Heart trouble is making me go crazy

Epoch_Zero · Nov 1, 2018

I suffer from the same thing. You had a panic attack. They come from nowhere and can be triggered by certain things or nothing at all. They are horrible, terrible things that people who have never experienced them cannot possibly understand. Mine are all heart-related as well. My dad suddenly died from a heart attack one night and so every twinge and ache in or near my chest makes me a wreck.

My first one put me in the ER too. I was convinced I was having a heart attack. Dizziness, palpitations, feeling of cold in chest, high heart rate, feeling of doom and panic. They came in wave. They finally gave me some potassium and some calming meds and sent me home. After my second I went to a cardiologist and had blood tests, a stress test, an echo, and wore a halter for three days. Everything came back normal, if that I need to take a jog once in a while.

What you need to focus on is that there have been several trained physicians that have told you they think you are ok. If there was any abnormal heart rhythm then they would have been indicated by your EKGs. If you were experiencing a heart attack or heart failure, then certain proteins in your blood tests would have indicated so.

My heart rate is high almost all the time, and I check it almost constantly on my fitbit - just in case. It's a bad habit, I know nothing's wrong, but I do anyways. My medication gives me what I consider alarmingly high blood pressure, and I can freak out if I focus on that. Sometimes I feel a flop in my chest that can stop me in my tracks and I have to take a Xanax because I know that's one of my triggers and it might bring on a panic attack. Any chest pain makes me nervous, even if I know it's just from my horrible posture, or from sleeping weird.

But we have to keep in mind that physicians that are well trained to spot problems have cleared us, and that in all likelihood, what we are experiencing are normal symptoms of anxiety and panic disorder. It's really hard to do. Most days I'm not very good at it.

If you have someone you can talk to, talk to them about it. Tell them how scared you are, tell them what you fear happening, and tell them all that you've been checked for. Talking about it helps. A lot. Keep up your meds. Find a therapist if you feel up to it. And try and develop some trust for the test results. If you can learn to trust what the doctors are telling you, then it makes it much easier to cope with the symptoms, even if they terrify you to your very core, like these chest-related symptoms do to us.

triceps · Nov 1, 2018

Epoch_Zero, you have written the best health anxiety post I've ever seen. Thanks so much, I hope many can benefit from it.

Robinsca · Jan 26, 2019

Good info in this thread thanks.

Aaronbm2009 · Jan 27, 2019

Mandah2386 said:
I went to the er last night with chest pain, racing heart rate, palpation, left arm tingling, and nausea. Ekg normal blood work normal. Sent me home. A few hrs later woke up from deep sleep to pounding heart rate again, I started crying hysterically, so tired of this feeling and no answer. Call 911 and still normal ekg just high heart rate. Go to the cardiologist today because i have had zero sleep, heart rate still high, again normal ekg, ordered an echo but have to wait til Monday to do it because of insurance. He gave me a beta blocker to lower heart rate. I seriously feel like I'm losing my mind. I cant concentrate, I am a nervous wreck. I took zoloft for yrs and came off fine 6 months ago. This past week I asked for meds again and dr put me on prozac. I took one and decided I wanted zoloft again because I know how my body responds to that and so I have only taken 1 zoloft. Idk if its anxiety but it feels so real, so scary. I just really want them to keep me in the hospital and run all sorts of tests but I know they won't. Please help me

Hope everything worked out ok for you I am recently going through the same exact thing I mean the same exact thing aside from going to a cardiologist they just dismissed me twice after an ekg blood test x ray of heart they gave me an Ativan that calmed me down and perscribed hydroxyzine which I take roughly once a day and it just makes me pass out. I have a history of heart disease in my family and I’m driving myself mad I sit here now with chest pains writing this trying to tell myself it’s all in my head.

prismpower · Jan 27, 2019

It is a very common symptom of anxiety, to feel like you're going to have a heart attack but everything is fine. Very, very common- so many people go through this, yet at the time it might feel like you are suffering from it alone but trust me you are not. I have had many EKGs/blood work done. They all turned out to be fine. Tons of weird ass chest sensations. They said it was GERD/anxiety. I think sometimes our bodies just go through funky ****. Humans feel deeply, so what something feels like, often turns out to be what we think something 'is.' Objectivity and science then tells us 'no, not quite' but we feel so strongly and spiritual/deeply... that's why it's so important to just be nice to each other.

