TFuller89
07-02-15, 22:13
Hey everyone, I wasn't sure whether or not to post this in the stomach problems forum or health anxiety forum(seeing as it deals with both.) I'll start by saying this is an amazing community from what I've seen and seems very supportive and could very well be just what I need to tackle this health anxiety I've developed over the past few months. I'm a healthy 25(going to be 26 in April) male with GERD and IBS. I shouldn't be so worried about my heart but I'll explain how I got to this point.
My story starts about a week before Halloween 2013. My father had a heart attack and a pulmonary embolism that almost claimed his life. After a very close scrap with death my family became far more health conscious.(After all my father had never been sick a day in his life up till that point with anything more than the flu.) I suppose it was an eye opener. My family for the most part is overweight and weren't the healthiest eaters at that point.(I recall many trips to fast food places to pick up some food with my brother, sometimes eating 2 Chipotle burritos in a day.) Needless to say that it was an eye opener to us. Our family was invincible to what had always seemed like something that always plagued someone else..I mean you'd read about it in the news or online but you'd never think something like that could strike so close to home until it happens to you.
Fast forward a year to August 2014 I had just gotten over a terrible chest virus that had already had me on edge(I had never had symptoms like that at this point..My chest was always clean and free). I visited my doctor for a physical a few weeks later and explained to him about the chest congestion among other things that were troubling me during the physical but he said everything was perfectly fine. My blood pressure was right where it should be, my ekg was completely normal and I didn't have diabetes. I should have been on cloud nine, I had been given a clean bill of health, been told everything was fine and that I was as healthy as could be. Instead I found myself focusing on the negative. If someone as close to me as my Father had heart disease who said it wasn't with me already. It was about that point I started to develop chest pains. Things like heart burn that I had never felt before to such an extent. I remember late one night having particularly bad bout of indigestion, my chest burned and my heart was fluttering, I didn't have any other pain to speak of but my rational mind wouldn't hear it. I was so scared that I turned to Dr. Google..The spiral had begun, the panic had set in. I needed someone to tell me I was going to be okay. Some one to assure me I was just over reacting being that it was about 2 in the morning at this point I did the only thing I thought I could. I called the nurse line for my health insurance. I just needed to hear that I'd be alright..As I talked to the nurse and explained my symptoms I could hear her going through notes and I remember being more and more scared with each passing moment. Then she told me "I'm going to advise you to call 911 immediately. Are you comfortable doing that." I was stunned and scared senseless. I talked to her for a few more minutes trying to change her opinion but it wouldn't. I remember going to my brother on the brink of tears, telling him what had transpired. He regarded me with skepticism that I was really in danger. He said if I wanted to go to the er he would take me but in the end I stayed home and didn't sleep until I physically passed out from exhaustion.
The next day I had calmed down some, I was alive after all and feeling pretty good all things considered. I hadn't had heart burn that day and I figured I'd be alright now, that the "danger" had passed. I had an energy drink and then it happened, I felt my heart racing, my chest burning and this time the tell tale sign of shortness of breath hit me. I sat on the couch in my living room panting and gasping for breath. I had my brother rush me to urgent care, at that part I had started to calm down. By the time I was being examined i knew that if it was the worst that I was going to be okay, I was with trained professionals who'd take care of me and it was in their hands. As I talked to the nurses and doctor the pain began to subside my ekg came back perfectly normal. I talked to them more I told them about the call to the nurse line. I remember the attending nurse looking at me and rolling her eyes and shaking her head. She told me that it was just acid reflux when I asked if they could feel like a heart attack she responded with a laugh and said "Hell yeah, of course they can." That was the day that I was diagnosed with GERD. I was put on 40 mg of protonix and told to follow up with my doctor.
I've lived my life in horrible health anxiety since that diagnosis..I know that chest pain is just part of living with GERD that it's something I'll have to get used to but every time I get a new ache or pain, especially in my chest, arms or back I begin to panic and worry that it's my heart finally giving out on me and it's back to doctor Google to make things even worse. I'm sick of feeling this way..I want to be carefree and happy like I used to be.
