Hey. New to NMP. Any advice?

Hii guys, well basically i've signed up to NMP because iv'e been suffering with anxiety/worry since about february. I'm only 16 and still in secondary school but i've experienced full panic attacks and a range of symptoms over the past 11 months which have just become part of my daily lifestyle. However, it has changed the person who I used to be.
My main worry at the moment is having a heart attack. This has probably come on because I watched videos on YouTube of footballers collapsing on the pitch and read about sudden death in the young ect. That being said I am fit, don't smoke, used to do a lot of sports and there is no medical history of heart problems in my family. When I had my first panic attack, I thought it was a heart attack and struggled to sleep that night. In the morning, I made the worst mistake to date and googled 'palpitations' ect. of course I've realised now that articles brought up by google aren't the most reliable. My worries became worse as I read up on complex things to do with your heart and I guess it's all stemmed from there really. I have been to hospital on an overnight ECG and several other tests and the doctors didn't find anything abnormal. I should of been reassured by this but I'm still struggling to just accept it.
I am currently seeing councillors and the doctor has referred me to a cardiologist for an echocardiogram (which is tomorow) as he feels it will convince me that nothing is wrong. This test was optional so i'm not feeling as nervous as I would about it. I tend to feel more anxious towards the night because I can feel my pulse literally everywhere and have trouble sleeping but i'm looking forward to Christmas and New Year so that's giving me something to drive forward on. That's it so far, I'll keep you updated. :yesyes:

wish you luck at the hospital and dont worry so much your be fine

:welcome: Jordan, you will find lots of support here. Many of us have tuned into our pulse and heart beats because of anxiety. This will get better.

Veronica

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Originally Posted by JordanW92

Hii guys, well basically i've signed up to NMP because iv'e been suffering with anxiety/worry since about february. I'm only 16 and still in secondary school but i've experienced full panic attacks and a range of symptoms over the past 11 months which have just become part of my daily lifestyle. However, it has changed the person who I used to be.
My main worry at the moment is having a heart attack. This has probably come on because I watched videos on YouTube of footballers collapsing on the pitch and read about sudden death in the young ect. That being said I am fit, don't smoke, used to do a lot of sports and there is no medical history of heart problems in my family. When I had my first panic attack, I thought it was a heart attack and struggled to sleep that night. In the morning, I made the worst mistake to date and googled 'palpitations' ect. of course I've realised now that articles brought up by google aren't the most reliable. My worries became worse as I read up on complex things to do with your heart and I guess it's all stemmed from there really. I have been to hospital on an overnight ECG and several other tests and the doctors didn't find anything abnormal. I should of been reassured by this but I'm still struggling to just accept it.
I am currently seeing councillors and the doctor has referred me to a cardiologist for an echocardiogram (which is tomorow) as he feels it will convince me that nothing is wrong. This test was optional so i'm not feeling as nervous as I would about it. I tend to feel more anxious towards the night because I can feel my pulse literally everywhere and have trouble sleeping but i'm looking forward to Christmas and New Year so that's giving me something to drive forward on. That's it so far, I'll keep you updated. :yesyes:

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Hello,

Thinking you're having a heart attack or that your death is imminent, is a classic symptom of anxiety. Just from what you've posted I can guess what your test results will be ie there's nothing wrong with your heart.

On the other hand, just because you have these fears, do not think of yourself as strange or weird. Thinking you have heart problems is a very common symptom of anxiety and feeling anxious is a perfectly natural response to having anxious thoughts.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can be very effective in eliminating the anxious thoughts that bring on your anxiety, so maybe you can ask your councillors about having some of this.

In relation to your panic attacks, I offered this advice to a previous poster, hope it helps:

"I suffered with Panic attacks for many years, however this was only because they were undiagnosed. Once diagnosed I was able to eradicate them completely, within a matter of weeks.

First thing to bear in mind with panic attacks is that it is impossible for an attack to cause you any harm. The fear that the panic is causing you harm just makes the panic worse and adds fuel to the fire. In my experience this is the main problem with panic attacks. Once I had managed to not be afraid of them (which admittedly takes some determination) the attacks just dissappeared on their own. Never had an attack since.

Secondly, I know that the symptoms can be quite scary at the time and there are many ways to drastically reduce the impact of these.

When you start to panic, your heart beats faster and you tend to try and suck in more oxygen. This in itself fuels the panic. If you control your breathing, this reduces the effects of the panic considerably. Learn diaphragmatic breathing, I found this hugely helpful (you can probably google it) it's pretty easy to do it. Try conciously taking less breath's when you're panicking. Another sure fire method of reducing the panic, is breathing into a paper bag or putting your hand close to your mouth when you breath. This has the effect of of not having a load of oxygen being sucked into your lungs and whipping up your heart rate. The air in the bag has a higher concentration of carbon dioxide."

Anyway, hope this helps (I'm 100% sure it will). Please feel free to PM me or get back in touch if you have any other questions.

Don't get down about it, look on it as a challenge!

Hi Jordon

:welcome: to NMP, I'm sure you will like it here as there is so much advice and support.

chat is fun too:biggrin:

Hi guys, thanks for the replies, your support means a lot. I had my echocardiogram yesterday and the cardiologist said it was perfectly normal. I also had an ECG which again was normal however my pulse was slightly high (114bpm). The cardiologist wants me to wear a 3 day heart monitor basically just to check that my heart rate comes down as it should, especially whilst I am sleeping to rule out any electrical fault with my heart. I am confident the test results will also come back normal as I am forever checking my pulse at home when I am relaxed and it is usually around the 60bpm mark. Also I am going to have an exercise test so that I can be shown that nothing will happen to my heart when it is pushed to it's maximum.
I am feeling a bit more relaxed knowing the echo test was normal and I am a bit more sure that my paliptations ect. are caused by constant worry/anxiety.