Even if something in your body was NOT fine- what is stress/anxiety/worry going to do for me or you? Think about that. We would just now be miserable and depressed, on top of having something corporeally wrong. But usually there isn't much wrong, or there is something wrong but we have leapt to the worst case scenario. Like how I thought my headaches were a brain tumor when really it was a neck sprain. It was still something but not as grim as I thought. Heart attack is a very 'worst case thing'. Lots and lots of different stuff can cause chest pains. Including and especially anxiety.

I tell the story of my dad dying of cancer but laughing about it/still telling jokes as inspiration for others, because it sure inspired me. If you suddenly died this very moment, for whatever reason- you would want to be happy right. Feel fulfilled? Well that's why all our power is NOW, in this moment- in this very present moment. Not in the past or future, but now. Thats where the freedom is.

If people kill themselves or die to release pain they think will never go away- then the pain will end, and they will get relief- but they don't realize . that relief can come from the real world too, while they are awake. Even in the most dire of seeming situations, hope springs eternal.

The body heals naturally. It is hard for it to do this when we put extra stress on it with anxiety and worry. It will still heal but much slower, making whatever we do have 'for real' that much worse.

But even if something happens where my body cannot heal natural from it, I don't want to ruin the remaining years of my life being so scared all the time. I just don't. Life is already hard enough, it's already going to be stressful and painful and heartbreaking enough, without anxiety on top of it.

Aaronbm2009 · Jan 27, 2019

prismpower said:
It is a very common symptom of anxiety, to feel like you're going to have a heart attack but everything is fine. Very, very common- so many people go through this, yet at the time it might feel like you are suffering from it alone but trust me you are not. I have had many EKGs/blood work done. They all turned out to be fine. Tons of weird ass chest sensations. They said it was GERD/anxiety. I think sometimes our bodies just go through funky ****. Humans feel deeply, so what something feels like, often turns out to be what we think something 'is.' Objectivity and science then tells us 'no, not quite' but we feel so strongly and spiritual/deeply... that's why it's so important to just be nice to each other.

Even if something in your body was NOT fine- what is stress/anxiety/worry going to do for me or you? Think about that. We would just now be miserable and depressed, on top of having something corporeally wrong. But usually there isn't much wrong, or there is something wrong but we have leapt to the worst case scenario. Like how I thought my headaches were a brain tumor when really it was a neck sprain. It was still something but not as grim as I thought. Heart attack is a very 'worst case thing'. Lots and lots of different stuff can cause chest pains. Including and especially anxiety.

I tell the story of my dad dying of cancer but laughing about it/still telling jokes as inspiration for others, because it sure inspired me. If you suddenly died this very moment, for whatever reason- you would want to be happy right. Feel fulfilled? Well that's why all our power is NOW, in this moment- in this very present moment. Not in the past or future, but now. Thats where the freedom is.

If people kill themselves or die to release pain they think will never go away- then the pain will end, and they will get relief- but they don't realize . that relief can come from the real world too, while they are awake. Even in the most dire of seeming situations, hope springs eternal.

The body heals naturally. It is hard for it to do this when we put extra stress on it with anxiety and worry. It will still heal but much slower, making whatever we do have 'for real' that much worse.

But even if something happens where my body cannot heal natural from it, I don't want to ruin the remaining years of my life being so scared all the time. I just don't. Life is already hard enough, it's already going to be stressful and painful and heartbreaking enough, without anxiety on top of it.

Thank you friend and I agree with you thank you for this read

Steven · Jan 28, 2019

Anxiety attacks are the worst and there’s really no way to predict when they’ll happen. The good news is they always pass. Sucks that symptoms can be so similar to serious conditions which obviously freaks us all out. I hope you’ve been feeling better lately.

