View Full Version : Are anxiety and panic route cause of my problems?
Hello,
I am David age 40 and posting for the first time. I have a history of depression stretching across 10 years or so, but have been free from medication for over 4 years and to all intents and purposes I would say depression free, thank God.
Over the last 12 months or so I have been in A&E 6 times with chest pains and what appears to be the symptons of a heart attack, however the routine tests thankfully come back negative and after a few days I am sent home. I however still feel unwell and continue to feel I have heart related problems, which I feel are not been adequately looked into by doctors. As such I am now visiting a cardiologist privately and arranging for separate tests and also paying for other tests with BUPA, this is proving very expensive and putting a strain on our finances and although I have a wonderful, supportive and caring partner I do feel sometimes she thinks I am going crazy.
My problem is am I genuinely unwell or have I developed a OCD regarding my health. I find I spend hours online looking at medical sites, I purchase heart monitors and BP monitors and take my readings regularly. Whilst some would say it is sensible to look after your own health, have I developed an obsession / anxiety disorder without my realising. I have always put the anxious feelings, shallow breathing, chest pains, rapid pulse, sweating, fears etc down to a heart problem and when I am told I have nothing wrong at A&E I feel they are missing something, which is possible if one reads case histories online etc. My resting pulse rate is nearly always in the high 80's and if I walk up the stairs etc it goes up to 130 which seems wrong to me. I am 14stone and 6ft 2ins so not hugely overweight or anything. These rates seem to indicate a permanently anxious state or heart problems I do not know which.
I am so confused and unclear. Am I really unwell with a physical problem or have I got mental problems again and this time instead of issues with depression is it emerging as some other form of mental disorder. My GP has been good but I do not want to take medication for anxiety as I had a terrible time with medication before with seroxat and prozac and it has put me off the tablet route for life. Plus I do not know it is anxiety. My GP says my ECG was fine so its not my heart but I say there could be a million and one things wrong with my heart that an ECG will not pick up at which point we part company. Traditional medicine seems so reactive but I want them to be proactive in helping get to the bottom of this, he says proactive medicine is the preserve of the private consultant the NHS is only funded for reactive medicine. As such am I going to go broke searching for this answer before finding out I am mentally ill after all.
Thank you so much for listening I am sure there are others out there with similar problems and I would like to hear from anyone who may also be suffering similar issues or from anyone who might have some constructive insight into what is happening.
Hi David
Welcome to the site, You will find some great stuff on here.
Ive only been here a week and its helped me loads already. Everyone here is so supportive and friendly. The chat room is good if you want to chat with others who have the same worries. There are usually people in there after 8ish.
~Sarah~ xxx
hi and welcome im sure that as you read the postings on here you will see lots of us do have the symptoms you describe and have also worried that it is something serious, it usually isnt! you say you spend hours online looking on medical sites im sure this isnt helping as we all do it then end up convincing ourselves we have some terrible incurable disease , a little knowledge is a dangerous thing try not to do it and look at some of the posts on here im sure they will help to relieve some of the worries you have and also every one here are friendly and helpful
fan x
Hi David ,
Welcome to the site.
Firstly well done for getting over the depression.
I hope you'll excuse me for writing between your lines below but it makes me keep to the points you raise.
Over the last 12 months or so I have been in A&E 6 times with chest pains and what appears to be the symptons of a heart attack, however the routine tests thankfully come back negative and after a few days I am sent home. The tests will be conclusive that you have not had a heart attack as the cardiac enzymes would be elevated plus there would be permenent changes on your ECG. What other tests have you had or have scheduled to investigate possible angina ? I however still feel unwell - all the time or just at the times when chest pain hits ? and continue to feel ( fear ) I have heart related problems, which I feel are not been adequately looked into by doctors. As such I am now visiting a cardiologist privately and arranging for separate tests and also paying for other tests with BUPA, this is proving very expensive and putting a strain on our finances and although I have a wonderful, supportive and caring partner I do feel sometimes she thinks I am going crazy. Usually the NHS would arrange a exercise stress test next . In between these episodes how is your health ?
