Health anxiety??

[BlackHeart90]

Hi all , new member & recently struggling with health anxiety, I lost my dad to a heart attack in 2000 when he was 35. Years rolled on and since turning 30 myself I've been diagnosed with heart failure, a dilated cardiomyopathy and left ventricular systolic dysfunction. It's been a lonely time in my life. Does anyone have any advice on how I can cope??

[Coffeelover2]

Really sorry that you are struggling. I had a heart attack a year ago in my 30s. Heart Failure isn’t always as bad as it sounds and with meds, healing can happen and it can improve. You’ve been diagnosed and you can get treatment now. You can only do what is in your control and you can live a full life. Speaking about it helps and things will get better every day

[MarmiteB]

I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis, that must be really tough for you and I can’t imagine what it does to your headspace. Coffeelover is correct though, heart failure can sound a lot worse than it is.

What I would really really recommend is talking therapy. I had it post op (I needed a bypass aged 34) and it really helped me work through things. This community will support you but, I couldn’t recommend speaking to a professional enough xxx

[Bluedolphin123]

it is such a shock to get that diagnosis so young , I was devastated and not nearly as young as you but I definitely agree with the other posts , talking helps and I did commit to talking therapy after my diagnosis which helped.

I also purchased an online heart course ( on special offer) hosted by ocean robbins and Mimi Guarneri on heart health ( there is probably lots of free information online too) for me it gave me the feeling of being a bit in control when everything seemed out of control and it gave me something positive to focus on going forward and helped maintain a positive mindset , hope that helps along with the other comments x

[Blearyeyed]

I can understand why you feel anxious.My history is pretty similar to yours although my Dad was 43 when he passed and I around that age when cardiac issues really started to affect how I did things.

I have a lot of other health problems too , many of which I've had since childhood but they didn't get properly diagnosed until my 40's and began to affect my abilities around that time.

If you've had relatives with similar problems whom passed away at a similar age it does start playing through your mind and makes you worry. Yet. we also need to think just because a relative passed away from something we have at a young age doesn't mean it will happen to us.

Health care , Medications , Diet and Opportunities to maintain our health and reduce our risks are far better now than they were when our relatives had the problems and that gives us a really positive outlook to live a long life despite being ill as long as we Pace Ourselves and manage our health needs , diet and lifestyle.

It does feel very lonely when you have ill health.

It's a bit like Grief. You feel like you've had a loss but in this case the loss is Feeling Healthy. People seem to want to hear about things and try to be helpful when things first happen , but just like after a bereavement they would prefer it if you were "cured" rather than being ill long term and seem to lose interest if you aren't getting better or they'd prefer not to hear about it as it makes them uncomfortable.

And we , just like people whom have lost a person, we begin to feel like we can't talk about how we feel because we don't want to bring people down or make them worry , and we feel like we've lost ourselves.

That's not true , of course, even if you are ill You are still You , the amazing individual you always were, You are just You with a health issue to manage.

And one great thing is that we have forums like this one to come to , not just when we have practical questions but also when we need to talk or feel anxious and lonely.

We can meet people here online , or at local support groups face to face , that are experiencing the same thing as we are and understand how we feel.

They can listen , give support and show us that we don't need to feel lonely as well as helping us to send our anxiety packing.

So , well done for being brave enough to reach out and tell us how you are feeling, and keep posting whenever you need us.

And , have a look online and see if there are any local health support groups that you could join to.

See if there are any interest groups or exercise groups for people with your health needs where you can make friends and walking buddies.

And, keep talking to you friends and family , they will be there for you if they realise how bad you feel.

Take care , Always be hopeful and enjoy life in the way you can , hugs , Bee

[Deejay62]

Hi welcome. 20 yrs ago I was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure, with a heart function EF 43%. I became very ill and couldn’t breathe, a chest Xray showed I had enlarged heart, ecg showed arrhythmia, and echo showed my heart wasn’t pumping. I had an angiogram which showed dilated cardiomyopathy.

I was very fortunate because my Gp had a colleague from the surgery who worked at the hospital, and I am talking more than 20 yrs ago. I was able to see a cardiologist through all the stages, who explained to me there’s a lot they can do. That gave me hope. I know these days people are given that information and left, maybe for months or even years. I’m not surprised a lot of people are struggling badly.

You are very young. I was in my 40s I’m now in my 60s. Things are improving all the time and will continue to improve. Various medications can improve your life, staying fit and keeping healthy. I’m at the lower end now but I still try to live a healthy life. You do get to know your body, what to eat and drink, and you will become health conscious to stay alive.

My dad had a heart attack and died at 53. I was certain I wasn’t going to live past that age and I’ve made it to 63 this year.

Get yourself some talking therapy through your Gp and try to build a relationship with a Gp because a lot has been handed over to them. Hopefully you will be given a heart failure nurse, they can explain a lot.

There are support groups for heart failure on here and on facebook also dilated cardiomyopathy on facebook I’m not sure about here.

You can also speak to the British Heart Foundation nurses online or on the phone.

[Qualipop]

Everyone's different but from my own experience of health anxiety, what helps me massively is to get information and answers. My GP is lovely and understands that when I see him, I don't necessarily need or want treatment but I need explanation. I need to understand what's happening and why and what to possibly expect. That way I know what's normal and what could be caused by anxiety. Fear is of the unexpected and things we don't understand so I ask hundreds of questions. As for heart failure, obviously it depends on the cause but my mum was diagnosed aged around 24 after she had eclampsia in pregnancy which damaged her heart. This was 75 years ago and there was absolutely no treatment. Even in later years it was never treated but she lived to be almost 70, A perfectly normal life with no restrictions apart from having a hip replacement by epidural instead of general anaesthetic and she smoked 20 woodbines a day. I had a heart attack at the same age as her but survived mine and with modern treatments I'm still here.