Hate this feeling.

[samanthajayne]

Hi

I have been suffering with what I thik is anxiety for years , it seems to have come back with a vegence the past couple of days. I am a 23 year old girl and had my gall bladder out 2 years ago, Recently I have been having pain under my left breast and when I press under there I can feel bubbling , I have a very bad fear of having a heart attack and have convinced myself there is something wrong with my heart, I hate feeling like this , I am suffering with palpatations a lot , I have had all bloods taken and everything has come back normal , I have also had an ecg carried out some time ago but they didnt really tell me anything about that , Why am I soo obesessed in thinking i am going to have a heart attack , i get to the stage i dont want to go anywere and feeli like i cant breath, Does anyone else suffer with palpatation often and what does it feel like,

[raggamuffin]

Should read the sticky at the top of the forum all about symptoms. Don't fixate on the list though, read it once over and accept it. Palpitations, heart attack fears, chest discomfort are all very common. Acceptance that it's anxiety is key. If the medical tests have ruled out anything serious then you need to start rationalizing the pains you get instead of thinking with emotion, fear and all the "what if's". We're not doctors, therefore, ignoring test results and convincing ourselves we're about to die or have a disease is driving our fight or flight response up the wall. Our body doesn't feel safe, perceives a non-existant danger and pumps adrenaline filled blood all over the body for prolonged periods of time causing all sorts of symptoms.

It's driven by fear and worry and an overly emotive state. These pains and symptoms won't harm you. But a worry about the heart is very common and when you worry enough your body can mimic symptoms of what you fear. If it's heart related it's not long before you have raised heartbeat when scared, chest pain or arm and neck or jaw pain. I know, i've been there myself.

It's the first and by far the hardest step but you need to realize it is anxiety. Even if you doubt it is anxiety, even the tiniest bit, you're allowing fear and worry to still take hold of you and the pains and symptoms will continue.

Next time it happens, relax, focus on deep breaths in and even longer breaths out through your mouth. Remind yourself it's just anxiety and that you're safe and you'll be just fine. Remain rational and detatch emotion to the pain or situation. Don't practice avoidance behavior. You need to remember you are safe, you will be fine. A certain situation or place won't provoke anxiety. It takes a while but confidence will return.

Hope you feel better soon.

Ed

[samanthajayne]

Yes thats what I feel when I start thinking about a heart attack i start getting the pain down my arm , I am constantly feeling my pulse , i really feel like i am going insane , cant enjoy life when I am feeling like this , the palpatations are the worst for me it like it skips a beat or pound in my chest , The doctors did put me on citalopram but soon as I come off them the feeling comes back , thanks for the info

sam x