Good news! Echo is clear; next step?

[Orange Lightning]

Hello everyone. I just returned from having my 2-month-awaited echocardiogram today. I can honestly say I've never seen a more thorough doctor; most echos would take 10-15 minutes tops apparently, but mine took 40. The initial results suggest that my heart is structurally sound. This actually greatly surprised me as my mother has a leaky valve and my grandfather - father's side - suffered heart attacks in his later life (Eep!). I had an ECG at the same time which was also clear. Admittedly I was a lot more relaxed then I have been for the past 2 months when I got there, so hopefully that didn't impact on the results? It's just such a relief to finally find a doctor to take my symptoms seriously. As this forum often says, we of health anxiety fame can't take steps to recover until we know there really is nothing wrong.

And so I'd like to ask some advice on what I should do next. First things first, I still have some loose symptoms I need to clear up. I'm going to discuss them with my GP next week, but I'd like to confirm anyone else who suffers from anxiety/cardiophobia gets these? They're not very nice, in fact they're still making me check my chest/heart rate every so often..! (I know I won't get an instant recovery, but hey!)

- Dizziness/Lightheaded-ness and fatigue
- A feeling of a painless "zap" or pressure that moves up the chest, through the throat and into the head. It's hard to describe, maybe someone can help me with the description? It sometimes makes my arms/hands and jaw feel weak too. One rush today made me lose my vision. Freaky! :scared15:
- Nausea, and an airy feeling in the throat.
- More frequent sleep paralysis - stops my movement, talking and even breathing for 5 seconds. Freaky again!
- Still feeling palpitations and tightness in chest. I still get chest pains, but I can find them with a finger at long last. I occasionally also get arm shooting pains, but so does someone else I know with anxiety.
- I wake up with a very rapid heart rate and a feeling that I'm verrrry hungry, even if I have nibbles in the night! :biggrin:

Just to remind everyone, I'm a 21 year old male, very skinny and tall (if that helps). I have mild aspergers and ectopic beats - exactly how many will be determined next week when I wear a 24 hour monitor. I'm not very good at sleeping, I suffer from migraines and I keep fitter than the average person. Treatment wise, I'm looking into hypnotherapy, although I was wondering if anyone else hear has benefited from it before? Would I be better off with another form of psychotherapy, and if so which one do most people use? I'm also working through an online course called "Moodgym" and checking my local bookstores for health anxiety self-help books.

One more thing. Is there ANY heart condition at all that an echo, 24 hour ECG, regular ECG and Chest X Ray can't detect? Someone mentionned coronary artery disease to me, and I only went and Googled it... can't find a solid opinion though

Thank you all very much for your continued support, and for any advice you can offer this time around. It's been a long, admittedly unpleasant battle so far, but now that I'm more medically safe and sound maybe I can make some headway in recovery! :roflmao:

P.S. I'm starting to get back into steady exercise, and if you are trying to as well and you have a smartphone, I highly recommend an app called "Zombies, Run!, 5k edition." It makes walking and running really fun and it's on offer at the moment!

[Arnie365]

Hi orange

Glad your echo was fine which I thought it would be.

It's worrying to read you posting things like is there any heart condition it won't pick up and you weren't as worried so hope it didn't affect the results.

I've been down this road. You have to now accept your heart is fine and as soon as you do the symptoms will start to get less and less.

It's the whole spiral of health anxiety so I know ow hard it is but every time you feel yourself slipping and having negative thoughts just keep telling yourself what all the doctors have told you. You are fine and you have anxiety.

Really pleased you got the all clear.

[rsanchez]

Did the 24 hour monitor pick up anything? If not, your heart is fine, just have to work on your mind next. :)

[Anxious_gal]

sleep paralysis will happen more if you sleep on your back, if you go to bed very very tired or if you are more stressed out. I get this too and it can be terrifying.

Dizziness/Lightheaded-ness and fatigue, I think most of us get this, make sure to eat healthy and drink lots of fluids, if you feel thirsty you are already slightly dehydrated. that can cause dizziness too.
Anxiety uses up a lot of energy so it's natural to feel tired.

A feeling of a painless "zap" or pressure that moves up the chest, through the throat and into the head. I think this could be a nerve issue or possibly a muscle spasm of some sort, the chest, shoulders, throat, jaw, head all the muscles are sort of connected so they can all cramp, tighten up at once.
Being low on b12 n some other vitamins can cause odd sensations. But it's good it goes and the sensation doesn't hand around.

Nausea, and an airy feeling in the throat. anxiety slows down the digestive system, maybe you are eating food that don't agree with you, maybe acid reflex or indigestion, heart burn can cause funny throat sensations too.
Pro biotics, live yogurts, omega are helpful with anxiety and good for your body.

Still feeling palpitations and tightness in chest, Ii get daily palpitations and like you had all the tests too. When your heart beats funny or races it does cause a funny tight chest sensation, but so can anxiety and tense muscles.

I get chest pain, sometimes when my heart rate gets too high, some times from sore muscles, the worst I had I believe it may have been from heart burn or indigestion as drinking water eased the pain. if you heart is healthy it's highly unlikely it is yor heart that is causing the pain.

I wake up with a very rapid heart rate and a feeling that I'm verrrry hungry, even if I have nibbles in the night!
Maybe you wake up with a start, after a bad dream, or you heard a loud noise, or you've gotten into the habit of waking up nervous?
Maybe keeping water by your bed to drink might help, also you do go all night without food or water so you might just be a bit dehydrated.

I get migraines and the thing with them is they can cause a lot of symptoms, there the before, Prodrome phase which can start weeks or minutes before the migraine, with me the symptoms can be anxiety, feeling unreal, feeling sick or short tempered. also dizziness! I think most people with migraines suffer too from feeling dizzy.

Then there's the actual migraine, the after Postdrome phase where you can feel hung over, tired, wiped out .


Well the Echo will show up any physical problems with the heart and it also shows how well the heart is at pumping blood,

The ECG would show up how your heart is beating/working, it showed up my tachycardia and palpitations, it can also show if you have had any previous heart attacks or damage to the heart, it can also be used to diagnose seizures, It really can be used to diagnose a lot of things.

chest x rays will show up any issues with your chest, lings, heart, air ways,ribs, bones and so on.

coronary artery disease well you are slim and so I assume your cholesterol levels are not high! if you smoke, stopping smoking will reduce your risk.
coronary artery issues do show up the ECG.