New here and have a chest pain question

[Anxious Mama]

Hi everyone.

I have never had anxiety until about 6 months ago. That I knew of anyway...my husband (who has suffered with it his whole life) always says I've had little quirks about me that pointed towards anxiety. It seems though in the last 6 months it hit me hard. I would start feeling nervous and scared and a whole slew of other symptoms.

Anyway I get random pains in my chest....always on the left side, directly under the inside part of my breast. It comes and goes and is a stabbing shooting pain. It'll come an go for a few hours or up to a whole day. Sometimes I'll go weeks without anything. It'll happen while I am perfectly fine however it does come more often when I am agitated.
I have told my doc about this and have had 2 ECG's that came back normal. Blood work was clean and everything is good.

I know there is nothing wrong with my heart but my brain is having a hard time believing it. Any one else get these pains? I guess I just need extra reassurances that it's not my heart and to calm down.

Thanks for having me here!

[belle64]

Hello :)
I also have these chest pains that you describe, in exactly the same place. My heart is perfectly fine. Just wanted to say you're not alone, and welcome :)
BELLE

[Itz Omi]

Hiya!

That is so, so common for anxiety sufferers to have chest pain. I have had chest pains also. And when you worry about them, they happen more!!

[mamascrazy1985]

yes i have them too exaclty where you described. i am having a harder time getting used to having heart palpitation or skipped beats. they scare me so back. i dont get them alot but when i do i freak out. i do all the things that cause them which is nicotine caffiene and high stress and fatigue. i just wish this will all disappear

[Bez]

Join the club. I deal with the chest pains all the time...this by far is the biggest side affect, or perception, I "feel" with my anxiety. I have it now as I type this. My anxiety landed my in the ER back in 2009 because of a chest pain. EKG clean, blood, good....explained my life situation = stress. Went to cardiologist. Worn a Holter monitor...nothing out of the ordinary. Another EKG and blood work, again all clean. My GF is a nurse and even reminds me I'm fine. Your brain is VERY powerful and anxiety can run wild in it. It still does to this day for me. I'm still hesitate doing anything heart related like working out and running. I did both years ago...ran 5Ks, etc and no problems at all.

Your heart is fine...even as I say it I still don't believe it because I have the pains. I also checked and I have no family history of any heart issues. I hope some day I learn to overcome that. I've tried everything and I'm on meds now. I just want to be normal again.

So...if your EKG and blood is good then you're fine. Get 2nd opinion if you like. But don't keep going back every time you feel pain. You'll feel good in the short term when they say you're fine. Hang in there.

Bryan

[AnxiousDog]

With symptoms like palpitations it does get very scary. I tend to notice them more at rest like before bed and stuff. Times when I THINK I'm perfectly calm. I was just at the hospitol Monday because I thought I was going to just drop dead. Had 3 ekgs, blood tests , and a chest x ray and everything came back fine. They sent me home with xanax which worked for me the first day then the second day it messed me up so bad ill never take one again. Here's hoping zoloft helps.

[Raccoon13]

Hello! Just wanted to add that I get the same pains! It can be very scary to feel the shooting pain come out of nowhere. I've had numerous EKGs and a few ultrasounds of my heart. Besides a faint mitral valve prolapse, there is nothing that should be causing the pain. It is amazing what anxiety can do to us and convince us of!

Good luck on your journey!

[Kirjava]

Hey, I have the exact same thing as you, until now I didn't even think it could be related to my anxiety! I get anxiety chest pains all the time, completely different to the shooting pains (like tightness/constriction) so thought the shooting pains i get was something completely different. I had an EKG etc last year and everything came back fine, so it's interesting to know that this is also to do with the anxiety! The weird thing is I don't get it at times I am really anxious, it just seems random. Is this the same with everyone else?

[pbsml]

I get the same pains... that's actually what started my journey into finding out what is wrong with me. I never even knew I had anxiety until then. Some days, I still fight with believing that's what's causing it. I think I just need to accept it. When those pains come, I get a lot of other symptoms too, probably from getting worked up and anxious about it. I feel like I'm gonna pass out, my hands start to tingle, my feet freeze and sweat at the same time. Scary stuff. Doc says I'm normal though. I do get a lot of PVCs with my heart, but apparently those can be considered normal too. They sure don't feel normal. Palpitations and PVC's make me feel like my heart is going to stop or burst at any given moment! I would love to find a natural way to deal with this and eventually cure it all.

[Acacia]

I have the exact same feelings. A couple nights ago it woke me from sleep and lasted a while but ordinarily they happen to me when I'm just laying down for bed.. They incapacitate me, so I cannot sit up or turn over. I didn't really think much about it, because as someone said, the mind has a powerful way of pushing scary things out of the conscious!! (*I'm actually at the point of my psychology course which deals with anxiety and it's disorders. It's what made me realise I need to turn to someone for help but I cannot face therapy yet). So, you're not alone!

[Ziggy925]

As someone else said, welcome to the club. Good that you got evaluated, and it's very common for anxiety to manifest itself with chest pains and heart problems. I was in the ER every other week, and as you say it's very scary. Lexapro helped me, but I was also helped by my cardiologist who kept assuring me all was well.

[Chiliphil1]

I have the same thing! My pains are stabbing on the left of my breastbone right where the ribs meet. I also notice pain in my left upper back and shoulder/arm. It is scary because all these symptoms are those of a heart problem, but as you did and all the other posters I went to the er had an ekg and blood tests and I'm fine, in fact the doctor told me it was perfect and to stop worrying about my heart, but that is much easier said than done. One thing that helped me was when the doctor told me I was OK, I was still scared that it was my heart and was afraid to do anything goes physical for fear that it would end up being a full blown heart attack if I pushed myself, but by trusting the doctor I made myself exercise, I got my heart into the 150's in terms of pulse rate and I had no pains, and I'm still here now. By doing this it showed me that my heart is OK, and now when I have the pains I know it's just mind. Not sure if that would work for you, but it did help me by proving it to myself! Good luck.

[Silmarwen18]

I get these chest pains too when im very stressed. Its my body's way of saying "youre going to panic calm down!"... At least thats what i believe... they happen just as I get close to full on panic attacks or ridiculously stressful thoughts and it triggers me to realise I am stressed :) Its good for calming me down now ") and i dont have them so often anymore

I wish you luck in fighting them xoxo