Feeling Scared

[nsuth44]

Hi, I'm always feeling scared that something bad might happen. Mostly my worries are focused on my health. I have pretty bad health anxiety. It's like I know I feel okay but I'm always worried that I might have a heart attack. It's literally consuming my thoughts and life. I'm only 29 and have recently lost 80 pounds. I have chest and arm pain all the time but I don't know why. I have heart palpitations daily and sharp chest pains and get lightheaded. My doctor says my risk for heart issues is low and everything looks good, but for some reason I can't relax. My anxiety medication is definitely helping but it basically just makes me ignore these things. I feel like something is wrong knowing that I wasn't the healthiest in the past but nobody believes me. I live alone which is only making things worse. I'm just scared.

[Hereforyou28]

I have the same issues and it really sucks. I don’t even know how to make it better. Doctor says I’m healthy too but that doesn’t stop my mind from racing horrible thoughts bad things are gonna happen like 24/7. You’re not alone

[nsuth44 in reply to Hereforyou28]

Thank you. I'm sorry you're dealing with the same thing. It's so very frustrating. I hope you feel better.

[BetaTogetha]

Congratulations on the weight loss, that is a huge accomplishment! Do you have a family history of heart issues or heath issues? If you do that may be contributing to your fear/anxiety. Would it ease your fears if you saw a cardiologist and had a consultation? They could test your blood for troponin which is a marker for heart damage.

Statistically your risk of heart disease at this age is low. Your arm and chest pain sounds very real and frustrating. I had a friend who had arm and chest pain. They found out it was a gal stones, which is not life threatening and occasionally causes chest/arm pain that feels similar to a heart attack. If any one is your family has a history of gal stones, it might be worth the chat with your doctor.

Also I want to share with you my personal experience with anxiety attacks, sometimes I feel chest pain and palpitations. It feels like someone is sitting on my chest. It’s taken me years to learn that’s one of the ways my body manifests anxiety.

You’re definitely not alone, and we are all here for you. 💗

[nsuth44 in reply to BetaTogetha]

Thank you! It's been a long journey and I still have a ways to go. My mother passed at the age of 58 from heart failure. But the doctors and my mother's sisters tell me it only on the female side. My dad has hypertension. I've been to the ER 3 times since April and have had blood work done including troponin and everything comes back fine.

I've also had multiple ekg's and wore a holter monitor twice for my cardiologist. I have a follow up with him in February but I always feel like I can't wait that long, it has to be my anxiety but nothing is reassuring me.

I never thought about it being gal stones, seems like that would be something hard to catch.

Thank you for sharing your experience and the kind words. It means a lot.

[JMB1989]

I am no Dr. I had a massive heart attack 2 years ago. The symptoms you are describing are like heart related symptoms. If you are 29 it isvfar more likely they are anxiety symptoms. Best concept. Get referred to a cardiologist. Get a stress test done. If your clear. Probably anxiety. My anxiety and depression symptoms have physical symptoms like what you describe. The problem for me is I have a damaged heart and congestive heart failure. So I need to distinguish whether its anxiety or actual heart issues.

[Grateful71]

I completely understand how you feel. My health anxiety has grown over the past 5 years and now I spend much of my day worrying about my health. Like most people I have had some health issues but I think it's the fear that something catastrophic will happen and I die leaving my lovely husband and beautiful children to suffer the loss. I don't know about you but I am hyper-vigilant about any change in my body. My husband and sisters find my way of thinking hard to understand but I reading other people experiencing the same anxiety makes me feel less alone 😔 I can imagine you are finding it hard to distinguish whether it's anxiety or heart condition, was the weight bliss deliberate or have you felt by unable to eat? Take care friend, I share your pain 💛

[nsuth44 in reply to Grateful71]

That is exactly how I feel. Everything I do feels so unnatural and forced. I don't really find joy in anything anymore and can never tell if my meds are working or making me feel this way. I never used to think like this and always lived a carefree life.

Every little thing I feel in my body is manifested ten fold. I can never tell when something is actually wrong but feel like everything is.

The weight loss was part intentional and part unplanned. I spent about a month or two barely eating. Going a day without eating at a time. I've been forcing myself to go to the gym so a lot of the weight loss was planned. But I've always struggled with it and find it hard to push myself in the gym in fear of something bad happening.

Thank you for reaching out. It means a lot.