Heart Disease....Carotid Artery

[anxiouskitten]

I've got myself convinced that I have heart disease....I've had probably eight ECGs in the last eighteen months, three comprehensive blood panels, and two visits to the cardiologist....I don't smoke, my blood pressure is on the low side of normal, my cholesterol numbers are great, no diabetes, no history of heart disease in my family....when I saw the cardiologist in August he told me that my heart was healthy and I shouldn't worry....so why is it that I'm wide awake and in a panic at 3:30AM (I'm in the U.S.) because I think I'm going to have a heart attack or stroke at any minute? I've been having palpitations off and on for months (feels as though my heart is racing although my resting heart rate is consistently in the high sixties or low seventies).....my head has been hurting for about a week and my neck feels tender on the sides and behind my ears (hence my fixation on the carotid artery)....and my TMJ area and temples hurt. Should I be insisting on further cardiac tests (echocardiogram, stress test, imaging of my arteries)? I've read (yes, I've been googling) that ECGs aren't enough to detect heart disease.....I'm really scared :(

[Sam100322]

If your doctor says your fine then don't worry about it.

[Fishmanpa]

I've got myself convinced that I have heart disease....I've had probably eight ECGs in the last eighteen months, three comprehensive blood panels, and two visits to the cardiologist....I don't smoke, my blood pressure is on the low side of normal, my cholesterol numbers are great, no diabetes, no history of heart disease in my family....when I saw the cardiologist in August he told me that my heart was healthy and I shouldn't worry....so why is it that I'm wide awake and in a panic at 3:30AM (I'm in the U.S.) because I think I'm going to have a heart attack or stroke at any minute? I've been having palpitations off and on for months (feels as though my heart is racing although my resting heart rate is consistently in the high sixties or low seventies).....my head has been hurting for about a week and my neck feels tender on the sides and behind my ears (hence my fixation on the carotid artery)....and my TMJ area and temples hurt. Should I be insisting on further cardiac tests (echocardiogram, stress test, imaging of my arteries)? I've read (yes, I've been googling) that ECGs aren't enough to detect heart disease.....I'm really scared :(

That says it right there! Besides, the corotid artery is huge. I have heart disease and there's plaque in my corotids and aortic arch. My cardiologist explained that it's like having a grain of sand in a storm drain ;)

The reason you feel as you do is because of anxiety disorder, plain and simple. Your post is indicative of thousands of others with the same fears.
Are you getting treated for that?

Positive thoughts

[anxiouskitten]

Hi fishmanpa....thanks for the reply. Yes, I'm in therapy for an anxiety disorder that was diagnosed last year....I thought I was making progress, but these physical symptoms keep throwing me for a loop...it's just very frustrating. I do try to stay positive, but some days it's very difficult, and that's when the health anxiety comes raging back in.....and the worst thing I can do is Google my sympts, but I'm like an addict....suppose it's because I still haven't truly accepted all of this as anxiety, so my quest for what's "really" wrong continues.

[Avasmummy_x]

You are fine hun. I suffer palps a lot and my bp is on the low side ( i used to have high bp during pregnancy which sparked fears off ) and suffer sudden on sets of breathlessness. Like you I was determined I had a clogged artery or some for of heart disease. Read up ecgs aren't good enough to detect ect drove my doctor mad and a year later he reffered me for a echo scan. Guess what? All normal? Am I still alive? Do I still have the symptoms? Yes! Gotta love anxiety xx

[SarahH]

Its classic anxiety! Listen to Fishmanpa...everything he has written is exactly what I was about to write when I read this post.

Sarah