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What Causes Dry Cough , Lightheadedness And Itchiness On The Chest?
Lately I have been very paranoid I am having, or going to have, a heart attack. my symptoms are: lightheadedness, dry cough, an itchy feel inside my chest, clammy hands and feet. None of these have occurred at the same time however. The lightheadedness only happened once, as well as the clammy hands and feet. I do not have any pressure or pain in my chest. These feelings send me into a panic attack when they happen and it is hard to determine if it is anxiety or something more serious. As far as medications, I take 3mg of prednisone daily. Everyone thinks I am crazy, should I seek emergency medical care or wait until I can see a doctor?
Fri, 19 Jun 2015
Hello!
Thank you for asking on HCM! I understand your concern.
The symptoms you have seem to be related to anxiety.
But I recommend you to perform some tests to exclude some medical disorders, which can mimic this clinical scenario like :
-A low blood pressure or orthostatic hypotension
-A cardiac arrhythmia
-Thyroid hormone imbalance
You need to perform a routine blood test, kidney and liver function tests, thyroid hormone levels, ECG ,chest xray, blood electrolytes, Head Up tilt test for orthostatic hypotension and a regular monitoring of your blood pressure.
If all of the above mentioned tests result normal, the most probable cause of your problems would be anxiety.
Hope to have been helpful!
Greetings! Dr. Iliri
Thank you for asking on HCM! I understand your concern.
The symptoms you have seem to be related to anxiety.
But I recommend you to perform some tests to exclude some medical disorders, which can mimic this clinical scenario like :
-A low blood pressure or orthostatic hypotension
-A cardiac arrhythmia
-Thyroid hormone imbalance
You need to perform a routine blood test, kidney and liver function tests, thyroid hormone levels, ECG ,chest xray, blood electrolytes, Head Up tilt test for orthostatic hypotension and a regular monitoring of your blood pressure.
If all of the above mentioned tests result normal, the most probable cause of your problems would be anxiety.
Hope to have been helpful!
Greetings! Dr. Iliri
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