Obsessed with my heart

[Panickypants]

I have a mild heart complaint called pulmonary stenosis which i have never had any ill effects from, i have had it checked every 12 months from being 5 years old and there has never been any change nor do i have to have any medication for it, so why oh why am i obsessed that it is going to change ????

I have anxiety and panic attacks but i think these are made worse by me thinking it's my heart and not really anxiety...Today i woke up feeling a little nervy and jittery so then a few times in the day i have felt like a dull ache in the middle of my chest right on my breast bone sort of a trapped wind feeling but every so often i get a short stabbing pain too,does anyone else get this ??? I also feel the ache across my shoulders and the bottom of my ribs around to my back the shoulder ache doesn't worry me it's the chest ache feeling i hate ...the fact that i feel nervy should reasure me it's just anxiety but i can't help but worry.. Any reasurrance greatly accepted x x x

[Gabrielle]

Yes, I've been feeling this too, and I don't have a heart problem. The chest ache and heaviness can feel quite scary, but it's just anxiety. :)

[Panickypants]

Thanks Gabrielle it's reasurring to know that someone without a heart complaint has the same symptoms... i hate this anxiety it drives me mad..i'm lucky too i don't have this EVERY day just the odd day x x

[valleybear]

Hi hun, hope you are feeling less anxious now. I get the dull ache over my sternum and sometimes little sharper pains, and have had numerous ECG's tests etc and it appears that it must be muscular and being anxious tenses everything up so makes it worse. Digestion probs can also cause these kind of pains. Being checked regularly must be reassuring and I expect your Dr would be happy to reassure you also should you mention to him that it worries you. You will be fine.... sending some hugs:hugs: :hugs::hugs:

[mattc15]

i get these too and they really worry me. its been happening for about 6 months now and im starting to really think its just the anxiety. But when it happens you cant control your thinking. At least i cant.

[Worry-wart]

My pains are around the left breast and arm. Sharp sometimes, sometimes dull and achy. I was so worried it was from my heart since I have been ODing on my thyroid meds for the better part of a year. Palpitations are horrible, but I have since learned that I'm stressing so much that I'm subconsciously straining my intercostal muscles (under the ribs). Nothing to do with the heart. Arm pains are most likely stressed nerves.

What a place to put a pain to let you know you are stressed out. Who invented this condition?

[Thumbelina]

I also have had a period when i was very very concerned about my heart, as my heart rate was 100-150-200 sometimes for manyu months, due to severe anxiety.

I had my heart checked by ultrasound and whatever number they made on the test was 75 I think (some indicator for the heart) They said it was ok for my age i was 30 then.

Though i still sated concerned about it as I believe they didnt want to tell me everything then as i was in a very bad state - severe anxiety and depression.

After some years anxiety and depression started giving me more time off and I do have more stable periods anxiety and depression free – then the other way around.
Though heart and breathing is still something that is very scary for me, as they are essential.

The one thing I was told by a doctor when I was mourning as usual about the heart was that: Our full stomach “Bag” is placed exactly on the way we think the heart is, in front or behind it I am not sure– there for any spasms in the stomach we take for heart.

It takes my mind of sometimes as it is true.

[Panickypants]

Thanks for all your replies it has helped me lots to know that people even without heart conditions have EXACTLY the same symptoms so therefore it doesn't mean it IS my heart..

My heart rate is between 70 and 80 bpm i am slightly over weight and i am 32 years old i try to excersize when i have the time but thats not a lot so from what i can gather this is a normal heart rate x

[NoWhereToHide]

I am ridiculous about my heart, If i see a heart on TV or see or hear someone has died of a heart related issue. I sometimes skip beats and get chest tightness just thinking about it.

I get palpitations and have had every test under the sun to prove its not related I even have a letter from a cardiologist on my wall stating that it is not heart related. Yet i still convince myself that it is and still get pains and palpitations!

I feel the heart palpitations will kill me, it is bloody horrible :scared15: