I get ALL the symptoms of a heart attack at once!

[Maple]

Again, I find myself in a really dark place and could do with some reassurance from someone who can relate.

I know panic attacks can mimic the feeling having a heart attack, and I've been through that myself several times.

However, for the past few days I've had all of these symptoms pretty much all the time. As soon as I get out of my chair and start walking a few feet I immediately get cramp-like pains in my chest, upper back, jaw, left arm and throat.

Does anyone get all of these feelings with even mild exercise from anxiety alone?

[smine]

i'm going to ask the obvious... have you been examined medically since this started happening? it's likely that the results would assist you in allaying your concerns somewhat...

[Maple]

Hi. Yes I have been to the ER twice since Christmas as well as seen a cardiologist and taken ECG at rest etc. The doctors see no reason for further investigation into my heart. I also have a booked appointment with a CBT therapist in a few weeks.

I do realize my problem is most likely caused entirely by stress and anxiety, but my symptoms are so overwhelmingly physical it's really hard to try and rationalize when I have them. And I find myself in constant doubt that my mind alone could give these strong pains.
It's really puzzling to me.

[Emilym80]

Hi. Yes I have been to the ER twice since Christmas as well as seen a cardiologist and taken ECG at rest etc. The doctors see no reason for further investigation into my heart. I also have a booked appointment with a CBT therapist in a few weeks.

I do realize my problem is most likely caused entirely by stress and anxiety, but my symptoms are so overwhelmingly physical it's really hard to try and rationalize when I have them. And I find myself in constant doubt that my mind alone could give these strong pains.
It's really puzzling to me.

Psychosomatic symptoms can be incredibly powerful, especially if you're already anticipating them. It sounds like you have them pretty much constantly; I don't mean to dismiss your concerns, but I think if you were having genuine cardiac events you'd be in a fair bit of trouble by now.

If you're still doubting that anxiety can cause these symptoms, think about hysterical pregnancies. Women and even men have morning sickness and the cessation of menstruation- some even feel the foetus moving (when in reality there is none) and even eventually go into labour! Or, for instance, there are cases of people having blood test results mixed up with another patient's and being told they have cancer. Their symptoms become so severe that they almost die, but they then find out that they never had cancer and feel better almost immediately.

Therefore, it's entirely possible and quite likely that you're experiencing anxiety alone, especially if the cardiologist feels there's nothing to be concerned about.

Hopefully this alleviates some of your concern :)

---------- Post added at 12:31 ---------- Previous post was at 12:28 ----------

Also, for what it's worth, I used to get pretty bad chest pains and heart palpitations (as well as jaw pain, arm pain and tingling). I had a cardiac evaluation and was told there wasn't anything wrong with my heart and they went away almost immediately.

[DDB90]

Hey Maple I hope you are doing better, I just wanted to let you know that I have heart worries as well, chest hurts all day, Jaw pain, heart pounding skipping beats. I've had all the heart tests done and they say I'm ok though
All I can say is to keep pushing on

[Maple]

Hi Emilym80 and DDB90, thank you for your replies.

Since my last post about a month ago, things have calmed down ever so slightly. I've not had many full blown panic attacks over the past few weeks, but I still walk around all day with a pretty much constant feeling of tightness/preassure around my chest and throat and this nagging doom-ish feeling.

I can feel almost fine for some periods of time, sometimes lasting almost an entire day, but eventually something sets the anxiety off. A skipped beat, a cramp like feeling around my throat, etc, and cue all kinds of horrible thoughts about the state of my heart. I've noticed, everytime someting triggers my anxiety and heart worry, I tend to get these vivid pictures in my mind of my sick, dark red, almost rotting heart, arteries clogged with greasy yellow fat. So, that really freaks me out and I don't know what I can do not to get these visual associations. It's really wearing me down and both my mind and body feel just completely exausted at this point.

I've been seeing a CBT therapist twice. She has given me some assignments along the line of keeping an anxiety diary, where I'm supposed to write down when my anxiety triggers, what triggers it and what kind of negative thoughts and worries I create as a response. It's too early to tell if these exercises will help, but time will tell I guess.

The good news (I suppose) is that I've been feeling like utter crap for over three months now, with daily fatigue, chest pains, dizziness etc etc, and I'm still alive! So that's something I guess. Now if only I could feel alive as well. I miss that.

[Jericho]

Hello all,

I too have had the EKG, Stress test, Cardiologist visit, etc... - everything is fine -- but every now and then all the symptoms hit at once - tight chest, left arm tingling, fatigue. Funny how I 'know' my heart is healthy and yet I still can't just dismiss the sensations when they hit me. I shovel snow for 45 minutes or go to the Gym for a workout - yet when I get home and am sitting on the Couch - then I think I could have a heart attack - lol - silly if it wasn't such scary physical symptoms. On the positive side - everyday that goes by with the tight chest and other symptoms and I'm still here - is one step closer to letting go of this anxiety !. Thanks everyone for posting !

[Emilym80]

I find some CBT that really helps with these kinds of worries is to accept both your anxiety and whatever it's causing.

For instance, every time I notice myself worrying about something in a way that is disproportionate to the actual threat, I accept it and it soon passes. If you can do this every single time you worry about your heart, you may find quite quickly that it doesn't seem such a big deal.

This is harder to do, but try and feel the same way about any physical symptoms you get- even palpitations! If you accept that you're going to have them and simply notice them they will hopefully bother you less and as a result occur less frequently.

Best wishes :)