pb's Health anxiety worries thread

[pb]

Having a really bad panic at the moment over my heart and abnormal ecgs.
Surely the cardiologist wouldn’t want me to have an exercise ecg if they didn’t think I had heart disease.
My heart was fast due to anxiety but there was also st sagging on two ecgs.
Im really worried.
On top of this I’m now getting numbness in my left forearm..

[pb]

Had chest pain last night and now have pins and needles in hands and numb forearms.
I really don’t want to go toA&E again, but scared.
Typing definitely makes it worse, I have had carpal tunnel syndrome before.

[BlueIris]

You're scared because you suffer from anxiety. There's every chance that this is what's causing the chest pain and tingling, too.

[pb]

You're scared because you suffer from anxiety. There's every chance that this is what's causing the chest pain and tingling, too.

Now feeling sick, this is a nightmare.

[pulisa]

No it's not, it's anxiety. What does your Dad say? What does your friend say?

What would you do if this forum didn't exist?

[pb]

No it's not, it's anxiety. What does your Dad say? What does your friend say?

What would you do if this forum didn't exist?

I don’t know, I’m scared I’m having a heart attack, but trying to think that I’ve had chest pain lots of times.

[pulisa]

You're having "another" heart attack whilst posting on an online forum.....??

[NoraB]

Having a really bad panic at the moment over my heart and abnormal ecgs.
Surely the cardiologist wouldn’t want me to have an exercise ecg if they didn’t think I had heart disease.
My heart was fast due to anxiety but there was also st sagging on two ecgs.
Im really worried.
On top of this I’m now getting numbness in my left forearm..

I only know of one person who did the stress test, and he didn't have heart disease.

The problem with repeated testing is the false positives - which is like throwing petrol into the fire when you have HA. From what I can gather, certain types of medication can cause a 'sagging' or it could be a normal variant. Nobody else is concerned, pb, and they are the experts.

Do you get out of breath easily? The people I knew with heart disease couldn't walk without getting out of breath. I don't recall you mentioning being out of breath? A stress test is the best way of seeing how well your heart is working when you exercise but just because you're being sent for one doesn't mean you have heart disease - as I said, the only person I know who went for one turned out to have nothing wrong with their heart - it was anxiety.

The only way to rule out (or try to with someone with HA) heart disease is a stress test or some kind of scan. In the meantime you are terrifying yourself and that will produce those 'heart attack' like symptoms - including the sensation of 'numbness' because you're not breathing properly.

It was the day before my colonoscopy (which would prove that my colon was riddled with cancer) that I accepted my fate - and in accepting - I started to feel better - even before I went. I just stopped fighting, and when they told me I basically had the best colon in Manchester, I knew that enough was enough!

Just say that you are right...

We live in a time where doctors can can easily patch us up and keep us going. My brother has stents, angina, he's had a stroke, he's more hernia than not, he has diverticulitis, deaf, and he just gets on with his life. He has a laugh about things and that's how he keeps going. In his case, doctors told my parents he wouldn't live to be a teenager, but he's 61 now.

I know this doesn't help you, but this is the difference when you don't fear illness.

Just for today, try not to catastrophise. When a date comes for your test, tell yourself that you are going to put it to one side and make the days in-between matter. Do nice things. Spend time with your nieces and see the world through their eyes for a change. Bake. Listen to music. Watch uplifting films. Read a beautiful book that's a pleasure to look at as well as read. Do whatever makes you happy. Take anxiety with you and teach it a lesson because it wants to stop you from living.

Those sensations will be there, but do these things anyway!

There's a film - Independence Day - where Randy Quaid's character, Russell, turns himself into a human missile (in order to save the world) with this great line: Alright you alien bumholes! In the words of my generation: UP YOURS!

You need to get more 'Russell' with your HA, pb.

[pulisa]

Which raises the question of how would you choose to spend your days without HA, pb? Do you have any other interests other than health?

[pb]

I have had a really bad day, had really bad dizziness again and had to just lie in bed. Still have chest pain, but it does feel muscular.
Its scary and I don’t know what’s going on.
I don’t want HA to be all I have in life..