Hello. I'm new here and I'm from the Philippines. I haven't been diagnosed with health anxiety and I haven't been to a psychologist/psychiatrist yet but I believe that I have health anxiety..
My story started last July 2018. I was drifting off to sleep (was sleeping on my stomach) when I started to feel that I was running out of air. I immediately stood up, went outside my room and contemplated waking up the rest of the household to take me to the hospital. I waited for the symptoms to disappear and it did, also I was afraid that they'd panic if I ask them to to take me to the ER. I googled my symptoms and unfortunately, I fixated on heart attacks.
I've seen a cardiologist and had a treadmill stress test, ECG and 2D echo and it all came back fine. However, up to now, I'm still feeling a slew of symptoms (chest pain/tightness/discomfort, palpitations, throat discomfort like there's something stuck in there, pins and needles in my legs and arms at times, etc). I've been to the ER 6 times - was diagnosed twice with GERD. All ECGs were normal. My BP is normal except for that 1 time when I was up all night due to me panicking because of my palpitations. There was also a time when my calcium and magnesium were quite low. I've seen an internist who checked my thyroid and said that everything was normal. My cholesterol is a bit higher than normal but as per the doctor, with lifestyle changes, it will definitely be within normal limits.
I've consulted with another cardiologist and I'm still awaiting tests at this time. I was out of the country last September and a week in November - definitely felt fine during those times. Should I still continue with my doctor visits or should I accept that this is just anxiety? Based on what I've read, I've probably had 3 full-blown panic attacks since July.
A bit of a background on myself - I used to go to the gym regularly about two years ago. I'd say that I was really healthy at that time. Right now, I'm a bit overweight but starting to eat healthy again due to these scares. My first time to visit a doctor was due to the July episode. I was under a lot of stress this year due to work and commute. I slept for 4-5 hours a day and I went to work 6-7 days a week. Also, we also had a big family problem in June and also found out that my aunt has cancer. My symptoms started to appear in July so I was thinking that the stress contributed to me having health anxiety.
I'm also afraid to sleep at times because of a news I've heard that someone died in his sleep due to pulmonary embolism. When I hear ambulances or hear someone talk about heart attacks, I get a bit jittery.
Sorry for the long post. I don't have anyone to talk to regarding this because most of the time, they just dismiss me or just tell me to not overthink. But that's my problem, I can't stop myself from overthinking! I don't want to tell my mom because she's going to worry and she already has a lot on her plate right now.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope someone responds.
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