Doctor has made my anxieties worse! (heart related)

[Daxter]

It's the one thing I absolutely didn't want to hear from any medical professional; there MIGHT be something wrong with my heart after all. Last night I had the worst symptoms I've ever experienced in my chest and left arm, even extending to my neck! It was all bad enough to wake me up at 4 in the morning and keep me up. They included:

- Weakness/Numbness in my left arm, extending to my hand and collarbone.
- Tightness in my chest which - for about half a minute at one point - became a crushing sensation like someone was standing on me.
- Dizziness, especially when sitting up.
- Palpatations
- Shivering
- Pulsing headaches and a pulse in my lower back
- Head rushes/zaps and feeling faint

I could remember from past "Googling" how all of the symptoms are typical of a heart attack, and the fact they wouldn't subside and gradually got worse supported my fears. The worst was yet to come. The symptoms faded after about half an hour but most came back with a vengeance. For about 5 seconds at one point, I was unable to move, speak or even breathe. I've never been so worried in my life; I wasn't even trying to fall asleep at that point, and my parents didn't believe me when I was finally able to call for help.

Luckily I already had a doctor appointment with my GP booked this morning. She checked the notes I made about my symptoms, and listened to my heart, but claimed I was ok. I'm still waiting for an echo to take place, and I was petrified to hear the doctor is trying to mark it as urgent, as she "no longer believes this is only the work of anxiety." I may have a "leaky valve" or other heart problems.

I just want to be normal. I don't want any heart problems at all, I hate living in fear like this. Any excercise at all now raises my heart rate to stupidly fast palpatations and causes tightness. I agree with the doctor - how can this possibly be anxiety anymore? 

[kmwondering]

My gp freaked me out a little with her reaction to some things I told her. Decided I needed to see a cardio. Cardio didn't so much as bat an eye, but ran the full gamut of tests as I had been referred. As usual, all tests normal. Anxiety can absolutely cause very severe somatic symptoms. Follow your docs advice and get checked for sure but try to breathe until then.

[vardnas]

Well, a "leaky valve," is really not a big deal. It's an abnormality, sure, but it's not really anything sinister. Even if you do have a leaky valve, your anxiety is exacerbating the situation for sure.

Daxter, are you doing anything to try and get your anxiety under control?

[ArmyWife27]

Hey there,

I get those symptoms as well and I have a heart murmur and suffer from pvc's and bigomy. 
Ive been to many doctors and had many halters and echos. all turned out normal. Its just something you cant control but can live your everyday life with. Im sure you will be ok! Try to stay positive and let the doc's do there job! If your not satisfied then make them run more test just to be on the safe side. Remember your paying them so you need to be in control and be the boss. That's what I have had to do to make sure I got to a salution. hope that helps and keep us posted!
take care and I will say a prayer for you <3

[marc]

A friend of mine once went to an extremely alarmist doctor with some heart palpitations.
The doctor came up with some wild idea about a heart transplant. Needless to say, my friend
went to another doctor, who said not to worry. Anxiety and stress can cause many physical
symptoms, which can mimic real illness.

[Daxter]

Well, a "leaky valve," is really not a big deal. It's an abnormality, sure, but it's not really anything sinister. Even if you do have a leaky valve, your anxiety is exacerbating the situation for sure.

Daxter, are you doing anything to try and get your anxiety under control?

Unfortunatly there's very little I can do right now; my GP is trying to find me CBT and hurry my echo along. All the while I'm getting worse; had a massive spasm in my chest when I tried sleeping on my right side, which caused my whole body to flinch. Sleeping on my left side makes me dizzy and makes the palpatations worse. Sleeping on my back or front makes my left arm painful and numb.

I have everything my mum did when she had a heart condition diagnosef. Can't be a coincidence at this point. I'm meant to be going to a theatre tonight but I'm scared to go - what if I drop out cold in the middle of the performance? Today's local news headline - a man 28 years old died out of the blue with osimilar sympyoms to mine - doesn't help at all. I've even taken to avoiding all media relating to death or hearts. I'm such a wreck right now....

[vardnas]

I have everything my mum did when she had a heart condition diagnosef. Can't be a coincidence at this point. I'm meant to be going to a theatre tonight but I'm scared to go - what if I drop out cold in the middle of the performance? Today's local news headline - a man 28 years old died out of the blue with osimilar sympyoms to mine - doesn't help at all. I've even taken to avoiding all media relating to death or hearts. I'm such a wreck right now....

