View Full Version : Is it just me?
mummyanxious
02-11-13, 15:15
Is anyone else literally terrified of their own heart or is it just me?
Has anyone else had any really worrying heart symptoms other than palpitations that have turned out to be nothing to worry about?
I seem to constantly be getting painful stabs in my chest now which come with a heartbeat.
I just don't know what else the dr can do to help me. Ive had a couple of ecgs which were normal but of course nothing ever happens when you're hooked up to the machine.
I've made myself yet another appointment with the dr but I feel just embarrassed to go as I know they're going to tell me to go away again but this is really taking over my life. I want to be happy and enjoy my children not be in constant fear or dropping down.
I feel severely fatigued again today and I think its because my heart isn't working properly.
It feels like even doing a small task like climbing the stairs makes me have heart issues. I feel like I'm on the verge of keeling over. I feel really lightheaded and spaced out today as well.
Look I can get my giddy up over just about anything. And I'm horribly selective about what I do and do not decide to panic over.
As an example I don't give a monkeys about bills and money. I have enough or I don't *meh* ... I don't care what other people think, because I know I'm 'good people'.
However I can get excited to hell and back over something like a funny comment by a nurse or doctor or, like yesterday, a bit of a bleed after a bowel movement. Hell I got more anxious than a virgin on her wedding night when my husband was told that HE had dangerously high blood pressure. He just sat there and said 'well life's for living, and I've lived in a fashion that's brought this on so ... ' and then he shrugged. He really wasn't bothered.
My point is - the nature of anxiety disorder is irrational and intrusive thoughts. We're misery bags, always looking for danger and assuming the worst. It is, to all intents and purposes, what we do best ... we worry. And if we've nothing to worry about we look for something.
It is exhausting. It's ridiculous when you really think about it. And very very wasteful. But - it is an illness, as real and valid as the flu or a broken leg. And we do have the means to get well.
Re your heart, you are ok. Your anxiety is a big mouth, and you know it. You need to learn to regain control of it, pretty much like most of us on the site. And I'm positive that we all will, in our own time.
You are fine :hugs:
nomorepanic
03-11-13, 01:04
Why not join a forum that can really help like the BHF:
http://community.bhf.org.uk/forum
My point is - the nature of anxiety disorder is irrational and intrusive thoughts. We're misery bags, always looking for danger and assuming the worst. It is, to all intents and purposes, what we do best ... we worry. And if we've nothing to worry about we look for something.
It is exhausting. It's ridiculous when you really think about it. And very very wasteful. But - it is an illness, as real and valid as the flu or a broken leg. And we do have the means to get well.
Re your heart, you are ok. Your anxiety is a big mouth, and you know it. You need to learn to regain control of it, pretty much like most of us on the site. And I'm positive that we all will, in our own time.
Well said!
livethelife
03-11-13, 01:32
Heart stuff is a big worry for sure. over my years with HA (about 35 yrs total thankfully not all in a bad state) i have divided my worry about 50/50 between heart stuff and cancer. if your doctors have done all the tests on your heart then you have believe it is anxiety that is causing the problem. i would make sure to have a stress test (treadmill), echocardiogram and also a a 24 monitor that monitors your heart rhythm (not a 24 hour blood pressure monitor although that wouldn't hurt either) - once you have had all of that and it is all normal then start thinking anxiety.
i get palpitations but have had other stuff too- feeling like a can't get a deep breath, feel tired (i.e. having trouble holding my arms up to dry my hair/needing to sit down to dry my hair), waking up startled / feeling like my heart stopped while falling asleep over and over and over again for hours on the same night before finally sleeping after taking clonazepam.
all of that to say- get all the tests done if you haven't already and then deal with the anxiety.
another problem i find is that once i get the all clear on the tests i think i am "cured" so i never seek the help/counselling that i need. i am good until the next worry comes along - sometimes a year goes by and sometimes it is more frequent. then i realize that i am not cured at all. if i survive this round then i really think it is time to seek professional health because i am a mess right now.
mummyanxious
03-11-13, 08:18
Oh gosh I'm not sure its a good idea for me to go in that forum, surely it'll make me worse? These are people with actual heart issues and that is just going to convince me further there's something wrong?
Thanks for your replies. I have had all those tests a couple of years ago and they won't repeat them because they just hear that I'm under stress and attribute it to that.
The most frightening thing for me is when I get a run of four or five in a row normal skip normal skip. Or they're spaced irregularly so the pauses are longer or come quicker. These events usually happen at night when I'm trying to sleep.
The other most frightening thing is when I get a spasm of pain with a heartbeat. Like a hard squeezing or sometimes lighter like a flicking feeling.
I've described all this to the dr but they just brush it off as muscular and I know its not. Its like fishmanpa said that time, its a feeling that you just know its coming from the heart. They won't take me seriously. Pain with a heartbeat cannot be normal.
---------- Post added at 08:18 ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 ----------
Oh now I'm worried these pains could be coronary artery spams
I agree with Nicola MummyA...
Perhaps an entire forum of heart patients can help convince you what both Nic and I have tried to no avail to do.
Good Luck!
mummyanxious, the primary and most important thing you need to do right away is STOP GOOGLING.
I spent 3 years at University, was a nurse for 12 and have never even heard of 'coronary artery spasms'.
It will just exacerbate your fears. Nothing ever useful.
You must try to rationalise somehow that your aches and pains and exhaustion are patently not heart related and directly and more likely related to your high, high anxiety. Chest pains and exhaustion, lightheadedness and feeling spaced out are ALL classic anxiety symptoms.
It sounds to me that you are are so wound up you are making yourself feel quite unwell physically. It is very hard to believe anxiety can do that, but having been there a million times over myself (and I'm sure many others here too) it really can.
I have had your symptoms. Years and years of palpatations that come and go. An irregular heartbeat noticed not by me, but by a GP with a stethoscope, the normal ECG, the exhaustion, the thumping chest pains, the fainting, you name it.
I'm still here, as is my anxiety, the only major diagnosed problem I DO have!
Are you being treated at all for your anxiety? I think it would be far better to see your doctor about that rather than anything further heart related in all honesty hun.x:hugs:
mummyanxious
03-11-13, 16:13
Coronary artery spasms were on the link Nicola said I should go visit ^^^
Mummy you really need to focus your time and energy on your HA. It's clear that we're not managing to allay your fears.
You are ill, you have an anxiety disorder, deal with that. Just because it's not an ache, or it's not giving you a headache doesn't mean that you're not ill. Heal the HA if you want to start enjoying life.
mummyanxious
03-11-13, 20:05
I am grateful for everyone's input I really am.
Its just all the time you're told skipped beats are fine as long as they're not accompanied by pain and I'm getting spasms of pain with my skipped beats.
I've got 'indigestion' again tonight and its making me anxious. Having read somewhere completely innocently that people with frequent indigestion should get checked out for heart problems.
MummyA,
As always, check with your GP but perhaps you can try taking an OTC acid reducer AM and PM... like a generic version of Zantac 150. I take one AM and PM as per doctors orders and I have no indigestion/acid reflux/chest pain issues.
Good Luck!
I agree with Fishmanpa.
If you have indigestion too, it may well be linked to your pains. They could be caused by bad acid reflux. I have had this too, where I get a kind of bubbling sensation and pain that feels like a thumping heart/palpatation, but it is just reflux.
I take an excellent liquid antacid called 'Maalox antacid.' I buy it online as it is the best I've come across for heartburn/reflux. I found Gaviscon was not that good anymore, and found this after good reviews of it.
It is brill and worth a try (or any antacid) to see if this helps any of your chest issues.x
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