Constant fear of having a heart attack

[Neilr1978]

hi gang im gonna have a bit of a vent,im only 29 years old and i live in constant fear of having a heart attack even though im 90% sure its anxiety like the doctors say.I have had 7 ecg,s in the last year,had blood tests, cholesterol tests, the list goes on.But as i sit here nowi have a pain in my chest and yes i have been feeling abit panicy too.It really is starting to get to me,feeling like this for over a year always feeling like im gonna drop dead at any minute,feeling my pulse 20 times plus a day!!!.I dont know who to get myself out of this vicious circle.Its no fun feeling like this and although i get fantastic support from family no one know what its like living in constant fear of death.I have two young daughters and im terrified of leaving them without a dad!!.Well thanks for listening to my rant gang!!!!!!!!!!!but its beee one of those days

[GemmaAnn]

Hey Neil

That pain in your chest is most likely anxiety if 7 ecgs havent brought anything up! I had the same problem last year and the docs only let me go for 1 ecg where there saw a slightly increased pulse rate and the doc said I was dropping beats every couple of minutes, but that was it ... she put it down to anxiety and let me go. I used to have a lot of chest pain, specially when breathing in and my chest felt tight. But after hearing it was probably anxiety I tried to put my faith in the doctor and tried to stop thinking about it. It worked though. I still have palpitiations sometimes but the constant tightness and ache has gone.

I guess my point is you wont die any time soon, so you need to start cutting down slowly on checking your pulse as a start, to get you to think about it less. Obviously you cant just stop point blank but maybe regulating when you do it and then remember that your pulse rate cant possibly be the same all day depending on what you were doing just before!

hang in there and everytime you feel that familiar tightness remember its anxiety and nothing is wrong and then go do something else, it will pass and nothing will happen to you!
Good Luck with feeling better
Gem xxx

[Neilr1978]

Hey Neil

That pain in your chest is most likely anxiety if 7 ecgs havent brought anything up! I had the same problem last year and the docs only let me go for 1 ecg where there saw a slightly increased pulse rate and the doc said I was dropping beats every couple of minutes, but that was it ... she put it down to anxiety and let me go. I used to have a lot of chest pain, specially when breathing in and my chest felt tight. But after hearing it was probably anxiety I tried to put my faith in the doctor and tried to stop thinking about it. It worked though. I still have palpitiations sometimes but the constant tightness and ache has gone.

I guess my point is you wont die any time soon, so you need to start cutting down slowly on checking your pulse as a start, to get you to think about it less. Obviously you cant just stop point blank but maybe regulating when you do it and then remember that your pulse rate cant possibly be the same all day depending on what you were doing just before!

hang in there and everytime you feel that familiar tightness remember its anxiety and nothing is wrong and then go do something else, it will pass and nothing will happen to you!
Good Luck with feeling better
Gem xxx

thanks gemma i get ectopic beats too doc says im fine and its just anxiety.I will try and cut down on my pulse rate checking too.Sometimes just talking about it helps,so cheers

[neil1975]

Hi Neil,

I am pretty much in the same boat as you with the constant fear of heart disease etc.

Are you taking anything for your anxiety?

Just out of curiosity do you exercise at all and how do you feel when you do?

Take Care

Neil

[nomorepanic]

Have you tried stretching exercises for the chest?

[TracyL]

Hi Neil

Yep i'm with you there. I'm always scared of heart disease. I have the missed/extra beats and they drive me insane.

We have to try and trust in ourselves that we are fine and stop worrying. Easier said than done i know.

Hope you feel better soon

Tracy

[Neilr1978]

hi neil,hi tracy,glad im not alone with this crazy thing.Regarding exercise the funny thing is when i push myself i feel fine!!,but afterwards i stress maybe i shouldnt of exercised incase its weakend my heart or somthing then wham anxiety is bach,missed beats,pain in chest.god this thing is nuts.Also then when you stess your muscles in your chest and neck get tight,i have pulled muscles in the past through being so stressed out and then stetching or somthing silly to try and relax just because my muscles are so tense

[Janieb]

heya Neil.

I get pains in my chest often, it can take my breath away sometimes. But it's related to my anxiety, I also have bad asthma so I can often kick myself into an attack when I feel that chest pains. But I know what you mean about excersie I won't even go back down the gym because my h/r goes so high then I panic slow down then panic I have damaged something. All this panicing, I wish there was a pill that could take it all away so I could go back to a normal life which I am sure you feel sometimes as well.

A lot of the time I try and focus on my little boy, he helps me through and I keep telling myself nothing is going to take me away from him. I am sure your little girls will have you around for years to come, fight it through

[Neilr1978]

[quote=Janieb;265015]heya Neil.

I get pains in my chest often, it can take my breath away sometimes. But it's related to my anxiety, I also have bad asthma so I can often kick myself into an attack when I feel that chest pains. But I know what you mean about excersie I won't even go back down the gym because my h/r goes so high then I panic slow down then panic I have damaged something. All this panicing, I wish there was a pill that could take it all away so I could go back to a normal life which I am sure you feel sometimes as well.

A lot of the time I try and focus on my little boy, he helps me through and I keep telling myself nothing is going to take me away from him. I am sure your little girls will have you around for years to come, fight it through [/quote

hope so janieb!!!!!!!

[spacebunnyx]

hiya,

just thought i'd add something. my mother is a consultant anaesthetist with MANY years experience. She has never come accross a person as young as you having a heart attack - i had similar worries and asked her!

all the best

jess xxx