My problem is am I genuinely unwell or have I developed a OCD regarding my health. Health anxiety is growing extremely quickly. I've just written an article on this because we're finding more and more people suffering from it I find I spend hours online looking at medical sites, I purchase heart monitors and BP monitors and take my readings regularly. This is not unusual these days at all Whilst some would say it is sensible to look after your own health, have I developed an obsession / anxiety disorder without my realising. I have always put the anxious feelings, shallow breathing, chest pains, rapid pulse, sweating, fears etc down to a heart problem - do you get these symptoms at other times when you haven't been to A+E or as seperate symptoms in other circumstances ? and when I am told I have nothing wrong at A&E I feel they are missing something, which is possible if one reads case histories online etc. Cardiac disease comes in various guises - ischaemia, arrhymias , infective, congenital etc - the one you're concerning yourself with is the ischaemia collection which is the one most health anxiety sufferers do pick on as its the best known and several symptoms are classically recognised. My resting pulse rate is nearly always in the high 80's and if I walk up the stairs etc it goes up to 130 which seems wrong to me. I am 14stone and 6ft 2ins so not hugely overweight or anything. How fit are you - do you exercise regularly ? Often the rate is a reflection of fitness and activity levels. The recovery rate is pertinent These rates seem to indicate a permanently anxious state or heart problems I do not know which. For a 40 yr old how do you rate in the cardiac risk group ie smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure, fitness, occupational stress, family history ?
I am so confused and unclear. Am I really unwell with a physical problem or have I got mental problems again and this time instead of issues with depression is it emerging as some other form of mental disorder. My GP has been good but I do not want to take medication for anxiety as I had a terrible time with medication before with seroxat and prozac and it has put me off the tablet route for life. Plus I do not know it is anxiety. My GP says my ECG was fine so its not my heart but I say there could be a million and one things wrong with my heart that an ECG will not pick up at which point we part company - <font color=
Hi David and welcome to the site!
I have only just joined this week and already feel so much better for seeing that other people experience the same things as me. Try not to worry too much, I know it is hard not to as that is what people kept telling me but looking things up on the internet and in medical books does not make it any easier as you can convince yourself that you have everything under the sun which is what I did and I still do it even after 5 years but I am getting out of the habit now.
I went through exactly the same thing with the heart symptoms I suffered with palpitations,chest pains,missed heart beats, dizziness,sweating, breathlessness etc and I had so many ECG's which all came back fine. the doctor used to say that i was too young to be suffering from heart problems and that it was all down to stress and anxiety(I was 26 when I first started getting symptoms 5 years ago) I wasn't convinced and kept going back to him with the same complaints and more. It took me 4 years to finally get him to refer me to a cardiologist who I saw last year and he did lots of tests including 24hour ECG monitoring, blood tests etc and everything turned out to be fine. Even now I still get symptoms but I have learned to live with them and try not to let it affect my day to day life. My boyfriend used to get really frustrated with me and still does when I start to go on about my symptoms but that is because he doesn't worry about anything and is so laid back, I wish I could be the same!
I even thought about paying private but could not afford it but I think I would have done if I had got the money at the time.
It took from January 2004 when my GP referred me to the cardiologist until July 2004 when I finally got my appointment so I know the waiting lists are long especially if your GP doesn't think it is an urgent case like mine. I suppose this should have been enough reassurance in itself as I suppose if my GP had thought it was something serious then he would have got me in straight away. When you are anxious about your health it tends to take over your life and your every waking moment is ruled by thoughts of what you may be suffering from. Try not to let it get you down and beleive me it does get better!!
Hope this helps you a bit and remember there are always people on this website ready to listen and give you the benefit of their knowlege.
LISAxx
Many Many thanks for your kind welcome messages and wise advice. I will look forward to taking part as much as possible and helping others as much as seeking help.
