Worrying about heart

[kdubg]

Have been struggling with serious GAD for almost 2 years. I don't really get anxious about most things, accept my health. I'm on Zoloft and Xanax as needed. It's miserable. The main thing I think on is my heart. I'm 25 , see the doctor every 3 months, workout everyday, yet I still can't seem to get it out of my head. I've had EKGS and blood test done, and I'm told to be in perfect health. Still, everday( almost always when I lay down to go to sleep) I start freaking out and have to take a Xanax because I can feel it coming on. I had. A co worker did two years ago from a heart attack in his sleep, so I think that triggered it. But he was also 400 + pounds, and over 55 years old. But I fail to think rationally everytime I feel my heartbeat. I'm not asking for pity, but please for the love of god someone tell me that they are in my same shoes and understand what I'm going through. I hate feeling alone on this

[jhunter89]

You are definitely not alone. I had this a few weeks ago, luckily for me it went away after a few days but I'm scared of it coming back! I'm only 23, one day I decided to take a nap, I laid down and BOOM my heart started racing, I tried deep breathing, drinking water nothing was helping then my arm went numb and tingly, thought I was gunna die! It went on for a few hours and I told myself if it was a heart attack I'd probably be dead by now. It went on for a few days but it was worse whilst laying down trying to relax, I dreaded going to bed! But I just kept telling myself I was fine n I was just panicking and luckily *touch wood* it hasn't happened again.

[Fashoom]

It's really common and used to be one of my biggest fears. My dad had two heart attacks when I was a kid and then died of a heart attack at 57. The funny thing is I'm over 50 now and although I still have anxiety issues, I don't have a heart related phobia anymore. I'm sure you were deeply affected by your coworker's death. We have anxiety disorders so our minds can get very obsessive about a fear - even if irrational.

Two thoughts are - talk to your doctor about increasing your Zoloft dose. Have you tried CBT?

[kdubg]

Wow! This makes me feel better! I've tried therapy but I felt like the guy just showed me books rather than help me. My Zoloft dose is only at 100 mg though and I think my psychiatrist is working on upping it next week. I'm prescribed to ambien and only take half the dose (5 mg), but I don't like to take it because I worry about taking it. I know I'm a mess. Some days I'll feel great, when I'm thinking rational, and other days are a total wreck!

[fisher]

Hello,i dont see many posts about the heart but i have a heart phobia if thats what you call it,ever since i suffered with anxiety 10 yrs ago it stuck with me because i could always feel my heart beating and going fast with anxiety because of the anxiety it started a vicious circle,i couldnt slow my heart down,i was tuned into it,i had all heart tests they came back fine,but because i havnt had it checked for a few yrs i start worrying again, how do u cope with yours?

[fortizboriqua]

I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia about 3 years ago. The symptom that you are referring to is called heart palpitations (HP). Heart palpitations is one of the most common symptoms when it comes to panic and anxiety disorder. It is also one of the most feared. I was in and out of the hospital. I too feared heart palpitations. But, what I am about to fill you in on will hopefully ease your fear of heart palpitations as it did for me. Your heart is one of the strongest muscles in your body. It can handle a lot more than you can imagine. A regular heart beats about 60 to 100 beats per minute (BPM). When you exercise it can jump to 200 bpm in a lot of cases especially for those whom are out of shape. In the beginning when I got (HP) I thought I was having a heart attack. And it would scare the living daylights out of me. It wasn't until I started doing these breathing exercises that required me to take my own pulse did I realize that my HP wasn't what I thought it was. First of all lets start with heart attack. The following are the symptoms:

Most Common Symptoms

The most common warning symptoms of a heart attack for both men and women are:

Chest pain or discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center or left side of the chest. The discomfort usually lasts for more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back. It can feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. It also can feel like heartburn or indigestion. The feeling can be mild or severe.
Upper body discomfort. You may feel pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, shoulders, neck, jaw, or upper part of the stomach (above the belly button).
Shortness of breath. This may be your only symptom, or it may occur before or along with chest pain or discomfort. It can occur when you are resting or doing a little bit of physical activity.



