weird sensation- opinions?

  • Okay so for the last several months I keep getting this weird feeling. I can't find anything online about it and my doctor thought it was part of what he assumed was an ulcer. I am looking to see if anyone else has experienced this feeling...

    It feels like someone turns on a faucet of hot water in my upper stomach, it radiates up my chest and down my arms. i feel sort of tingly and disconnected when it happens, but i'm not sure if it's because it scares me?

    It's not quite a hot flash, from what I've read they actually make you sweaty and I am only 30. I can't find anything describing this in acid reflux/ulcer symptoms and the medicine for that didn't actually help. am I having anxiety? a panic attack? it seems to happen most often at the same time as I'm having other stomach issues, i have ibs or colitis or something. but sometimes it comes out of the blue when i'm just sitting or laying in bed even. it's freaking me out.
  • Yikes! Sounds like a panic attack. I used to get them alot. I would wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and feel like I was floating... It never hurts to make another appointment with your GP to discuss how you can decrease the frequency. Maybe even see about a consultation with an internist to test for ulcers or a psychiatrist to determine if it's an anxiety problem. Good Luck!
  • Sounds like it could be a panic attack: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_attack (Note: don't rely on Wikipedia for medical advice, of course... just take it as an overview of the subject!)

    I used to have similar experiences with some regularity. I never did seek medical attention as they were always short and didn't seem to cause damage, just the temporary discomfort of experiencing them, so I got into the habit of just waiting them out. I think I got them most often when I was undergoing major changes in my life or my environment - I used to get one sometimes when I would come home from school on winter/summer breaks, or sometimes I would get them mid-semester when my workload was shifting to new projects. Some sort of situational/stress triggers I guess.

    Lately they seem to have subsided and maybe even stopped completely - I can't remember having any panic attacks at all for at least the last 6 or 7 months, maybe longer.