anxiety or heart problem?

[vonnhelsing]

Hey everyone,

I'm 21 years old and i've had anxiety on and off for 4 years. I've always been naturally nervous and an over thinker. I think thats what caused my anxiety to start. Anyways, my anxiety only comes when something stressful happens in my life e.g stressful break-up, problems at work etc.
But for the past few months my anxiety has been feeding off the constant fear that i might have a heart problem and that i'm about to faint and die due to heart failure. Through-out my struggle with anxiety i have self-diagnosed myself with countless illnesses and problems. Now it's come to the heart. I've had so many ECG's these past 4 years, all came back with normal results. I also had an echocardiogram done about a month back, also came back fine. the doctor said my heart was in perfect condition. But im still paranoid and i hate how it's keeping me anxious the whole time. I have constant chest pains, which do get better as i stretch or move around. I also get these really painful forced heart beats every now and again when im anxious. It feels like my heart skips one beat and the next one is really hard and forceful. Do you think i have a heart condition? DO you think the doctor may have missed something during the scan? Can anxiety damage the heart? Please any knowledge or information would be greatly appreciated. I used to take diazepam, which helped but am now living in Dubai where these kinds of drugs are not allowed to be prescribed.
Thanks for taking time to read this!
xxx

[alankay]

Von, anxiety can't hurt the heart as it's just adrenaline making it work a bit faster just like going for a jog might. There is very little chance at all of a 21 y/o with normal EKG's to have a heart issue period. I've been through it too. It's all anxiety. I have no doubt of that and heart worries/fears are common for anxious folks as are stomach/head issues/worries, etc.
By the way. No joke about no benzos at all in that country????? None?? Not even via a specialist? No kidding??
Alankay.

[vonnhelsing]

Yeah no joke! i asked the doctor to prescribe me anti-anxiety pills like i used to have when i lived in Australia. He said it's illegal in Dubai. He gave me some other little round green pills but i have no idea what they are so i'm too scared to take them. He said they'd help me sleep or something. Even for the echocardiogram i had to wait a few weeks because the hospital needed permission from the government to carry out the scan. :s weirdd!! a therapist is also really difficult to find here. Thats why its so difficult for me to deal with anxiety.. no one really bothers about it or takes it seriously :s i've just been fighting it on my own..

[William32]

This is where my Anxiety hits worse. I ALWAYS think i'm having a heart attack. I'm horrible at working through it. I've had my friends take me to the hospital like 4 times these past few months. Always give me an EKG. Always comes back fine. They've done blood work 2 times. They said My blood pressure is a bit high, but other than that i'm fine. I don't know if an EKG will tell you if you're heart is going to be ok in a week. I wish I had my own EKG or something similar to that. It sucks. I used to never live in fear or anything like that. I used to just live and enjoy life. I'd enjoy life so much more if there wasn't pains in my chest almost 24/7.

[Woodyjr42]

I worry I'm dying from heart attack everyday lately it sucks 25 male .. EKG couple years ago came back normal .. My symptoms come in cycles one after another ..

[alankay]

Von, double check that as I couldn't find where it's listed as illegal in the UAE. Another doc maybe? If that really is the case I wonder if they can be gotten in Qatar? I wonder if they really check you at the border as you might be able to visit Qatar, get a RX for valium and have it filled then go back. Just tell them you needed to get an RX for a medical condition. Ask about that. I bet he gave you a benzo or maybe a RX antihistamine and just never told you outright. If you give me the numbers and letters on the little green guys It could be looked up to see what they are.
http://www.drugs.com/imprints.php
Alankay.

[somedude]

Von I am dealing with the same thing.. lately I've been trying to take my mind off of it but it can really be a problem when theres even the slightest of pain or discomfort. Are you also always feeling your heart when it beats? I have been to the doctors and gotten EKGs and also had a stress test done everything came back ok. I do believe its anxiety which is why I'm feeling this way but its always hard to tell what is causing it. I realized that the closer it gets to bed time is the worse it gets. Most of the time I wake up I feel great after 10 minutes and then for hours I'll be fine. Then I'll just feel a little off and boom the anxiety starts and once again I'm feeling my chest and checking for pain. It isn't palpitations because I know what those are(and they will happen if I get too nervous).

