Still obsessed with my heart

[Marc0133]

I'm on the road to managing my anxiety which is good news!

However one thing that still hinders my life a little is heart anxiety. I still get obsessed about getting a heart attack or my heart stopping and it's a nightmare! It's troubling for my sleep and when I wake up in the morning its even worse. My anxiety has somewhat convinced me I have heart problems even though I know I don't. And my body is CONSTANTLY focused on the beating on my heart to make sure everything's fine. I'm not sure what to do. I'm also still heavily reliant on the propranolol to ease my mind. What can I do? Thanks.

[aminaismail]

poor you! that must suck a lot!i have the exact same problem however it is 80% better now..what u need to do whenever u feel ur heart race is know that its beating fast because its healthy and strong (this is a fact!) this will change ur perception on ur heart which will sooth the anxiety tremendously! hope this helps x

[Marc0133 in reply to aminaismail]

Thank you. I do tell myself how strong and powerful my heart is but sometimes the anxiety can make me think otherwise. I'll take this into account more. Thank you!

[aminaismail in reply to Marc0133]

yes, its most definitely difficult but keep that ritual consistent every day whenever you will anxious and as time pasts the false thought will go away, you are so courageous for doing recovery, good job!

[Marc0133 in reply to aminaismail]

Awww, thank you so much for the encouraging words. It really helps.

[Jeff1943 in reply to Marc0133]

Marco, you can never recover from an illness you don't have. So it is better to spend your time learning how to recover from the illness you do have. Anxiety disorder can make us imagine we have all kinds of illnesses, it can even mimic the symptoms of real physical illness. The thing to do is to resist stressing and obsessing about them as the fear this produces only maintains your nerves in a state of high sensitivity. So just accept the strange thoughts and the fake symptoms, they cannot harm you. When you calmly accept them without fear your nerves eventually recover and everything will return to the way it was and the way things were.

Irrational thoughts about your heart will pass if you accept them without fear, but if you choose to fear them they will stay. That is the choice: Acceptance vs. More fear.

[Marc0133 in reply to Jeff1943]

Thanks Jeff. Indeed I have suffered from heart anxiety for over a year now and is still alive so that should ultimately prove my heart is 100% perfect, if only my anxiety would believe that. And yeah acceptance is definitely a better way to deal with thoughts than to fight them. Kindness goes a long way in helping.

[Aliciar in reply to aminaismail]

That is so true my therapist told me odds are if your heart is racing you aren't having a heart attack ... I still have trouble believing that I've had almost every test done and things came back normal but I still have chest pain. But when I exercise with my personal trainer I have no pain at all and actually feel great but my head starts to think and the other day I was convinced I had angina. I'm still battling that thought

[Icanbeathis2016]

I know exactly how you feel. You are not alone. I too am having the same intrusive thought patterns except mine is about a brain tumor. It's gotten so bad these last few days I couldn't sleep well either and now I am in constant tunnel vision about every sensation I feel in my head and even with the full headaches and my brain feels strained ears get full ringing I the ears my anxiety is through the roof and I did what I know I should not have done, Google. And now I am in utter fear mentally that I truly think I have a brain issue and having been crying these last few nights. So I know what you mean. And I don't even know how my thoughtshave spiraled out of control so quickly.

[Jeff1943 in reply to Icanbeathis2016]

Icanbreathis2016, I give you my personal guarantee you do NOT have a brain tumour. Now address the illness you do have, anxiety, not the illness you do not have and never will have.

[Indani3003]

I am going through the same thing Marc. It's too annoying. Always anxious about my heart health. My heart beats faster and have the same symptoms as u had. Don't know what to do! Still on medication. Also I got fibromyalgia. When ever my body gets tingling sensation I become afraid. A slight chest pain make me anxious. It's too difficult to cope up with.