It is frightening to think that standard hospital tests for heart problems just do not go far enough in looking for heart disease and that to really keep on top of things one needs to pay several thousand pounds for 'proper' screening and definitive answers regarding heart health.
As you say Meg in the quotation 'the enemy is ignorance' and once I have this fear it is impossible to move forward with my life without knowing if my heart is truly well. NHS doctors have told me to go home and not worry I am 'Probably' OK which means they are not prepared to do more unless I am brought in on a trolley either dying (reactive medicine) or it is too late and I fill an interesting footnote in case literature somewhere.
Am I physically ill or mentally ill I suppose the two thousand pound scan fees will move me closer to the answer.
What tests are you having ?
Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk
You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance
Lisa,
Amazing to see the parallels with your experience and mine. I suppose the one thing that would make one feel a little more positive was your age but again if I was 26 now I would probably find a case online somewhere that would make me feel bad again.
I hope my other post re hospital test etc does not alarm anyone who may be worried about their heart health. I am most certainly becoming obsessive about the issue and balanced writing or conversation on the subject is not my strong point.
I can afford the private doctors etc but I am not wealthy by any means and paying for this means going without something else. I would like to take my partner on holiday for example and say thank you to her for being so incredible, what I have done to deserve her I will never know.
May I ask Liz how you are now? What was the turning point for you? You say you still get symptons have you managed to process this as anxiety related symptoms? I am trying Taoism to change my mind approach to things and trying to develop a more peaceful outlook.
I am frightened of dying and maybe this is part of my problem as well, this may be the fear Meg speaks of when she says you have to know what your afraid of. None of us want to die but when the fear becomes over reaching perhaps you end up where I am.
nomorepanic
16-02-05, 19:29
David
Welcome aboard the forum.
I think Meg's answer was spot on and I can't really add to it except to say that we have all thought we were having heart-attacks or have serious problems at one time or another.
I don't know many sufferers that HAVEN'T had an ECG at some point during their illness.
This is done to reassure us but we still find it hard to accept that it can't be something serious.
For what it is worth here is some info from the NoMorePanic website....
Heart palpitations/chest pains
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 and again this leads to the worry that you will have a heart attack. There is no evidence that Panic and anxiety has any adverse effect on the heart and the pains are easily explained. When you start panicking the whole of you body becomes tense and your muscles tense up also. This is also true of the heart as after all it is just another (albeit very important) muscle.
The chest pains are due to the constricting of the heart muscles and apparently the best cure is to start exercising and stretching these muscles 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 and bending over gently to relieve the pain. If you are worried that it may be a heart problem, then make an appointment to see your G.P. who will be able to rule out any heart problems.
If your G.P. has given you the all clear then do not be alarmed if the chest pains come back and last for more than a day and you think it is related to panic, although it is painful and worrying, the pains will go away if you try gentle exercise and not think about them.
The hardest part of recovery is accepting that we are not dying and anxiety can do all of this to us.
I hope we can be of some help to you.
Nicola
hello again David,
I am doing much better now and learning to live with the anxiety feelings. I still get palpitations/missed heartbeats and occasional chest pains but I have had no choice but to put it down to anxiety as the doctors can find nothing physically and I guess if I am still here after 5 years then it can't be anyting too serious wrong with me. the turning point for me was when I started taking medication after taking so many different anti-depressants I finally found one that helped me to get back on track if only for a little while. I gave up drinking alcohol and alot of my symptoms disappeared, I think this was what made the anxiety alot worse. I have started to drink alcohol again but in moderation although i do go over the top sometimes but the medication allowed me to gain some control over my life again and I started a part-time Psychology course at the local college which has been brilliant as it has given me some distraction from my anxiety as there is so much homework involved and it keeps me busy. I do still get the HEART SYMPTOMS but I know I have nothing to worry about as I have seen a cardiologist but it is still scary sometimes and I can't help but worry but it is just a matter of retraining your thought processes. No matter what anyone says to you it is an uphill struggle and has taken me nearly 5 years to get to this point and I know I still have a long way to go before I am 100% but I know I have come a long way and that makes me feel a whole lot better. I know you think the doctors aren't doing enough to find the root cause of your symptoms but sometimes there just isn't an explanation for these things. I used to get so angry because I felt the same way and I was convinced that they were missing something on these tests and that they weren't doing enough but eventually I just learned to accept it even though it was tough.