[vonnhelsing]

there's no numbers or letters on the little green pills he gave me.. so i'm a little hesitant to take it. I've been scared to take any kind of pills ever since i had a really horrible reaction to anti-depressants that i was wrongly prescribed a few years ago. i wasn't depressed and the doc gave me anti-depressants and i was having really bad side effects. so i'm scared it'll happen again. Hmm maybe he wasn't allowed to give me any meds because he wasn't the right kind of doctor. actually he was a cardiologist. I'm working on finding a therapist now so hopefully they can help me out.

[vonnhelsing]

with me it's like i don't notice the heart thing if i'm distracted like if i'm with friends or busy at work.. but as soon as i get home, lying in bed i start thinking about it and the anxiety starts. I keep trying to tell myself that it's just anxiety but sometimes it feels so real so it's hard.. but i've had this for 4 years now i think if it was a heart problem something bad would've happened by now..

[alankay]

Von, well if you can't get a benzo and an SSRI(they have anti-anxiety effects) can't be taken ask about lyrica(pregabalin). It's a med for epilepsy(anticonvulsant) that is approved for anxiety in Europe. It takes a week or so to work but should help allot. It is not a benzo...but close:) In fact it's about as effective as ativan or xanax for anxiety. The dose must be adjusted slowly and it might make you sleepy but a dose adjustment might help that. When you stop it just taper off and go back to using valium as you were. Both valium and lyrica can be used for epilepsy and anxiety. But one is a benzo that works fast and the other is not that takes a week or so. Ask your doc about it. I bet it would help at a fairly low dose. Alankay.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregabalin

[EC1991]

with me it's like i don't notice the heart thing if i'm distracted like if i'm with friends or busy at work.. but as soon as i get home, lying in bed i start thinking about it and the anxiety starts. I keep trying to tell myself that it's just anxiety but sometimes it feels so real so it's hard.. but i've had this for 4 years now i think if it was a heart problem something bad would've happened by now..

I think what you just said proves it's anxiety. If you had an actual heart condition you would notice it everywhere. The problem I've noticed with my anxiety is that worrying about something makes you more hyper-aware of it. I began to get severely worried about having a heart problem and then more and more I was able to feel my heart, notice every little thing it did, and got more and more physical sensations around my heart that terrified me. I got tests done, and trusted the results to be true and the heart symptoms have slowly faded away. Anxiety can sort of be like a magnifying glass or microscope, The larger you zoom in on something the more you are able to see it.

[vonnhelsing]

yeah i totally agree. when i keep telling myself that its just anxiety acting up eventually the scary symptoms and pains go away :)

[liveitup898]

for the past year and a 1/2 i have worried about my heart as well...

ive done all required tests within the past month and they all came back with good news....im fine.

im actually on my last "test" and i am currently wearing my heart monitor...its to be worn for 48 hours. im 31 years old and these things are quite scary sometimes.

regardless i noticed that i only focus on my heart when I FOCUS ON IT. when i am busy i feel fine.

i believe that anxiety manifests itself in so many unsettling feelings and thats why we always get tricked into believing its real. counter every negative thought with a positive one (fake it til you make it). even if you have to pretend everything is fine, then so be it. if we keep acting that way it will all eventually come true...and everything will be fine.

also, talk to someone about your issues......i realized i have a lot of insecurities and a lot of unresolved issues that need to be talked about....and having someone to talk to helps A LOT, trust me.

ive had a few panic attacks recently where i would just start talking to my friend and literally 5 minutes later i was cured and over my attack....

