Really need some help please

[ella32]

I need some help please I'm struggling really badly at the moment. I keep getting chest pains every day I've had a stress test done in January and it was normal. I have had more ecgs done then I can count ,numerous bloods taken in hospital and chest X-ray's the latest one was 10 days ago but I'm still terrified something is wrong with my heart. I get pressure feeling in chest ,pains in left arm ,pains in left jaw but they keep telling me it's anxiety but I don't believe it and I don't know what to do anymore. This fear of having heart attack and dying has spiralled over the last two months. My mam passed away suddenly 8 weeks ago and my fear has gotten worse since then . I'm scared 24 hours a day I can't cope anymore.xxx

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your issue.

This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.

[ServerError]

Sorry to hear about your loss Ella, and that you're struggling at the moment.

I would put this question to you, and please don't think for a second I'm being rude or unsympathetic: what do you think you might get from a group of anxiety sufferers on a forum that the doctors haven't given you? (Besides support, of course)

The doctors have cleared you, so you're almost certainly in good physical health. However, you're still suffering, and I wouldn't wish to diminish that. I would speculate that it's linked to your recent loss. I hope you're getting some real-world support.

[Fishmanpa]

I know you were working on CBT a while back. Perhaps employing some of those techniques would be helpful.

Positive thoughts

[ella32]

I don't really have anyone I can talk to about this heart fear because I don't want to burden anyone . I'm just scared all the time because of it. Fishmanpa I did finish my cbt but at the moment because of how much a hold this fear has on me nothing is helping at the moment. I don't know what happened my mam we have to wait for results and that's making it harder because the waiting is awful but either way it's not going to bring my mam back and I'm still struggling to deal with losing my mam aswell. I just can't get my mind to accept that physically my heart is fine and these chest pains aren't heart related plus the panic attacks are back daily aswell. I feel so overwhelmed and lost and alone.x

[Fishmanpa]

I'm truly sorry about your Mom and I know this has escalated your symptoms and fears but that all they are... symptoms and fears caused by anxiety. You have medical proof your heart is fine.

Perhaps you should look into some grief counseling to help you cope with your loss. I hope you feel better soon.

Positive thoughts

[Mercime]

Ella, you're not alone and you can voice your fears here - do your best to listen to the replies though. I'm very sorry you have lost your mum and grief combined with fear is awful.
But - it sounds like mum passed without warning. She probably didn't have any of the tests you have had. If there was something wrong, the tests would have found it. You have been checked thoroughly, and your heart is fine. Will you try and hold onto that fact? You are well.

My thoughts are with you at this sad time x

[ella32]

Sorry to be posting again but I can't cope with this anymore. I don't know what is wrong with me. I post about chest pains and palpitations and other stuff that goes on with the chest and even though I've had tests done on heart and all fine I can't accept it and it's ruining my life. Today I'm having pain in centre of chest and it's going into the right side of chest aswell and I'm bloody terrified incase it sign of heart attack . I've had countless ecgs done numerous bloods taken and been to hospital countless times because of chest pains but I can't accept it not anything to do with heart . I'm scared right now and I want to run to hospital but I was only there 11 days ago. I genuinely don't know what to do anymore.x

[sidiam]

Ella,
It is awful what you are feeling and very frightening and very real. All your tests came back ok so that is a blessing but you have to accept this and that is so hard.
I can't really help you except to say that trying to do something to occupy your mind might give some relief. Have you anyone you can talk to?
Has your doctor given you medication,
I hope you are feeling calmer,
take care
Sxx

[Gary A]

Sorry to be posting again but I can't cope with this anymore. I don't know what is wrong with me. I post about chest pains and palpitations and other stuff that goes on with the chest and even though I've had tests done on heart and all fine I can't accept it and it's ruining my life. Today I'm having pain in centre of chest and it's going into the right side of chest aswell and I'm bloody terrified incase it sign of heart attack . I've had countless ecgs done numerous bloods taken and been to hospital countless times because of chest pains but I can't accept it not anything to do with heart . I'm scared right now and I want to run to hospital but I was only there 11 days ago. I genuinely don't know what to do anymore.x

I'll bet you that if me, or anyone else on this forum sat and focused our entire attention on the sensations in our chest, we would feel pains as well. As I said to you yesterday, there is far more in your chest than just your heart. There are muscles, bones, tendons and nerves that can all ache and pain.

