Anxiety or heart problems?

Hello,

I've posted here before, and I have taken all the advice I have been offered. The strange part is that all of my previous sympotoms are still present, and even getting worse it feels like. 

Symptoms include:

1. Throat tightning 

2. Tight chest

3. Sharp heart pain

4. Dizziness

5. Nauseated

6. Vomiting 

7. Burping 

8. Severe indigestion 

9. Burning in abdomin 

10. Head pressure 

11. Sharp pain all over body 

12. Excessive tiredness

13. Heart palpitations 

14. Confusion 

15. Sharp random pain in jaw

Like I said in my previous blog, this all started one night and I swore I was having a heart attack or in heart failure. This has been going on since December 2016.  I recently visited my cardiologist for my 30 ay heart monitor results, and they came back weird. When I pushed the button because I felt symptoms, nothing showed on the monitor, be when my heart rate did spike I never pushed it. She said she believes that I might have a form of ventricular tachycardia and also panic attacks.

Here is what I don't understand. Is tachacardia dangerous?? Also, these "panic attacks/anxiety attacks" happen at random even when I am not panicking. I literally feel stillness in my chest and my throat actually tightening to the point I want to call ems. Every doctor/ ER I have gone to have found nothing except for this possible case of tachacardia. 

I am still so lost and I am 21 and all I think about is dying. I'm moving back to school in less than a week and I am not even excited. I am sacred out of my mind. My family can't afford any more tests and doctors and I can't take anymore semesters off of school. I literally only think about death now and when it is finally going to get to that point where my heart stops. I read these blogs and a lot of the stuff sounds like mine, but then I think what if it sounds similar but I actually have heart disease, heart attack, or heart failure. I'm scared,I'm scared, I'm scared.

Someone please help me...

This my dear is exactly how anxiety works. I have been woken from a sound sleep swearing I was having a heart attack many times over the years. At times of great stress when I should have been panicked I was fine, then a day or 2 later, wham! I can only say, seek help for the anxiety, not other issues. If you find a therapist and psychiatrist to talk to and help you with finding the right course of treatment you will be better for it. I unfortunately don't have all the answers, I have been contemplating an E.R. visit for the past few weeks and have been doing this for over 20 years. I do know that when I was under a doctor's care and found the right combo of meds it didn't control my existence. I am not able to afford care at this time and am looking for self help tips, you can research anxiety coping techniques and try them as well, even if they don't work for you they won't hurt. Best of luck!!!

You already have the right reply from Rachel, but I'd just like to add that after reading your list of symptoms I thought you'd copied and pasted it from an NHS page describing anxiety, if that's any reasurence to the fact your absolutely suffering from anxiety and nothing else 😊

Hi Alex-what did the EKG show that was wierd?Vent tachycardia is dangerous for sure so hopefully drs can get to the bottom of this.You have horrible symptoms-so sorry..Will your dr give you benzos to help your nervous system ?on any meds?supps?coffee ?my primary dr thinks my svt is dangerous (reading about it makes it seem trivial-but my ER episode was severe))but at least i have xanax now to sleep or i think Id be doomed.I also take heart meds.Try to cut out some of the acidity in your diet and try magnesium (drinks /powd drinks) and see if that helps.Magnesium has stopped my heart pains before.So by the way-i asked the ER dr if my stress caused my svt attack and he said it wasnt my fault.that made me feel better for sure-like sometimes,you just have no control! Also look into cbd as it is relaxing. if your heart is structurally fine-then it's probablyall about how the nervous system .

The monitor showed spikes in my heart rate up to around 140, but she said she wasn't even that concerned about it. I mean she is but she said this wouldn't cause me to die, especially given my family history of afib and v-tach. I am starting a low does of these beta blockers starting tomorrow.

It means the world that someone understands, but I don't even know where to begin to accept it as anxiety because part of me fears that when I do, that's when I will figure out that it actually isn't anxiety and actually is something life threatening. I have done EVERYTHING....