Hurt&Hopeful · Jan 29, 2019

Mandah2386 said:
Thank you so much. I'm sitting here crying while reading your reply because you get it. I dont have anyone that has experienced it to talk to. They dont understand how scary and real it feels. Thank you so much for your reply. I'm really trying to relax. I feel like the crappiest mom on the planet. I cant even function right now with them, thankfully I have an awesome husband but it doeent help with the mom guilt of not being the one involved like I normally am. I took my beta blocker but it didnt seem to help any. I'm going to take it tomorrow night and keep up with my zoloft and hopefully days will get easier. Right now it's hard

Hey there - I'm so sorry that you're going through this. Panic attacks are so hard. I don't have health anxiety, but I have the panic attacks, and I know how real they are and how miserable it makes you in your body. The symptoms are real...

I actually just wanted to comment on your "I feel like the crappiest mom on the planet" statement. I know exactly how that feels! I have had some times where I just couldn't function because of the anxiety, and I constantly worry about it as a mom. I grew up with a dad that had pretty severe anxiety problems, and nobody ever talked about it. He wasn't in any kind of treatment until I was much older (probably a teenager?), and his anxiety and depression made him get moody, at times disconnected (like sad and shut down), and at times mean and scary. I think a lot of my anxiety today comes from that unpredictability and how confusing it was for me. But the issue wasn't his anxiety - it was the fact that nobody was dealing with it, so it felt extremely unsafe and scary. As I got older and started showing some of the same tendencies, it felt like a death sentence - I was told that this was just "how I was," and that I would just have to deal with it forever, and basically that I needed to work hard to not make people around me miserable. I learned no skills to deal with it, in other words.

Today, I have a very different perspective - I don't think we should hide anxiety from our children. That gives it WAY too much power. My son is only 5, so he's not old enough to understand completely, but he does know what it feels like to be scared. Or to feel shy. Or to feel angry. Isn't it our job to teach our kids what to do with those feelings? How can we do that if we're not allowed to show them that we have those feelings, too? I don't mean that we have to involve small children in a panic attack, but I think it's perfectly ok for kids to know that Mom feels scared, and to talk as a family about what to do with that. And as they get older, why NOT let them see a parent work through a panic attack? We want kids to see parents work through disagreements, solve problems, learn how to manage a budget and change a tire - all the skills you need to be a functioning adult. Why not this?

Anyways, sorry this is so long - I feel really passionate about this subject. LOL Be kind to yourself - you didn't choose this, and you're not doing anything to harm your kids by having it, any more than you would be if you actually had a heart disease. They will be okay, and you have the opportunity to grow through this with them. You're already a great mom just for worrying about it so much.

I can tell you love your family a lot - hang in there. It will get better!

Kris10 · Feb 3, 2019

Mandah2386 said:
I went to the er last night with chest pain, racing heart rate, palpation, left arm tingling, and nausea. Ekg normal blood work normal. Sent me home. A few hrs later woke up from deep sleep to pounding heart rate again, I started crying hysterically, so tired of this feeling and no answer. Call 911 and still normal ekg just high heart rate. Go to the cardiologist today because i have had zero sleep, heart rate still high, again normal ekg, ordered an echo but have to wait til Monday to do it because of insurance. He gave me a beta blocker to lower heart rate. I seriously feel like I'm losing my mind. I cant concentrate, I am a nervous wreck. I took zoloft for yrs and came off fine 6 months ago. This past week I asked for meds again and dr put me on prozac. I took one and decided I wanted zoloft again because I know how my body responds to that and so I have only taken 1 zoloft. Idk if its anxiety but it feels so real, so scary. I just really want them to keep me in the hospital and run all sorts of tests but I know they won't. Please help me

Heart trouble is making me go crazy

Mandah2386

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Epoch_Zero

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triceps

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Mandah2386

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Mandah2386

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Robinsca

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Aaronbm2009

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prismpower

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Steven

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Hurt&Hopeful

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Kris10

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