Fear of dying from something wrong with my heart

[Kaitlynoreilly123]

I am a female teen,have suffered from anxiety for years,since i was young. It runs through my family. No heart conditions,disease, or heart attack though. I suffer from palpitations a lot. But for eg a few weeks ago i was worried i had a brain tumor and i thoight "wow i havent had any heart symptoms" as i was focused on something else. Then i googled again:/ and found symptoms to undetected heart conditions etc and started realising i had synmptoms. But i worry i have something bad but the symptoms just come and go. I know what i get is anxiety symptoms aswell but it just feels so intense and scary i think it cant be anxiety and must he something serious that could make me die any day. If i lie on my side i can feel my heart beating. And it feels like im having palpitations or heart flutters, or like its beating too fast or slow, but wen i listen to my pulse its fine. It just always feels weird and like its beating weird or irregular. Sometimes it beats faster when i breathe in,although reasearch said rhats ok and normal. When im panicking i feel a bit of chest pain for a split second in rhe middle,then makes me worry more and makes the pain worse. Ive been to GP lots of times,going again next week. She listened to my heart,pulse,checked BP, and i got a blood test a while ago. I also went to pharmacy and got all checker on big machine. Everything came up fine. I asked GP if i can get ECG or 24hrs heart monitor but she turned down the suggestion as she said she knows rhis is only anxiety (she knows ive suffered anxiety for years and knows my experiences). I want to go A&E, i just feel like im dying. Like i was born with unknown condition or something. Just dont feel normal or relaxed and like anyone else who says they feel the same, is just sugar coding it. Can someone help me? I need reassurence does anyone else go through the same as me? Please reply asap

[Hidden]

Firstly, never Google your symptoms of you will make life very hard for yourself. Then get things to take your mind off of the anxiety.

You need to let your mind think of other things so keep yourself busy.

[Kaitlynoreilly123 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. I know i need to distract myself, its just like theres a person in my head that keeps telling me negative stuff. Thanks for the reply.

[Hidden in reply to Kaitlynoreilly123]

I used to be the same, I decided to fill my mind with other things, I also learned new things, changed my diet a bit so it included foods that help with anxiety, like bananas for example. I also exercised more.

Now I am anxiety free. I wish I could help you more but good luck to you anyway.

[Kaitlynoreilly123 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much for your help, i appreciate it.

[Hidden in reply to Kaitlynoreilly123]

You are welcome.

Dont be afraid to come on for a chat if you want or need to.

[Jeff1943]

Kaitlynoreilly123, you did the right thing going to see your doctor about these symptoms but now you must accept the opinion of your doctor who went to medical school for 5 years. You must accept that you don't have a brain tumour and you don't have heart failure despite all the palpitations which is a very, very common symptom of anxiety disorder.

I will say to you what I say to so many others: don't spend your time worrying about illnesses you don't have when you should be addressing the illness you do have - anxiety. So no more thoughts of heart attacks, put all that right out of your mind and focus on the one illness you do have because you can recover from the illness you do have but you can never recover from illnesses you don't have.

I know how real the symptoms of anxiety can seem and how distressing when you don't understand what's happening to you. Somewhere along the line your nervous system became oversensitive through being subjected to too much stress. You say that anxiety runs in the family and you're right it can be inherited but you can still minimise the the power of the bad feelings you experience. You need to understand that sensitised nerves play tricks on our minds and bodies and are very good at mimicing real physical illness. But the symptoms of anxiety are not real physical illness, they are fake symptoms and although they make us uncomfortable they can never harm us.

So there is no need to fear the palpitations and chest pains as they are merely glitches in your nervous system. Why frighten yourself half to death because your nerves have been overwhelmed by all the fear you have subjected them to in the past. What you have to do now is help your nervous system to recover because once your nerves recover you will recover too. So instead of flooding your nerves with fear everytime you feel palpitations you must accept the palpitations and any other symptoms calmly and without fear. If you can achieve Acceptance rather than reacting with more fear then your whole body gradually recovers. I know that learning to Accept the bad feelings isn't always easy but with practice and persistance you can achieve it and set yourself on the path to recovery. So stop fighting the palpitations and constantly testing for them, the heart muscle is very strong and is not troubled by such exertion. Just frame your mind to Accept whatever devious tricks your nerves try to play on you and gradually you will gain the upper hand and will be able to take control of your life once and for all. ,

[Kaitlynoreilly123 in reply to Jeff1943]

Much appreciated thank you so much

[Kennygrunt in reply to Jeff1943]

Thank you for your reply. I too have fast heart beat and worry to have another episode of heart palpitations. Does make alot of sense of what you wrote. The mind can definitely change alot how u feel

[Jeff1943 in reply to Kennygrunt]

Kenny, anxiety is a real shape shifter, it so good at mimicking real physical illness but whatever it is imitating and no matter how good it is still only anxiety.

There is a lot of vagueness over the word palpitations and it means different things to different people:

1. My wife often complains about palpitations but when I check her blood pressure it is normal and so is the heart beat rate. I think what she means is that she can 'feel' the heartbeat sometimes.

2. To some people it means missed heartbeats, I get this from time to time but always associated with anxious situations. As it is only occasional, doesn't last long and wlways goes away I do not fear it or stress or obsess about it - so it dies of neglect!