As of right now I am currently sick to my stomach with HORRIBLE indigestion and chest pain. But I will definelty look up some more coping tactics, thanks!

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. You know how you want it to be anxiety instead of something more serious, but when someone is dealing with something almost identical you can't believe it because you think maybe it isn't exactly what I'm feeling?? That's where I am at. I read all these blogs and I want to be like HEY THAT MATCHES ME, but then it's like waittttt maybe they don't really understand the exact pain I have or even what if there is a mix up. I have done a million things to help me accept it but I can't let it go. I can't think of one thing to onset such a horrible series of events and attacks over the last 9 months....

So are you saying that anxiety mad you have those attacks that led you to the ER or your actual heart condition did??? And another thing with the monitor was that when the v-tach was occurring, I never pushed the button to record it because I must not have felt anything and then when I did push it because of the symptoms I was feeling not one thing showed up on the monitor. That was the weird part.

Hi. I've been under a lot of stress this past year. I've move moved 4 times ,got a divorce, lost my mom, had a major surgery, moved into an apprentice with bed bugs..ect. as of four months ago I started having numbness thru my legs, arms, head chest, neck finger, toes and headaches and shorness of breath. It starts the moment I wake up and does not go away until I fall a sleep. I haven't been able to get proper care because I moved fromIndiana to Washington back to Indiana so I had a couple months without insurance. I'm back in Indiana and my insurance doesn't start again until the first of next month. I'll be able to move out of my bed bug ridden apartment on the 31st. I can't move until then because I don't have the money. I have only seen a pychiatrist once in four months so I have to spread my meds out. And the one time I saw a doctor she took me off one med and put me on another at a starter dose of 5 mg of Lexapro. That's what I'm currently on other then my bipolar meds. Does anyone have suggestions of what I could do or what I could tell my Dr when I see him on the first. I do have Xanax 2 my but not enough for 2 weeks if I take it everyday. Please help

The surgery I had left me with a colostomy bag. I'm only 44

Hello alex sorry to hear your symptoms, i have a problem of palpitation,chest heaviness,burping bloating----- i have done 2 echos and 24 hour holter ecg which was clear my holter ecg show 99% result....my cardiologist discuss with me that some time i have a slow heart beat but he say i disnot need any medicine its not me every one has some time fast heart rate some time slow but still now i am concern and i am sure that i have some heart problem the good thing is that i have health insurance---Japan is one of the expensive country i discuss with my cardiologist to do ct scan he say in my clinic its not available he reffer me to big hospital and on wednesday 23 i have Ct scan with contrast i m worried about it result will be next month 2-------- bloating is my big enemy i m still bloating done endoscopy and colonscopy which is clear my gp say that i have acid reflux problem may b i have but wanna do contrast Ct scan it will make it clear best wishes for u 

That is the confusing part!up until that day-I wasnt dxd with anything except pvc's-and high BP which has been going quite a few yrs.I am 58 now. .but i told cardio dr how i had the tight neck prob and alsoLeft sided chest pains that asked if it might be Prinzmetal angina/coronary artery spasm.no response really.EKG/holter/echo test all good-but he was kind enough to refill med xanax.I had been on BP meds already.2 weeks later-I had a stressful episode but was trying to be calm inside-and it continued to escalate inside.Here is where you just go--what??!!!so basically-I did kind of do this!-allowed myself to get to this point -and was also dehydrated-.I was already at hospital-visiting.I said if i could get some h20 I think id be fine-but the ER drs said lets not-it could ruin the EKG results my bp was real high.my pulse was 230--never havve i been like this..my heart never even races really.they wanted to find the prob-and there were student interns I believe so they could show them--lucky for me!I have had 3 other cardio visits in my life--all came out fine-except once MVP showed up -and apparantly a false reading of MVP because now it is gone.lol--tests are sometimes so wrong.So back to ER story-whats written on my EKG is severe tachycardia/psvt or svt and I asked about the stress thing and was told its not my fault-but the arythmias.the other thing is the neck squeezing had been going under my rh jaw-jugular-carotid area for 2 yrs.sometimes it starts in the jugular notch(V of neck)so I asked about that--which i live with and had complained for yrs--but during the attack-it felt like my neck was going to explode in that carotid artery it was pounding so hard.I didnt feel my heart 1 bit.but drs explained its because of the circuitry in my heart-(when it gets trapped in the carotid artery area)......at least during the attack--they have not said on a normal non tachy day thats why it happens.but the new BP meds have been helping my neck!-so -----v tach is the more dangerous arythmia--but you dont know that you have that -hopefully not-ask for another holter test.!! good luck and hope the BBs help-I am on atenolol-diltiazem-propranolol and xanax-

