Heart, please don't stop.

[Brittania]

So this is getting pretty bad.

I want to precipitate this by saying two things. Number one is that I am stressed. Number two is that this fear is not something small. It's been my demon for so long, and the sheer shocking terror of it at this point in time is making me unwell emotionally, physically and mentally.

I want to do one thing. I will give you a bit of background, I will then describe my symptoms honestly. Please do not sidestep it, if you see any chance this could have a bad turn out. I'm terrified, and I don't feel well.

About me:

I'm 19 years old. I'm a student, and I live with my partner. He is currently having massive tooth pain which means I have been staying up all night caring for him. I am stressed. I do not feel well, but I will get over it. I had heart tests last year, they put me on some 3 day monitor with two probes on my chest, one near shoulder, one near centre of ribs. They did a blood test. They did an EKG. Nothing showed up.

Here's what I'm having now, one year later:


Awareness of jaw, occasional tiny throb at the very chin and occasional stagnant pain.
Occasional throb through throat.
Sensitive teeth, not affected by touch or movement.
Ears ringing ever so lightly.
Occasional back pain, getting worse and better.
Pain in both breasts.
Arm pain, a slight stabbing pain going down both arms to the hands. Sometimes one arm, sometimes the other, sometimes both.
General chest pain, not significant, but enough to scare me.
Difficulty breathing when exerting myself over very short period of time. If I exercise, I am not afraid, I feel nothing after a long session. If I run upstairs, I'm gasping for air.
Tiredness, blurred vision, occasional throb in head or behind eye.
Digestion issues.
Normally palpitations but surprisingly not so many recently.


I just, to prove myself right or wrong, did a 3-4 minute jog and run at the end. My heart rate returned to normal very quick. I am significantly less afraid. The pain I am getting is a general tension around the chest and jaw now.

What should I do? Who should I talk to? Do I need to go to a doctor? What techniques can I use to make the pain go away?

[agraves911]

Hey there. First and foremost you are not alone. Your symptoms are that of anxiety. You should try to see a counselor or therapist. In the mean time do some deep breathing, remind yourself that the drs said your heart is fine, you said yourself that after you tested it by running that it was fine, try a warm bath, try calming music, try surrounding yourself with comforting smells such as lavender or vanilla.

[dazza]

I think it's prudent to go see a doctor first, before assuming anxiety disorder. You need a professional diagnosis either way before you can move on.

It "sounds like" anxiety disorder, in particular - health anxiety and even more particular, heart anxiety which is common amongst anxious folk.

In a general sense, we (humans) tend to suffer anxiety from what we read / see / hear about on a regular basis.
For example, we read that heart attacks are common & we are constantly reminded of; the foods we should eat / what we should & shouldn't do / that we must exercise / that we shouldn't smoke and so on. All good advice of course.

With this kind of information being constantly shoved in our faces - it's of little surprise that we start to fret about it.
But, the fretting can become an obsession. This is when your fear turns from manageable - to disorderly.

A disorder, by definition, means it has stepped over the line and become life changing & debilitating.

You become obsessed / engulfed, often to a point where your every move will be dictated or influenced by the said obsession.

Anyway, enough of the background info.

If this is you (and it sounds highly likely), then it's a given that everything you do / feel / sense is now influenced by heart anxiety.
Every pain, twitch, sensation will be automatically associated with your heart.
I say "automatically" because your brain has re-wired itself this way. Your fear has quite literally changed the way your brain processes danger in so much that the worst will always be assumed.

Funny how you can exercise hard & not be affected, yet, running up stairs causes problems.
Why?
When exercising, you're in a different frame of mind. The exercise requires 100% concentration - not allowing you to worry.
You're focusing on what you're doing and NOT thinking about having a heart attack.

Stairs are often an issue for heart anxiety sufferers. What happens is, they climb the stairs, feel a slight (perfectly normal) raise in heart rate and think; "wtf, I'm only climbing stairs!".
You are probably already fearing the stairs before you even started... which guarantees the outcome.

As for the other symptoms. They are all transient reactions to the fear. Stress signals - directly injected into the muscles and nerves.