Heart problems or just anxiety/stress?

[Kamario]

I have had bloods done and they come back normal and had a ecg and that showed my heart was normal and had my heart listened too and again normal but I am still getting by these strange but random thuds in my chest and when they happen sometimes nothing afterward and sometimes I get stiffness and tightness. I have noticed I had upper left arm ache and pain in my belly but the doctors told me that’s all related to anxiety. I hate that word because as soon as they see you and they see that on your record they won’t give you time to explain and just mentioned meds and ways to handle stress but the thing is I can be at home with my kids and be happy and out of nowhere boom in my chest and then the worry kicks in etc

[10gingercats]

I have had anxiety and heart problems .Never found that doctors ignored me because of the anxiety.I suggest you try and see another doctor in your practice and a face to face consultation.

[Kamario in reply to 10gingercats]

Yes I am too as I am fully aware of my anxiety but with these palpitations or thud I get is new and sometimes it leaves my chest tight so obviously I want to know what’s going off. I blame myself to be honest I have hardly been active since doing my office job for a number of years now so if anything is wrong it’s my own doing

[Lauriem4]

Sounds like could be ectopics which can be anxiety related but everyone gets them x

[Hidden]

With the caveat that I’m not remotely medically qualified….occasional thuds followed by ‘pauses’ would be a fairly common description of ectopic beats for a lot of people. These are premature contractions that can originate either from the atria (PACs) or the ventricles (PVCs); I have both, and my PVCs would fit your description. The good news if that’s what they are, is that ectopics on their own are only considered a problem if you’re having several thousand a day (10% of your daily heart beats or more), they’re PVCs and you’re having several in a row without any normal beats in between, or if you have either SVT or atrial fibrillation, where ectopics are the trigger for the arrhythmia. The current thinking is that the vast majority of people have ectopics, but most people never feel them. We do know that once you start noticing them, your body becomes hard wired to notice more, and with the stress that can cause, it becomes a vicious cycle. It’s medically known that stress and anxiety can increase the frequency of ectopics, along with all stimulants (caffeine, chocolate), some medications (including but not limited to asthma inhalers, cold/cough remedies containing pseudoephedrine, antihistamines), insufficient sleep, recreational substances, tobacco, and alcohol. Anecdotally, spicy food can also set them off, and I find ginger sends mine through the roof. My ectopics trigger SVT, so I take medication to try and reduce the number, but the biggest effect was found by cutting out the dietary and lifestyle triggers that set some of mine off. It doesn’t work for everyone, as ectopics can originate from two different parts of the nervous system, only one of which is involved with/effected by the things I listed, but I went from hundreds a day relying on just medication to around a dozen utilising medication and lifestyle changes.

The way to pick up ectopics (or most rhythm/rate related issues) would be a holter monitor for a day or two. Your GP can usually request one of these.

[Kamario]

Yea o am waiting to get a holster monitor and obviously all this is new to me and you’re right causes stress once you become aware of them and it’s like your body is looking or waiting for them to happen. Anyway I am also awaiting a jelly test on my heart also as when I felt the thud snd hot chest pain they want to investigate