Health Worries

[mgray]

I was diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder not very long ago. I've always been an anxious person but a few months ago my mother passed away and within weeks I was having panic attacks. Heart racing, dizzy, nausea, sense of doom, felt like I was dying. I have never had them before and thought I was having a heart attack.

My mother was semi-young and she passed away from heart disease so of course that got me thinking I had a heart condition. I went to the hospital countless times during these panic attacks and had ekg's done and each time they would tell me I was ok. having an anxiety disorder I wasn't sure I should believe them. The last doctor I saw ended up doing blood work on me which the others didn't. It came back saying my hemoglobin was low (red cell count) and that it wasn't low enough to worry about but he wanted me to come back in. He thought my heart rate was too high all the time and wanted to make sure it wasn't a thyroid problem. everything came out ok but he also wanted me to come back to try the holter monitor for 24hrs and have an echocardiogram to rule everything out. I had the monitor done last week and Im waiting on the results. my echocardiogram is not for another month.

This wait is killing me! I wish I could just get this over with so I can rule out the heart. My heart races all the time. My heart rate is in the 90's on a regular basis. Is this normal for people with anxiety problems?

[AceParadox]

When I was told i needed appendix surgery (Wasn't about to burst or anything, but was inflammed), they told me to go to the emergency room and fast. When I got there, I waited in the waiting room. I didn't feel too anxious (My anxiety started AFTER this surgery when I received the bills , -_-) at the time, but when I got into the pre-check room or whatever for blood pressure test. The lady was like "Um.... your heart rate is WAY too way, in the 90's." and I was like "Ah lovely." and she said "Not really.. lets try again." and I took some deep breaths. and then she's like "Hmm mid 80's still high... is it always this high?" and I explained that I drink ALOT of caffiene, and just before I came to the emergency room, I was in competitive video game so I was fueled up on MT.Dew as I usually am most days.

So my blood pressure is high a lot. I'm not so sure about these days now that I've given up both gaming AND caffiene. Probably lower. But my heart still beats fast, I can feel it when I'm anxious most days. I just beleive what my doctors say, I take a deep breath and say "If the doc says I'm fine, I'm fine" and I calm down. I'm still kind of a hypo, but I've gotten to where I can control myself with reasoning pretty decently.

I'd just be patient, if nothing has shown so far, nothing likely will. Your heart racing all the time is likely because your panicking about the "what if its heart disease?!... I mean... it could be! Like or what if.." and so on. Try to just wait it out as best you can, calm yourself best you can until these tests. :]

[falconlady]

To answer your question, yes it is normal for someone with anxiety. I've been through this myself and I was told that anywhere from 50 to 100 is normal. Nobody's heart rate is the same and there are any multitude of things that can cause it to go up and down throughout the day(anxiety being one of those things). I just went through a bad bout of high anxiety and mine stayed in the high 90's for about 2 months - a couple of times it was 106 which made me freak out more! But, no one was worried about it but me! Now that I have calmed down it is between 60 & 75 most of the time. The best advice I got is: stop checking it! I'm sure you are fine!

[defmunel]

I have the same problem with my heart rate. Mine started when I was in my third trimester about 5 years ago. Now it fluctuates throughout the day between 65-90. It normally spikes after I've eaten. I also have severe white coat syndrome. I've been to many doctors that say what I'm experiencing is not normal. Then I found a dr that took me seriously and told me it was anxiety and not heart disease. I keep a record of my own BP and HR for the dr to reference. Both are ALWAYS high when the dr office takes it, but normal when I take it at home. I've had all blood work done and EKG. Everything was normal. I love the dr I have now. It's still not easy for me to go, it still freaks me out. And when I get pregnant and have to find an OBGYN it's gonna be triple hard, but, deep down I know im ok.

[laurandisorder]

I'm perfectly healthy - body wise and in the 3 months, my heart rate has been anywhere from 74 (at it's lowest - immediately after waking) and 168 (after working out like a boss!). My average is 90-100 bpm.

All other health issues have been cleared; thyroid included. If you're of an anxious disposition it's normal to have an elevated heart rate. I try to think of it as a positive - it means you're burning more calories!!

[alankay]

Yes. Heart fears are the biggest health fears for anxious folks as it's the first physical thing you notice with anxiety(increased pulse rate and force of the beats due to more adrenaline caused by the anxious mind). So you/we then to wind up focusing on it and the fear grows. Gets worse as you notice it beat more than before and thus the whole scenario.
It sounds like you've found a damn good, thorough doctor. After you get cleared like I'm sure you will, come out and ask him for anxiety treatment or a referral.
Blood test vary in their exact counts as your/our body is very dynamic. Anyway, anxiety is the culprit I bet, not you heart or health. PM me any time. Alankay.

[mgray]

Thank you guys so much for these posts. I appreciate them a lot. They made me feel a whole lot better about the situation. Its hard to try and explain it to people who have never gone through high anxiety before. I'm glad there's people out there that knows what its like. I was starting to feel crazy! I figured the high resting heart rate was somewhat normal but needed a second opinion from those who are very familiar with all this. thanks again! xo

[Fashoom]

hey mgray, i've had anxiety since i was a kid, and when my dad died from heart disease (also at a young age) i also worried about my heart for years. It was like PTSD for me cos i grew up seeing my dad have heart attacks and i used to have hospital phobia from visiting him there when he was hooked up to the heart monitor and all the rest. But I'm desensitized now, hospitals don't bother me anymore and i've gotten past the heart stuff and don't worry about heart attacks anymore either.

i'm surprised they are measuring your resting heart rate - that is just going to spook you and it's not a relevant data point anyway. i had a stress test done and that was normal -- that was kind of a turning point for me -- I was like "OK I guess I'm alright." I also get LDL cholesterol tested every year and that's in normal limits too.

IMO phobias are one the less difficult aspect of anxiety to conquer. It will take some time after your mom's passing, and some rational judgement about your own health and then you'll be more in control.