Okay, well how old was your mom when she was diagnosed with a heart condition? And what did/does she have? Assuming that YOU have the same thing someone else does, even if it is a family member, is faulty thinking. It's anxiety thinking. Same thing with this young man. You DON'T know what kind of underlying factors he had with his heart to cause that situation. And JUST because you are experiencing what you think are similar symptoms doesn't mean you will meet the same fate.

You're beyond being reasoned with at this point, so deep in your fear spiral you are. The only thing that's going to get you to come out of it, other than treatment right now, is the fact that in a week or two weeks or four weeks from now, you're still going to be up and alive and not dead and you're going to start to wonder if your "certainty" is so certain. Until such time, there's not much any of us are going to be able to say to help you counter your thinking.

[floridaguy65]

I'm a skinny, reasonably fit 21 year old lad, with minimal family history of heart problems, 5 clear ECGs, a clear blood test and a clear Chest X Ray. Are all my experiences likely to be related to anxiety? (Shortness of breath and that big palpatation are the main ones I'm worried about) Any help would again be greatly appreciated..!

Hey D:) You've received some good replies here. The above was from one of your previous posts.

As Vardnas asked, what is the heart condition of your Mom? How has she done throughout the years? Family history matters, but your medical testing and Doc vists tend to trump this as all that info is taken into account in your OVERALL medical protocol and Doc's diagnosis.

Overwhelmingly, with your med testing and your age and the lack of anything sinister being diagnosed in your health history, there isn't going to anything SERIOUS come up in your echo. Your Doc is trying to mark it as 'urgent' because she has nothing else left to do but try to give you some peace of mind through some further testing....hence amping up your 'condition', so that hopefully you can have the test sooner than later. Med Docs don't have the practice in mental health, overall....so they do not really hestitate that much in offering up further med testing. Problem is that the echo will offer up little (to no) lasting peace. Sure, you'll have some fleeting relief from the domination of the thoughts that you're about to keel over dead at any minute. But, this will wear off - rather readily. When we are struggling, the solace is brief, as what we are struggling from is not a physical health crisis but a mental health challenge. There is no lasting peace from med testing for HA peeps, when we are caught up in a nasty fear cycle. Never has been - never will be.

I see you're up for some CBT....wonderful. I don't know how it works in the UK...hopefully you can get in quicker somehow. I wouldn't simply just wait until they say OK....keep on pushing, as best you can - calmly:) You can do quite a bit of self study, as well, in the meantime. There are numerous, viable and reputable resources online that can help you gain some gentle guidance, perhaps, and give you some information on some techniques you can begin to embrace - now. Get some books, too.

Are you exercising? Or are you too concerned over your heart, at this point. I was there was upon a time, as well....too scared to tax my heart as I thought it was gonna just explode in my chest (literally - I pictured this happening) or my heart was going to simply quietly stop beating while I was sleeping and I just wouldn't wake up. Talk about a hard time going to sleep - holy crapola!:)

When might you have this echo? After this test, there will be no legitimate reason for you to not begin exercising, likely. Exercise was a catalyst in my healing path...and it has remained so for many years:)

Peace and Feel Well:)

[Hohum]

It's my own personal opinion that the power of the mind over the body cannot be overstated. One of my old Doctors told me a great trick he taught all of his HA-suffering patients, to prove the power of the mind over our bodies. Simple focus all your concentration onto one thing which you know to be completely fine (your leg for instance) and keep concentrating. After a few seconds you'll be aware of every spasm, every twitch, every single discomfort in that area. You know that there's nothing wrong, but thinking about it constantly makes you very hyper-aware of everything your body is doing and experiencing, normal or otherwise.

The point of my rambling tale is that your symptoms could quite easily still be related to anxiety. The fact that your Doctor is being cautious means absolutely nothing more than that. Nothing other than medical testing and diagnosis can tell you a single thing.

I have been down this road myself, many years ago. Ended up with ECG tests, specialist appointments, and it was all anxiety-related in the end. I would feel like my heart was ready to explode or I was about to collapse a lung when exercising in the gym, but then I started cross-country skiing. Being outside and totally distracted from my anxiety helped so much. I could do a 15km ski and climb up some brutal hills before remembering that I "should" be concerned about my heart...and only after I thought about it would the so-called "symptoms" appear.

Hopefully your Doctor's concern will lead to more tests, a clean bill of health, and the confidence to move forwards. Good luck!