Carotid IMT ultrasound test

[Shelly]

Hi, I have posted once before regarding atrial fibrillation and severe anxiety. Anyway, I had a carotid IMT ultrasound and the results came back average. Doc said it was a little above average but not enough to be called moderate so he called it average. Not to worry, great news. Well, guess what, I'm worried. I'm also worried because I get this "weak" type feeling throughout my body, I feel lightheaded, kind of faint. From what I've read here, everyone says it sounds like anxiety. I have no underlying heart disease (they haven't found any yet anyway!). Can these feelings really be anxiety? Thanks for your time.

[RLR]

Indeed, your symptoms can be the consequence of anxiety, particularly in the presence of tests that have ruled out cardiopathology. As I've stated on the Heart Palpitations Forum, people are trained from a very early age to equate physical symptoms with physical disease. This is not actually the case and yet the influence can be overwhelming to the extent that many persons defy all evidence to the contrary, regardless of its accuracy and source. Somatic features of anxiety disorder can be variable, sometimes elevated enough to cause certain types of paralysis or other transient conditions. Anxiety can impose very extensive stress upon the body and its senses and is the consequence of repeated or chronic exposure to stressors that perpetuate stress.

You're going to be fine.