WildChinchilla
04-08-14, 19:58
Just over a year ago I developed my health anxiety. It is predominently centered around worrying about my heart. For months I experienced sleeplessness, palpitations, nightmares, paranoia, depersonalization and existential crises, but usually actual anxiety attacks would only be triggered by me worrying either about my heart or my head. However the worries about my head came after, due to concerns about headaches which were most likely caused by tension from the anxiety.
Well it's a year later and I'm on citalopram, I'm generally happy, and I haven't had a full on anxiety attack since before Christmas.
But the problem still remains that I can't jog or play physically exerting sports without worrying about my heart.
The reason why I worry is because my heart seems to go so fast during exercise. When I jog it can very quickly reach between 180-200 bpm and it just doesn't feel right.
It's not like I'm not used to exercise. I have played sports all my life, and even used to do kickboxing which was extremely exhausting.
But I went through a period of my life where I took a lot of drugs such as speed, ecstasy, and occasionally cocaine. And I can't shake the fear that it did a number on my heart.
I have had an ECG but I had it whilst lying down and I know full well that if you want an ECG that tests whether your heart has a problem with exercise then you need to have it done while you are actually doing some exercise.
Whenever I tell doctors I'm still worried, all they do is listen to my heart with a stethoscope and tell me that it sounds fine.
I really want to be properly checked out, but I don't know what to do or say to make this happen.
I want to put this worry to bed once and for all, and I just don't feel like it will be until I feel that I can be confident that my heart is OK, and I can play sport or go for a bike ride without having to stop every few minutes to have a break, worry about my heart, wait for it to slow down, and feel saddened about how trapped I still feel by this problem.
Thanks for reading this, any replies will be greatly appreciated.
PS: I'm in the UK
Well it's a year later and I'm on citalopram, I'm generally happy, and I haven't had a full on anxiety attack since before Christmas.
But the problem still remains that I can't jog or play physically exerting sports without worrying about my heart.
The reason why I worry is because my heart seems to go so fast during exercise. When I jog it can very quickly reach between 180-200 bpm and it just doesn't feel right.
It's not like I'm not used to exercise. I have played sports all my life, and even used to do kickboxing which was extremely exhausting.
But I went through a period of my life where I took a lot of drugs such as speed, ecstasy, and occasionally cocaine. And I can't shake the fear that it did a number on my heart.
I have had an ECG but I had it whilst lying down and I know full well that if you want an ECG that tests whether your heart has a problem with exercise then you need to have it done while you are actually doing some exercise.
Whenever I tell doctors I'm still worried, all they do is listen to my heart with a stethoscope and tell me that it sounds fine.
I really want to be properly checked out, but I don't know what to do or say to make this happen.
I want to put this worry to bed once and for all, and I just don't feel like it will be until I feel that I can be confident that my heart is OK, and I can play sport or go for a bike ride without having to stop every few minutes to have a break, worry about my heart, wait for it to slow down, and feel saddened about how trapped I still feel by this problem.
Thanks for reading this, any replies will be greatly appreciated.
PS: I'm in the UK