Hello. I just wanted to share my situation and hopefully just get some things off of my chest.
I have suffered from anxiety since I was a teenager (now 22). My anxiety and stress really hit an all time high in the past year and a half as I went through a rough breakup, graduated from college, and moved to a foreign country to teach English. First I had really irrational paranoia. I honestly felt like I was going crazy and people were out to get me. Unfortunately I didn't handle this well at all and started to drink very frequently. This lasted about nine months or so.
Fast forward to May of this year. I was starting a bike ride, as I did very often, and my heart started skipping beats and was beating at a very high rate with little to no exercise done yet that day.
I waited for about 30 minutes and started to feel pain and panic, the palpitations just got worse so I went to the ER. I had a fever that they said was likely from acute bronchitis and that I had a panic attack. They had taken a chest x-ray, EKG, and blood tests, but saw no sign of heart disease. Nonetheless, they had me wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours to be sure. That also yielded no evidence of any disease.
A week later, while walking home from work, I started to feel the skipped beats in my chest again. I now know that these are PVCs and aren't really "skipped" beats, but it still terrified me. Still, I waited until the end of the month to see if they would go away. During this time, I started to constantly research my symptoms, started taking lots of supplements, completely gave up caffeine, alcohol, and reduced sugar and salt in my diet. I went back to the doctor only to have the same tests done with the same results. Another Holter monitor as well. The monitor did pick up PVCs as I felt them, but now two cardiologists have told me they are completely benign. This made me even more anxious and obsessed. Then of course, more symptoms started. Fatigue, heart racing, frequent chest and back pain, exercise intolerance, headaches, frequent muscle twitches. I also started having what I can only imagine are panic attacks around the same time every day. My hands would shake and I would feel light-headedness and depersonalization.
Perhaps the most ironic worry I have is when my heart rate is lower and weaker than I've become used to it being. I have been terrified that this has all lead to heart failure. Even though my heart and blood have been tested several times with no evidence of any issues other than benign PVCs.
I was also paranoid about language barrier because this is not my primary language, but I've been persistent enough that I know I've communicated my symptoms and problems effectively.
Before May, I was very physically active. I have been in to endurance sports most of my life, and since May, I was too afraid to start exercising again. I stopped myself from participating in events outside of work as well.
Luckily, I recently became fed up with just sitting around and worrying, so I started to jog daily about a week ago. It really took more confidence than I ever thought it would to just go for a jog. I am definitely not in the best shape now, which can also explain why I feel so fatigued after more strenuous activities recently. But with exercise and a change in my diet, my PVCs are starting to decrease and I'm feeling better about them in general.
Honestly, my biggest fear now is still heart failure. I am constantly noticing the changes of my heart beat and pressure and all. I know it is almost certainly just needless worry and I'm working hard to get better with it all.
Sorry for the long story. Honestly, just writing it out makes me feel a bit better as well.
I have suffered from anxiety since I was a teenager (now 22). My anxiety and stress really hit an all time high in the past year and a half as I went through a rough breakup, graduated from college, and moved to a foreign country to teach English. First I had really irrational paranoia. I honestly felt like I was going crazy and people were out to get me. Unfortunately I didn't handle this well at all and started to drink very frequently. This lasted about nine months or so.
Fast forward to May of this year. I was starting a bike ride, as I did very often, and my heart started skipping beats and was beating at a very high rate with little to no exercise done yet that day.
I waited for about 30 minutes and started to feel pain and panic, the palpitations just got worse so I went to the ER. I had a fever that they said was likely from acute bronchitis and that I had a panic attack. They had taken a chest x-ray, EKG, and blood tests, but saw no sign of heart disease. Nonetheless, they had me wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours to be sure. That also yielded no evidence of any disease.
A week later, while walking home from work, I started to feel the skipped beats in my chest again. I now know that these are PVCs and aren't really "skipped" beats, but it still terrified me. Still, I waited until the end of the month to see if they would go away. During this time, I started to constantly research my symptoms, started taking lots of supplements, completely gave up caffeine, alcohol, and reduced sugar and salt in my diet. I went back to the doctor only to have the same tests done with the same results. Another Holter monitor as well. The monitor did pick up PVCs as I felt them, but now two cardiologists have told me they are completely benign. This made me even more anxious and obsessed. Then of course, more symptoms started. Fatigue, heart racing, frequent chest and back pain, exercise intolerance, headaches, frequent muscle twitches. I also started having what I can only imagine are panic attacks around the same time every day. My hands would shake and I would feel light-headedness and depersonalization.
Perhaps the most ironic worry I have is when my heart rate is lower and weaker than I've become used to it being. I have been terrified that this has all lead to heart failure. Even though my heart and blood have been tested several times with no evidence of any issues other than benign PVCs.
I was also paranoid about language barrier because this is not my primary language, but I've been persistent enough that I know I've communicated my symptoms and problems effectively.
Before May, I was very physically active. I have been in to endurance sports most of my life, and since May, I was too afraid to start exercising again. I stopped myself from participating in events outside of work as well.
Luckily, I recently became fed up with just sitting around and worrying, so I started to jog daily about a week ago. It really took more confidence than I ever thought it would to just go for a jog. I am definitely not in the best shape now, which can also explain why I feel so fatigued after more strenuous activities recently. But with exercise and a change in my diet, my PVCs are starting to decrease and I'm feeling better about them in general.
Honestly, my biggest fear now is still heart failure. I am constantly noticing the changes of my heart beat and pressure and all. I know it is almost certainly just needless worry and I'm working hard to get better with it all.
Sorry for the long story. Honestly, just writing it out makes me feel a bit better as well.
