My life is just a huge mess

[nosrednanagem]

So, back in April my Dad had a massive heart attack. He ended up being fine and recovered amazingly. It caused my heart anxiety to spiral. For my peace of mind, my doctor ordered a stress test and echo. I passed the stree but come to find out, I have mild left ventricular hypertrophy. I went to a cardiologist who gave me the all clear and no restrictions. Just get anxiety under control. So, fast forward to June. My mom was diagnosed with stage IV nsclc. Anxiety is back in full swing. I can't breath. I'm wheezing. And it's SO much worse at night when I'm trying to sleep. I've barely gotten any sleep lately. I finally made a doctors appointment for today. I'm SO scared that they're going to say my heart condition got worse. Or maybe they'll find something in my lungs. I feel like I'm just going to drop dead at any moment. Guys, I'm so scared.

[O_O]

So sorry nosred that both your parents have had these problems. That must be so stressful.

For what it's worth, I'm pretty certain that the worsening of your symptoms are entirely caused by anxiety due to your mum's diagnosis. Chest / heart symptoms are the commonest symptoms caused by anxiety, especially since you've already has a scare relating to that area. Since the symptoms only worsened since your mum's diagnosis, and since you were given the all clear recently, it seems very very likely that these worsening symptoms are caused by anxiety.

A few months back I was told I was anaemic and over the next week I developed chest tightness, coughing, exhaustion and sharp stabbing pains over my heart. I was convinced that the anaemia had worsened, causing angina. It turned out the the anaemia had resolved, and the symptoms were anxiety. They went away after that.

I hope your doctors will reassure you today too.

[orthagonal]

I have pretty bad heart anxiety and my psych prescribed me low dose beta blockers. They are often prescribed off label for anxiety because they block epinephrine (fight-or-flight chemical) receptors in the heart. I don't have any actual heart problems but they've lowered my resting pulse rate by about 20 beats per min and keep my blood pressure stable and low. They also prescribe them for people who have had heart attacks to prevent a second heart attack. So, knowing that I'm taking a drug that actually prevents heart attacks, that lowers my pulse rate and BP, it makes me worry less about my heart. And when you start getting panicky, it keeps your heart rate from going up. A lot of times when I have a panic attack, the body's natural response to raise your heart rate creates a feedback loop where you start to worry that your pulse is too high which makes you more scared which makes your pulse go higher which makes you more scared. Now, when I feel panicky, I'll take my pulse and find it at a steady and low 72 which breaks that cycle before it gets going.

And health scares to family and friends definitely make HA worse. My dad had a major issue a year ago that's made my HA worse than its ever been. But it got me going to see somebody about it, so that's a positive development.

[Mindphaser]

I'm very sorry for what happened to your parents.

I know that living something that is actually diagnosed is very diffcult. My HA started 4 years ago and so far im not diagnosed with any of magilant diseases I thought i have. But, It's not easy because when i started to have all these test some weird thing were found that kill my peace of mind. I have two microliths in my left testicle (which sometimes doctors think is premagilant state, but mostly they don't know real etiology of it and if its bad or not, my doctor tells me not to bother because probably many men have it, just ultrasound of testicles is not very common among men test especially in my country), then comes my fatty liver disease and slighty elevated bilirubin in my blood, then comes strange red-bluish bump on my back which i thought is nodular melanoma but my dermatologist said its 99% just benign hemangioma and it doesnt require excision with biopsy. And then comes something that appeared on my MRI which looks like MS lesions (but i had MRI when i was a kid and it doesnt progress (image is the same as 15 years ago), so all the doctors said its not MS and i shouldnt bother with it). With all that pack its really hard to live with. But probably none of these have any clinical importance and im wasting my life on worring. I started CBT right now and its getting better, i was on meds but currently im off them, its more difficult but on the other hand i dont have nasty side effects i had with them. I believe all your results will come back just fine, so just know that youre not the only one who has HA with some weird things that appeared on your tests. Take care.

[nosrednanagem]

Thanks so much for all of your replies. They honestly make me feel so much better. I talked with my doctor about my fears for over 15 min. She was so patient, and listened to all of my concerns. She thinks that my trouble breathing while laying down is due to allergies and just not being able to settle down. She is putting me on a new med, Effexor. I'll be starting that tomorrow. It felt good opening up to her! But of course, a little piece of my mind tells me that anxiety can't wake you up in the middle of the night with bad breathlessness.

[Mindphaser]

Thats good! I wanted to switch from Sertaline to Effexor, but I stayed with Sertaline till the end of my drug therapy. I've heard it's a good drug, so I hope it will work well for you.