Chest pains driving me mad.

[ferrariman]

Hi all.Thank you for reading my post.I am a newbie on here and need some help.I suffer from chest discomfort and pains daily and its ruining my life.I am 40 years old and have had gad since oct 09.I have had most of the symptoms but the chest pains absolutely terrify me.My family history is riddled with heart attacks and i am trying my hardest to break the chain by losing weight,eating healthily and exercising every day.I have had 5 ecgs and a full check up 3 days ago which was all clear as were the ecgs but i cannot get the heart attack thing out of my head no matter how hard i try and its driving me crazy.I check myself in the mirror every time i go to the loo and am obsessed with my health.I am awaiting a referral for cbt to go through and i hope it helps me as i cant do this much longer.I dont want to sound like a whinger as i know people have suffered for years with this awful illness,i just would like a bit of help and reassurance from you guys that i am not going to pass away as you are all so amazing and total stars.Thank you again for reading my exhaustive post.I just needed to get it off my chest.I look forward gratefully to any replies recieved.ferrariman.:blush:

[bottleblond]

Hi ferrariman

Chest pain/discomfort is so so very common with anxiety. I have copied the following infromation from our 'Symptoms' section of the forum.


Heart palpitations, chest pain, irregular beats, flutters, skipped beats

What you feel:

One of the most worrying symptoms is chest pains or a tight feeling in your chest. The immediate thought is "heart attack" or "stroke" and this only worries you more. You may also notice that your heartbeat is incredibly fast or irregular at times having palpitations and again this leads to the worry that you will have a heart attack.
Often the chest muscles may feel very tight, and sometimes they can become painful if they are tight enough to spasm. Because the individual may become concerned that they may be having a heart attack, their fear will add to the stress biology which can not only worsen the pain, but can produce other symptoms similar to a heart attack such as profuse sweating, light-headedness and numbness in the arms, feet or face.
These increased symptoms can also cause more fear which then can turn into a panic attack
Your heart feels like it skips a beat or flops in your chest. It sometimes may feel like a tickle in your chest that makes you cough. If you take your pulse, you'll notice that sometimes the beats are unevenly spaced.
You may experience a tightness or pressure in the chest. Sometimes you may feel shooting pains, or muscle twitches, or just an uneasiness or fullness in the chest area which causes you concern
There is no evidence that panic and anxiety has any adverse effect on the heart and the pains are easily explained.


I hope you gain some comfort from this and that you feel better real soon.

Take care
Lisa
x
:hugs:

[Ella_Jayne]

If your ECG's came back fine then don't worry (easier said than done I know). There's a reason they do these tests, to look for any signs of trouble with the heart so be glad that yours came back normal.

You're not going to die or have a heart attack. Just because heart problems have been in your family doesn't mean it'll happen to you. The last doctor I seen said that his Dad and Grandad both had heart attacks at the age of 43, the doctor was 52 and never had a heart attack because he made a concious effort to eat right and exercise, just like you. You'll be fine. :)

[smpomeroy]

agree with all the advice you have been given its totally common to have the symptoms you do and the more you worry about it the worse it will get... take the word of the doctors and continue to do the good work you are doign with keeping fit and healthy..

suz

[ferrariman]

Thank you all for your replies.They have really helped me and i am really grateful to you all.I am happy to be a part of such a caring community and looking forward to chatting further with you guys.Thanks again.:D

[itoldyouiwasill]

Hi all.Thank you for reading my post.I am a newbie on here and need some help.I suffer from chest discomfort and pains daily and its ruining my life.I am 40 years old and have had gad since oct 09.I have had most of the symptoms but the chest pains absolutely terrify me.My family history is riddled with heart attacks and i am trying my hardest to break the chain by losing weight,eating healthily and exercising every day.I have had 5 ecgs and a full check up 3 days ago which was all clear as were the ecgs but i cannot get the heart attack thing out of my head no matter how hard i try and its driving me crazy.I check myself in the mirror every time i go to the loo and am obsessed with my health.I am awaiting a referral for cbt to go through and i hope it helps me as i cant do this much longer.I dont want to sound like a whinger as i know people have suffered for years with this awful illness,i just would like a bit of help and reassurance from you guys that i am not going to pass away as you are all so amazing and total stars.Thank you again for reading my exhaustive post.I just needed to get it off my chest.I look forward gratefully to any replies recieved.ferrariman.:blush:


Just wondering if you have heard of a concept known as organ language?

The basis of this is that as humans we are disposed to convert emotional and psychological pain and/or issues into physical symptoms....we then in turn find 'organ language' to fit these manifestations. Think along the lines of something being a 'pain in the arse' or being 'broken hearted'. The phrase needing to get something off our chest is classic organ language...think about it, what on earth can it mean and where does it come from?

The obvious answer is that when things weigh heavily on our minds we can actually feel this in our chests and the removal of the thing that is weighing so heavily on our minds can get this off our chest.

So, what exactly do YOU need to get off YOUR chest??

[Catalyst]

Hello

I've been having chest pains since Dec 09. My ECG was fine. It looks like mine is due to Costochondritis - something to do with inflammation between the ribs and where they join the breastbone. When the doc pressed on these joints, he could replicate the pain. Could that be what you're experiencing? My symptoms are sharp stabbing or dull aching pains.