Help!

[ednor812]

I suffer from health anxiety and have been to 4 cardiologists for palps & chest pain/discomfort. Have had stress tests, nuclear stress tests, echos, etc and all pretty good. My newest dr wanted all new tests and first went for an echo-good. Went today for a stress test and expected the same results however there was an EKG change during the test meaning all wasn't good. Need to go for another stress test with an echo. Sat in my car in the parking lot for 2 hours & cried my eyes out! The next test isn't until June 10. So now all my symptoms have come back with a vengeance. Will be home with my 5 year old alone this weekend and I am terrified I will have a heart attack. How will I survive this?

[Judie]

I suffer from health anxiety and have been to 4 cardiologists for palps & chest pain/discomfort. Have had stress tests, nuclear stress tests, echos, etc and all pretty good. My newest dr wanted all new tests and first went for an echo-good. Went today for a stress test and expected the same results however there was an EKG change during the test meaning all wasn't good. Need to go for another stress test with an echo. Sat in my car in the parking lot for 2 hours & cried my eyes out! The next test isn't until June 10. So now all my symptoms have come back with a vengeance. Will be home with my 5 year old alone this weekend and I am terrified I will have a heart attack. How will I survive this?
Well Ednor812, Relax first and foremost try some deep breathing etc...Anxiety Symptoms sometimes are a result of a Mitral Valve Prolapse, not dangerous ( basically valve doesn't open and close completely and there is a sluggish back flow of blood, creates a bit of a murmur. I know several people with this. Most likely they were looking for this on the Echo ( they usually check people with anxiety for this.) Now I have no way of knowing if this is what is going on and if it is I question why they didn't see it on the first echo. But this is what I do know - if they were particularly concerned that this was something " acute " ( really serious) they wouldn't have you waiting until June 10th , they most likely would have you in " much quicker". So I am going with whatever the concern, your Drs are watching you, taking care of you and know what they suspect " if" anything. Another thing were you feeling different during this stress test ? Were you anxious ? An anxiety induced tachycardia throwing off harmless extra beats ? Drs protect themselves from malpractice by ordering defensive testing, basically running tests to protect themselves from malpractice if something were wrong. Deep breathe, good for your heart and your anxiety. Hey listen I had a reputable Eye Surgeon tell me that he believed I had a brain tumor because I had a nystagmus ( muscles in eyes shutter back and forth) which I had never had before and he had never seen in an adult that did not have this as a child. My MRI Brain Scan was normal, they had me in for that scan within 48 hrs. It was anxiety, this disorder can be very ominous, very scary in how it mimics disease process. Two years ago I had two stereotactic core biopsies 6 months apart because my mammography suggested breast cancer. They were also both benign ( non cancerous) Relax ok ? Be Well ! I sincerely hope these stories offered some comfort.