My boyfriend said he would like to chat to you sometime so he can tell you from his point of view what it was like to live with someone who was so obsessed with their health. Even after everything we have been through we have come through it together and I think it has made us stronger as a couple. I never even considered what he was going through when I was at my worst and he has told me it was very hard to cope with as he just wanted to make me better only he didn't know how. i suppose I was very selfish and still am sometimes because I expect him to know how I am feeling when reallly he hasn't got a clue half the time because I tend to keep things bottled up. it sounds like you have a very supportive partner who loves you very much and this can make all the difference in how you deal with things and I am sure she doesn't think you are going crazy at all. The best peice of advice I can give you is to make sure you always tell her how you feel and don't bottle things up inside as this can cause a lot of resentment, she won't know how you feel unless you tell her. I hope the tests you are going for turn out to be o.k I am sure they will be fine. Let me know how you get on!
take care,
Lisaxx
Hi David
I have had very similar experiences to yourself and if you see my thread in 'phobias' section entitled 'health anxiety' you'll see how similar our problems are.
Luckily I do have bupa cover through work so I was able to see a cardio spec quite quickly. He did the EKG ? ( the ultra sound of your heart ) and he was completely happy with my condition. Just for added insurance he put on a treadmill test which also showed nothing untoward.
( I was also sceptical about the ECG not being thorough enough )
Even if I had not been covered by Bupa I would still have found the money to have these tests done - because like you I could not move forward until I KNEW nothing serious was wrong with my heart.
In addition my Wife has been very good through all this but I believe there is a limit to what you can put partners through, without putting a strain on your relationship -which is exactly why this forum is so good.
I've seen the Bupa bill and my consultation with the specialist was £250. Although I didn't have to pay that bill I would willingly have done so for the peace of mind.
This has enabled me to move forward and I imagine if you are to have more enjoyable holidays as a result, you would deem it money well spent.
It's staggering what symptoms the body is capable of producing when your mind is in this state. Do try not to worry because the odds of this episode being anxiety related are very high.
Although I know you won't relax fully until you've have conclusive proof that you are OK ( I was the same ) do try not to worry about this because it is more than likely to be anxiety causing your symptoms.
Additional things that worked for me..........
Remove unecessary stressors in general.
Stop or reduce intake of alcohol & caffeine
Eat Well balanced diet.
Drink plenty of water.
Excercise.
Listen to uplifting music.
Don't sit about and dwell on it - do something ( i know that can be hard )
Steer clear of medical websites
Finally I too am wary of drug use, but have found a herbal remedy 'bach's rescue remedy' I find is calms me down very well and I think others do too.
Wishing you well David.
Cheers.
Mo.
Hi David
Welcome aboard! I just wanted to add to Mojo's post and say "Me too!"
I thought I was having a heart attack and whenever I get panicky I get very bad chest pains which feel very serious but are, I now realise, part and parcel of anxiety!
It can give you some horrible symptoms and it's sometimes hard to believe that they are the root of how you're feeling but, nasty though they are, the good news is panic/anxiety are almost certainly to blame if you've had the tests you've mentioned..
Recognising that it is the panic helps a lot.. Everything that Mojo 's written stands true for me too - it's really easy to think you have every condition going under the sun when you look at these medical sites.. a little bit of knowledge can be very dangerous as the old saying goes... on the upside, places like this which share common experience and wisdom are much more helpful.. stick around, read and participate and I'm sure you'll be feeling better soon.. panic and anxiety are nasty condtions to suffer from but the good news is that they do respond very well to all kinds of treatment..
