Difference Between Mental Health Symptoms vs PH Symptoms
Much of my anxiety, depression, and PTSD is because of my physical health and the many surgeries, procedures, and upsetting news that I have received throughout my 27 years of life.
Sometimes it can be quite the challenge to distinguish between a PH symptom that needs a call to the doctor vs a symptom because of my mental health. Anyone who has ever had a panic attack probably knows that in the midst of it, it can feel like you are about to have a heart attack. Luckily, I have been able to help myself through panic attack feelings before they get to this point, but others might not be so lucky.
Something that I do when I am trying to figure out if my symptoms are because of my mental health or my physical health is, I rely on medical equipment/devices that I have. If I am feeling constricted in my chest and am wondering if it’s anxiety related or PH related, I take out my pulse ox and test it out. Usually the numbers will help me to see whether or not I need to call a doctor for further follow up or if I should just rest or use some distractions and coping skills to see if it helps.
Another symptom that could be believed to be related to mental health is exhaustion. Whenever I talk with doctors about my feelings of tiredness, most will attribute it to all that my body goes through in a day. I have had doctors that thought I was depressed because of the increase in fatigue. Honestly though, I can see why they would think that.
Sometimes it’s hard for me as a patient to tell the difference between a symptom due to my mental health or because of my physical health. Do you experience symptoms where it is hard to tell the difference? What have these symptoms been for you? What have you done to determine if it was a PH related symptom or a symptom due to anxiety/depression etc?
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2 Replies
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Brittany, this has definitely an issue for me with PH, and continues to be, even without PH. I noticed an increase in heart palpitations around final exams in high school and college. I’m having a lot of anxiety right now and can feel it affecting my breathing, heart rate, and my stomach. I feel like puking today. I’m quite sure my symptoms are due to stress, but it’s hard to figure out what to do about them.
Often the stressors in our lives can’t be erased so how do you cope with them? I’m trying to make sure I am eating, drinking water, sleeping, and exercising enough so I’m taking care of my body. For you, most of these things are impossible right now so I know you are doing other activities to try to reduce stress. Reading is a good way to escape and I am trying to do some of that, inspired by you. What other things have you tried for reducing anxiety?
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Hey Kathleen,
You’re so right that it stinks when a lot of the stressors that we are feeling are just beyond our control. Besides reading to help when my anxiety is high, I also am not ashamed to admit thay I take fast acting anxiety meds like clonopin. without it , I would feel too distracted to even read. When i get stressed and have anxiety I don’t watch a lot of tv or movies because I end up forgetting what I just watched. Something that has helped me though is building legos and making them for my nephew. He is too young to do the sets of legos on his own but it takes my mind off of things and is something I feel like I’m physically doing. I also like to bake cookies (cant eat them right now) but I bake treats and thinge like cake pops and give them to my doctors offices !
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