Turtleneck
06-29-2013, 11:10 AM
Hi guys, so I've been a bit of a hypochondriac my whole life (of 19 years), but recently it's been brought to a whole new level and putting me in complete constant panic. About a month ago, I believe I had a normal heart palpitation (didn't feel normal at the time) where it felt like my heart skipped a beat. Ever since then, my heart seems to feel a lot weaker and like it's going to stop at any moment. I used to be able to feel my heartbeat even just laying down, but ever since then it's almost felt like nothing's there. The panic had me feeling incredibly dizzy, lightheaded, weak, and doomed. Everyday I've been convincing myself that I'm dying, and I'm constantly checking my pulse (which is usually normal, besides one attack that got it up to like 150-160 for a few minutes). Naturally in my panic I went to the internet to learn that these symptoms are similar to symptoms of things like heart failure, which only freaked me out more. I've ended up going to my doctor a few times (mostly to monitor my blood pressure) and the walk-in clinic a couple of times, where all I got diagnosed with was an anxiety disorder as they say my heart valves and lungs sound good, ekg came back normal and my pulse rate is good, and my thyroid and other blood tests all came back normal, and I have minimal family history of heart disease. Only problem seems to be my blood pressure, which has consistently been hovering around 140/60 when it's usually 120/70. The fact that the the BP has been so consistently out of wack really makes me think it's something physical (like I'd feel stupid if it were all in my head) and even despite the doctor's evaluation's I've still been freaking out. It feels like every time I'm on the verge of letting go the panic finds a way to slip back in. I haven't seen most of my friends all this time and I'm feeling lame not wanting to leave the house much; leaving everyday for work is a big hurdle each day. I've been taking Celexa all this week and it's done trememdous things for dizziness/lightheadedness, but I'm still feeling fatigued and weak a lot. I guess I'm just curious if any one else has gone through something similar and what you've done to battle it. Thank you, sorry for the long read.