Heart

[W.I.F.T.S.]

At the moment it feels like my chest is really tight all the time around my heart and I can be a bit short of breath just going up stairs- which obviously leads me to being anxious about having a heart attack. I've had ECG's, ultrasounds, blood tests and X rays recently and they said that my cholesterol was very high (9.5!!), that I have a heart murmur (which is apparently pretty harmless) and that my thyroid is slow, which can affect your weight and energy levels and, I have just read, can have an effect on cholesterol and be one factor that leads to depression. Stress can also raise cholesterol, I believe.

I'm trying to tell myself that heart attacks are caused by furring of the arteries and that the only part that stress plays in it is by raising cholesterol, which causes the arteries to narrow. I've been checked for all that and the only reason I'm on cholesterol reducing tablets is so that I don't develop problems in the future.

I know that it's probably just anxiety as the doctors can't find anything wrong. But it just plays on my mind that they might have missed something and what else can it be when I have the symptoms of heart trouble? Can stress play a more direct part in the function of your heart?

One reason why this is so upsetting is because in my head I feel better than I have done in a long time and I'm being really proactive with volunteer work. I've just had two days off work and I really wanted to relax, but I just feel really anxious and stressed. I keep thinking 'should I go back to the doctor?', but they have done all the tests on me already- so I should be reassured by that, right? Is it in my head or do I have a real problem?!!

Ships in harbour are safe..but that's not what ships were built for.

[Meg]

Hi

If you have had an ecg- this will have showed up any part of the heart that was struggling through furring up.
An echo will have shown the actual functioning power and if they had been wanted any further information you would have gone for an exercise test.

Yes that cholesterol is high so glad you're on the tablets and I hope you are having proper porridge every day too as well as a lifestyle revamp as well with more exercise which will help enormously too..

Anxiety alone can cause lots of chest aches/pains.

Dull ache (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3044)
chest pains (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3487)
Are these heart symptoms? (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4805)
Chest Pains (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4462)
what does your chest pain feel like? (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5309)
Chest pains for weeks and ectopics (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5856)
Chest pains (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5886)
Nervous (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6498)




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 ?

[W.I.F.T.S.]

Hi Meg,

I had a panic attack at the time of having an ecg and she said it was a bit fast, but regular and otherwise fine. My last cholesterol reading was 4.2 (down from 9.5!), so that's looking quite good. I was supposed to have an exercise test, but I've had nothing back, so I don't know whether to think that there is a very long waiting list or that they thought it wasn't neccessary.

I don't know how well up you are medically, but at the time of having an ultrasound one of the nurses said to the other one that my aorta wasn't very open and that has stuck in my mind, although they do appear to have passed me fit.

I am feeling particularly stressed about work at the moment, I really hate it, but I don't know where else to find a job with the same pay and hours. I may just have to quick it in the new year anyway, because nearly all the time I have been ill I have been working there! (3 years)

Also, I've been taking benecol-type drinks each morning for quite a while and I stopped taking them this week after my brother said that he had read that taking them meant that your body stopped working to reduce cholesterol and relied instead on the drinks. I don't know if that has any bearing.

It's just really unsettling that it's tight around my heart and even though I try and reassure myself I keep thinking things like my panic attacks and generalised anxiety must be causing my blood pressure to shoot up and the stress of feeling so anxious is putting such a strain on my heart that it will give up.

Generally I have been feeling much better, but this has kept me mired in anxiety and the fear and frustration feeds depression. The worst part is that I have felt so unreal and spaced out for so long that I'm not quite sure what is physical and what is all in my mind and whether I've had this all along, but I've been so distracted by feeling depressed and anxiety that it was masked from me.

By the way, Meg, you are a great help and I really respect your advice. And I have been quite good with my diet, although I am a bit wary about exercise (increased heart rate panics me a bit)- I have been doing a bit though.

Ships in harbour are safe..but that's not what ships were built for.

[Piglet]

Meg is that true about the benecol drinks or any of these so called cholesterol lowering products ???

Love Piglet :)

"Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" said Piglet.
"Supposing it didn't," said Pooh after careful thought.

[paladin806]

Hi,Perhaps it might help to have a look at the reply i posted

Please be prepared to have your eyes opened, and of course if you want to know more, please ask. Take care. John.

Nervous (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6498)

"I heard someone calling my name one day, so i followed that voice down the lost highway"