I think maybe i wasnt taking the xanax at the time ofn my svt episode-so it was probably longer after cardio visit not 2 weeks,this was back in feb so trying to recall.cardio told me he couldnt keep refilling it -that my primarydr needed to and she wouldnt!so another stressor--i went without it-didnt sleep right-and was trying to stay off caffeine-so i didnt even have coffee that day.I swear--all this  stuff is about the nervous system being outta whack! which is relatedto the hearts electrical system.my insurance pays for meds-so ii am hoping someday cbd is included as it is $$$ but seems very calming . natural at least ..ablation was also brought up-but I dont like that idea.when I was a kid-sometimes id hike-run-etc and my heart just wouldnt feel rested when taking a rest.so even cardio dr said abaltion would fix that--but I am not very active anymore,and I know people that did ablation and they have to go back for more-so probably no thanks! ok good night--keep me posted

Curious how you are doing. I had to quit the diltiazam a while back which made me feel so much better at first.I was more relaxed,Then my brain started feeling scary wierd.I just had a short svt attack today (this time fast pulse in jugular notch)I was not stressed -nor did it make me stressed or anxious.On the other hand I have had tons of stress  feelings and unable to relax--for days.

Hey!

I am still feeling the same, however, just trying to stay more positive about my situation. With little answers, scary attacks, and no help it becomes overwhelming, but I try to stay as optimistic as I can! 

Optimism is the best way to think for sure! are you taking beta blocker still?I wish there were better answers.This drink sometimes makes me feel better-turmeric-beet powder and cayenne.   beet and cayenne are vasodialators and turmeric and cayennee anti-inflammatory.It seems to help my tightness in throat

I know this was a while ago, but I have all of your symptoms, plus some! It became so scary to live. Ive had multiple tests for my heart done, but nothing came up and they said I was fine. I just started Zoloft yesterday, and am very optimistic that it will help. Are you taking any meds?

Hey! 

I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this. It is very hard and very scary. But being optimistic and hopeful is the only thing you can lean on!!! I was on Zoloft, but a very low dose and to be honest, it did not help at all. I am on new meds to help with my digestion because that has gotten worse and it also is an anti depressant and it has helped a bit but not much at all. I am still on the look out for any new medication that can help and also other remedies that others have tried that have worked! If I find any, I will make sure I share!!! I wish I had more of a success story to share, but I just try to remain hopeful and positive. I had a weird attack last night where my body suddenly got drowsy and my eyes felt weird. When I checked my heart rate it was pretty low...like at 52. So sometimes there are scary things that I can’t control and I don’t have answers too and things that I don’t have medication for. I’m hoping that the Zoloft works for you, though. Stay optimistic, as that will serve as one of your greatest supporters!!! Cheering for you!!!! 

Luna6

hi-I tried that yrs back--it made me feel so awful-almost crazy,with only 1 dose but I know some people like it.One drug I have never tried is lexapro.I am wondering about that one.It has good reviews.Prozac is another.I actually had a prescription of prozac yrs back and was so afraid to become dependant on it .I took it for a few days and nothing happened as it can take a while to work,but then I found if I opened it and dissolved 1/2 of it it in my mouth it worked right away.I cant remember mg.So I eneded up saving them for extreme emergencies ,mostly anxiety with depression which happens occasionally

Are you doing okay? This was so long ago, wish someone had replied to you.