Uncontrolled anxiety, fear of heart attack, please help!!

[edecord]

Please help, I'm 25 years old and I feel like I'm losing my mind. My grandmother had a heart attack about 8 months ago, and now I'm convinced EVERY DAY that I'm having one. I actually went to the ER and had an EKG (which came back totally normal).

I can't go on like this anymore, and anti-anxiety medications don't seem to help me...actually, I went on Lexapro which made my symptoms worse!! I feel a strange tightness in my chest, palpitations, random pain on the left side, intense dizziness, nausea, migraines, feelings of complete and utter panic that is brought on for no apparent reason, etc. Sometimes I only have one or two of these symptoms at a time, sometimes I have a couple at once. Sometimes I can't sleep because of it, and in the mornings I wake up with these symptoms :-(

I also have a terrible fear of passing out while I'm driving, which makes me scared to get on the highway (I didn't have this fear before, it's terrible...I have to take the highway to get to school!).

I tried seeing a psychologist, who just wanted to put me on an antidepressant (the lexapro), and didn't seem to take my anxiety seriously (I try to act very "normal" on the outside, but I'm dying on the inside..people don't believe how much I am suffering.)

Please help, I'm crying as I write this...this has been going on for almost a year now...(last year I went through a terrible breakup and my grandmom had a heart attack in almost the same week...I've been like this ever since, but it keeps getting worse.) Please help me!!!

Please help me, I suffer every single day

[Victtor]

Hi,

i have read your post...I was looking for someone to help and I read your post first and my heart goes out to you.

although i have never suffered from severe anxiety
i have suffered from it at a mild level.

mostly social anxiety.

I am here to offer you help. I work with people in all walks of life coaching them in many different issues. I have just written a book and a powerful new technique that easily calms people down with a cue word...it works every time with the formula i have developed over may years on healing techniques...

I would like to offer teach this to you at no cost..
actually i will give you the e-book for free and I also have an introductory course for a quick start free too..

I would personally help you over the phone...



you can contact me at victorydario@gmail(com )I will direct you to my website and blog I cant post them here as a new member due to spam protection.

hope you feel better...look forward to hearing form you..

Victtor,


PS- if what i show you helps a testimonial would be of great help to me.

[doingmybest]

I get the chest tightness too and the palpitations. It sounds to me like it is anxiety, especially if you went to the ER and every thing seemed okay. I'm sorry you are going through this, I know it is miserable. Of all the anxiety symptoms I've had (and I've had many) I think the heart/chest ones are the scariest. Just try to tell yourself to stay calm and float through the feelings. i know it sounds easier than it is but sometimes just assuring yourself that you will be okay helps.

[becca_boo]

Although I don't have a solution for your problem (if I did, I would be cured myself!) sometimes it's helpful just to know that you're not alone.

Like you, I've been to the ER and had EKG's (with normal results) and STILL don't believe that I'm not going to die from a heart attack - the thought is constantly on my mind and the fear overwhelms me at times.

I'm hoping the obsessive thoughts can be helped/cured by cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). I've been unemployed for almost 2 years and haven't been able to afford therapy, but I'm starting a new job next week and hope to begin therapy in a month or so.

They tell you that in order to conquer your fear you must face it, to cure your phobia by exposing yourself to the situation, but I can't figure out how to do that when what I fear is having a heart attack. I mean I can't exactly induce a heart attack and to see that it's not going to kill me. The problem with this fear is that the possibility of dying from a heart attack is very real and it's hard to get away from it when it's thrown in our faces every 5 seconds on TV, radio ads, billboards, etc. I'm addicted to aspirin now and take it as a coping mechanism every time I feel the slightest chest pain, thinking this will save my life if I'm having a heart attack, as the commercials promise.

I was talking to my friend today about this asking her how she gets past the fact that she could drop dead from a heart attack at any moment, and she said that of course she knows that it's true and that she does have the occasional fleeting thought about it, but it's not something she could control even if she wanted to, so why dwell on it? I guess that's where I get stuck... my thoughts about it aren't fleeting, they repeat themselves over and over and over, day in and day out, and I can't NOT dwell on it. <sigh>

Strangely, I also share your fear of passing out while driving on the freeway. I used to be able to drive 5-6 hours straight to visit my family, but now I can't make it more than 30 minutes into the trip without the fear of passing out overwhelming me. I get dizzy and have sort of a tunnel-vision effect. Pulling over and calling a friend for reassurance helps some, but mostly I avoid driving on the freeway by myself. I know avoidance isn't the issue, but I don't want to hurt myself or someone else by having an accident, because I really am convinced that I am going to pass out. The idea that it may just be anxiety doesn't mean much when you're in the middle of a panic attack. :/

Sorry to reply with more of the same and no answers, but like I said, maybe just knowing you're not alone will help a little. Maybe you can look for CBT in your area too? That's the best I can come up with for myself at this point.

Take care,
Becca