[vonnhelsing]

i tried talking to my friends and family about it but for people who don't have anxiety it's really difficult to understand.. i work in a hotel so all the people that work there we take a bus to and from the hotel. but i had a massive panic attack on the bus a few months ago and since then everytime i see a bus or think about having to get in a bus i get anxious again so i havent been able to get on the bus for months now, resulting in me having to take a taxi to work which is making me so broke :p and they don't understand! they get confused..
the main ways in which i combat anxiety is distracting myself or getting a massage..
getting heart tests done do really help though because they give you that bit of reassurance so everytime you feel like youre having heart problems you can tell yourself nothing is wrong and it'll calm you down. If you just let the anxiety flow through you and just ignore it, instead of panicking, then it does go away and the more you do it the more your brain will start to understand that nothing is wrong. so now when i feel anxious and get weird chest pains i just ignore it no matter how uncomfortable it may be.. because it does go away :)

[vonnhelsing]

Thanks for the tips alan
i'll find a therapist and speak to them about the availability of the meds you've listed.
for now i'm just gona have some chamomile tea to calm my nerves..:)

[liveitup898]

i tried talking to my friends and family about it but for people who don't have anxiety it's really difficult to understand.. i work in a hotel so all the people that work there we take a bus to and from the hotel. but i had a massive panic attack on the bus a few months ago and since then everytime i see a bus or think about having to get in a bus i get anxious again so i havent been able to get on the bus for months now, resulting in me having to take a taxi to work which is making me so broke :p and they don't understand! they get confused..
the main ways in which i combat anxiety is distracting myself or getting a massage..
getting heart tests done do really help though because they give you that bit of reassurance so everytime you feel like youre having heart problems you can tell yourself nothing is wrong and it'll calm you down. If you just let the anxiety flow through you and just ignore it, instead of panicking, then it does go away and the more you do it the more your brain will start to understand that nothing is wrong. so now when i feel anxious and get weird chest pains i just ignore it no matter how uncomfortable it may be.. because it does go away :)

exactly, anxiety tricks us to think it is real. its been proven so many times.

the people i talk to about my anxiety and issues have never experienced anxiety attacks themsevles, but that is why its a good thing. talking to someone like that, tells you how it is, and when we are stuck in a worrying state, they tell us that nothing is wrong! take their word for it, and believe what they say.

or soemtimes its not about getting feedback from them, but rather they are just an outlet for us to get things off our chest and speak out loud rather then let all the thoughts twist around in our heads...

one thing i've learned is that in order to overcome anxiety, we need to face our fears. if you are scared of the bus, then get back on it. i know its easier said then done, but sometimes you just have to say 'F U C K IT!" and just do it........

its saturday evening right now, and i have been feeling in a somewhat depressed state, and anxious.....but i am determined to get out and grab some drinks and food with friends. everything will be fine, we can do it.

[liveitup898]

try shouting out loud....sounds weird, but i swear it makes me feel better. shout out whatever you want.

or listen to songs that motivate you to feel better......

[nbwk]

That sounds so familiar I've suffered for 7 years now but I do have a slight heart condition called wenceback syndrome which I'm regulary checked for but with bad anxiety you can imagine how much I panic.do you get good and bad days? I also get it in waves through the days it's tearing me apart is there an answer to this horrible condition?

[vonnhelsing]

yeahh i do get good and bad days.. a bad day is usually brought on when i feel ill or i have pain somewhere or palpitations and skipped heart beats. cause then i immediately start thinking it's a heart problem and i panic soooo badly. im just always kind of scared...

[nbwk]

i never realised this thing was so common in so many people.i thought i was the only one who had these strange feelings and maybe something else more serious is wrong.i guess it will always be at the back of my mind that it could be more serious but i find it more comforting that when im at work and sfressed the anxiety is much worse but at the weekends when im with the kids or fishing etc im far more relaxed and the anxiety is much less so that makes me think that an illness cant pick anf choose when it makes you feel like crap! ihope that makes sense? ill beat this thing or should i say accept it one day and the days that i feel great of which there really arnt many i remember and strive towards making the way i want to feel forever.who knows?