Convinced I have a heart problem at 18......

[Tom Farrington]

Hi everyone, im new here, anyway.....Ive been suffering from anxiety for almost 2 years now regarding health issues (I have anxiety about my heart) and it started when I had an attack in the gym when I was 17, My GP at the time (who wasnt very good) said I had SVT without doing any tests or anything he said it as soon as I said my heart was racing and I felt funny. Ive had tests (ECG's, BP tests, blood tests) which have all came back fine but I feel that my heart isn't in good health :(
Ive developed flutter feelings in my chest over the last 6 months and I recently had the worst panic attack of my life.
About 4 days ago I had the worst panic attack of my life after I got out of the bath. I had a flutter feeling in my chest then it hit me, symptoms developed over about 10 minutes and lasted what felt like forever but in reality was only about 10 minutes: Racing heart, dry mouth, hot/prickly skin sensations, feeling of being heavy, legs felt heavy, weird taste in my mouth, weird smell in my nose?, tingling with numbness in both arms and hands, tingling in feet, tingling and numbness on my face and back of my head, slight light headed feeling, heavy breathing, choking feeling, body tremors, shaking, went from being hot to being really cold and there the symptoms I can remember.
Mum called the ambulance and they did 2 ECG's and BP test, my ECG was normal but it was obviously high and my BP was 170/80.
I went to my (new) GP who gave me a diazapam to calm me down and it worked, he did another BP test this time it had come down to 130 over something and my heart rate was 56bpm, he's referred me to a cardiologist to rule anything out!
Anyway today I was lifting some weights, and I got the hot/prickly skin sensations, then my legs felt heavy, then it felt like my throat was closing over, my breathing was heavy, heart wasn't as fat as last time but it was racing slightly, got a dry mouth and weird taste, both hands started tingling slightly, felt like I was going to vomit, felt really hot in my face and I felt slightly uncoordinated and light headed.
I stopped and went to the bathroom and shoved my face in cold water which seemed to stop me from panicking for a bit, then I did it again and went and lay down in bed and I started to feel normal quite quickly then I had a sleep and woke up feeling normal, just a bit tired and groggy. I haven't been sleeping properly recently and I think its making it worse

What is happening to me!? are they panic attacks for certain!? im constantly on edge about it, all day everyday, do I have a heat problem? I don't even smoke, drink or do drugs and no one in my family has a heart condition (apart from my grandad who had a heart attack in his 50's due to stress, hes in his mid 80s now) I need advice, thanks

[Helplessand23]

Hey bud so reading through this just from my opinion the working out could be to taxing on your body. Exercise is good for Anxiety, but over working your body is not. And you sound like you have a trigger... The thought of something being wrong with your heart is causing you to over think and panic. This happens a lot to me... for example i am sitting here playing games.. i was fine all day today.. took my meds ( zoloft) felt okay mood wise... then randomly getting shots in the chest of Anxiety and fear for no reason at all. I doubt anything is wrong with your heart.... this anxiety is a real asshole.......i feel unreal 24/7 like im dreaming... but an INTENSE dream.. everything is really enhanced and bright. Anyways.... long story short seems to me like the thought of anxiety is giving you anxiety. This happens to me all the time... -_-

[Tom Farrington]

Thats exactly what i feel like to bro....i just feel detached from earth sometimes, its bizarre.
But what you said is true, anxiety gives me anxiety, when i workout i start thinking about "what if i have a cardiac arrest" and hey presto, im in the middle of a panic attack (y) thanks for the reply man!

[Helplessand23]

Thats exactly what i feel like to bro....i just feel detached from earth sometimes, its bizarre.
But what you said is true, anxiety gives me anxiety, when i workout i start thinking about "what if i have a cardiac arrest" and hey presto, im in the middle of a panic attack (y) thanks for the reply man!

No problem. I wouldn't wanna be alone trying to figure out what's going on with me either. I would ask your DR to try Celexa ( Citalopram ) it's a low antidepressant/Anxiety pill. Once a day. It helped me out very well, but i stopped taking it overtime thinking im fine and i would only Drink and smoke and that really fucked it up and made it worse.

