Am i the only one....?

34 m
Ima severe hypochondriac especially cardiophobic...

i always fear that i may have a serious heart problem.... I was at the height of this anxiety exactly 5 years ago...i had several panic attacks., numerous visits to ER...was even kept in ICU....had several tests like ekgs echos stress tests...holter... blood tests etc...i wass kept on Paxil and clonazapem for a few months and it took away those feelings....but how i weaned of those meds was a separate story....

far the past 3 months or so,i was heavily beinge drinking (thrice a week) and each time i had severe hangover anxieties ...so i self medicated with proponolol and clonazapem to control those dreaded hangover anxieties....now i have completely abstained from drinking for the past 30 days.....

I was blessed with a girl and boy twin last month....now my anxiety has peaked up again for no reason....i get easily exhausted after very little physical activity...heart palpitations has started...my left and right arm BP is repeatedly showing a difference in reading of 10mm....Right arm bp is bit high at 130\85...I google for this inter arm difference and found it is bad...though my Gp told this is quite normal to have a slight higher pressure in the dominant arm.....also i get left arm pain after doing some very light dumbell exercises....I lost 10 pounds in the last one month...

I seen a cardiologist and took an EKG and a Echo and it came back normal...my cardiologist advised to have some physical exercises and try to reduce my ab.....he prescribed brisprolol 2.5 mg and Xanax .5 mg...

I simply cannot control racing thoughts...iam constantly worried if something might go wrong...what will happen to my newborn kids.....

I m feared to take bisprolol as i think once i het used to it i cannot stop it ever.....so Currently taking only xanax daily 0.5 mg for sleep or 0.25 mg as when needed

I check my pulse like a 100 times in a day (thanks to the finger oxymeter i own)....

Now i feel like a jerk before everyone.....as i have become a father of two beautiful kids recently and instead of being happy...i feel so sad and hopeless....I don't know what to do.....

Cameron12345 said:

Having children will definitely cause extra anxiety because you love them and worry for them. Then worrying about yourself that’s a lot of stress on your mind. I get physically exhausted too from anxiety, your body can only take so much. Anxiety is a horrible thing to have and believe me I’ve had my many ekgs and hospital visits. I can’t talk you out of how you feel, but I would like to let you know you’re not alone; there’s plenty of people out here including myself who deal with constantly anxiety especially about the heart. I’ve use to self medicate for over a year back in 2017 when it was my lowest point. I started seeing a therapist after that, which if you don’t I definitely recommend. It’s nice to get a fresh perspective from the outside. Along with that your blood pressure is pretty normal, recommended it 120/80 yours is barely over and especially with high anxiety it will make it worse. When my anxiety is really bad and I feel like I need to go to the hospital, I get up and go for walks 20min-1hr, no the thoughts don’t go away while I exercise I’m constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown or in my head SUDDEN DEATH! But the exercising let’s your body relax a lot because it’s focused on something else besides thoughts. I think self meditating is vital for those you have horrible anxiety, you need to focus on what you love. I’ve always said why worry about what could happen when I can focus on what is actually happening. Anxiety takes away from your life, that’s the true killer, you can’t enjoy life because you fear this thing that hasn’t and most likely won’t for a long time. I hope you heal mentally and take back control of your life. -cam

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Thanks Cam for replying..... seems I'm not alone fighting against this......because of this crippling anxiety and constant panick...i even forget focusing about my family...at present my only hope is xanax for sleep and some intermittent walking during the days............

Cameron12345 said:

Yes it does, I think it’s very common because it’s the one organ you can feel moving. I use to be very bad, and some days I am. But I’ve got it somewhat under control. I avoid anything I think might cause me to think about it or stress me out. I avoid certain shows/tv or conversations I hear people having because it can trigger it.

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Yes....it is really hellish to be a cardiophobic.....I do even avoid some triggers related to heart diseases/ailments etc......even one single sleepless night can trigger an absolute panic attack triggered by palpitations.....but strangely i have noticed that these episodes comes often during this period of the year....im just thinking of taking a vit supplement if that helps.....

Health Anxiety is soo crippling and evil.....im even feared to do exercises or go to gym which i used to before 5 years coz i m terribly afraid to exercise after these 5 years of zero exercise whatsoever.....now that i have stopped drinking and started eating consciously but don't have the power which i used to have before to do exercises....even a small 3kg dumbell lifting cause arm pain....also the palps and shortness of breath while doing exercises really scares the sh&t outta me...

Mannybilly said:

I went for a walk and 10 minutes from a simple walk my heart raced. Its anxiety plus not being physically active our bodies arent use to it

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Yes...the other day i was chatting with my friend who is unaware of my anxiety problems....we were just sitting on the poach outside our house and was having a casual chat....To him i seemed normal...but there was many anxious thoughts as usual running in my mind.....i was curious to check my heart rate at that time....so i told him that i have a app to check the heart beat in my phone and apparently checked my heart beat which was at 97...i insisted him to check his as well and it was 76....after checked he totally forgot about that and continued chatting.....but i couldn't for reasons that you all will know....i then left him telling a lame excuse to go and sit on my couch.........
Now that i have become so aware of my heart that literally i can guess its rate by not even checking my pulse....

does anyone out there has postprandial tachycardia and any idea how to manage it....

Cameron12345 said:

To your vitamin supplement I recommend vitamin B-12 complex, I think the pill works better but there is a liquid version. Then I also take Magnesium citrate which relaxes you and helps you sleep. There’s also a tea called Sleepy time tea you can get at Walmart, it’s amazing for falling asleep!

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Thanks Cam...would definitely try them and post the results....