checking pulse

[fisher]

hi everyone i just want to say hello and its lovely to know that if you have a worry you can just leave a message, anyway i will begin, i have got a health phobia, i am obsessed with worrying about myself thinking i have got something wrong all the time, my fear is having something wrong with my heart, i can always feel it beating, and 4yrs ago i had an ecg, 24hr tape, heart scan, chest xray done and they said i had ectopic heartbeats, then when i started suffering from anxiety 2yrs ago i went private to see a cardiologist and he done a heart scan, ecg, 24hr tape, it came back fine just an accelleration of my own heart beating,but ever since i go into anxiety when either my heart beats to hard or goes abit faster, but i cant just ignore it because i can feel it constantly, i am checking my bp all the time to see what my pulse is, it is getting to be obsessive, how can i say to myself i have got a healthy heart because i am thinking all the time, it was 2yrs ago now that i got checked out so something could of developed by now,silly arent i but its the way i feel,i am worrying over that sudden death syndrome because i work in a hospital and they brought a young lad in and he had been playing footy he was only 30yrs old and he had had a massive heart attack, it really plays on my mind,do you think the doctors would of picked something up with me if there was anything wrong? my job is doing me know good, i dont know what the best help would be for me, i was thinking of cbt.

[ruthb1]

hi fisher,

i know exactly what you mean, i developed my health anxiety relating to heart attacks two years ago after my partner suffered 2 within 3 months at an early age. my problems like you developed when i found myself constantly checking my pulse, becuae i knew how to do it, because i had too with my partner, this is one of the key things to get over your anxiety. its like a habit but you have got to break that habit becuase all you are doing at the moment is re-enforcing the issue relating to your heart. what you have got to do is the next time you go to check your pulse, try and stop yourself, maybe pyut an elastic band on your wrist or something to distract you from doing it, or try and do something else when you think about it, it is hard i know, mine went on for quite a time but, i dont do it know as i know it will freak me out, i do still have other symptoms but i have to try and battle things one at a time so this may be the first thing for you.

let me know how you are getting on, i would love to hear and any advice you need just let me know


take care


ruth

[potts1]

hello fisher i am excatly like you i worry about adult death sydrome and check my pulse all the time . im sure they have missed something but you know reading your post has showed me how common and normal this is with anxiety . i to have a very fast heart and mine misses beats like thuds in my chest they scared me at first but im starting to relax cut back on caffine go de cafe on tea and coffee it might help . also try relaxtion i still get it but im abit more relaxed about it . it does nt hel[p to worry about things that have not happen yet and we can do little to prevent but like i said you have had all the tests a serious defect would have showed 2 years ago so my doc tells me as i had mine done 2 years ago i hope this helps you tc xxxxxxx

m potts

[fisher]

hi thankyou for the replies it is great to listen to other people, i will keep in touch and let you know how i am getting on x

[belle]

Hi. I think i have heart problems. I was back and forth to the doctors so many times. I've been attached to the 48 hr heart moniter, i've had numerous ECGs, i regulary check my pulse (usually 72bps), i use my mothers BP machine when i go to hers too. This is started back in 2001(ish). I started getting terrible pains in my chest, arms, neck, jaw (all classic heart attack symptoms, but also classic anxiety symptoms!!). I just kept going back to the doctors to tell them that i thought i had something serious (mother has HIGH BP and Cholesterol, dad has MVP, my grandmother, my mums mum died when her aorta burst, mums dad dropped dead from a heart attack and my mums brother also had high BP, angina...etc). To say heart related illness in my family exists is an understatement, so its no wonder i had problems!!
What makes me WORSE if thats possible, is the night my grandmother died, she was babysitting me (i was 11 and alone with her), but before i went to bed she said to me "I wouldn't be surprised if i died tonight". About half an hour later i heard her cough so i knew she was alright and i went to sleep. An hour later i was woken up by my mother trying to get in the house and as i come downstairs, there lies my gran dead in the utility room. Now, her last words to me echo constantly and i seem to say them to myself and i've convinced myself that i am going to die just like my gran did after she said them!!! (My gran WAS 78!!!!!!!)
Let me tell you something i heard once. IF you have a panic attack, panic usually comes out in a way that you are scared off. IE...When i was more scared of puking, i would ALWAYS feel like i was going to puke. When i thought i was going to faint, i would ALWAYS feel dizzy and now i fear dying....i will ALWAYS get chest pains, arm pains and feelings of not being able to breath. Anxiety is very clever!
I am rambling...sorry!!!!!

Sarah

[fisher]

hi sarah you arent rambling, we are all here to listen, it is a horrible thing to have, if you want to talk email me on buttonsj@hotmail.co.uk, it would be great to here how you are getting on x

[ruthb1]

sarah,

i can really emphasise with you on this one, as you can see from my post my partner has suffered 2 heart attacks, if you need to talk, im here, dont suffer alaone hun

and anyone else for that matter


take care


ruth

[belle]

Dear Lord it got so much worse. My mother yesterday collasped in a cafe and was taken to hospital. Everything is just crap!!!! Thank God she is out and she is okay but refusing to "take it easy" which is what her body was clearly telling her to do.
SarahC