New here and terrified

[kimmiepie]

Hi my name is Kim, I'm 25, and I've suffered anxiety for as long as I can remeber. Just in the past couple of years have things gotten really bad and now they're at their worst. It started out with the heart palpitations and fluttery beats even when I wasn't panicking. Then I got chest pains beneath the breast area. 2 chest x-rays, bloodwork, 2 ekgs, 1 ecg (no dye), 1 halter monitor and 1 event monitor. (Of course I've had all the other deabilitating symptoms as well, dizziness, derealization, tingling etc pretty much everything on the list but I'm talking about my heart because it is my main concern right now.) Everything came back normal but I didn't have any of the pains or anything while I was doing the tests. Then a few months ago I got chest pains again only they were a dull deep feeling on the left side of the chest. It didn't hurt when I pushed on it but it spread to the armpit and occasionally down the arm. After much research I finally realized that it was most likely caused my muscular tenseness even though it didn't hurt when I touched it. Because that side was always SO tight. Well about a week ago I started noticing sharp pains (I had had these off and on before but not near as much) starting on left side of chest and going down arm, wrists, sometimes neck. Sometimes they come and go throughout the entire day or just a few times, other days I have none???? It gets worse when I'm stressed but doesn't everything??

So I went to the dr today who listened to my heart. I expected the same thing but she said when I had the pain that she heard a flip flop or something. She said my pulse was steady but the h/b was at times irregular. Ever since then I have been freaking out. Having an irregular beat sound with the pain that is supposed to be just like a heart attack...isn't that bad?? What scares me is that I didn't feel anything irregular. I can usually tell when I'm having missed beats or flutters. My heart was just beating fast....like it always has when I'm nervous but no other doctor ever picked up this before...only this time when I have the "heart attack" pains.

She said that because of my history of severe health anxiety, specifically heart attack related, and stress level that she thought it could be anxiety but wants me to get a stress test at a heart hospital just in case. I'm terrified! She did say that she didn't think it was a heart attack or even angina because it doesn't happen upon physica l activity(even though she didn't do any real tests) and not to worry-yeah right.

Forever I've been worried about heart attacks and my heart and it seems that gradually new symptoms come. When I hear about something that is heart attack related then I eventually get it....but quite a while after. But this is just SO real. It's sharp (which only happened rarely before) and goes down the arm, sometimes wrists (or sometimes just the arm etc) and can come and go whenever. I don't even have to be stressed.

Is it possible to worry over symptoms so much that you actually produce them? Why all of a sudden would I get this different kind of pain so often when I hadn't before? like I said there is a lot of muscular tension on that side as well as a bit of nerve issues from a car accident, but that shouldn't cause pains like these right...especially over my heart and causing irregular beats.

Someone please help. My husband is not home and I've got my 3 kids here and I'm having a panic attack just thinking about this. And the pains are back now.

Sorry to sound so crazy, but I'm really scared. Thank you!

[matilda]

I am sorry you feel so bad but surely if your doc was worried theyd have sent you straight to hospital!! Have the test it will put your mind at rest. Welcome to NMP!!!

[Piglet]

If your doctor had had any major worries about your heart, other than wanting to carry out some routine tests, then she would have had you in hospital so fast and she certainly wouldn't have let you go home.

I think you can relax and realise your doctor is just being thorough. It's very natural for us anxious lot to immediately catastophise things and I am sure if your doctor realised how worried this made you feel she'd have rephrased the way she put the information over. They don't always realise what sounds routine to them can scare us witless!!

Now go and have some fun with your kids

Love Piglet

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

[kimmiepie]

Thanks for the replies thus far. I too thought that she would have admitted me if she thought it was urgent. I just hope she isn't holding off on something serious because I have anxiety.

Another question. I have always been told to take magnesium for chest pains etc. Well I did and it worked almost immedietly. Does that mean it's a heart condition because it worked so well? Ack! I am feeling better now that the pains are gone, but still very uneasy inside and expecting a heart attack any minute. [V]

[shiv]

hi and welcome, Sounds like the placebo effect to me. All us who suffer with health anx identify with what yr saying. I get ALL of what you explained. So please try not to worry,

Shiv x

[halfwayhome]

Hi & welcome!
Yes, it is definitely possible to 'imagine up symptoms'
I did it. I got worried about a brain tumor and all of a sudden the right side of my body was numb and weak and all sorts of things.
Of course, once I got something new to worry about, those symptoms disappeared!
Good luck - hang in there.

“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

xoxox

[D ROC]

Hey Kim,

Your mind is extremely powerful, if your mind can control thought and emotions it can surely control how nerves and muscles react. I thought I was having some serious heart issues as well. After talking to the doctor, he told me my whole left arm would hurt and I wouldnt be able to function. Sure enough when I went home, my left arm started to get sharp shooting pains all the way down to my fingers. It was completely in my head cause now that I know it was just extra sensitive feelings in my nerves, I havent felt a pain since. Heart attacks do happen but they are not instantanious. If you have been going to the doctors they will know what your cholestrol levels are and they will be able to feel your pulse throughout your whole body. If you are non repsonsive somewhere on your body they will know instantly and if your cholestrol levels are high they will let you know. Cholestrol is one of the reasons heart attacks occur. The thing is though, cholestrol levels are found in blood, so a routine blood test would show if you are at risk. If your cholestrol is fine, there shouldnt be too many other reasons for your atteries to get clogged. I am no doctor but after talking with my Nana who suffered a heart attack, my mind completely changed. She told me that when she had early signs of a coming heart attack, she couldnt function. Her atteries were only 50% and she is perfectly fine. The reason I bring that up is that if for some reason someone was dying of a heart attack, the early signs are so large and so general that any routine trip to the GP would raise flags. My last comment is that if you have been to the GP even once in the past year and he has found nothing wrong with your cholestrol levels and has not referred you straight to the hospital, than from what I know and from what helps me relax, you shouldn't even have early signs of anything wrong with your heart. Hope this helps Kim, having my Nana and my GP explain it to me really helped.

Best Regards Everyone,