HA - left arm, chest and pulse

[CharlieM]

Hi everyone,

Well I am now at my most anxious ever about my health. I have been diagnosed with anxiety and at my last GP appointment was prescribed 10mg Amitriptyline, not as an anti-depressant, but for neuropathic pain relief. My GP thinks my physical discomfort/pain in my left arm, armpit, neck and chest is probably some sort of muscle/ nerve issue and she has also referred me to a neurologist to see if there is any nerve compression issues. My appt is not for another EIGHT weeks though. I am on day 5 of taking the Amitriptyline and have suffered no side effects of note, but it is a small starting dose which will be increased to 20mg in 4 weeks.

But, I am having some weird new symptoms which may well be anxiety, but are scaring me a lot.

The discomfort in my armpit doesn't seem so bad, so maybe the tablets are working a bit. But my pulse is causing me huge anxiety.

I can feel it and even see it in my stomach, above my chest near the collar bone and also in my left temple. I am an obsessive pulse checker at the best of times, so now I am just so tuned into every beat of my heart. I worry that my bp is increasing which is why I can see and feel my pulse. Also I am getting a twinge just below my left collar bone and above my left nipple which twinges in time to my pulse. And finally my heart rate is continually higher than normal. When I wake up, it is 60/64 which is normal for me over the years. I get up and then it spends most of the day at anywhere between 70 and 90.

But it is the visible pulse in my stomach and the feeling in my temple and chest which is new to me.

Is it just because I am focussing on it, or have I deteriorated since I had all my tests at the end of 2012????

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Charlie

[nomorepanic]

Hi

I know that the visible pulse in the stomach is normal - loads of us on here get that.

[CharlieM]

Hi Nicola,

Yes I did a search on here and have seen quite a number of posts about seeing pulse in the stomach. Reassuring really :)

I think the temple and chest pulse worries me more because the pain is in synch with the pulse.

Thanks for your reply.

Charlie

[Mr m anxious]

Completely normal Charlie, I can see pulse in right wrist.

[almamatters]

I can see my pulse in a few places, but especially my stomach. I get a fast heart beat quite regularly and do worry about it, but I asked my doctor about being able to see pulses and she said it is normal especially in people that are slim. Focusing on it will probably make it more apparent, I do not notice mine when I am busy . I have similar issues to you, left shoulder pain, chest, arm and have had heart problems and neurological things ruled out but still worry about it. :flowers:

[CharlieM]

Thanks guys,

I m trying to remember if I have noticed it before I got HA, and I probably did. It's weird how we think about things differently when we have anxiety.

I have spent 43 years on this planet and never considered my health once- never bothered my GP since I was about 16. In the last 8 months I have been over 20 times.

I am 44 in August, and really want to get back to normal.

Thanks again

Charlie

[Mr m anxious]

Wow Charlie, I was just about to post that I'm 42, 43 in September and for 42 and a half years I never worried about my health either until one bad day in December.

[CharlieM]

Lol. It's bloody mad isn't it.

We should set a challenge. Wake up tomorrow and forget it all, go about our day ignoring every symptom. I promise not to check my pulse all day!!!!

[Mr m anxious]

I think I could manage that, probably for 5 mins...haha

[CharlieM]

Noooo mate.

Lets do it. Going to plan a few activities for tomorrow rather than mope and lie in bed.

See if I can manage them without a panic attack.

[Mr m anxious]

Ok then let's do it, as from tommorow I will have muscle aches and irritated nerves only and that's all no biggie really, I'll live !
Hows that for a start..

[CharlieM]

Good start...

Same for me. I'm going to get out of bed when I wake up and have breakfast regardless of how I feel...

Then I am going shopping - aaarrrggghhh!!!

After that I'll see how I feel and plan the rest of the day from there.

[Mr m anxious]

Yes shopping for me too also seeing my daughter off tommorow as she's going away for weekend with army cadets

[swajj]

Thought I'd copy and paste this post I just made on the heart palpitations forum because it has some relevance here eg not focusing on whatever health issue we are imagining at the moment. I use a different id there.

I think reflux has a lot to do with the palps starting up initially. We probably had the isolated palp here and there long before we developed our anxiety about our hearts and we just didn't pay them much attention. Then one day for whatever reason we noticed one of the palps and from that moment on we started focusing on our our hearts and this caused the palps to increase. That's the problem, we experience something that is perfectly normal and it is something that happens to millions of people. The difference between us and them is that they don't have anxiety and so they never begin focusing on their hearts so their palps just remain in the background barely, if ever noticed. I have a lot of ectopic beats. They can go on for hours and seem like every 4th or 5th beat but they aren't as bad as they used to be. I was having them most of the day every day. Then one day I caught a UTI with some bleeding. Of course my anxiety made me think that it wasn't just a UTI but some form of cancer. I spent 1 week on antibiotics worrying every day that they wouldn't clear it up and I would be sent to a urologist only to be told I had bladder cancer or something. The odd thing was that from the moment I got the UTI until all my tests came back clear I never experienced 1 single ectopic beat (well not one that I noticed anyway). Why? Because I had something else to focus on and worry about. They came back 2 weeks later. Now I try really hard to remind myself that the ectopics stopped the whole time I worried about the UTI. It helps but I still can't convince myself 100 percent that there isn't something wrong with my heart.

