Neck pulse

[ha2011]

I am 19 years old and I have been suffering from health anxiety for just over a year now. My anxieties have been completely about my heart, and I have had an ECG, Echocardiogram and 24 ECG the results of which are normal according to my doctor.

My main concerns were a bounding and visible pulse all over my body (neck, wrists, stomac etc), a 'new' heart murmur and frequent skipped beats.

I have been having CBT recently and I feel that I nearly made a complete recovery. However I recently stumbled upon this wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suprasternal_notch
which states the following:
"In a young normal person there should be no palpable pulse. A prominent pulse may be indicative of an uncoiled aorta, arch aneurysm, or a tortuous blood vessel"

Indeed I have an extremely palpable pulse in that part of my neck ( well all over my neck), I can feel it prominently with my little finger and see it in the mirror. Finding this information has now caused me to have a relapse!

Logically I shouldn't worry about this:
-I am very fit (Can run 10km in 55 minutes)
-During my echo, the sonographer put the prove in my 'suprasternal notch' i presume to check for aneurysm's
-Doctor has dismissed my worries about my neck pulse before (albeit without examination.

However I now worry that this symptom shows that is actually something wrong with me and the doctors were too quick to dismiss it.

Can anyone else report such a prominent pulse in this part of the neck or is it just me?

Cheers.

[Anxious_gal]

I can :)
I'm pretty sure every one can though! I'd actually be surprized if you couldn't feel your pulse there :blush:
i can feel my pulse pretty much every where when my heart is racing.
sometimes i swear i can see my t-shirt moving because my hearts beating so hard!

[dodo]

I'm not looking at the link simply as I don't want anything else to worry about. But everyone can feel their pulse in their neck. Depending in your blood pressure it'll be mire or less noticeable.

[Clairalou]

Im also not looking at the link but as a compulsive pulse checker, depending on my level of anxiety depends where i can feel my pulse, if im completely relaxed i can barely feel it anywhere but when im very anxious i can feel it almost everywhere!!

Stop frightning yourself by looking things up it will only make things worse, try although i know its hard to trust what the doctor and the tests say!

xx

[ha2011]

I am really not worried that I can feel a pulse in my neck - that is certainly a good thing. My problem is that my pulse is very bounding i.e. forceful all the time and thus can be felt all over the neck - apparently (according to the link) in places it certainly should not be felt.

Before my health anxiety I actually found it difficult to find my pulse, which never bothered me.
Then one day I woke up feeling my pulse on my pillow - I was then diagnosed with a murmur (which had never been heard before) and my doctor put me in for the tests.

[Ella_Jayne]

I clicke t he link and honestly I wouldn't worry about it. I can feel my pulse there as well. It's normal to feel your pulse all over your neck. I don't care what that article says. It's rubbish. Ofcourse you're going to be able to feel your pulse there, it's beside one of your main arteries. Please don't worry about it. Your tests were fine, so you are fine. Try and trust your doctor.

x :)