anxiety or heart problems...hard to tel?

[worrier123]

so why is it that when u have bad anxiety or a panick attack it can have the same symptoms of a heart attack or heart problems eg chest pains, tite breathing ect ect....and how do u really know which one it is. my main anxiety is that i worry about my health al the time and mainly my heart actually....it frightens me so much the thought of anything happening. anyone know why excactly we fel like this and how we can tel that its just panick or something more serious. also i really wana learn how to meditate i heard it does wonders is there any videos on youtube or something like that that can help



thanks all x x x

[forwells]

worried

How can you tell ??

Well how long have you been worried about it ? Has it changed ? My doc told me that heart problems are very panfull and do not just come and go .

There is a reason behind it and i will try and explain .

it frightens me so much the thought of anything happening.

This your brain reads as danger , it thinks there is a problem and sets of the flight and fight response , it does not know that there is no real danger it only knows what it is told . I am scared , That is all it hears and it respones to it .

The reason you are scared is based around your fear that it may be something else but it is also based around stress hormones and the effect they have on the brain . When stress hormones are high they effect the part of the brain that controls fear and my guess is because there is no true fear it looks inward many of the times and starts to see things that you are telling it . Remember weather there is a mad dog or you convince your brain that that little dog is going to bite you it will react the same .

You are 23 , i think the chances of you having heart problems are very slim and this is just your anxiety playing into things . Have you run it past a doctor and what did they say . If it is your heart that is your main problem then maybe you might like to ask about beta blockers . But what i know about anxiety if you fix this one another with come up . You have to face that its just anxiety and work on reducing the stress .

Mediation is just clearing your mind . You every looked at a flame and felt calm . This is meditation . Do a google search there are lots of good sites out there and ther is many ways to meditate so find the one you like . Being in the bath just lying there relaxing is also a form of meditation . Meditation is learn to relax and focus on this outside your body and not within

cheers kev

[Charmbracelet81]

I know EXACTLY how you feel, 100%. I always have sensations in my chest that make me think I am having a heart attack. I worry about everything health wise also, but mainly my heart. I am in CBT.

[JordanBK]

Hey, after reading this post, you are exactly like me. Even though i've had blood work (thyroid etc) tested, there is nothing to indicate any problems, blood pressure & what not is normal.

I get all caught up with the thoughts of having heart problems or anything happen around that region, that i nearly always get the sensation of that area feeling 'weak'. With this going on for a while now - nothing has happened, and i guess if it was a heart problem, i would be in hospital by now. I'm wondering myself if you get any of these 'odd' sensations there?

And to answer your question about why people with anxiety get these problems is that when anxiety comes over you, i would imagine ALOT of people become more hypervigilant (basically you're more in tone with the sensations/feelings in your body) that say, for instance, you have a palpitation or flutter, you are far more away of that, thus blowing it all out of preportion.

But yeah don't worry about it. If you ever want to chat more about it just mail/msn me at [email protected].

(Coming up for 7 months of dealing with this horrible disorder... especially for a 17yr old.)