[Spell Bound]

Tom Farrington: I'm sorry to hear that you've been having these panic attacks you described, Tom. I understand these attacks are adding up to your anxiety problems, and it's taking a toll on your health. If I were in a situation like yours, I'd seek professional help to understand the root cause. Please know that you're in my prayers, friend. *Stay Strong*

LetItSnow

[Ehrilato]

Hi everyone, im new here, anyway.....Ive been suffering from anxiety for almost 2 years now regarding health issues (I have anxiety about my heart) and it started when I had an attack in the gym when I was 17, My GP at the time (who wasnt very good) said I had SVT without doing any tests or anything he said it as soon as I said my heart was racing and I felt funny. Ive had tests (ECG's, BP tests, blood tests) which have all came back fine but I feel that my heart isn't in good health :(
Ive developed flutter feelings in my chest over the last 6 months and I recently had the worst panic attack of my life.
About 4 days ago I had the worst panic attack of my life after I got out of the bath. I had a flutter feeling in my chest then it hit me, symptoms developed over about 10 minutes and lasted what felt like forever but in reality was only about 10 minutes: Racing heart, dry mouth, hot/prickly skin sensations, feeling of being heavy, legs felt heavy, weird taste in my mouth, weird smell in my nose?, tingling with numbness in both arms and hands, tingling in feet, tingling and numbness on my face and back of my head, slight light headed feeling, heavy breathing, choking feeling, body tremors, shaking, went from being hot to being really cold and there the symptoms I can remember.
Mum called the ambulance and they did 2 ECG's and BP test, my ECG was normal but it was obviously high and my BP was 170/80.
I went to my (new) GP who gave me a diazapam to calm me down and it worked, he did another BP test this time it had come down to 130 over something and my heart rate was 56bpm, he's referred me to a cardiologist to rule anything out!
Anyway today I was lifting some weights, and I got the hot/prickly skin sensations, then my legs felt heavy, then it felt like my throat was closing over, my breathing was heavy, heart wasn't as fat as last time but it was racing slightly, got a dry mouth and weird taste, both hands started tingling slightly, felt like I was going to vomit, felt really hot in my face and I felt slightly uncoordinated and light headed.
I stopped and went to the bathroom and shoved my face in cold water which seemed to stop me from panicking for a bit, then I did it again and went and lay down in bed and I started to feel normal quite quickly then I had a sleep and woke up feeling normal, just a bit tired and groggy. I haven't been sleeping properly recently and I think its making it worse

What is happening to me!? are they panic attacks for certain!? im constantly on edge about it, all day everyday, do I have a heat problem? I don't even smoke, drink or do drugs and no one in my family has a heart condition (apart from my grandad who had a heart attack in his 50's due to stress, hes in his mid 80s now) I need advice, thanks

Stop thinking for sleeping, it will not hurt you if you not sleep.

You dont have heart problem, this is normal.

You must start fasting and praying and reading Bible, after fasting get Holy Communion.

Relax, after you made this you will be fine.

[jessed03]

Stop thinking for sleeping, it will not hurt you if you not sleep.

You dont have heart problem, this is normal.

You must start fasting and praying and reading Bible, after fasting get Holy Communion.

Relax, after you made this you will be fine.

Holy Communion is legit for anxiety. Especially when you have a blind priest and he brings in Xanax instead of wafers.

[leojoyce1998]

hi dude, im 17 and having the exact problem as you... been going to the gym for about a year now and had anxiety for about 8 months and ive had all the symptoms you have had and ive convinced myself i have a heart problem and sometimes i even think im going to have a cardiac arrest or have a heart attack, i cant stop thinking about my heart EVER, and now these past 3 weeks every time my heart beats fast or i exercise i get pain in my chest :/, please tell me if you get this, i know how you feel man, HOPELESS, and sometimes like your watching yourself through a glass window and nothing feels real... i don't know why these problems occur but if the doctors say that there's nothing wrong with your heart, it is more than likely just anxiety because anxiety can actually mimmic other diseases, can even mimic a heart attack as a panic attack... best of luck

[Tom Farrington]

hi dude, im 17 and having the exact problem as you... been going to the gym for about a year now and had anxiety for about 8 months and ive had all the symptoms you have had and ive convinced myself i have a heart problem and sometimes i even think im going to have a cardiac arrest or have a heart attack, i cant stop thinking about my heart EVER, and now these past 3 weeks every time my heart beats fast or i exercise i get pain in my chest :/, please tell me if you get this, i know how you feel man, HOPELESS, and sometimes like your watching yourself through a glass window and nothing feels real... i don't know why these problems occur but if the doctors say that there's nothing wrong with your heart, it is more than likely just anxiety because anxiety can actually mimmic other diseases, can even mimic a heart attack as a panic attack... best of luck

Hey man, sorry to hear your going through what im going through as well.
Im glad im not alone, i always feel that im the only one who's feeling this way about their heart, and that makes it worse for me sometimes.
As for the pain you get, no, i never get pain in my chest or anywhere else as a matter of fact, just the symptoms ive listed above, i can guarantee that the pain you get would be anxiety though and nothing serious, hell it could even be a deep muscle or your oesophagus that spasms and causes the pain, making it feel like your heart. Hopefully one day both of us can overcome this f*****g stupid anxiety problem, its already taken over my life more than id like to admit. Peace bro!

