fear of heart attack

[mollyring]

Hi everyone,

recently my dad was diagnosed with heart disease and ever since then I've been constantly worried about him. I have suffered from anxiety for 10 years and it's never been this bad.

I have convinced myself i have something wrong with my heart, i had bad chest pains last week and went to A&E, had an ecg and blood tests but they were all fine but i can't relax. Now i have acid reflux problems due to stress I've lost my appetite, feel depressed, hardly get any sleep and when do i'm woken with such a fast heartbeat i feel like it's going to pop out of my chest. i'm more worried about my dad than he is. I do have other worries, i just left my job and just other things going on in life, if i didn't have the chest pans i would be a little ok but they freak me out. I've heard of something called solder's heart syndrome and i'm wondering if i have that.

I just don't know how to relax. :unsure:

Thanks for listening

[TelBoy]

Hi There...

I have had exactly THE same as you.... I have been to A&E 5 times in the
last 4 or 5 years with the same dreadful things as you... It is kind of good to know that they are checking us to make sure of things.. but on the other hand, I always think, have they missed something!!? I went to the GP about all this and he sent me to the cardiac unit at the hospital and I had yet more heart scans and also they put me on the heart research programme... the doctor there said, that this would be far more thorough than any A&E and for more thorough than you would get on a ward... so I said YES:)) I will go on this... It was one day a week for 6 weeks, they did every test you can imagine, CT scans, ECGs, Radio Active Dye put in you to light your heart up when they scan everything so they can see everything in detail.. the last thing was the treadmill....At the end of it they said that I was fine:)) great feeling... you should ask to have this done, then you WILL know:))) however I DO know what you are feeling, I have had this loads of times and it frightens you to death because you think, oh god this IS it, I am actually dying... believe me,, I know what you are feeling and the worry and anxiety that goes with it... If you live in London or can get there easy... just go into the London chest/heart hospital, they will soon find out if anything is wrong:)) That will be my next step if I get any more problems. I have known other people who have been there and been sorted.. Good luck let me know:)))

[MyNameIsTerry]

Are you on any anti-depressant medication? Has your GP referred you for therapy such as CBT? These could help you to get this under control.

It's very easy for a traumatic experience to cause your anxiety to increase so you need a way to process those thoughts and sensations which is where CBT can help you.

Have you tried Mindfulness meditation? It can help you learn to relax and trust yourself.

I had CBT and one of the triggers is Environmental Factors. These are the ones that exist that we have no control over. In these cases we have to learn how to accept that they are there and to not pay attention to them which can break the cycle. I know that sounds hard given your dad is going through health problems but you need to process it and get beyond it.

Have you spoken to your dad about how he feels about it? If he has accepted it, perhaps he can help you to?

[Antianxiety]

You can count me in as having the same symptoms except I feel an increasing burning sensation in my shoulders and neck. I've been it's anxiety but my cardio is still having me do all the tests. Blood work was all excellent. Of course I keep thinking something is off. Anxiety really stinks!

[Antianxiety]

A bit outdated post but for the record my heart checked out fine. Definitely anxiety doing this! Feeling better now :)