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daisycake
02-11-10, 12:59
I regularly suffer with a weird feeling in my chest, it's as if my heart just stops and then I cough or take a deep breath and its back to normal (no thumping or anything..) Sometimes at night it races as well, and when doing exercise I get more of these beats and if I'm say running or post-sex I can feel it pounding in my chest! I had my heart monitored during a general anaes. when I was seven, then again when I was fifteen but that's all anyone has ever done - the Dr will take my pulse occasionally or every couple of years they'll listen with a stethoscope but that's all :huh: Am I to take it then that they aren't worried? I've over the last week become breathless when talking and exercising &coughing a lot too, so I'm quite worried! Everyone else I know with these symptoms is carted off for an ECG, Echo etc and I've never been checked - at the back of my mind I'm worried about sudden death and I'm not sure what to do. But then the net says ECGS aren't all that accurate for sudden death, is that true? I've had the fluttery feeling since I was about ten (but suffered anxiety since I was tiny!) I sometimes after eating sugar get a weird throbbing feeling in my hand and occasionaly the bit below my thumb (not my wrist) will visibly throb, that's been happening since I was eleven.. So I am quite worried. I used to use an exercise bike at home but every time I used it I got dizzy so stopped. I also had one episode about two years ago, when I was very dizzy, and was at an open day for nursing - so we could play with the pulse things and blood pressure machines and my heart rate was soaring at about 130bpm, I've had this happen again since and a doctor checked my pulse and said it was caused by the way I breathe and said if she breathed like me her pulse would be up too - but I don't know if I can believe her. My GP at home said it's so normal to get these heartbeats and everyone's heart does funny things occaisonally, and once you've noticed it once it's so easy to notice again but I'm still worried. There was an article in the news about some lad who died of it and they said if you get fluttery feelings you should ask for a refferal to a cardiologist but will my doctor even agree to that? Considering in the last month I have been reffered for CBT, chest x rays ( that I didn't ask for) and they are referring me to gynae again for vulval dermatitis, am I not wasting their time and money? I feel so stupid haha :unsure::sad:

dodo
02-11-10, 13:11
Gosh well it sounds very much like these things are happening to you when you exercise because you are expecting them to. Our mind is very powerful and can bring about any kind of symptoms just by the power of it. I was for example walking yesterday with my daughter, I thought to myself 'wow I am feeling good, no shortness of breath etc etc' What happened a minute later? Started getting a tight chest and breathing difficulties. Just because I had allowed my brain to think about it for a second or two.

How old are you now btw?

daisycake
02-11-10, 13:12
19 :) Yeah I know what you mean and I do that too, if i don't feel anxious I start to question why!

dodo
02-11-10, 13:39
I think if you are concerned you should go and have a chat with your GP and if they then listen to your chest etc and say everything is ok it's best to try and accept it at that stage.

I think because you've been worried about it so long is why your problems are still manifesting themselves. If there was a real issue it would invade when you are preoccupied. When we are preoccupied we don't notice all these goings on in our bodies.

itoldyouiwasill
02-11-10, 15:38
Yes, an ECG can only really tell if you are having a heart attack/angina attack etc at that moment in time. It really has little to no use in ascertaining the functioning of the heart on a day to day basis or if any form of heart disease or disorder is present.

As has been rightly said, we all tend to suffer with flutters and the like but obvioulsy health anxiety sufferers are far more highly sensitised and attuned to their bodies and these sensations and therefore we notice them far more and then over catastrophise them.

Just reading your post it seems you are worried about dieing suddenly and a heart issue probably seems the most likely way this is going to happen. I would suggest concentrating your thinking around the sudden death worry, where it comes from and why it is debilitating you so much as opposed to the heart issue. As hard as it is constructive thought and reflection on the true core issue is far more beneficial than chasing your tail with aimless worrying on the way your anxiety has decided to manifest itself to you.

PokerFace
02-11-10, 15:41
OMG is that really true about ECGs?

dodo
02-11-10, 15:52
No I don't think it is totally true. A good friend of mine's wife works in hospital and she said that if a lot of young adults were given an ECG then the chances of sudden death would drop as it is a problem with the left ventricle which does show up in ECGs. Why would people be sent for ECGs if they only assess a heart attack.

PokerFace
02-11-10, 15:54
Oh good, started cryin really bad when I read that I've only had ECGs! ;( x

itoldyouiwasill
02-11-10, 15:57
OMG is that really true about ECGs?

Indeed, what you have to remember though is that if you are given an ECG and that indicates that you have a perfectly functioning heart at that moment in time then statistically this lowers the chance of anything actually being wrong with the heart.

