Heart Concerns

zeus · Post by **zeus** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:52 am

My symptoms for the most part are heart related. I get skips, fast heart beats, and just an overall awareness of my heart. I hate it. I have had tests, though none in the past year or so, and they have been fine. Six years ago when this all started I had EKG, echocardiograms, and stress test and have worn a holter monitor and another echocardiogram about three years ago.

I still feel my anxiety in my chest. Chest pains, chest tightness, etc. I also feel out of breath sometimes and that gets me thinking that something is wrong with my heart.

I am scared that I'm going to die of a heart condition or heart attack. It's a very scary fear and I was hoping to find others who have or have had this fear and how they got over it. I am afraid to get my heart rate up and hate it. Whenever it does go up, I am monitoring it, is it too fast, etc. I also monitor my heart on/off during the day. It's so second nature now that I don't even realize I'm doing it most of the time.

Thanks!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 2:44 am

Good Morning Zeus,

I understand completely your fear of having a heart attack. It is very scary for sure. I have the exact same issues: Heart Palpitations, skipped beats, fast heart beats and like you said, an uneasy awareness of every single thing your heart does.

If you've had an ekg, echo, stress test and the monitor and nothing was found... rest assured that there is nothing wrong with your heart structurally. Believe it or not it is anxiety related. Please be sure to be tested for cholesteral. Also how is your blood pressure? Do you have a history of heart related problems in your family?

May I ask if you are male or female? As a woman, I noticed that during that time of the month (like this week

) my heart palpitations are very bothersome and scary. My doctor told me that its due to hormonal fluctuations. My Cardiologist told me to take magnesium oxide when then get bothersome and like I said its usually around that time of the month. Please ask your doc to also check your thyroid levels as well. Once you've done all of the blood work (cholesteral, thyroid,etc) all checks out, you'll see that it really is anxiety/stress related.

I have so much information from both my internal and cardiologist on this area that I can write a book lol Please let me know if you need anything or additional information. Knowledge is key and has really helped ease my fears quite drastically. Don't get me wrong, when I have a palp I am concerned but I quickly ask myself what is the cause (did I eat too much sugar? did I take any medicine that acts like a stimulant? Did I eat something that made me gassy? Is it that time of the month? etc.

Learn to listen to your body, you'll be amazed at the patterns that are revealed, then once you know, it won't frighten you any more

Misty

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:51 am

Thank you Mistybloo2 for your reply. When you get the uneasy feelings, do you feel it in your throat? I always get this smothering like feeling in my throat, for a split second or two. Other times I get it and can feel the heart skip following, so it's scares me.

I am female. I don't find that my symptoms are only around the time of the month, but they may be worse at that time. I had a physical about 1 1/2 years ago and my thyroid was fine then.

Any additional info would be helpful, I can handle my other symptoms, just the heart ones are hard to ignore.

Thanks!

mintflower · Post by **mintflower** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:15 am

I am a 24 year old female. I too have had the same feelings of being scared of having a heart attack. I had a x-ray done and they tole me that I had broncitis. I had been told that I was under stress and that I was having panic attacks. I had a bacteria test done on my blood and it came back fine. I have very fast heart race sometimes out of the middle of nowhere. I also have shooting pains in my chest out of the middle of nowhere. I get so scared because sometimes my arm will start hurting and then I really think that I am having a heart attack. It is a scarey feeling but I have had them for about two years now and I haven't had an actual heart attack. Panic attacks will mimic a heart attack and while it is scary there is nothing wrong but you are scared about having a heart attack. If you read online articles you will see that your symptoms will not last for more than 20 minutes. When I start feeling that my heart starts hurting then I get up and usually get in my car, I turn the radio up and I go. You need to make your mind stop thinking the worst then you need to just sit there and do something to take your mind off of it. I have just recently started doing these things and it has helped. I think that my mind starts thinking of being scared and then it just makes me think that my chest is hurting. Call someone on the phone and that is what helps me. I start getting out of breath and I feel like I can't get enough air. I start breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. I sometimes call someone and tell them how I feel and nothing bad has ever happened. You just need to get your mind off of what you are thinking and then you will feel 100% better. I think that it would help you to sit there and get your mind off of it. Don't think the worst thing first. Think that you need to calm down. You need a safety list of people to call so that you can feel better. If you hear other people talking about something it will take your mind off of it. I use to just go to bed and then when I woke up I was still alive! I thought that the only way that I could get my mind off of it was to sit there and go to sleep. There are things that you can do to make them go away. There is hope! I hope this will help you!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 12:36 pm

Wow.. Described my feeling exactly! Most of the time they happen when im trying to go to sleep.. Its very hard.. scares me alot of the time and i picture myself in the emergency room..