I apologize for the long rambling post but I needed to finally vent this after almost six months of dealing with this. Thanks for reading this far if you did.
My story starts about a week before Halloween 2013. My father had a heart attack and a pulmonary embolism that almost claimed his life. After a very close scrap with death my family became far more health conscious.(After all my father had never been sick a day in his life up till that point with anything more than the flu.) I suppose it was an eye opener. My family for the most part is overweight and weren't the healthiest eaters at that point.(I recall many trips to fast food places to pick up some food with my brother, sometimes eating 2 Chipotle burritos in a day.) Needless to say that it was an eye opener to us. Our family was invincible to what had always seemed like something that always plagued someone else..I mean you'd read about it in the news or online but you'd never think something like that could strike so close to home until it happens to you.
Fast forward a year to August 2014 I had just gotten over a terrible chest virus that had already had me on edge(I had never had symptoms like that at this point..My chest was always clean and free). I visited my doctor for a physical a few weeks later and explained to him about the chest congestion among other things that were troubling me during the physical but he said everything was perfectly fine. My blood pressure was right where it should be, my ekg was completely normal and I didn't have diabetes. I should have been on cloud nine, I had been given a clean bill of health, been told everything was fine and that I was as healthy as could be. Instead I found myself focusing on the negative. If someone as close to me as my Father had heart disease who said it wasn't with me already. It was about that point I started to develop chest pains. Things like heart burn that I had never felt before to such an extent. I remember late one night having particularly bad bout of indigestion, my chest burned and my heart was fluttering, I didn't have any other pain to speak of but my rational mind wouldn't hear it. I was so scared that I turned to Dr. Google..The spiral had begun, the panic had set in. I needed someone to tell me I was going to be okay. Some one to assure me I was just over reacting being that it was about 2 in the morning at this point I did the only thing I thought I could. I called the nurse line for my health insurance. I just needed to hear that I'd be alright..As I talked to the nurse and explained my symptoms I could hear her going through notes and I remember being more and more scared with each passing moment. Then she told me "I'm going to advise you to call 911 immediately. Are you comfortable doing that." I was stunned and scared senseless. I talked to her for a few more minutes trying to change her opinion but it wouldn't. I remember going to my brother on the brink of tears, telling him what had transpired. He regarded me with skepticism that I was really in danger. He said if I wanted to go to the er he would take me but in the end I stayed home and didn't sleep until I physically passed out from exhaustion.
The next day I had calmed down some, I was alive after all and feeling pretty good all things considered. I hadn't had heart burn that day and I figured I'd be alright now, that the "danger" had passed. I had an energy drink and then it happened, I felt my heart racing, my chest burning and this time the tell tale sign of shortness of breath hit me. I sat on the couch in my living room panting and gasping for breath. I had my brother rush me to urgent care, at that part I had started to calm down. By the time I was being examined i knew that if it was the worst that I was going to be okay, I was with trained professionals who'd take care of me and it was in their hands. As I talked to the nurses and doctor the pain began to subside my ekg came back perfectly normal. I talked to them more I told them about the call to the nurse line. I remember the attending nurse looking at me and rolling her eyes and shaking her head. She told me that it was just acid reflux when I asked if they could feel like a heart attack she responded with a laugh and said "Hell yeah, of course they can." That was the day that I was diagnosed with GERD. I was put on 40 mg of protonix and told to follow up with my doctor.
I've lived my life in horrible health anxiety since that diagnosis..I know that chest pain is just part of living with GERD that it's something I'll have to get used to but every time I get a new ache or pain, especially in my chest, arms or back I begin to panic and worry that it's my heart finally giving out on me and it's back to doctor Google to make things even worse. I'm sick of feeling this way..I want to be carefree and happy like I used to be.
I apologize for the long rambling post but I needed to finally vent this after almost six months of dealing with this. Thanks for reading this far if you did.