This really highlights the problem with medical testing....I literally used to beg my GP to tell me that I didn't have cancer etc as the tests did not show anything but he would never do this...his reply was always that medicine was not an exact science and that in order to return my mental health back to normal I had to learn to accept and live with the same amount of uncertainty as his 'normal' patients...crikey, I hated him at the time but he was dead right!!

Being well is not about test results....being well is about choosing to be well. If you want proof of that just read into the life of Sir Laurence Olivier...amazing stuff.

ladybird64
02-11-10, 15:58
Yes, an ECG can only really tell if you are having a heart attack/angina attack etc at that moment in time. It really has little to no use in ascertaining the functioning of the heart on a day to day basis or if any form of heart disease or disorder is present.

As has been rightly said, we all tend to suffer with flutters and the like but obvioulsy health anxiety sufferers are far more highly sensitised and attuned to their bodies and these sensations and therefore we notice them far more and then over catastrophise them.

Just reading your post it seems you are worried about dieing suddenly and a heart issue probably seems the most likely way this is going to happen. I would suggest concentrating your thinking around the sudden death worry, where it comes from and why it is debilitating you so much as opposed to the heart issue. As hard as it is constructive thought and reflection on the true core issue is far more beneficial than chasing your tail with aimless worrying on the way your anxiety has decided to manifest itself to you.

Is that correct?

I was given to understand that an ECG could show whether someone has previously had an MI (heart attack), abnormal rythym and to ascertain whether the blood suppy to the heart is sufficient.

Just want to be sure that incorrect info isn't being given out. :)

blueangel
02-11-10, 16:04
As far as I know, an ECG should show if someone has had an MI, as the damage that occurs in the heart will change the electrical waves that are produced on an ECG trace.

itoldyouiwasill
02-11-10, 16:11
Well, heart worries where a very early manifestation of health anxiety for me and I had ECG's done on 5 seperate occasions with visits to my A&E (ho hum)

I queried why I was having an ECG each time as I would have had only had one like 3 weeks before and I was told that this was because they gave a snapshot in time of the heart and what was going on at that moment ...that said, I was also reassured by being told, and as I have already stated, that a clear ECG statistically reduces that chance of other heart problems.

I suppose that different GP's or experts will give different people different guidance and opinions but I think the important thing to remember is that a clear ECG is a good thing and that it is totally up to us to make sure we use it as just one element in reassuring ourselves that we are well rather than feeling that we have to have constant test results in order not to worry.

ladybird64
02-11-10, 16:16
The only part of your post Im disagreeing with is the info you gave about the diagnostic ability of an ECG. :)

I have also had many, I do not suffer from HA but have had arrythmia in the past.

Always best to check reputable sites for correct information I think.

itoldyouiwasill
02-11-10, 16:45
The only part of your post Im disagreeing with is the info you gave about the diagnostic ability of an ECG. :)

I have also had many, I do not suffer from HA but have had arrythmia in the past.

Always best to check reputable sites for correct information I think.

Agreed, however that is easier said that done as you will find 101 conflicting answers.:wacko:

Yep, it is a dangerous game throwing around medical conjecture as fact and I make no claim to being an expert on medical matters...despite 4 years Google research into MND:doh: so I will gladly bow to superior knowledge on the matter, as I said I was only going by information given to me.

Medical matters aside the only point I wanted to stress was that if we only rely on test results for our guarantee of wellbeing we are going to be in this for the long haul. I personally lost track of all the tests I had over my 4 year battle and various false positives told me I had lupus and auto immune hepatitis amongst other weird and wonderful things, none of this would have happened if I had not demanded medical tests that I did not require.

I'm just offering up my experience as to what helped me recover and that was by moving away from ther realm of GP visits and a barrage of testing towards learning to retrust myself and my bodies abilty to look after itself.

joannap
02-11-10, 17:21
daisycake - it really does sound as if your heart symptoms are anxiety - especially when you say you have had both since a child. my sister has a naturally fast heart rate - she wore a monitor for 24 hrs once but has never had any checks since and she can feel hers racing at night etc but because she is not an anxious person - she does not focus on it/worry about it.

some people naturally feel dizzy after exercise - my sister in law often passes out so i think you are reading too much into every symptom and attibuting it to your heart.

i get the missed beats/cough you describe - i should think everyone suffers them at some point. my heart also races sometime for no apparent reason. i agree with itoldyouiwasill regarding test results - an ecg would show up if anything was wrong with your heart so be reassured on that point but then you could have a normal result and then a few weeks later - if you got symptoms again - you could still convince yourself there was something wrong. this is why usually as one symptom has gone - another pops up in another part of the body!

nomorepanic
02-11-10, 17:37
An ECG will pick up previous heart attacks/MI's and if there is an impaired functioning of the heart.