New User. Need Answers/Reassurance Please.

[pixel88]

Hi,

I'm 30 yrs old male and have been reading this forum for several months now. This site has given me lots of peace of mind, and has helped me a lot with my anxiety.

I finally decided to register though, bec I've been more anxious about the past few weeks and hope some of you have some answers about things bugging me.

It all started about a year and a half ago when I was getting dizzy from time to time, I decided to check my BP and it was higher than normal. I went to the ER and they did an ECG and some blood test, found that everything was normal but said I had ischemia on my ECG, so asked me to have a cardiologist check my results for follow up.

The week following that was my first panic attack I think, it wasn't really bad, but I was getting chest pains and decided to go to the ER again to be sure. The doctors did another ECG, and said again that it was normal, I asked if there was ischemia, which the doctor really didn't notice at first, but then later told me that yes, there it was.

My cardio asked me to do a stress/echo exam, and the results according to him, were good. I was fine, gave me some medications to control my bp, and that was it.

I was good for about a month or so, then started my stomach pains, which is what really started my high anxiety. The stomach pains were persistent everyday, I was scared that there's something wrong with my stomach. I did a colonoscopy, endoscopy, and an ultrasound, and all came back normal.

But sadly, the anxiety never left from then on. Over the past few months I've have all sorts of fears about my head, my body, my skin, my stomach, my heart, and I've been trying to fight it since. I don't want to take any medication for my anxiety, and have been listening to The Linden Method which also helped me a lot to understand what's happening.

My bp now has been a roller coaster so far, I went from being well, no more medications, then sometimes goes up again, go on medications again, so on and so forth. Late last year I started feeling ectopics (I'm not sure if they are really ectopics, but it's a feeling of being out of breath for a split second, then goes back to normal, like a skipped beat).

I've been bugging my doctor about it but he doesn't seem concerned, kept giving me nevramin for my nerves, and some bp medications.

This morning, I just came back from my cardio bec I've been feeling chest pains for several days/weeks already. I texted him a couple of days ago and he told me to take nevramin, he said these are all nerves causing the pain.

But the pain didn't go away so I just decided to go see him this morning. Told him about the pains, and he decided to do an ECG. Now he told me my ischemia is gone already, but I was having PWP (?). He asked me if I was getting palpitations and I told him I have ectopics from time to time, and he said yes, that's what exactly it is. However, he told me that this is an abnormality in an ECG, and decided to give me Propanolol 10mg to be taken 3x a day. He did tell me though not to be scared, and that he's just gonna try to get rid of the ectopics with the medicine, and asked me to get another stress test in 2 months.

Now I'm worried, and I don't know if I can wait for 2 months without knowing exactly what my results will be. I hope that you guys can give me some answers.

1. Are ectopics bad? I've been reading about the ectopics posts here in the forum, and I know all of you are saying it's fine, but why did my doctor seem concerned, and told me it's an abnormality?

2. Is propanolol safe? taking 10mg 3x a day, is it ok for me? Should I take it? (btw, I have asthma)

3. Are my chest pains really fine? I get sensations ranging from tightness, to needles, to dull ache, to general discomfort, all in the left side of my chest.

Sorry for the long post, and hope to hear from you guys soon.

[Chrismascray]

My friend I have just read your post, I am not a Doctor, BUT I have had missed heart beats and fast beats and some of the tests you have described here, BUT I had them about 16 years ago, I am still here!! I still get missed beats, I get breathless and I panic, oh boy do I panic, but it is nothing, and looking at your post yopu are fine, ok so a abnormaility sayts your Doc, seems strange as a non professional that something that if you search this site for is abnormal, I have seen hundreds of posts with this "abnormality", I think if you take a look at your own post and the amount of tests you have had, all of which seem fine, if they werent or were serious surely you would be typing from a hospital bed wouldnt you? Ads for your other symptoms, tightness etc, all I can say is, I could have written down that so easily over the last 20 odd years, not every day or even every month, but freom time to time yes I could relate to these, difference is I have history, a history that tells me, 'hey I had this, it went away', it does help sometimes. I cannot see from your post that you shopuld have too much to worry about, and I am one of the people here that likes straight answers to straight questions, telling you not to worry if pointless, asking you to re read your own post and answer it as if someone else had written it, and then look at the answers, I will take a bet it looks a lot different on the other side, give it a go. Cheers and take care.

