Constant fear of heart attack :( I'm 23

[Khadijah]

Hi guys :) Hope you are all well.

I can't take these thoughts any more :weep:

I CONSTANTLY have thoughts of having a heart attack (I'm 23).
I may get a random chest spasm and totally freak out that I'm going to die.

Even when feeling good, no pain or anything, I have over whelming fear of dying of heart attack. It's much less when I'm with friends or out and about, more when I'm home alone in the day time, and mostly at night.
I think 'Oh gosh imagine if theres a blood clot in my veins and It's going to make my heart freaking explode' :scared15::scared15::scared15:

I felt like this for about 5 monthes now. I have a funny feeling I have seasonal affective disorder, can this make me feel this way?

[puppyskin]

Same here,it takes over your life,walking even worries me thinking i'm damaging it,scared to exercise too much,eat too much,its a nightmare,i'm 40 years old.

[dlr108]

unless you have a really really bad lifestyle i mean really bad the chances of a heart attack at 23 would be very.rare

stress anxiety depression can cause chest pain palps.missed beats etc you should consider cbt helos with the thought process

[Arnie365]

Hi ive been (and am still going) through this.

For as long as I can remember I've always known I would die of a heart attack. I never used to worry it would happen in the short term just that when I did eventually die it would be from one. I never understood why this was but didn't think about it too much.

9 months ago I had my first panic attack and it had all the hallmarks of a heart attack. Crushing in chest, pain down left arm, clammy, blue finger tips. My wife called the ambulance. Did ECG in my house. All normal. Taken to hospital anyway, all tests there showed nothing. Was let home the next day. Nobody at this stage mentioned panic attacks and anxiety. So I left relieved I was still alive but confused about what had happened! I had another one a month later and have had chest pains as my main symptom ever since. I've now been on medication for 3 months and have been at therapy the same amount of time. The cbt really helped me and its rare now for a negative thought to make it through to make me anxious. I highly recommend it but you have to put the effort in outside of therapy. So many people don't and then wonder why it didn't work for them.

But now focusing on physcometric therapy or talking therapy, I'm now getting to my issues.

It turns out I saw my grandad have a heart attack and he later died in hospital when I was 4 or 5. I have no memory of being there at all. I remember the phone call from the hospital really clearly but I always thought we had one round to my grans after she rang saying he had had a heart attack but I was sat with him! This is obviously where my lack of trust in hearts has come from.

I also thought my gran died of a heart attack until recently so again this probably reinforced my fear of hearts.

I don't know if this helps or if you can relate to any of it but I'm dong a lot better now. The chest pains have reduced significantly and I seem to be winning with my anxiety.

[xtremx]

Hi,

I think a lot of us can relate to how your are feeling.
And in time it does get easier to understand that everything you are feeling is anxiety related I think like someone else has posted on a thread that I have had over 3000 heart attacks sometimes 30 or so a day..... But of course I havent.

After 3 years of tests and 2 trips to A&E with the lights flashing I'm now coming to terms with it that my heart is fine.

I pleaded with my doctor to give me a echocardiogram and I said if the results cameback good I will STOP and my results were GOOD so I now have to life up to my promise and Stop thinking about it and miss reading every little niggle and pain.

It will be a long journey for me as I also have a chest problem that gives me chest wall pain but it is learning how to understand how pain works and where it is coming from..

And as someone said your 23 you have a full life ahead of you..

[Imperator]

Same here, and I'm only 16!

[deejay94]

I'm in the same boat and i'm 18. The thing is I am very overweight which further asserts my heart fears but at the same time i have had ECGs that show up fine :/

[xtremx]

Hi all 3 of you 23,16,18 need to get the doctor to give you a check up ecg and if they say all is ok just go home and tell yourselves that everything is fine and then just stop thinking about it.

That sounds easy but for some off us it is not because we have anxiety we need something to transfix upon because it may seem to make it simple for us to explain what is happening.

But I for will most probably speak for all of us Please just listern to your doctor and take what he/she says and stop worrying it will stay with you for a long time and it will be harder to correct the negative thinking if you all continue along this path..

[Col]

I get this a lot. Can completely relate! With the amount of stress I've had and then panic attacks I get weired feelings and think my heart can't take no more. I'm 31 , obviously older than you, but surely too young still to be worried about this, but I do.

[Khadijah]

Thank you all for the replies!

I called an ambulance after 1 chest pain a few weeks back (cringe!) and they put wires on me and then printed the results off (was this ECG?) I've had one in hospital years ago but not sure if they can do the same at home?
Anyway results were fine, so It's not so much that I think I have a heart problem, It's thinking that I will have a problem, i.e heart attack.

I don't ever really have chest pain, except a random normal muscle spasm, so I don't have anything to worry about, so I'm not sure why I worry!

I seem to always check my pulse, I can't shift the constant thought of 'what If I have a heart attack today', It's driving me mental!

I had 2 miscarriages 2 years ago, and had alot of stress a year after that, now it all started about 5 monthes ago.

Today the sun was out, and I felt much better :)
Evening comes, and negative thoughts again.

I'm thinking SAD, mixed with grief, mixed with stress and anxiety, = constant fear/worry!

[skyisblue]

Hi Khad,

I'm 22 and I sometimes have a looming fear of having heart problems as well, let alone a heart attack.

I also get chest pains like you and I swear they are scary. I was diagnosed 2 years ago with hyperacidity and the doctor said that this could lead to GERD and sometimes chest pains.

Funny thing though is that whenever I get the chest pains, I don't feel any difficulty in breathing. I guess that's one of the things that reassure me that it isn't a heart attack.

I've been trying to eat healthy and exercise as well. One thing I've noticed is that when I do running immediately, I sometimes get this aching pain on my right side whenever I run. It goes away when I stop. However, I think the problem lies on the fact that I don't do warm ups. I tried exercising first on a treadmill for 30 mins before doing the running and voila, the chest pains didn't come.

I think many of my chest pains are related to my digestive issues and muscular concerns.
Our anxiety definitely won't help!

[Khadijah]

Hi Khad,

I'm 22 and I sometimes have a looming fear of having heart problems as well, let alone a heart attack.

I also get chest pains like you and I swear they are scary. I was diagnosed 2 years ago with hyperacidity and the doctor said that this could lead to GERD and sometimes chest pains.

Funny thing though is that whenever I get the chest pains, I don't feel any difficulty in breathing. I guess that's one of the things that reassure me that it isn't a heart attack.

I've been trying to eat healthy and exercise as well. One thing I've noticed is that when I do running immediately, I sometimes get this aching pain on my right side whenever I run. It goes away when I stop. However, I think the problem lies on the fact that I don't do warm ups. I tried exercising first on a treadmill for 30 mins before doing the running and voila, the chest pains didn't come.

I think many of my chest pains are related to my digestive issues and muscular concerns.
Our anxiety definitely won't help!

Hi and thank you for your reply!

I get these thoughts even without any pain :/ that's what confused me the most, I just think it for no reason!