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:53 pm

I'm a 29 year old female and heart concerns are my #1 anxiety-causing symptom. Take for instance, all day today. I've been feeling anxious all day because I've had that "weird" feeling/awareness right by my heart the entire day. This has been going on since January of 2005, and I've had many an EKG done (all normal), many chest x-rays (all come back fine) but I've never had any blood work done. I've always wondered why my doctor has never suggested that. I have good blood pressure, typically around 100/60-70. Besides that "weird" feeling by my heart, I experience shortness of breath...pretty much 24/7 and it really annoys me. Right now, I'm just sitting on my couch writing this and I'm short of breath. And for what reason? I have no idea. All I know is that I want to feel "normal" again.

~Lisa~

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:08 pm

I go through the same thing.

I have had three stress tests, three ECHO's, blood work, etc and everything comes back fine.

My issue happens to be my anxiety appears to cause chest pain, that coupled with something they call Costochrondritis, I tend to get worried and of course when I exert myself physically it only seems to highten my concerns.

Everyone has told me I am fine, but, it is still hard to believe all that when I feel the way I feel all the time.

Rest assured, you are not alone.

I hate when I am idle and feeling my symptoms, at least if I am running around in the yard with the kids I can say, "I'm just out of shape" even if I am having a 'moment'.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 10:40 pm

Again as you have read you are not alone....Just 3 weeks ago due to a rapid heart beat my Doctor redid all test work again in order to put me at ease...not to mention a little for himself as well. We did 3 EKG, an Echogram, and wore a heart monitor/holster for 24 hours. Results fast heart rate but normal and strong. No structural problems. All blood work is fine....blood pressure low to normal.. When we have a rapid heart rate our blood pressure naturally lowers its self........when our heart rates slow down then the blood pressure will go up. Every day as you so perfectly put it I get on the heart/pressure monitor to see my heart rate. Sometimes its going so fast I don't even pay it attention and so getting on the monitor tells me..........Either relax, stop the negative thinking, or get my mind focused on something positive. Remember our heart beats to the rhythm of life.....it all starts with a thought!! There is something either consciously or subconsciously you are thinking about that triggers the heart to panic...... I know I have. My goal is too put the monitor away and trust in God and watch my thoughts more carefully.....

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:15 am

i have one for you! i have been to the dr so many times because of my heart and everytime i go it is because my heartrate is in the 180s or so...it is the scarriest thing in the world but you know what? my dr said i am NOT going to die from this...I have a thing called SVT (SUPERVENTRICULAR TACHYCARDIA) he says it is nothing dangerous i just have EXTRA electrical currents in my heart...it is so scarry to know that your heart can just take off like that for no reason as well...i could just be sitting there and all of the sudden boom my heartrate is gone up...
but what bothers me is the fact that my father had a tripple bipass on his heart and he died from a massive heart attack, so what do you think is on my mind all of the time? i am scared i am going to have a heart attack or something like that and here i am only 28!
i am trying and doing what i can to stop the thinking of negative thoughts all the time and wonder how does anyone else do it? i cant seem to get things off my mind either...
but i am really trying to realise what the dr is telling me is the truth that i am not going to die from it and you know what he says REALLY TRIGGERS it? ANXIETY!! PANIC!! He says for the most part that this is all CAUSED by having so much stress and panic and anxiety all my life!

what i have to say is like Believer08
TRUST IN GOD!
HE IS ALWAYS THERE maybe not physically but he is here for all of us as much as he can!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:35 am

I do understand why you just can't get rid of the thoughts about what might happen - what if thinking... It is hard to just except that your heart is going to beat 180 beats per minute. Mine gets up to 120 beats and I am freaking out.

Maybe if you got a second opinion by another cardiologist that could give you peace of mind...just a suggestion.