Amitriptyline

[lynstone60]

Hi everyone ,i havnt posted for a while so i am hoping everyone is feeling ok . Back in September this year i developed tinnitus in my left ear only ,went for a MRI of my ears and brain stem ,totally free ked out as some of you might remember my post on fear of acoustic neuroma as the doctor wanted to rule this out ...I was a total mess ,i was convinced i had this acoustic neuroma but all came back clear ...I still have the dreaded T but have learned to live with it and block it out ,it actually goes quiet sometimes and i hardly know its their ...I have developed another fear of mine which has raised its ugly head, My heart ,i hate hearts ,i know they keep us all alive but i hate them ,i surfer with palps alot and worry that my heart is going to just burst out my chest or stop . I am terrified of having a heart attack , i watched my dad have 3 when i was a teenager ,had to visit him in hospital whichn i hated and i have had a heart phobia ever since. when i have my blood pressure taken it goes through the roof ,its called white coat syndrome because when i do it myself at home its usually ok .My doctor put me on propranolol 2 a day which slows my heart rate down and really helps with the palps........I recently had a ECG and a blood test to see if i had had a heart attack they both was clear ,i just cant stop thinking about my heart ,im convinced i will have a heart attack at some point in my life ,im 62 ..and constantly thinking about it ,i take my blood pressure at least twice a day and if its slightly raised i go into melt down . I hate this health anxiety that i have had all my life ,im so tired of fighting everything ,I dont want to die of a heart attack like my dad ,i even wish we had a choice of how we are going to die ,i know i sound crazy but i dont care how i die ,i just dont want a heart attack .....sorry for the long post ,and thank you for reading

[Jrlt]

You sound exactly like me I have bad health anxiety related to my heart, mine stemmed from a traumatic experience like you but mine was my little girl being diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart (she only had half her heart) and was born at 21 weeks. Since then I’ve been so hyper aware of my heart and everything it’s doing , from thumping to skipping beats to feeling like it’s racing all the time, terrified of a heart attack! When I’m nervous my blood pressure is high when I’m relaxed it’s fine. I’ve had bloods, ecg and echo all were fine until recently the skipped beats were caught on the ecg so I’ve just had the 24hour monitor and waiting to hear what they have found (I had palpitations with it on)

When my anxiety started it was caused by some chest pain that I still get and I think this keeps the anxiety going! Every little niggle I think I’m having a heart attack, my recent fear is abdominal aortic aneurysm I feel like I can feel my heart thumping away at my belly button and it freaks me out!

Health anxiety is awful!

[lynstone60 in reply to Jrlt]

Hi and thank you for your reply .yes we do sound very alike .I'm so sorry about your daughter that must of been horendous for you ...please let me know what your 24hour monitor says ..they wanted to put one on me but it terrifies me to even have it in for one hour let alone 24 .my hubby says just put it on and forget about it .wish I was more like him if he was anymore laid back he would be asleep all the time he's so relaxed it's unreal .where are you from ?

[Jrlt in reply to lynstone60]

Oh gosh that sounds just like my partner! I often wish I was as relaxed haha!

The monitor was fine the worst part was not being able to shower until I took it off, and the sticky pads got so itchy towards the last hour or two other than that I would forget it was there go to the toilet and get such a Fright when all the wires popped out. Hopefully get the results very soon, I had a few single ectopics (skipped feeling) and then I had a little run of them maybe about 4 or 5 together so hoping it’s picked them up and they can let me know there thoughts as that seems to be what frightens me single ones are uncomfortable and make me anxious but it soon passes when I get little runs of them it really gets my anxiety going and I’m convinced my heart is just going to stop, I had them consistently for 2 hours a week ago and ended up in a&e was so sure it was a sign my heart was ready to stop or was blocked and would be a heart attack in the making but they said they didn’t believe anything sinister was going on. I have developed a hyper awareness of my heart and can literally feel it pumping away if I stop and think about it which really doesn’t help my anxiety because I find myself thinking and noticing it way too often.

I’m from Scotland you ?

[lynstone60 in reply to Jrlt]

Hi .Scotland ,I love Scotland fort William we stayed at a few years ago now..mayb I should try and have the 24hour monitor if I can .please let me know what the results are ...I'm from Northamptonshire x

[Jrlt in reply to lynstone60]

I will lovely! You should go for it honestly I was so nervous about it but it didn’t bother me and I wore it to work with no problems no one even knew I had it on, and I slept perfectly fine all night with it to,

I’m not far from fort William just over an hour away!

[lynstone60 in reply to Jrlt]

hi .thank you .i will ring my gp and tell her i would like to have one on ,although she did say the waiting list was around 6 weeks due to covid ,take care x

[Stella_Maris in reply to Jrlt]

Hi Jrlt. I just read your responses to all this and wondered if you ever got your results. These ectopic beats are precisely what I’m feeling with my anxiety! Would love to know what they said. It’s so annoying and uncomfortable. And come out of nowhere.