No no no! The heart?!

[Daxter]

Sorry everyone, it's me again! I've got an echo coming up next week, but this cannot wait - I need some advice beforehand please. ^^;

As you can probably tell from the title of my post, I'm worried to no end! I have an echo coming up on Tuesday, but based on today/tonight's symptoms I'm now pretty convinced they're going to find something wrong with my heart. I've had a tight chest, dizziness and palpatations all day despite a good night's sleep. I even have had trouble belching - something I made the mistake of Googling in the past, and finding out it COULD be related to cardiovascular problems, including heart attacks. I'd be more ready to accept these as anxiety if that's all there was to it.

Just now when I finished eating (and earlier when I stood up out of a car) I felt a shooting, mild pain moving from my left shoulder to my hand. Suddenly felt a surge of pressure in my chest, and my heart started to pound more rapidly. The left of my chest just under the armpit mildly hurt constantly, and felt rather full. Even now, I am still experiencing discomfort in my left arm and shoulder and neck, and tightness in my chest, a full 30 minutes after.

The pressure and pains only lasted a few seconds - 30 tops if put together - but the long-term discomfort has convinced my horrid mindset that I've had a mini heart attack or PVC and not realised. I dare not Google anything, as I have already had a very stressful day (family, health and work issues alike), so any advice is much appreciated as always!

[gcalex]

Do you even know what a PVC is?  It's a completely benign premature beat.  Stop playing cardiologist.  If you truly believe you are having an emergency, go to an ER, don't look to the internet for diagnosis.  If these are symptoms that have been evaluated before, then accept they are anxiety.

[floridaguy65]

Hi D:) My man, I feel ya'. I've been where you are right now....freaking about heart stuff. Mine was 25+ years ago:) In 25 years from now, you'll look back upon this time and reflect, as well. Hopefully, you'll be reflecting from a point of view of having been moving down a healing path for many years (as I do:)

I understand - you feel your case is different, or worse, or that you are actually going to die from a heart attack eventhough you've passed all med tests and Doc visits, to date. You feel destined to be "THE ONE". It feels SO REAL (what's going on in your chest), I know. Trouble is I was 'the one', too....we have pretty much ALL been 'the one', at one time or another. Good thing that our self-diagnosing is incredibly horrific and good thing that, overall, HA peeps tend to be pretty darn healthy in the end (just like the general population, overall). Else, this forum would have but two or three peeps talking back and forth about moles and eye floaters and tingling and PVCs:)

Anywho, your echo will come out AOK. No doubts in my mind having gone back a read all of your previous posts. So, then you'll have to make a gameplan. A gameplan of how you can being to move away from medical intervention and move towards a healing path for your mental health challenges. I promise you that there has never been any lasting peace from Cardiophobia afforded to us by an EKG or Echocardiogram....and there never will be, when we are struggling. The reason there is but fleeting relief from med testing is that we have mental health issues and NOT physical health crises, OVERWHELMINGLY.

I would start investigating your options for help for anxiety - today. Can't hurt. Get a days head start, as your echo is tomorrow. I know - you feel you're pretty doomed right now. I was a 'dead man walking'.....27 years ago:)

The panic is powerful. SOOOOOOOOOOO freaking powerful. It is based in faulty thinking, though. It is based in our bad habits and actions. It is based in our fear cycles that we perpetuate by those bad habits and actions. Your echo will be fine. Then what?

Peace and Feel Well:)