[pixel88]

thank you for your kind words, I guess you are right. What really scares me is that for several months, my doctor has always been telling me I'm fine, and he's been basing this through the Stress/Echo exam I had on November 2007.

Everytime I go visit him, he keeps telling me "you're fine, your stress/echo is fine, and it's good for 2 years". Everytime I experience chest pain, he keeps telling me it's just the nerves/muscles, and not to worry.

But this morning, he did seem worried, asked me to relax, and did an ECG. Asked me if I'm having palpitations, and told me there's an abnormality in my ECG. Now he gives me beta blockers, and asked me to have another stress exam in 2 months.

This sort of like scared me more, suddenly, my doctor wants more tests. I also asked if I can do strenuous exercise, and he told me that I can exercise, but when I feel tired, I should immediately get a rest. We all know that when we exercise, it is to try and stress the heart, the muscles, but my doctor didn't want me to do that, and that makes me worried a bit more.

I'm also concerned since this abnormality didn't really come out on my 2 previous ECGs, only on my ECG this morning, and can't help but thinking that it might be a new problem?

Right now, as I'm typing this, I'm also getting some odd pressures in my head, like a finger pressing a part of my skull. Anyone had this?

Finally, I guess it just feels better to be able to share these, hear what people who fully understands you has to say.

Thanks for reading.

[CJH86]

Hi, Propranolol not a good idea if you have asthma - it is not a selective beta blocker (i.e. not selective for the heart) and it could affect breathing. Also if you are taking salbutamol (blue) puffer it can make the inhaeler work less effectivley, it is a pretty low dose though (see doses of 160mg a day) was the cardio aware of the asthma?. Best to speak to the doctor regarding this anyway as there are other more selective beta blockers that can be used in asthma if need be such as atenolol.

Ectopics are generally harmless, but if they are causing you distress then that alone is a reason to treat them. With the chest pains, anxiety can cause them...if there was a serious problem with your heart they wouldnt mess about and make you wait 2 months. I know how it feels though, i found out i have a hole in my heart earlier this year and had to wait about for 6 weeks without a clue whether it was serious or not x

[pixel88]

Thanks for replying about Propranolol. Hope all is fine with you too.

I informed my doctor about my asthma, and he told me not to take Propranolol. Instead, he told me I should take Angiozem 30mg 3x a day.

Anyone familiar with Angiozem and what it does? Thanks.

[lindzanne]

Hi, I don't know that much about what you are going through medically but I just wanted to let you know I have had HORRIBLE daily stomach pains that were due to anxiety, they did go away, my heart has skipped beats and my arm has gone numb-due to anxiety. My mom spent three days in the hospital with what may have been a heart attack--guess what, it was a horrible panic attack! My dad just had scans on all his veins and all the same tests you had and more because his arm went numb and he couldn't even write--he was diagnosed with anxiety! Clearly runs in the family! I have had pressure in my head that I described EXACTLY like you have, a finger pushing on my head. It was a bad sinus infection combined with tension headaches from anxiety! You are obviously going through a lot with all this medical stuff but no matter how bad and scared you feel you are doing the right thing--going to get it taken care of.
Never underestimate the power extreme anxiety has over our physical well-being. I know it's hard to believe that, I'm not trying to be preachy because I'm in my own panic spiral right now and know just how you feel, I just wanted to share like the previous poster said, sometimes it's good to hear that someone else had that, and it went away!
Take care, and welcome, there is a lot of great support here.

[pixel88]

thank you lindzanne, I feel much better now. I'm still worried and anxious, but I guess you guys are right, my doctor wouldn't wait 2 months if it was something really serious.

I easily tire nowadays, and since I can't do exercise that tires me so much I don't know how I can improve my stamina. Is it normal for people with anxiety to be tired with just walking? Or going up just 1 floor in the stairs?

[lindzanne]

On my worst anxiety days, I have felt exhausted moving from the couch to the kitchen. Now that I've been having a better week I have been running like normal. It affects everything, energy, appetite, etc. I know sometimes how hard it is to know what is anxiety and what is real symptoms. There is a lot of info from other users here about the physical symptoms of anxiety. I read someone on here the other day saying they try to think, if the doctors not worried, i wont worry. easier said than done right?
If you are worried you shouldn't hesitate to ask your doctor about your fatigue.