Other Common Signs and Symptoms

Pay attention to these other possible symptoms of a heart attack:

Breaking out in a cold sweat
Feeling unusually tired for no reason, sometimes for days (especially if you are a woman)
Nausea (feeling sick to the stomach) and vomiting
Light-headedness or sudden dizziness
Any sudden, new symptoms or a change in the pattern of symptoms you already have (for example, if your symptoms become stronger or last longer than usual)

So as you can see there are a lot more symptoms to having a heart attack then an accelerated heart beat. So now lets go back to taking my pulse and how it helped me lose fear of HP. I would take my pulse for 30 seconds and multiply the amount of heart beats by 2 and that would give me my BPM. After learning how to take my pulse I came up with idea of checking my pulse while having heart palpitations to measure how hard my heart was actually beating. And to my surprise the first time I did that I found that my BPM was well below 100. Im talking somewhere in the range of about 75 BPM. I found that my heartbeat only increased slightly from my norm. I would check my BPM every time I would have HP after that day and every time I got the same results. Ultimately, it helped me lose fear of HP because my heart was beating normal. It got to the point when HP came on I would laugh at it because I knew it was all an illusion of having a heart attack. It slowly started to disappear until it finally went away. When you have anxiety and panic disorder the thing that fuels it is fear of the symptoms. When you fear the symptoms, the symptoms get worse. So when HP comes on your initial reaction is fear. Because you think you're having a heart attack. Once HP comes on try to ignore it. And if you do it will go away almost as quickly as it came. Lastly, lets talk about what HP really is. Being that I knew that my heart was beating normal i was baffled as to why I was feeling that my heart was about to jump out of my chest. When you get panic disorder one of the things that happen is your nervous system becomes overly sensitive. I found that lights were brighter, dishes clanging made me cover my ears because it seemed like it was so much louder, I even felt my boxer briefs pulling on the hair on my legs to the point it became uncomfortable. Once I realized that my nervous system was overly sensitive it explained my HP. I was feeling my heart beat normal but I felt it easily because I was sensitive to almost every sensation in my body. I hope that this helps all who read. And know that you can actually beat panic and anxiety because I am living proof that you can. Remember that there is hope. There are 2 things that you need to do. The first is accept what you have. The second is to lose fear of the symptoms. The most important for me was I trusted God.

[ShaunAlex]

But that's just it. The palpitations are one thing, but when I get anxious about it (like now!) I start to have all the other symptoms you mention as real heart attack warning signs!

[kdubg]

It's pretty tough for me. Working out helps a lot because you realize " if I had a heart problem, I wouldn't even be able to work out". I get a lot of chest pain and sorness, and my doc says its all natural because I get so tense in the chest worrying about it. It kinda feels like my ribs are being poked, but you have to remember that theres muscles all over your body. I try to stay super busy, it just seems to get to me the most at night and when I had way too many drinks the night before. How's your sleeping? That's one of my toughest struggles

[salevietasia]

After all, I know a lot of people who are under a lot of stress.

[NatalieRegina]

I had this for a long time and only until recently did I found a solution (that worked for me). About a year ago, I was on Prozac (10 mg every other day) and I woke up one night with this awful neck pain. I mean it was like a charlie horse in my neck. I got up and ran into the bathroom, because I felt nauseous. As I was running into the bathroom, I fell to my knees on the cool floor (the pain was intense) and the cool felt so good. I called for my partner to come and help me and he ran in to check. I was fine, just a little sore and shaken.

What I'm saying in this mumbo-jumbo is that as I was 'falling' down, I realized:

#1: If anything really serious were to happen to me health-wise, I wouldn't be able to stop it.
#2: I can get the help I need, even if no one is near me constantly.
#3: I am able to take care of myself.

After laying there for awhile and then having some water and a heating pad, I returned to bed and slept the rest of the night peacefully. Later, I got off of the medication because it was causing me serious neckaches (an uncommon side effect) and I manage my anxiety naturally, but it was a good lesson to learn.