Arnie365
09-12-12, 13:28
Hi everyone
This is my first time ever on a forum so please be gentle!
I have been suffering from health/heart anxiety for just over 6 months. It all started one day that I smoked a legal high called green dragon. I've never done any drugs previously and don't really know what came over me this time. It came about from some friends at work talking about it and how good it was. As it was legal I stupidly decided to give it a go. After smoking the joint I immediately didn't feel right and had a bad red rash come up on my right forearm. I then went really light headed and almost passed out. I rang my wife who came home straight away and I genuinely thought I was having a heart attack. My finger tips went blue and I had a stabbing pain in the left side of my chest which moved more to a tightness in the middle. I was taken to hospital by ambulance where they did all the ECG and blood tests and everything was fine though they decided to keep me in overnight to redo my bloods in the morning. Again all fine and no sign of heart problems.
Ever since that day, hardly a day has gone by that I haven't had stabbing pains, twinges, crushing feelings, cold feelings in my chest and heart area. This has slowly led to anxiety and depression building up. I've been into hospital twice since the first visit convinced I was having a heart attack. Again everything came back clear and I was let home.
My doctor has tried me on propranolol which took away the stabbing pains at first but then I developed quite bad heartburn with it. Anyone with this problem will know that when you are convinced something is wrong with your heart, pressure and pain in the middle of your chest is the last thing you want!
I'm now on fluoxetine which I've been on for two weeks today. First week wasn't great as they really made me more panicky with panic attacks even when I didn't have chest pain which had always been the trigger before. The side effects seem to be easing off now so hopefully they are kicking in and I have finally plucked up the courage to arrange to see a therapist for some cbt with my first session tomorrow.
Sorry for the long post but I've been reading this forum as a guest for months now but finally felt ready to join and share my experience with anyone interested.
All the best.
This is my first time ever on a forum so please be gentle!
I have been suffering from health/heart anxiety for just over 6 months. It all started one day that I smoked a legal high called green dragon. I've never done any drugs previously and don't really know what came over me this time. It came about from some friends at work talking about it and how good it was. As it was legal I stupidly decided to give it a go. After smoking the joint I immediately didn't feel right and had a bad red rash come up on my right forearm. I then went really light headed and almost passed out. I rang my wife who came home straight away and I genuinely thought I was having a heart attack. My finger tips went blue and I had a stabbing pain in the left side of my chest which moved more to a tightness in the middle. I was taken to hospital by ambulance where they did all the ECG and blood tests and everything was fine though they decided to keep me in overnight to redo my bloods in the morning. Again all fine and no sign of heart problems.
Ever since that day, hardly a day has gone by that I haven't had stabbing pains, twinges, crushing feelings, cold feelings in my chest and heart area. This has slowly led to anxiety and depression building up. I've been into hospital twice since the first visit convinced I was having a heart attack. Again everything came back clear and I was let home.
My doctor has tried me on propranolol which took away the stabbing pains at first but then I developed quite bad heartburn with it. Anyone with this problem will know that when you are convinced something is wrong with your heart, pressure and pain in the middle of your chest is the last thing you want!
I'm now on fluoxetine which I've been on for two weeks today. First week wasn't great as they really made me more panicky with panic attacks even when I didn't have chest pain which had always been the trigger before. The side effects seem to be easing off now so hopefully they are kicking in and I have finally plucked up the courage to arrange to see a therapist for some cbt with my first session tomorrow.
Sorry for the long post but I've been reading this forum as a guest for months now but finally felt ready to join and share my experience with anyone interested.
All the best.