Chest and heart problems..

[JayDee21]

Okay this is my first post so lets see how it goes.

About 9 months ago I had my first panic attack, from there everything went downhill and i was having 2 or more a day for months. I went to the doctor, they did tests (ECG, blood tests and chest xray) and all came back normal.

My doctor then diagnosed me with anxiety and perscribed me sertraline.
I refused to take it as i had friends that had bad experiences with it. Since then my panic attacks have greatly reduced to around 1 every 2 weeks or so. (Without any medication)

Now the background is out the way my question is can anxiety be causing my chest/heart problems?
So basically, throughout all of this, I have had a very uncomfortable feeling all around my heart and left ribs/chest. Its there ALL the time. Its like a fullness/pressure and can sometimes be painful. My heartbeat 80% of the day is faster than average and usually beating quite hard, to the point that people that have felt it say my heart is beating hard and fast.

Can anxiety cause this? Should I be worried and be checked again?
Oh and by the way i am a 21 year old male, smoker, not overweight, not underweight but skinny.

Sorry for the long post, have a good day :yesyes:

[Fishmanpa]

Hi Jaydee and welcome. I literally just posted a response that fits with a minor modification :) I'm just going to modify it...


I see you're new. Welcome :) This site can be very helpful if you use it correctly. By that I mean there are resources that can point you in the right direction to healing. However, many times as you'll see when you read, that can perpetuate the cycle of anxiety. I've been around here for a while and here's my take coming from a two time heart attack, triple bypass, stent survivor's perspective....

You're fine physically from what you said about doctors and tests so what does that leave? And you're posting on this forum after all so I believe you know deep down what's going on ;)

There's a great CBT program that's FREE (see my signature). I don't know if you're currently treating your anxiety but regardless, it's some pretty good stuff.

And one more thing... you know what I'm going to say right? ;) QUIT SMOKING!! I can tell you 100% that it can and does cause heart issues. Besides, it makes no sense to have such a fear and do something to feed it by smoking :shrug:

Positive thoughts

[JayDee21]

Thanks Fishmanpa, i'll check out that CBT link now. It just seems weird as I do not feel anxious anymore, yet still seem to be getting pains/feelings that can be related to anxiety problems, hence the doubt of it being anxiety.
However, I am always open and aware of the fact these problems may still be caused by anxiety.
Thanks again :)

[Fishmanpa]

It just seems weird as I do not feel anxious anymore, yet still seem to be getting pains/feelings that can be related to anxiety problems, hence the doubt of it being anxiety.
However, I am always open and aware of the fact these problems may still be caused by anxiety.
Thanks again :)

One more tidbit I've posted here more times than I even know and I do having gone though what I have...


Bill posted a great thread in the GAD section comparing anxiety to a parasite.


Anxiety is like a parasite because it attaches itself within us and then bullies us by creating intrusive thoughts, what if's and worries so it can feed off your fear so it can stay alive. When you starve it of it's food by not giving it the attention it seeks by not dwelling on the thoughts it creates, it cannot survive

I've compared it to a campfire...



Anxiety is like a campfire. When you're in the midst of a spiral the fire is burning bright and hot. When the flames die down, there's still a bed of red hot coals burning away just waiting for some more fuel. You may not feel anxious but your body is still on high alert and has a bed of hot anxiety coals inside just waiting to flare up. Just like a campfire, the hot coals of anxiety take a long time to finally go out.

Some here, including myself call anxiety a dragon. It breathes the fire of worry and doubt, making your life miserable.

So what food does the dragon eat?

Dragon food:

The dragon's favorite food IMO is Google. The dragon sees Google and salivates as you open the browser and type in symptoms. It's like potato chips in that you just can't stop at one and he knows it. Before you know it you've devoured the entire bag of chips and the dragon is breathing his fire full force! Even when he's full he'll get you to keep browsing.

Then there's reassurance. Ahhh... yes... reassurance. The dragon will get you to spend money you don't have on doctors and medical tests. He'll have you seek it from friends and family to the point they want nothing more to do with you. He'll have you come to the forum and post thread after thread and have you hang around for hours and hours, sometimes all day, neglecting your life just to hear something that will quell the worry and doubt if even for a minute. And that's the problem. That's all it typically does until the fires of doubt come burning back into your brain.

Self examination... The dragon loves that! He'll have you poke and prod, shine lights down your throat, post photos of your body parts, moles, freckles, fingernails, pimples and all sorts of normal things that your skewed anxiety ridden mind sees as sinister. And nodes? He'll whisper the word node in your ear all day long and have you poke and prod until you're black and blue and sore. He'll skew your perception to make you believe their swollen when in fact that's the furthest thing from fact! He'll have you try to measure them, convincing you it's 3+cm in size when in fact it's less than one when measured by an ultrasound that you paid hard earned dollars for. And then?... he'll convince you it has to be wrong!

There are more foods the dragon loves to eat. These are the big three IMO. What do you feed him?

The way to get him under control is to starve him. Like the parasite in Bill's comparison and the campfire in mine. Starving him is the way to get him off your back. Time to start starving the dragon. Don't be shy about asking for help from a professional dragon slayer (therapist) and a fire extinguisher (meds).

Positive thoughts

[Rick0101]

Hi,

I'm always aware of my heart and a simple palpatation makes me think that I'm about to have a heart attack...but I recently had a routine operation for a broken foot and my ecg was fine and the docs told me that a missed beat or palpatation is completely normal.

Having said said that it is still a bit worrying when it happens!

I've done a lot of research and from that I've decided to try mindfulness mediation. I've never tried it before so any advice would be appreciated. I've literally set up a blog a few hours ago too, to comment daily on progress (if any) so feel free to see how I get on