Heart reassurance

[linz]

hi, all. It's unusal for me to post and not be worrying over something and since i feel a little better at the moment about heart issues i thought i'd share and hopefully make some of you feel better.

I just got back from the docs; last night and this morning have been really horrid for me. I spent hours of last night in a state over missed and extra hearbeats - i'd got used to them but they lasted a few hours so then i started worrying that because they had dragged out so long that was it and they weren't going to stop. And then today i dragged myself out with partner shopping and i had this feeling that i can only describe as cramp in my heart. It was kind of like a squeezing feeling under my left breast like when you have a stomach cramp. It was painful and i thought it was my heart doing it.

Anyway luckily i had an appointment with doc at tea time so i soldiered on till then and ended up in a mess crying to him and insisting that there was something wrong with my heart. He listened to it (AGAIN) and said the same old stuff 'it's just anxiety' 'you're not going to have a heart attack' etc.

I managed to calm down a bit and reason with him to just take the time and explain to me what was happening in my body so the next time it happened i wouldn't think heart attack and would know what was happening. He said that the ectopics were fine to last that long and wouln'nt cause any problems at all and that the pain was all muscular and spasmodic which is bound to be painful.

Still after this i was feeling the same and thinking that if he had felt what i had then he wouldn't
be so confident, but he then said to me that he knew how scary ectopics were because he has had them himself and he understood that i felt alone and vulnerable when they happen because that's how he feels and that you just have to trust that they wont harm you. He also showed me that he had a 24 hour monitor on because he has actual cardio problems. He said that nothing i had described was cardio pain and their is ABSOLUTELY no mistaking it. He said, from experience, that it is the worst chest pain you could ever get and would not be sat talking (or typing lol) about it.

Anyway, i know this is a little long winded but its been a while since i have been really reassured and it made sense for once as the doctor understood what i was afraid of.

My doc is great most of time cos he's patient and if i ask the right questions i get an answer i can be reassured by.

i just thought i'd post this for those of you who worry about these heart things then go to the doctors only to be told 'not to worry it's just anxiety' and sent on your way because i had this before and it made me feel worse.
take care all, linz x

p.s the next time i come on here with heart issues will someone post this message back to me lol

[linz]

anyone else experience these muscle cramp things under left breast and sometimes in center of chest? if so do you have any tips for easing them cos they last a while and are making it difficult to relax.

thanx

[linjane]

Hi Linz,

Thanks for sharing that with us and hopefully it will help to reassure people like me who just can't accept that having more or less daily ectopics is fine and not harming us.

Take care
Linda.x

[linz]

hope it made you feel a bit better linjane. the heart things are really crappy and scary i have them a lot and it must be maybe 3 hours since i wrote the post and already panic is setting in because of chest pains again. Its crazy i can come back from the docs feeling so great and then a few hours later be worried again, BUT im gonna try harder to not worry about my heart so much cos i really do feel that doc knows best and wouldn't have me walking around with a bad heart.

[linjane]

Hi again Linz,

I think if you can try to think positive and not let the heart stuff overtake you, you can overcome the fear of it - easy for me to say but I can't put it into practice! I've had the ectopics for over three years now and they still scare me, no matter how much reassurance I get....but why??? I don't understand why???

Anyway, if you need to talk PM me.
Take care Linda.xxx

[Meg]

Linz

Have you tried a range of stretches encompassing arms out to sides, up and over, star shape and behind you clasped and raised upwards then downwards.

Lin
Maybe because we are brought up to associate the heart beat as always being rock steady and its hard to accept that it can be so different from the normal and yet not be wrong.

Every film we see has a normal heart beat where all is well or an abnormal one where someone is in a crisis, we are not taught or exposed to anything else.




Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Your anxiety is the human representation of the pictures that you paint using your many vivid colours of revolving and reoccurring thoughts.
How big is your gallery ?

[kablegriff]

Hello all,

I am new to the forum and read this thread and I suffered from very similar symptoms. I have been diagnosed with PTSD and Anxiety disorder as well as personallity disorder, from which I am told is linked to my anxiety. In addition I have been diagnosed with GERD, which will come into play in the following paragraph.

Over the past 6 years I have been to the emergency room over 20 time thinking I was having a heart attack or stroke because of pains in my chest and tingling in my face arms and legs. The severe pain in my chest has been caused by my GERD that the doctors believed developed because of anxiety. The previous statement did not put me at rest as it caused me to worry more. I thought what else is this disorder going to cause me? I am constantly feeling wierd chest pains or cramps in my legs and then being told its just anxiety and the medication. I have had three stress tests and one heart cath in the past 6 years and they have assured me that my heart is healthy although I should consider quiting smoking and loosing a little weight.

My point is that I feeling much of the same things you all are discussing and it is somewhat reassuring that I am not the only one. For the first 4 years of my diagnosis I was on Xanax and Zoloft. After 4 years of that I requested that I get away from the Xanax as I read I should have never been taking that medication for that duration of time. Now I am on 100mg Zoloft and sometimes when I forget to take the medicine I start to feel tingly and dizzy. Does anyone else have this or any of the above issues?

Any advice that you can you give me would be greatly appreciated.

[Tbird404]

Linz,

I struggled/Struggle with the same issue. My father had a Heart Attack at age 50 which puts me at High Risk im 27 by the way. Ever since he had his and his doctor told me I was high risk I began to have anxiety about it. I have gone to the doctor and even the ER about it. The ER visit showed that I had a bruised sternum from when my fiance was getting her epidural (sp) they told her to drive her head into my chest to help with her pain.They said my Heart was healthy. Few months later visiting my doctor i told him of the pains in my chest. He asked me about my physical activities and such. After telling him of lifting heavy objects and playing some mild sports he drew a conclusion. I have pulled the muscle/tissues in between my ribs causing these sharp pains making me believe it was heart related. He even told me it could take months for them to heal or they may not fully heal at all. My anxiety level has decreased a little but it still pops in my head from time to time. Hope this helps a little.