3. To others among which I gather you are included it means fast heartbeat. This is a classic anxiety symptom but if it persists it's best to get the reassurance of having your doctor check it out. As I understand it normal heart beat rate goes from 60 to 100, between 100 and 200 it's fast as with anxiety and if it stays over 200 for long best to have a word with a doctor.

It's quite amazing what a normal heart can withstand, the heart muscle is one of the largest and toughest of all.

As far as health anxiety and general anxiety disorder are concerned I always advise people to read a famous self help book on the subject which advocates the Acceptance method for the relief and recovery from anxiety. It was written many years ago but has saved thousands from a life of misery. You soon recognise yourself in its pages and feel that somehow the author, Claire Weekes, knew you personally. The UK version is titled 'Self help for your nerves' and the U.S. version 'Hope and help for your nerves' and it's available new or used for just a few £$ from Amazon. Before deciding whether to read it you may care to look at the many hundreds of reader reviews 90% of which rate it Very Good or Excellent and the phrase 'saved my life' appears frequently. I first read it 40 years ago and it has made a big difference to my life and has been greatly influential on modern day therapists. She mentions palpitations frequently.

[Kennygrunt in reply to Jeff1943]

Wow so truefully thankful of u taking your time to write back and explaining the symptoms and what the brain can do. After these panic, fast heart beat going to the er hospitals numerous x's. They all said it was just anxiety and dehydration. And prescribed beta blocker Carvidilol 6.25mg twice daily. So far just started taking magnesium supp pill 2x daily and omega 3 fish oil in the am. And so far havent been back to the er. Fingers crossed. But only still get a little tingling in the chest like an uneasiness feeling and when that happens i just take some deep breathes and it goes away. Im thinking maybe from smoking cigarettes withdrawal symptoms. Ugh. But i will get through this thank you to u and many others sharing their experiences and thoughts

[Fitz8675309]

I get chest pains all the time, even when I don't feel particularly anxious. A person just has to trust their doctor. Think about it, would they risk dismissing you if there was even a CHANCE that you were in danger? Their career would be over.

You just have to breathe through it and not listen to your brain's tricks. I know it's hard, I struggle everyday, but you are strong and capable of handling this.

[Kaitlynoreilly123 in reply to Fitz8675309]

Thanks a lot for the reassurence. Glad to know there is people who understand me.

[Kennygrunt in reply to Fitz8675309]

So true. Thanks for your input and positive energy encouragement. Im starting to believe what everyone is stating. Whenever i feel that uneasiness i just take a few slow deep breathes and weirdly it goes away. Definitely thinking its the nerves playing tricks on me. Hoping this will go away permanently soon

[Kaitlynoreilly123]

Thank you! Ill listen to your advice. Thanks for being here

[ncruz]

i still go thru this everyday . I started CBT therapy. and that has helped me out sooooo much . I have also purchased a blood pressure monitor that reads your pulse and has a heart detection light if my heart has an irregular beating it will light up. This helps my anxiety a lot. When i get an anxiety attack i use it and the light comes on green. That means that its only anxiety and not my heart. Because if it was the machine would tell me. I bought it on amazon for 20.00 bucks. Hope this helps!! Prayer also helps me too. hope things get better.

[KittyPrim]

Hello, I experience almost all of the same exact things. I've gone to the emergency room several times because of heart flutters and palpatations, but all tests always came back fine. My anxiety always tells me something else though. My family has history of heart disease, and I have a condition that makes me more susceptible to cardiac issues, so it is always hard for me to accept the doctors answer that it is just anxiety. But if I take a step back and look at it logically and calmly, they are most likely right. Anxiety and fear can do some amazingly strange things to the body you wouldn't think they could. I find that deep breathing- counting to 4 on the breath in, and to 6 on the breath out - really helps me concentrate on something else, and it ensures that I don't start feeling lightheaded from lack of breath. If you have a dog or something that will lay with you during these moments this can also help. I'm sorry you're so young and have to go through something so difficult and scary like this, but please remember there are others who experience the same things you do, and they are still alive and healthy. My good thoughts are with you.

[Kaitlynoreilly123 in reply to KittyPrim]

Thanks so much for your help <3 i just feel liek the symptoms are so intense and so similar to what i find on the internet wen i google, rhat it has to be something serious. And im just worried that i have some condition or bad blood vessel to my heatt or something that is un noticed that the doctor hasnt detected you know :/

[KittyPrim in reply to Kaitlynoreilly123]

I totally understand, and I'm there with you. That's always a constant thought in the back of my mind. I've found that googling symptoms, however, often makes my anxiety and fear worse. I start to imagine all the things that could be wrong, instead of managing the one I know I have. Instead of turning to Google search, I would suggest making a post on this site instead. Many users are quick to answer at all times of night, and the answers here wont scare you unessessarily.

[Celtic27]

Hi kaitlyn you sound very mixed up just now im sorry but your going to have to trust the doctor or ask for a second opinion which shoudnt be a problem ! Sounds like youve got bad health anxiety problems its common ive had depression,anxiety and health anxiety for some time so i sympathize with you but the first thing you need to do is please stop looking up the internet as that will only make your anxiety far worse i wish you well and i hope things get better soon !