serenity
25-01-09, 09:27
Hi, I am new here, have never posted although I have read the forums avidly for at least a month now, it is so much better than googling! LOL anyhow, you all seem very supportive and caring here and so I thought I would post my main problem to see if anyone can offer me any advice or similar experiences....
I have had anxiety for years, it started off as panic attacks then became general anxiety with panic attacks and of recent I have recognised that I have a health anxiety and that is my main issue..
Towards the end of last year I had quite a rough time, lots of extra stress and sickness with me and the children...I had been very stressed for quite some time..Then at the beginning of December everything seemed to be settling down but I noticed that the left side of my chest felt kind of 'full' as though I had pressure there...I would not say it was pain, it was more of a discomfort and I was very aware of it..this went on for about 4 days and the discomfort has been constant. At this stage I was assuming it was the left over anxiety and I went to the doctor to get it checked out and to reassure myself that it was anxiety. The doctor told me to go to emergency because they didn't have an ECG machine there so I got my mum to sit the children and went down to my local hospital emergency room. Had to wait a few hours as I was obviously not in significant distress and then they called me in. When I went in they hooked me up to the cardiac monitors etc and this ER doc came in and said that he had consulted with a colleague and they thought I might have full heart block which would explain my symptoms...At this stage I started really panicking as this was NOT what I had expected (I am 38 years old, female and am a smoker). My legs were shaking, I couldn't stop them and I was absolutely terrified, never been so scared in all my life...they were talking about a pacemaker and then gave me valium because they didn't want my heart going to fast and I was flipping out so much and they moved me to were they could see me all the time and gave me aspirin 'just in case'!! It makes me anxious just remembering it all! Anyhow, they admitted me overnight and took the bloods for heart attack etc 3 times over night and the next day they got me to do a stress test and the cardiologist came in and said all results had come back ok! I tried to ask about the so called heart block and they said that there was very minimal first degree heart block and it wasn't to worry about. I said to the cardiologist 'so this is not my heart?' and he said 'oh no, I am not saying that, the only way I could tell that is if we did a cardiac catheter and we wouldn't do that with you as there are risks involved with that procedure'. Well, that got me even more terrified even though my husband was there and he said that the cardiologist said that becasue he wanted me to quit smoking and to frighten me....They discharged me and that was that. I was in major panic by now, the discomfort was still there and I didn't understand how an ER doc could get the diagnosis so wrong. I went to see my GP and he spent a long time trying to reassure me and also sent me for an echocardiogram and pulmonary angiogram to check for blood clots. They both came back normal.
Anyhow....I still have the discomfort in the left chest area and about a month ago I started getting what I assume are ectopic beats which are totally freaking me out now. I don't know what this 'discomfort' is and it is there pretty much all the time...I have looked up costochondritis (which my doc suggested) but I don't have any very tender points when pressing on my rib cage or in between ribs...I am still not convinced it isn't my heart although my GP is - he says that sometimes we don't always get a definite diagnosis but I feel I need one...I need something to hang on to..I need to know what it is...I even wake up with this feeling and so if it was anxiety would I wake up with it even after being (presumably) relaxed overnight? and why the ectopics now? this discomfort has been there for nearly two months now and I have totally lost my confidence in this time...I am just so scared and not knowing is driving me insane. I don't really notice anything that makes it worse even though when I am emotionally upset it does seem to get worse, kind of painful twinges...
Sorry to go on like this, I guess I feel at my wits end with it all...My GP has pretty much said he doesn't know what else he can do and so I feel I cannot go to him for any sort of support. He has referred me to a general physician for an opinion and I have that appointment in about 3 weeks time.
If you have any advice or similar experiences please let me know...I am feeling quite desperate and find that I just need to go off by myself fairly frequently and cry and cry...my husband and children are tired of me not being myself and I don't blame them but I just don't know how to get past this...I try to hide my despair from my family as much as possible but I am not my usual happy self obviously :weep:
I have had anxiety for years, it started off as panic attacks then became general anxiety with panic attacks and of recent I have recognised that I have a health anxiety and that is my main issue..
Towards the end of last year I had quite a rough time, lots of extra stress and sickness with me and the children...I had been very stressed for quite some time..Then at the beginning of December everything seemed to be settling down but I noticed that the left side of my chest felt kind of 'full' as though I had pressure there...I would not say it was pain, it was more of a discomfort and I was very aware of it..this went on for about 4 days and the discomfort has been constant. At this stage I was assuming it was the left over anxiety and I went to the doctor to get it checked out and to reassure myself that it was anxiety. The doctor told me to go to emergency because they didn't have an ECG machine there so I got my mum to sit the children and went down to my local hospital emergency room. Had to wait a few hours as I was obviously not in significant distress and then they called me in. When I went in they hooked me up to the cardiac monitors etc and this ER doc came in and said that he had consulted with a colleague and they thought I might have full heart block which would explain my symptoms...At this stage I started really panicking as this was NOT what I had expected (I am 38 years old, female and am a smoker). My legs were shaking, I couldn't stop them and I was absolutely terrified, never been so scared in all my life...they were talking about a pacemaker and then gave me valium because they didn't want my heart going to fast and I was flipping out so much and they moved me to were they could see me all the time and gave me aspirin 'just in case'!! It makes me anxious just remembering it all! Anyhow, they admitted me overnight and took the bloods for heart attack etc 3 times over night and the next day they got me to do a stress test and the cardiologist came in and said all results had come back ok! I tried to ask about the so called heart block and they said that there was very minimal first degree heart block and it wasn't to worry about. I said to the cardiologist 'so this is not my heart?' and he said 'oh no, I am not saying that, the only way I could tell that is if we did a cardiac catheter and we wouldn't do that with you as there are risks involved with that procedure'. Well, that got me even more terrified even though my husband was there and he said that the cardiologist said that becasue he wanted me to quit smoking and to frighten me....They discharged me and that was that. I was in major panic by now, the discomfort was still there and I didn't understand how an ER doc could get the diagnosis so wrong. I went to see my GP and he spent a long time trying to reassure me and also sent me for an echocardiogram and pulmonary angiogram to check for blood clots. They both came back normal.
Anyhow....I still have the discomfort in the left chest area and about a month ago I started getting what I assume are ectopic beats which are totally freaking me out now. I don't know what this 'discomfort' is and it is there pretty much all the time...I have looked up costochondritis (which my doc suggested) but I don't have any very tender points when pressing on my rib cage or in between ribs...I am still not convinced it isn't my heart although my GP is - he says that sometimes we don't always get a definite diagnosis but I feel I need one...I need something to hang on to..I need to know what it is...I even wake up with this feeling and so if it was anxiety would I wake up with it even after being (presumably) relaxed overnight? and why the ectopics now? this discomfort has been there for nearly two months now and I have totally lost my confidence in this time...I am just so scared and not knowing is driving me insane. I don't really notice anything that makes it worse even though when I am emotionally upset it does seem to get worse, kind of painful twinges...
Sorry to go on like this, I guess I feel at my wits end with it all...My GP has pretty much said he doesn't know what else he can do and so I feel I cannot go to him for any sort of support. He has referred me to a general physician for an opinion and I have that appointment in about 3 weeks time.
If you have any advice or similar experiences please let me know...I am feeling quite desperate and find that I just need to go off by myself fairly frequently and cry and cry...my husband and children are tired of me not being myself and I don't blame them but I just don't know how to get past this...I try to hide my despair from my family as much as possible but I am not my usual happy self obviously :weep: