Heart Worries again (trying to cope)

[Itsallinmyhead416]

Hey everyone, I haven't posted in a long time as I'm currently deployed overseas but lately my anxiety levels have been acting up.

I'm a 25yo male and my biggest fear is anything involving my heart. I get alot of skipped beats which is nothing new to me but now I've been feeling short of breath. For the past couple of days I feel like I can't get a full breath in. It scares the crap out of me! I don't smoke and I exercise all the time. My wife says there is nothing wrong with me but me having HA I always think the worse!

Over the course of my HA I've had EKG's, Chest X-rays, blood tests and one echo-cardiogram...I've never had a holter monitor test but my doctors never say anything is wrong with me. Should I consider asking my doctor for that test when I get back to the states? I don't know if something is being missed or if I'm developing asthma or something else. I don't know what to think anymore...any advice or reassurance would help! Thank you!

[GoogleNoMore]

I think deployment can definitely add to anxiety levels (speaking as a military wife :))

I do know that shortness of breath is a common sign of anxiety. One thing a doctor told me to do when I feel that way is to raise my arms above my head. It opens up the chest cavity and allows more air through, because you can't tense up the muscles as much in that position. Allowing more air in makes you feel more satisified with your breathing.

Another thing is that focussing on the breath makes me anxious. So that same doctor recommended, when I feel that way, to do the following exercise: In that very moment, name 5 things you can see. 5 things you can touch. 5 things you can smell. 5 things you can hear. Essentially, you're so busy focussing on the list that you don't think about your breathing. If you don't feel better, do it again, and find 5 different things with each list. A great thing is that you can do this in your head, and no one has to know.

I know it's not much, but it's worth a shot. Good luck!

[Anxious_gal]

Yes ask for the holter monitor, I had it done and my palpitations weren't as bad as what I thought they were :)
I also had the treadmill test done and well I failed big time but that was cause I am pretty unfit.