[Chiliphil1]

Hey man, sorry to hear your going through what im going through as well.
Im glad im not alone, i always feel that im the only one who's feeling this way about their heart, and that makes it worse for me sometimes.
As for the pain you get, no, i never get pain in my chest or anywhere else as a matter of fact, just the symptoms ive listed above, i can guarantee that the pain you get would be anxiety though and nothing serious, hell it could even be a deep muscle or your oesophagus that spasms and causes the pain, making it feel like your heart. Hopefully one day both of us can overcome this f*****g stupid anxiety problem, its already taken over my life more than id like to admit. Peace bro!


Hey, you have THE number one anxiety symptom! I have been through it as have most on the forum. Chest pain is an easy one when it comes to feeding itself. You are anxious so your muscles tense, this causes pain, you become afraid and more anxious, so the muscles tense more.. It's an idiotically vicious cycle. Anxiety causes anxiety and the fear of fear is what holds you down. I went through the exact thing, I went from a very active guy to nothing because I was so scared that I either was having or would have a heart attack. My issues started when I was 25. I did the doctor thing and the ER thing like everyone else but it didn't help me.. I said, "ok, so my heart is fine then why does it hurt?" Anyway, the answer was in trusting the doctors. If you pass an EKG you are OK. Those things show if you have had one, are having one, or are at risk for one. You have to remember a couple of things, doctors do want to help people so if they think something is really wrong they will test and test until they know for sure, secondly doctors are so afraid of being sued that in most cases they make damn sure what they tell you is right.

It took time to trust them but it happened. I also put myself into the situation where I pushed myself and made my heart work, if you can work out your heart is good. People with heart problems most of the time cannot walk up a flight of stairs. If you can do that you should be good. A couple of other things, if it doesn't feel like an elephant on your chest, it's not a heart attack and if you can point with one finger to where it hurts, it's not a heart attack..

What you need to do is study anxiety, knowing what it is and how it works is the only way to beat the SOB, you have to learn what is happening and why then you can learn to stop it. As far as the panic attacks go, try this next time. When you feel it coming on yell (in your mind) STOP. This will disrupt the thought pattern which is bringing on the panic attack, you will then redirect your thoughts to something positive and this will generally stop the attack within a minute and in most cases will keep it from peaking. You will get better with this technique as time goes on.

Also, understand that there are a million things in your chest, you have ribs, muscles, nerves, the heart isn't the only thing there. I am convinced that when mine started I had a thing called Costochondritis (sp?) which causes inflammation in the cartledge between the ribs and hurts like crazy, of course it's right over the heart area. You have a 99% chance of it not being heart related, you just have to convince yourself. Truth is that takes time but as long as you are persistent and really dedicate yourself to getting past it you can. Work on relaxation such as meditation, mindfulness, and above all slowly ease yourself into physical situations and prove to yourself that you are ok. It can be beaten but you have to work at it. Just devote your time to studying about it rather than worrying about it.

[Anxiety91]

I get random heart flutters, and I did a holter monitor, where I had that flutter feeling in the chest, but when the cardiologist read the results, he said I can see that you have fast heart rate a lot of times throughout the day, but your heart beat is normal, I was like wait what!? I can swear I felt fluttering feeling inside the chest. So maybe we both are paranoid about it, and we make that feel, that isn't really happening. IDK, it is really hard to understand. One is certain if you can do this to your body with your mind, imagine what you can do opposite... This is what gets me trough the whole day, I say to myself, one day, I will have opposite anxiety disorder, and I will probably enjoy the life at its fullest... :) Really, think about it, maybe this is the way of becoming aware on a new mental level, maybe this is the path. One is for sure, when you get rid of this abnormal anxiety, your life will be a lot better, than it was before you experienced first anxiety or panic attack.