Here are a few articles. Acupuncture for Anxiety Acupuncture and Stress Anxiety Acupuncture itself can be very calming. They usually treat with herbs as well. It helped me when I had shingles due to stress. My layman recommendation is a chiropractor appt. followed immediately by a massage appt., followed by an acupuncture appt. Drink a lot of water before and after. I took anti-depressants after the birth of my child. I didn't personally like them. But if you can't swim, take a boat. I had underlying stress, like I knew my husband was cheating on me, I was working too much, I had a new baby... etc... but it was subconscious. I couldn't acknowledge my life was falling apart so I took it out on my body. I was so frazzled I couldn't figure out which direction to move in. It was like I short-circuited. Have you tried talking with someone? If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by "uncomfortable"? Is it physically uncomfortable or mentally? What about exercises like finding the issue (in your brain, under your skin, wherever you can 'feel' it affecting you) and then surrounding it with peace and love and light (and if you are imagining my real name is Crystal and I'm in a lavender caftan with incense burning you're sorely mistaken, I'm in pinstripes with my hair in a bun). Surround it, tell it you love it, and then roll it off your skin, onto your fingertips and place it on the ground. "Pull" it out of your heart by taking your fingers in front of your chest and firmly brushing/stroking it away from your heart, into your fingers, then shaking your fingers off like you would water. Put your fingers to your head, take a firm grasp, vibrate your fingers and "pull" the energy out, then shake it off your fingers. My husband, who was formerly a massage therapist, would take showers after doing a massage and "wipe" the energy from his patient off of him by starting at the top of his head and working down, like one would do if they were trying to dry off without a towel... big, firm, wiping motions. He was letting the water take the energy away. This may sound like mumbo jumbo and if it does ignore it. But I have anxiety as well, and I used to get horrible shingles, and I'm just 30, so it's unusual. I would also grit my teeth at night. Nightguards didn't work. What finally did work was concentrating on relaxing my body, and inserting my tongue between my teeth just the slightest. It was a physical reminder to keep my teeth apart. Perhaps you need a "signal" to yourself. A reminder to lower your anxiety. I truly think most anxiety is self-induced. Most, not all. Some is chemical imbalance. But I think that is more unusual. Were you always like this, or did it start recently? If it's recent, what changed?

Yes, thanks too. I picked up my Health magazine and they had an article about this in it that I read last night. It still says it's difficult for a woman to understand that they're having a heart attack, that they pass it off as something else. It also mentions jaw pain. I'm glad your friend is doing well, Westelle, that was nice of her to share this. I agree Pat, if your dr is ignoring you, maybe you should ignore him and find someone who will listen to you. Your age is NOT an excuse when women are living into their 90's and older. You have an excellent quality of life and you want to keep that. You need a dr willing to give you the quality care to keep that.

What does your doctor say about it? If you haven't seen your GP about this, I think that would be a good place to start. It could be anything from acid reflux to a strained muscle to something really serious, I would make an appointment with your doctor immediately.

mariposatraicionera, so sorry to hear about the tragic case of your relative. I can tell you from personal experience that finding responsive and expert medical assistance is not always easy even in the DC metro area. I am fortunate that since my wife is a physician who works at a major teaching hospital, she is able to utilize the resources of that center for consultations and/or treatment when it comes to family members. It was, in part, the insistence of physicians in the cardiology department at her medical center that provided the impetus to have a cardiac catherization done. One other piece of information that may be of value to forum participants: for anyone who is ever faced with a situation requiring cardiac catherization - the two imperatives when it comes to such a procedure is that it is done by a cardiologist who does at least 75 of these procedures annually and it is done at a facility that has a by-pass program as well. The latter is important because there is an inherent risk that during angioplasty and stent placement, damage can be caused to an artery which would necessitate immediate by-pass surgery. If this should occur, time is of the essence and being at a facility that can perform by-pass surgery is a god-send. Mine was done at a facility that does an average of 70 cardiac catherizations a day!! The interventional cardiologist who did mine does 6-8 daily! I now have to go to my regular cardiologist for follow-up visits since the interventional cardiologist does not do any "regular" cardiac care. It is amazing how specialized everything has become. talley_sue_nyc, your comment that "many people just live w/ a dull ache in their arm, and end up dying of a heart attack" is probably true. In my case, the moment I told my wife about the ache she immediately scheduled an appointment with my internist for the very next day. I went and cancelled it telling her that she was over-reacting! So I know exactly what you mean.