[pixel88]

thanks again lindzanne, I did some light taichi stretching this morning and was a bit tired with it, even if it was just a few movement of the arms and body.

I'm also getting the ectopics the past 2 days now, after going for weeks/months without it. My doctor detected these ectopics in my ECG, even if I wasn't feeling it, and now I guess I've become more anxious about them, which is why it is more noticeable right now.

I'm thinking of getting Claire Weekes books, hope it will help me a lot.

Thanks again for your help.

[pixel88]

hi guys,

thought I'd give you an update. I finally had my Stress test about a month ago, and the stress ecg came back normal. Although, my heart was really beating fast, it actually reached 187bpm, which is already 97% of 190, so the doctor had to stop the stress test.

I was able to get to stage 3, which I think the doctor said was normal (I got to stage 4 just a year and a half ago when I was actively doing sports though), however, my palpitations was concerning, as I didn't really feel super tired, but my heart got to 187bpm.

I showed my results to my cardio, and he told me there's no arrythmia, and that the ecg was normal. However, my palpitations have to be controlled, so he gave me atenolol 25mg to be taken once a day.

I asked my doc if the palpitations could be a result of my anxiety, and he said it's not, and it's probably an inborn thing that got activated recently only. My doc is still not concerned about my chest pains as I told him I'm getting it a lot.

Anyway, my question to you guys, could my anxiety be the culprit for my palpitations? I can get to 90s while sitting sometimes, but when taking atenolol, I'm usually at low 50s. Is this normal? Also, I've been getting chest pains a lot the past few weeks, sometimes numbness and weakness in the arms/legs as well.

Should I get a second opinion? my chest pains doesn't really feel very painful, but it's there, it's bothersome, it could be dull ache, or just something there that I can't get rid of even after stretching.

I thought I was getting better, I felt I was getting better, in fact, I'm not too scared anymore, but the chest pains keep on pulling me back. Would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

[pd]

Hello :)

Anxiety and palpitations go hand in hand, and it's a vicious cycle with one making the other worse. If you've had anxiety about your heart you are much more aware of it, what it's doing, how it's beating than a person without anxiety, who might feel the palpitations and think nothing of it, to say, me, who feels palpitations and thinks oh my god I'm going to die!

Chest pains are horrible, aren't they? Like the palpitations, they make anxiety worse, which in turn makes the pain worse, though I swear most of the time the pain is completely in my head, at least that's what I tell myself! I find that when you get chest pains, before it turns into a full blown panic, the best thing to do is immediately do something to take your mind off the pain, do your upmost to forget it's there (it's hard!) and pretty soon I notice it's gone!

[pixel88]

Hi,

thanks for answering. My doctor doesn't think it's my anxiety, which is what worries me. I know many people post here and say, their doctors attribute the palpitations to anxiety and think they're fine, but mine doesn't. He's saying, it's an inborn thing with me.

I hate these chest pains. What bothers me is that it's been here for the past weeks/months, and it's always on the left chest side, where my heart is. If it's muscle tension, or just nerves, why is it on the left chest side and not on other parts of my body?

After my stress test, I resolved to be better, to feel better, and to recover fully. I know it takes time, but these pains are pulling me back. I tire easily, my legs and arms feel weak, and although I try not to put too much thought in them, they affect my daily chores in life, which makes it hard not to put to much attention to them.

At the back of my mind, it's always, is this real or just my anxiety. This morning, I had blood test done, and now I'm anxious for the results, which I'll be getting tonight.

[momof3boys]

I have been back and forth to er, my gp, and cardiologist, have has dozens of ekgs, a stress test and an echocardiogram, and everyone says i am fine, and my heart races the same as yours, can be in the 90s while sitting, i have chest pains, and during my stress test my heart rate went high quick too...i had to stop right at the beginning of stage 3, and also m,y bp went up high too, my cardio says its nothing to worry about...of course when i feel the heart racing i still wonder!! By the way, I am also 30.

[pixel88]

thanks for the reassurance momof3boys, I don't know how I would get that big push to get me over the fence, I feel like I'm almost at full recovery, but at the same time still far from it.

My blood test results were normal, a bit high on lymphocyte but rest is normal. Today, while I was giving an orientation to new employees, my face just went numb, hands started to sweat, felt a bit off and is quite anxious now. Anyone get this as well?