[Ccat]

Hi Charlie,
Just to reassure you - I also get this at times (i can remember lying in the bath wondering if i was pregnant- as i could see pulsing in stomach so clearly!)
By the way- I went to my drs again- and same as you they are sending me for nerve test- but warned it could be a long wait :doh:
Ironically I had been trying to rest my left arm so much- i seem to have now aggravated the right one! I am so fed up- i wish i could go private! I was looking into it and i was wondering if accupuncture might help.
Anyway, best wishes to you , love ccat xxx

[CharlieM]

Ccat,

I tried acupuncture for 6 sessions. It helped while I was having the treatment, but within a couple of weeks of ending, my symptoms returned.

Now it is the worst it has ever been. I feel like I am deteriorating at an alarming rate. Not even sure I'll get through 8 weeks until my neuro appt!!!!

I failed to do any of my planned activities today :-(

Anyway, how are you?

Charlie xx

[Mr m anxious]

Sorry to hear you didn't manage it Charlie, I've cleaned up the house today but I'm paying the price now. Feels like my chest, shoulder and neck muscles sure stinging. I've been like this before and when I rest they settle down. Did wake up this morning with less aches for a while so that's a positive I suppose. Unfortunately exercise makes me worse than better although it does work for my left arm only.

[CharlieM]

Mr m,

So disappointed I woke up feeling so bad. Rendered me incapable all day. I have just laid about the house.

The pain in my armpit and chest is almost unbearable. Heart rate very low all day though, so haven't had a panic attack. Just lots of butterflies and tension in my temple.

I can't get my head round any of it.

Charlie

[Ccat]

Hi again Charlie

sorry you haven't had a very good day hun- I was looking on internet and it was saying how painful pinched nerves can be . It suggested cold compresses?
Sometimes my elbow feels like its burning - i do find ice helps- I guess it just numbs it?- or maybe it reduces inflamation? It might help?

I am much the same- except an "old" tingling sensation has resurfaced (tingling on my right cheekbone) disappointring as i had that for ages then it disappered now its back.

Also my right arm is definately getting tingly- and pain in elbow too :weep:
I was kind of forced to go out earlier as id promised my friend i would feed her cats while shes away for a couple of days- ad when i went past the supermarket there were people collecting for MS- and i felt really superstitious ad like it was some kind of sign ( i know that sounds awful- just being really honest!)

I do get cross as what are we meant to do in the meantime whilst waiting for these appointments. Grrr!

Love CCat xx

[CharlieM]

Well I've just been shopping - what an ordeal. I went to Sainsbury's on foot. This is a good 30 min walk. I could have driven, but my first panic attack was in the car and driving now makes me anxious.

Nice and sunny, so off I set. As I got closer to the supermarket, I felt my chest tighten. My pulse was 108. I sat outside for 10 mins until it dropped to 80.

In the supermarket, I felt relly shakey and at one point nearly ran out leaving my trolley in the aisle. I pushed on despite struggling to breath and feeling light headed. Again at the self service checkout I panicked when it required the assistant to do something.

I just about got outside without collapsing. Again I sat for 5 mins while I did some breathing exercises. My chest was sore and my left arm almost numb.

I then carried the bags back at a normal walking pace. As I got closer to home I felt better and am now sat recovering. My pulse is now 72 and the pain in my chest has gone. My left arm is still sore, but no tingling.

What an ordeal just for £35 of shopping!!!!!

[Mr m anxious]

Well done Charlie, guess what, your still alive! It's hard going shopping I've been myself today, felt sore in shoulders and left arm whilst doing it but I'm ok. No tingles myself but nerves in shoulder are burning. Had a Luke warm bath which helped a little. And Charlie if you had heart issues there is no way you'd be able to walk for 30 mins there and back carrying shopping.

[CharlieM]

Mr m,

Thanks. I am fairly confident that my heart is ok. The chest pain I get feels muscular rather than deep inside. It is my left arm and armpit that causes me so many issues. Something is physically wrong, as the pain is permanent. Anxiety makes it worse, but even when my pulse is 60 and I have no butterflies, the pain is always there.

I am seeing a neurologist in about 8 weeks, so hopefully something easy to diagnose and treat will be found. In the meantime, I just try and carry on and hope for more good days than bad.

Hope you are ok this evening.

Charlie

[Mr m anxious]

Me too Charlie, I see neuro in 10 days, I'm hoping it's constant tension that's caused my issues that as you know are similar to yours. Do you get burning nerve feelings in your arm / armpit? My armpit feels on fire sometimes and especially my chest on left and shoulder also left side.

[CharlieM]

That's exactly how mine feels. I can make it less severe by stretching and massaging, but I have yet to find a way to completely get rid of it.

The worst feeling is when it makes my hand tingle, because my pulse increases and then the cycle begins.

[Mr m anxious]

I know the hand tingles because of nerve compression from either neck, shoulder or spine so this I would imagine stems from your armpit. Think me and you have muscles that tense up on the tiniest little thing unfortunately.