Young heart concerns....please help!

[white1989]

Hi I wonder if anyone can help/relate as I'm absolutely despairing with worry. I am a 25 year old female. For about two years I've been having strange things happen with my heart and chest which has all been blamed on anxiety. it started when one day at work I randomly felt like my heart was being flung around my chest and jumping up my throat and I got an overwhelming feeling of anxiety like I was about to die. docs diagnosed it as a panic attack, I had about 3 ecg's and one 24 hours ecg which both showed normal, and I have had a chest xray which showed normal. it started to settle a bit and now over the last few months it has come back and I am so worried! its like randomly ill just get a fluttering feeling in my chest, sometimes like a random thud, always accompanied by massive feelings of anxiety, and the other day in the supermarket within the space of about 10 minutes I had about 15 of these 'flutters/thuds' and I genuinely felt like my heart was collapsing, we had to leave the shop and I couldn't stop crying! I also get persistent breathing problems every day (asthma test shown clear) usually worse towards the end of the day, and sometimes get left chest/arm pain. these heart flutters/prominent beats sometimes also happen when I drink alcohol/have got a hangover/eat a very heavy meal, so I usually adopt 'safety behaviours' and avoid doing things that I was doing when they occurred. does anyone else have anything similar/can make me feel better in any way at all? im worried the ecgs didn't pick something up and I have a serious heart problem - it is literally taking over my life, my relationships, my happiness as a whole. i can't go a day without worrying that my heart is just going to completely collapse. any help greatly appreciated :(

[seabreeze]

Hi it sounds like anxiety/panic as i have had all the symptoms you had in my late 20s/early 30s, i am now in my mid 50s and still here so hope that gives you some comfort. I have had the jumping into my throat palpitations, fluttering ones, and stomach ones. Also had 24 hour monitor, a good few ecgs - all clear. They have got less over the years and like you i found stress and large meals seem to be one of causes of them. Its best to try avoid triggers like alcohol and large meals and if you can find some way of focusing on relaxing and slowing your breathing it may help you. Best wishes

[white1989]

Hi seabreeze,

thank you so much for your message it has really reassured me! it is so debilitating and I said to my partner the other day that it feels like I'm watching my life through a glass window, I see other young girls my age going out having fun and being carefree and I think how I've left that life behind since all of this started! I get a lot of breathing problems as well like I cant catch a full breath, constantly having to make an effort to breathe, sort of like there's a rope wrapped around my wind pipe! its so frightening, its always worse when I focus on it like when im sat at my desk at work and it feels like im literally unable to breathe. have you ever experienced this? its nice to know I'm not alone. thank you for your kind words!

---------- Post added at 16:25 ---------- Previous post was at 16:24 ----------

Hi seabreeze,

thank you so much for your message it has really reassured me! it is so debilitating and I said to my partner the other day that it feels like I'm watching my life through a glass window, I see other young girls my age going out having fun and being carefree and I think how I've left that life behind since all of this started! I get a lot of breathing problems as well like I cant catch a full breath, constantly having to make an effort to breathe, sort of like there's a rope wrapped around my wind pipe! its so frightening, its always worse when I focus on it like when im sat at my desk at work and it feels like im literally unable to breathe. have you ever experienced this? its nice to know I'm not alone. thank you for your kind words!

[halmatro]

I'm having the same symptoms, especially at work. Shortness of breath along with chest pain and it's freaking me out. It gets to a point that I can't have fun with my friends anymore when I get the chest pain. I did 2 ecgs/stress test/bloodwork all clear. I'm finding it difficult to concentrate on my life/work. One thing to point out my doctor told me at the most extreme pain/breathing discomfort i should rush to the hospital and do the ecg as sometimes the heart acts up only for a limited amount of time and returns back to normal then the ecg won't catch anything. Let me know how you're coping