You are not having a heart attack. You have had more tests done than my father, who suffered a severe heart attack at the beginning of May. Trust me, there was no mistaking it then, I knew he was having a heart attack just by looking at him. He didn't sit for months on end complaining of slight pains or whatever, it just hit him like a tonne of bricks, and he has since told me that the pain was so intense that he felt like he couldn't talk.

Yet, here you are, posting on an Internet forum very coherently. Spot the difference? I'm pretty sure that my dads last thought during his heart attack was to go online and ask strangers about his symptoms, he looked me in the eye and demanded an ambulance.

I'm not telling you this to freak you out, I'm merely pointing out that heart attacks really don't come subtly. Also remember that 99% of heart attacks are simply the end result of untreated heart disease. That you have been tested and re-tested constantly, and your last round of testing was less than two weeks ago, points 100% to you having no heart disease. So, given that, why would you all of a sudden just have a heart attack?

Try to think logically and calmly. This hand wringing is getting you absolutely nowhere. See your doctor about referral for another type of therapy, as clearly CBT wasn't for you.

[Mercime]

Ella, you're the only one that can change this. Lots of replies have explained to you why you're not about to have a heart attack. You can either challenge the thoughts you're having, even though you're terrified, or continue to live like this - but if you do, then it won't change and you will continue to have to live with this fear.
Your anxiety is what is the real problem, and what you need to change. The only person that can do that is you x

[sophiethestar]

A few years ago I was exactly the same, Having these sharp pains in my chest and palpitations. I had all sorts of tests done which said I was fine. Funnily enough, it all stopped when I just stopped thinking about it. That's the hardest part. I find when I'm nervous or stressed, I feel a slight twinge but I'm determined to not let it come back in full swing. Remember that anxiety can cause these symptoms.

[ella32]

Thank you so much everyone for your replies. I just seem to be caught up in this cycle of anxiety which is hard to break at the moment. Xx

[ella32]

I've just had a sharp stabbing pain that has gone through my left chest area out to my back. It feels like someone is stabbing me . Have had heart tests done this year and all fine . I think because it's on the left side i automatically think it heart . Anyone else get this at all. The two things that I fixate on having health anxiety is either the heart or clot. So aswell as worrying about the heart I also worry incase it a clot in lung. It's never ending.x I had a d dimer blood test done on the 13th of this month and it was normal so they told me at the hospital where it was done.x

[Elen]

Ella just to advise you that I have merged this thread with some of your earlier threads.

This is nothing personal, it just makes the forum easier to use.

Elen

[Gary A]

I've just had a sharp stabbing pain that has gone through my left chest area out to my back. It feels like someone is stabbing me . Have had heart tests done this year and all fine . I think because it's on the left side i automatically think it heart . Anyone else get this at all. The two things that I fixate on having health anxiety is either the heart or clot. So aswell as worrying about the heart I also worry incase it a clot in lung. It's never ending.x I had a d dimer blood test done on the 13th of this month and it was normal so they told me at the hospital where it was done.x

Again, you have had numerous heart tests and tests to rule out clots.

I have tried to tell you repeatedly that we all get twinges and pains in the chest area. I have tried to tell you repeatedly that the only reason you feel these things more than the average person is because you are completely and utterly fixated on the area.

There is nothing wrong with your heart. I appreciate that you've attempted therapy but I will ask you again to go back and see your doctor and ask them about referral for another type of therapy, and perhaps some medication.

I have been posting here for well over a year and in that time you have been worried about your heart. If there truly were a problem, given all the tests you've had, it would have been found by now.

Please try as hard as you can to accept that your heart is fine and that your main problem is anxiety.

[Mercime]

I get a sharp stabbing pain directly over where my heart is. It feels like a knife has been pushed right through and I struggle to breathe for a few seconds. The pain eases and I'm left with a dull ache that travels to my shoulder. Yes, I get it too. I know the symptoms of a heart attack so I know that I'm not having one, even though it's a horrible pain.
I know that I'm anxious and breathe incorrectly at times, I know if I focus on it, it makes it much, much worse.

Only you can break the cycle Ella. You don't need any more tests xx