Misdial09
13-09-09, 21:40
Hi all, before I start I'd like to apologise for the length of this post - but please bare with me.
Okay so where do I start? I'm a 19 year old (M) student in the second year of my studies. I don't have a family history of illness, and I've been perfectly healthy since about five months ago...
I was at a party and I'd managed to pull a muscle in my shoulder/ neck. As I was eating, a person just whispered the words 'you may be having a heart attack' to me, and that triggered a series of awful events. I suddenly felt very flush and detached. My hands started sweating, I was hyperventilating and my heart was racing. I thought I was going to faint. I stepped outside and I was okay after a while. I thought it was only a one off so I left it at that.
A couple of days later, this episode happened again, for no apparent reason. It was not the ideal time to occur either, as it was only a couple of days before my exams. I told my dad to take me to A&E, and there I had an ECG done, which was fine. The doctor at the time told me it was probably stress related. Needless to say I failed my exams, and entered a whirlwind of feeling depressed, and worried that something was seriously wrong with me.
These episodes kept recurring and I wasn't feeling any better so I went to the docs again and had some blood tests and another ECG done. These both came back clear, but I was still not convinced I was free of a life threatening illness. I thought I was suffering from a heart attack, or heart failure. The doc reassured me and prescribed me Propranolol beta blockers. I was adamant that I did not want any medication, so I didn't take them.
So this cycle kept continuing, I somehow managed to pass the resits. Second year has just started (two weeks ago) and it's still happening and I worry a lot about my health. I've also begun to get tight chest pains, I've seen the doc AGAIN about it but he's said its nothing and I'll just have to live with it :(
It's begun to settle down now and I'm starting to take control of the attacks, but they still at times really distress me. Now I've managed to convince myself I've got another illness. This time it's bowel cancer. I was talking to a bowel cancer patient the other day and his symptoms seemed to match mine quite closely, a quick google search also seemed to bring up the same conclusion. Since I've talked to the person, I feel constipated at times and I can't go to the loo, when I finally do, very little comes out, or nothing at all. After a while I get diarrhoea [apologies for the graphic detail] and need to go again usually about two/ three times within a few minutes. I also saw fresh red blood in the toilet last year, but since then there's been no blood.
So now I think my health anxiety has stepped up a notch, and I really need you're guys' advice and support. If someone could reassure me re. the bowel cancer too that would be great. I don't think I can take much more...
I'm seeing a counsillor next month and I hope that will help, but I still worry tremendously about my health.
Any advice/ words much appreciated.
Thanks, sorry for the long post. :)
Okay so where do I start? I'm a 19 year old (M) student in the second year of my studies. I don't have a family history of illness, and I've been perfectly healthy since about five months ago...
I was at a party and I'd managed to pull a muscle in my shoulder/ neck. As I was eating, a person just whispered the words 'you may be having a heart attack' to me, and that triggered a series of awful events. I suddenly felt very flush and detached. My hands started sweating, I was hyperventilating and my heart was racing. I thought I was going to faint. I stepped outside and I was okay after a while. I thought it was only a one off so I left it at that.
A couple of days later, this episode happened again, for no apparent reason. It was not the ideal time to occur either, as it was only a couple of days before my exams. I told my dad to take me to A&E, and there I had an ECG done, which was fine. The doctor at the time told me it was probably stress related. Needless to say I failed my exams, and entered a whirlwind of feeling depressed, and worried that something was seriously wrong with me.
These episodes kept recurring and I wasn't feeling any better so I went to the docs again and had some blood tests and another ECG done. These both came back clear, but I was still not convinced I was free of a life threatening illness. I thought I was suffering from a heart attack, or heart failure. The doc reassured me and prescribed me Propranolol beta blockers. I was adamant that I did not want any medication, so I didn't take them.
So this cycle kept continuing, I somehow managed to pass the resits. Second year has just started (two weeks ago) and it's still happening and I worry a lot about my health. I've also begun to get tight chest pains, I've seen the doc AGAIN about it but he's said its nothing and I'll just have to live with it :(
It's begun to settle down now and I'm starting to take control of the attacks, but they still at times really distress me. Now I've managed to convince myself I've got another illness. This time it's bowel cancer. I was talking to a bowel cancer patient the other day and his symptoms seemed to match mine quite closely, a quick google search also seemed to bring up the same conclusion. Since I've talked to the person, I feel constipated at times and I can't go to the loo, when I finally do, very little comes out, or nothing at all. After a while I get diarrhoea [apologies for the graphic detail] and need to go again usually about two/ three times within a few minutes. I also saw fresh red blood in the toilet last year, but since then there's been no blood.
So now I think my health anxiety has stepped up a notch, and I really need you're guys' advice and support. If someone could reassure me re. the bowel cancer too that would be great. I don't think I can take much more...
I'm seeing a counsillor next month and I hope that will help, but I still worry tremendously about my health.
Any advice/ words much appreciated.
Thanks, sorry for the long post. :)