Make yourself relax, take your mind of your symptoms and you will probably find you start to feel better quite quickly.. the dark thoughts/fears trigger a vicious cycle of behaviour so give your body/mind a rest and I hope you will be on the road to recovery in no time
Good luck and good health
J
How can I begin to thank you all for your kind words of support. Both myself and Jane are deeply touched by all these messages. We work from home and our lifestyle affords us few work friends etc that we can share our problems with. We have had a year of doctors, consultants and A&E departments and these are the first words of external encouragement we have received. Many many thanks.
Both myself and Jane would be happy to chat with anyone who is going through this, we are in the middle of things and Jane has little external support. Like your partner LisaRose she seems to be able to handle things far better than me, but I do worry about the long term effect on her own health.
MEG the tests are an EBCT heart scan and an EBA heart scan. Thanks again JPF,mojo5,LisaRose, Nicola, Meg, Fan & S.
MEG I would like to answer your kind questions in a seperate post after this, thanks.
Hi David And Jane
I'm glad to see this forum has helped you a bit if only to get some outside support which I think is very important for setting you on the road to recovery although I know sometimes that the fear will still be there in the back of your mind it still helps to know that other people have been through it. Maybe me and my partner Jon can join you in the chat room sometime so he can tell you his side of the story and hopefully it will help Jane to understand a bit more too, as I think it is sometimes harder for the partners of anxiety sufferers than the person who is suffering the anxiety as they are just expected to be able to handle it all.
Take care.
Love Lisaxxx
MEG, may I answer your kind detailed health replies to my post.
1. Tests are conclusive if I have had a heart attack.
I do believe that the tests show I have not actually had a heart attack but my fear is they are not picking up on a progressive failure of the heart over time.
2.Other tests I have had.
I have had 2 cardiac stress tests which are clear, however even the doctors say these are only about 85% accurate. I have also had blood tests.
3.Feeling unwell generally.
I feel unwell most of the time with little energy, shortness of breath (not sure how else to describe it but feeling sometimes I need to take a deep breath to continue breathing) and a general heavy feeling around the chest area.
***4.Cardiac disease in various guises.***
This is the crucial point I feel Meg. As you say I am being looked at purely as an emergency patient when I am admitted to A&E, this looks at ischaemia only and not at other possible heart conditions. I may have this wrong but my Doctor says that if my stress tests are fine then I do not have any heart problems. I strongly disagree with him on this. I may well not have heart problems but a stress test is not conclusive proof. I was in Ireland over the New Year and was admitted to hospital there and a doctor actually told me an ECG means NOTHING it only shows I am not an acute emergency and does not indicate I do not have other heart problems.
5. My fitness and wellbeing.
I take little real exercise, although I do walk sometimes. I have lost about 5 stone in the last 12 months, primarily due to stress with this condition. I put a lot of weight on whilst taking seroxat and prozac and have only lost it since having this problem. I have never smoked and do not drink alcohol, my last cholesterol measurement 12 months ago was 5.1 which was slightly high, again like a secret society I had to fight to get the measurement given to me and the breakdown of good and bad cholesterol, my doctor hasn't felt it necessary to give me another since.
**If anyone knows where I could obtain an accurate home Cholesterol monitor I would be grateful.**
I fully understand if it is not possible to reply to this post MEG and do not expect a reply as there are many thousands of people on the site and you have much to do, but I wanted to post this as you had taken enough time to kindly reply in detail to my initial post.
Dear David and Jane,
Glad you're getting some encouragement and support here.
With regard to the tests you have scheduled, they are a bit like putting a plaster cast on a cut unless you have some pretty hefty comorbidity risk.
I can understand you having one of them as you're so worried and have lost confidence in the NHS but both .. if money is an issue and you're not getting a 2 for 1 deal, you might like to consider that you only get one done to start with and then proceed to the other only should the results of the first warrant it.
If as we expect, you to come out with a clear bill of health cardiac wise and need to work with you on eliminating the anxiety, having both is really a waste of money.
Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk
You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance
Lisa,
We would be delighted to join you both for a chat, just let me know when you both might be free and we can arrange something. I fully agree regarding how hard it is for the other partner, I feel so guilty that Jane is put in this position. I feel I should be taking care of her and often feel she would be better off with someone else not sitting in hospitals with me and arranging consultants appts, transferring medical records etc.
Yes if I am genuinely ill with a heart condition that is not my fault but I feel I cannot subject her again to another mental condition where I imagine I have an illness. I do worry about my mental state and fear I have an OCD and that the clinical depression which I thought had gone is manifesting itself in other ways.
Not sure I should say this but here goes. I was convinced recently I had been to the moon, yes I know absolutely crazy. I was convinced that I had flown there in a spaceship of my own making and returned and that if I did die of a heart attack at least I had achieved something with my life. It is at the back of my mind now and I know I have not done this but there were days when I wasn't actually sure if I had or not. This is the first time I have ever experienced anything like this, the merging of reality and fantasy and finding it difficult to seperate them. I experienced deeply real dreams whislt on Prozac which troubled me for days afterwards but again I understood they were dreams. Perhaps this recent episode shows a chemical issue occuring again. Doctors do not take me seriously as it is due to the appearance of Prozac and Seroxat on my medical records, if I told them this, well I could have every disease symptom in the medical dictionary and they would simply say I was imaging things again.
Please do not let the above put you off chatting. I am a very well educated professional person as is Jane. We appear to the outside world to have all the trappings of middle income success, our own business, a couple of properties, lots of free time, holidays all over the world etc. Both of us are very polite, friendly, well travelled, well read so please do not be put off that I am unwashed in my pyjamas crazily typing at my computer screen with nothing better to do :)
hi David,
I am sure Jane doesn't feel like she would be better off with someone else, but I know how you feel as I felt the same way but If she loves you then she will stand by you no matter what. There were times in the past that I thought me and Jon would never survive this and I honestly thought that he should find someone else who could make him happy as I clearly wasn't and I use to think he was only with me for the sake of the kids, but I have just asked him and he said he never even considered leaving me, he just used to say it hoping it would shock me into pulling myself together but no matter how much people say "pull yourself together" or "get a grip" it definately isn't that easy as we don't choose to be like this do we?
As for the fact that you think you had been to the moon, I know how you feel as I have such vivid dreams these days that I wake up and am not sure wether they are real or not. I dreamt the other night that I had won the lottery and also that I had slept with Robbie Williams(I wish lol!!!) and it took me hours to realise that it was just a dream. I think it is just our minds playing tricks on us as anxiety can manifest itself in so many ways that sometimes reality does get confused with fantasy and sometimes it is the subconcious mind playing tricks on our conscious mind - you should try reading some books about Freud and see what his views are, they are quite interesting as he believes in all this about the conscious and subconcious mind, the Id, the Ego and the superego, I am studying the various psychological viewpoints of anxiety disorders at college and find it very interesting if not a little complicated at times.
I really do not think you are crazy at all and it hasn't put me off chatting to you although I am having trouble getting into the chatroom at the moment, not been in before and a bit nervous as I might not know what to say!!
I realize that it is difficult to get doctors to take you seriously when you have a history of depression on your medical records as I went through the same and I used to get so angry I could have hit them as every time I used to go back with a different symptom they would just put it down to my anxiety.
Anyway, don't loose faith in the medical profession as I am sure they are doing all they can even if it doesn't feel like it at the moment. I have been where you are and it is not a nice place but it will get better I promise!!
Take care
Love Lisaxxx
P.s I will let you know when i can access the chat room and we can arrange something, you never know we might have a laugh!!
David
Just to say: most of us here have had some kind of strange thoughts/thought processes - I think it often comes with the condition.. don't beat yourself up about it..
Panic/anxiety are 'serious' enough to deal with, that's to say they're something important and fundamental to you and your psychological (perhaps even physical) make-up.. it's not your 'fault' that you feel this way any more than it would be if you had asthma, migraine, epilepsy etc. etc. etc. It is what it is; a condition.. it happens to hundreds of millions of people worldwide.. No-one chooses to have it so don't feel ashamed or like it's some kind of character flaw/weakness.. it really isn't.. you may not like it but it's part of what makes you the person that you are.. I'm sure Jane loves you for the fine individual that you are; of course it's not easy for our partners to cope with us all of the time, but partnership is based on understanding and compassion and I'm sure you've supported her when she needed it and vice-versa.
Unfortunately, panic/anxiety can be pervasive and debilitating but fortunately they do respond very well to positive thinking and half the battle is in realising/recognising what's happening to you and in finding places like this where there are other understanding and knowledgeable people who make you realise you're not some kind of pariah, social outcast, unfit partner or a lone voice 'crying in the wilderness' somehow.. it's actually a surprisingly common condition but when you have it, it feels very unique and very lonely. The truth is, however, you're not alone and there are a huge number of ways to tackle what you're feeling..
Don't be afraid to post here and join in with the chat room (hope to see you in there too lisarose!) it's tremendous fun in there, everyone chats and has fun and quite often we don't even talk about panics or related matters..
This is a welcoming and very effective community and every single person who joins-in brings more support, knowledge and help with them and receives it in return too.. we all play our parts :)
Good luck and hope to see you in the forum and the chat room in the near future.
J
Hi David,
I haven't been on the site for about a week, so I had missed your post until now. After many bereavements and suffering from panic attacks for many years and always being a worrier, my main sympton is missed heartbeat/palpitations. They totally scare me but I really think you need to think about which route you are going. I have had an ecg and a 24hr tape and like you do question the results, but after three years of having these symptons you do have to start realising that if you had something REALLY SERIOUS WRONG WITH YOU after three years something else much worse would be happening by now. I am the first to admit it has taken me a long time to eventually start to believe this and I have to admit that when 'they' come back (which I tend to get them most days) they do scare me, but to go to the extremes that you are cannot be healthy. Just the build up to the tests and the waiting is stressful enough. I hope that what I have said has been of some help and that the site is too.
Take care,
Linjane
my fear is they are not picking up on a progressive failure of the heart over time.
Which would not result in classic chest pain - SOB maybe, but there would be other associated symptoms you've not metioned. An echo is the common cheapest test for this - shows the LV performance in action.
I have had 2 cardiac stress tests which are clear, however even the doctors say these are only about 85% accurate. I have also had blood tests. 2 at 85 % is even more reassuring. Glad your cardiac enzymes were fine.
but feeling sometimes I need to take a deep breath to continue breathing) and a general heavy feeling around the chest area.
A common anxiety trait.
4. this looks at ischaemia only
It shows ischaemia current and previous insults as well as rhythm and function. If you have loss of LV function the underlying rhythm tends to change slightly
Home cholesterol kits are not accurate at present in my experience - they only give you an ' about' figure.
What have you been doing to self help your cholesterol and cardiovascular health this last year ?
I hope you get the answers you want soon David and that you can move on with overcoming your current worries - be they anxiety or cardiac in origin.
Do let us know how you get on. The tests you're paying for are the most comprehensive available so do heed the results.
I wish you well.
Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk
You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance
Hi there David
First of all a warm welcome to the site and well done for being depression free for so long.
I'm sorry to hear about your health worries but I can assure you they do go hand in hand in with anxiety and even thought I consider myself well on the road to recovery, there's not a day goes by without me worrying about some bodily something or other, often my heart rate, my bp (which has risen loads in the last 12 months) and chest sensations.
You have received some really great advice and I don't think there's much I can add other than that you should look after yourself in terms of eating healthily and exercising regularly in order to keep mind and body in good working order. Sounds to me like you need to learn to relax a little too, have you tried any relaxation tapes or even meditation? By focusing your mind, with a little practice you will be able to keep these worrying thoughts at bay and get on with enjoying your life.
Best wishes
Jo xx
"courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear"
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