I am stress out from work. My chest muscles contract causing difficulty for me to breath. It hurts a bit. This is not a heart attack.

how do you guys cope in minimizing stress at work? my body continues to operate at warp speed when I get home. it taxes my body muscles a great deal. I feel aches like a 100 yr old person.

The reason for contracted chest muscles is probably improper posture. Do you sit a lot or work on a computer? This is easily prevented. Just do a few sets of pushups and a few rounds of stretching throughout the day.

Stress is something you have to get under control yourself. Learn to take it easy. Refuse to be bullied at work and stand your ground when you have to.

One thing you can do to minimize stress is physical exercise. Get off the computer and do something about it right away. Head to the gym, start running or cycling in the morning, whatever works best for you. But make sure you push yourself HARD. An intense 60-min. workout 3x per week will greatly improve your conditioning and clear up your mind before you know it.

+1 on the exercise. Get outdoors at lunch and take a walk. Small breaks during the day can make a big difference. Meds have their place. I would use them if all else fails. I've found that many times the side effects of the meds can be as bad as the symptoms the meds are meant to cure.

Yes, physical stress (working out) at the gym is a great counter to psychological stress at work.

you could be experiencing a low grade panic attack. some ideas on dealing with the stress:
1 when you get home go for a walk it will help use up the adrenaline.
2 when you get tense eat an apple it will raise your blood sugar slowly and can have a calming effect.
3 go to the health food store and see the many products for stress relief. some really do work.
4 make a concerted effort to relax, once you have been runnig at warp speed for a period of time it can be hard to remember what relaxed feels like.

I keep a Dr Seuss book both at work and at my home office. When I get really stressed (not often), I read it out loud. Laughter is an amazing stress reducer.

Exercise is also very good. Enough to break a slight sweat will really lower stress.