chest pain

[ella32]

I'm back again with stupid chest pain and the worry that automatically happens with it. I am so fed up now with this constant chest pain . I'm doing everything I can to tell myself I'm fine but can't seem to reassure myself. Even relaxing I get the pain and sometimes taking a deep breath buggering hurts my chest . Constantly have palpitations I just feel like I'm waiting for something to happen and its completely draining me. My doctor told me the last time that he won't do anymore ecgs because it just feeding the fear and in the long run it not helping me . He said every ecg I've had has been normal so he's not concerned in anyway about my heart wish I could be so optimistic. I'm always thinking something going to happen with my heart and its getting harder to control the thoughts. Just looking for advice and help cause I'm at rock bottom again.xxx cardiologist in March last year said heart was fine and he didn't need to see me anymore so can't even discuss any of this with him and I can't afford to go private so I'm stuck with the pain and fear.xx

[Fishmanpa]

Hi Ella,

I took a look back through your posts and you've been dealing with this for several years now. Have you sought help for your anxiety? Chest pain and palps are a common symptom of anxiety disorder. It makes sense that treating the real problem would help eliminate the physical symptoms it causes.

Positive thoughts

[ella32]

Hi I'm under the care of a psychiatrist at the moment and he has said that he has put me down for cbt but haven't heard anything yet. I'm just so fed up of this now. I'm fed up of fear and thoughts surrounding heart. I'm going to be a grandmother in December my first grandchild and I'm so buggering wrapped up in the heart fears that I can't even seem to get past it. I want my kids and my grandchild to b proud of me .xxx

[Fishmanpa]

Hopefully the CBT will come through soon. The fact is, if there were something sinister going on after all these years, you would know it by now. Anxiety/stress causes physical symptoms and chest pain is one of the most common. From the symptoms link.

Heart palpitations, chest pain, irregular beats, flutters, skipped beats

What you feel:

One of the most worrying symptoms is chest pains or a tight feeling in your chest. The immediate thought is "heart attack" or "stroke" and this only worries you more. You may also notice that your heartbeat is incredibly fast or irregular at times having palpitations and again this leads to the worry that you will have a heart attack.

Often the chest muscles may feel very tight, and sometimes they can become painful if they are tight enough to spasm. Because the individual may become concerned that they may be having a heart attack, their fear will add to the stress biology which can not only worsen the pain, but can produce other symptoms similar to a heart attack such as profuse sweating, light-headedness and numbness in the arms, feet or face.

These increased symptoms can also cause more fear which then can turn into a panic attack

Your heart feels like it skips a beat or flops in your chest. It sometimes may feel like a tickle in your chest that makes you cough. If you take your pulse, you'll notice that sometimes the beats are unevenly spaced.

You may experience a tightness or pressure in the chest. Sometimes you may feel shooting pains, or muscle twitches, or just an uneasiness or fullness in the chest area which causes you concern

There is no evidence that panic and anxiety has any adverse effect on the heart and the pains are easily explained.

What causes this:

Stress biology causes the heart rate to increase. It does this so that the body is ready to take action. It's like in drag racing, drivers get their RPM's up prior to the green light so that they can hit the light with maximum torque. Since the stimulant hormone adrenaline, the body's super fuel, is produced when danger is perceived, the heart rate is naturally increased.

Once the stimulant is used and eliminated from the body, the heart rate will return to its normal range.

Moderate regular exercise helps to regulate this symptom.

When you start panicking the whole of your body becomes tense and this includes your muscles.

The chest pains you experience are due to the constricting of the chest wall muscles and the muscles between your ribs and not due to any actual muscles in your heart and the best cure is to start stretching these muscles gently to relieve the pain. Although you may not feel like doing any exercise whilst getting these pains, try stretching your arms above and behind your head, out to the sides and bending over gently to relieve the pain.

Naturally most people are dreadfully worried about their hearts but if your G.P. has given you the all clear cardiac wise – then do not be alarmed if the chest pains and palpitations come back and last for more than a day. If it is related to panic, although it is painful and worrying, the pains will subside if you try gentle exercise and ignore them.

Regular exercise and deep relaxation help to minimize this symptom. Also, staying away from artificial stimulants such as caffeine, chocolate, high doses of raw sugar (such as pastries, sweets, cookies, etc.) and smoking help to keep this symptom in check.



Positive thoughts

[ella32]

Thanks .xx I'm ready to overcome this heart fears and move forward in my life. Xxx

[Solus]

This topic certainly helps regarding my own problems thanks