You may not want to hear this, but I have to side with your mom. Here's my thinking:
You had a squeezing sensation in your chest and you found it hard to catch your breath. You mention confusion and fright during the episode, and exhaustion and confusion afterward. You experienced some physical sensations that you couldn't explain.
Yes, they could be night terrors. Have you had experience with those in the past?
Or you might have had a panic attack.
Or you might have something physical going on. This is unlikely, true, since you are in good health (and good job on all the fabulous habits you have created for yourself!) But we never know until we get checked out.
The reason why I think you should get checked out even if it might be a night terror or a panic attack is because those are physical too. They are not imaginary and they cause you physical discomfort and mental anxiety. They affect your body and your mind, as you know. And they can recur.
A doctor will be interested in exactly what happened, and will have more questions for you. There may be a couple of tests she or he will order to rule out physical issues. Because your meditation doesn't seem to be helping, I would want to be sure that there's not something more going on. Does that make sense?
Meditation helps us with our health and well-being, but we can't just relax everything away. We can exercise a lot of control and be mindful of our surroundings and our breath, but if there's something physical that needs attention, we need to take care of that as well.
Are you under a lot of stress right now?
Are there things in your life that make you very anxious?
Has anything big changed recently?
Are you on any medications?
How much caffeine do you consume?
I would love it if you would agree to a doctor's appointment to get checked out. I do not think it is a waste of money. Your resting heartbeat is higher than you think it should be; your healthy living habits and meditation are not resolving the issue, and you had a frightening episode without a known cause. I think getting all this checked out is a smart thing to do. And if you find out that it's based in anxiety or panic, you can talk to your doctor about talk therapy or medication that could help if you have more episodes in the future.
But being sure about your health? That's never a waste.
Will you come back and update us and let us know what you decide?
Comment Reply
Anon,
You may not want to hear this, but I have to side with your mom. Here's my thinking:
You had a squeezing sensation in your chest and you found it hard to catch your breath. You mention confusion and fright during the episode, and exhaustion and confusion afterward. You experienced some physical sensations that you couldn't explain.
Yes, they could be night terrors. Have you had experience with those in the past?
Or you might have had a panic attack.
Or you might have something physical going on. This is unlikely, true, since you are in good health (and good job on all the fabulous habits you have created for yourself!) But we never know until we get checked out.
The reason why I think you should get checked out even if it might be a night terror or a panic attack is because those are physical too. They are not imaginary and they cause you physical discomfort and mental anxiety. They affect your body and your mind, as you know. And they can recur.
A doctor will be interested in exactly what happened, and will have more questions for you. There may be a couple of tests she or he will order to rule out physical issues. Because your meditation doesn't seem to be helping, I would want to be sure that there's not something more going on. Does that make sense?
Meditation helps us with our health and well-being, but we can't just relax everything away. We can exercise a lot of control and be mindful of our surroundings and our breath, but if there's something physical that needs attention, we need to take care of that as well.
Are you under a lot of stress right now?
Are there things in your life that make you very anxious?
Has anything big changed recently?
Are you on any medications?
How much caffeine do you consume?
I would love it if you would agree to a doctor's appointment to get checked out. I do not think it is a waste of money. Your resting heartbeat is higher than you think it should be; your healthy living habits and meditation are not resolving the issue, and you had a frightening episode without a known cause. I think getting all this checked out is a smart thing to do. And if you find out that it's based in anxiety or panic, you can talk to your doctor about talk therapy or medication that could help if you have more episodes in the future.
But being sure about your health? That's never a waste.
Will you come back and update us and let us know what you decide?
February 17, 2010 - 11:43amThis Comment
Reply