Hello everyone I'm laura and I'm 22 I have posted on this site for a few weeks as I have been managing well but for the past couple of days iv been getting severe chest pain/left arm pain/back pain etc I was managing so well and all of a sudden it's come back with no warning I haven't been stressed lately either but previously when I had bad chest pain and thought it was a heaet attack iv had numerous ecgs, 24 hour ecg, chest x rays blood tests etc to find there is nothing wrong with me except so called health anxiety, right so I get that but today I have been feeling very anxious I have just got laid in bed I have severe impending doom like something bad is going to happen in my sleep etc, my heart is pounding but slow pounding and feels like it's going to stop I feel really weird like my brain is telling me something is going to happen to me I'm petrified of going to sleep in case it does I'm not my usual panicky self I'm quite calm but feel like my heart is going to stop can ur heart just stop? What if I have a heart attack and this is my body's way of telling me to get help fast 
I'm so scared I was managing so well I even stopped taking propranolol about a month a go as I was on them 3 times a day and reduced to 1 a day and eventually stopped been stopped a month now and don't feel any difference to when I was on them!! I'm currently on mirtazipine 30mg on a night time but I'm worried because I had a alcoholic cocktail earlier at about 5pm and then about 1 hour a go I took my mirtazipine can I have a allergic reaction as it says don't drink alcohol my cocktail was on 1 and it was only 4% what if that is making my heart stop I know I probably sound so silly but I'm so scared of going to sleep im so tired but I have the gut feeling like something bad is going to happen can someone please reassure me I don't want to die I don't want to wake my partner I really don't know what to do I keep trying to deep breathe but it's not getting rid of the thuds in my chest like as tho my heart is beating wrong the thuds are going into my throat I just know it's my heart I just do I don't want to die but my heart feels like it's either going to stop or beat too fast and cause a heart attack please someone help reassure me thanks in advance xx
Laura its really only anxiety please try and calm down NOTHING is going to happen..
I'm sure the alcohol played a part in this..try and relax by closing your eyes and getting your focus on something else also try some deep breathing.
Hi tanya thanks for replying and I know I just can't help but think what if iv put my ear oh ones in and I'm trying to listen to some relaxing music hoping it passes but the pain keeps coming and going as tho in waves and like someone is sat on my chest suffocating me I just can't help but think what if hospital missed something
Dear Laura
Where do I begin to reassure you so that you can begin to feel calmer so these symptoms will subside.
Let's think of what you are going through with some empathy. Putting to one side whatever the cause may be, it's clear that quite simply, you are feeling terrified.
This feeling is powerful, horrible, very real, frightening, and terrifying. You are convinced you are going to die aren't you? My heart goes out to you as I imagine what you are going through both physically and mentally.
In spite of how awful this feels, do you know that all these symptoms you describe, including the physical symptoms are going to hurt you at all. It might seem ridiculous, but you are going to be fine. You are not going to die and your heart is not going to stop if you go to sleep.
So why does it feel so real that you are convinced beyond doubt something awful is going to happen to you? Because the feelings are real, not imaginary. You really are feeling the symptoms you describe. So, they must have a cause, and that cause has a name.
Catastrophising.
It begins with one symptom. You become aware of that symptom and focus on it. Now you are focused on it, the symptom feels worse naturally. You get scared. What could this be? So you start to analyse if it is your heart. Is it your medication? Is it your cocktail?
While you are doing this, you are unaware that you have now lost focus on the original symptom because several others have appeared. Now you feel really scared. What started out as a rapid heartbeat has now turned into the possibility of a cardiac arrest, so your brain has made a decision based on your thinking.
Your thinking, your thoughts, the images in your mind, the endless what if's, are telling your brain to react violently to protect you. It's doing a good job. You probably feel like going to A&E before you die! Why? Because your brain is releasing more and more hormones and chemicals into your bloodstream to create the very thing you are most frightened of.
Your fear increases the release of brain chemicals and the symptoms get worse. You respond by becoming more frightened, so the brain releases even more chemicals and the symptoms get even worse. You respond by becoming even MORE frightened, so the brain...............you see where we are going.
You are in a cul-de-sac of fear, going round and round, your head spinning with out of control and panicky thoughts. You are so scared you cannot think straight. If only this would all stop. You need to get out of that cul-de-sac. How?
Get out by the same way you got in. A single thought.
Go back to the beginning and the strong heartbeat. Remember that it was only after you focused on that, things began to escalate. Understand that all the other fears and symptoms have been built on that first trigger. So, think about your thumping heartbeat again.
Do you think during the past 22 years your heart has raced before? Of course it has, countless times and it will again throughout your life in response to the demands made on it. This demand is not real. Only the feelings are. The feelings can't hurt you Laura, they can only frighten you.
Someone creeps up behind you - BOO! You're startled, your heart races, but you think nothing of it do you. That's because you understand the cause. The cause this time is fear and anxiety, fuelled by focusing on the fear and anxiety until there is nowhere left for your mind to turn for answers other than to tell you that you are dying. You aren't!
The "gut feeling" you mention is being created by the power of your mind, backed up by the thumping heart as evidence. That is what hearts do. They thump. They beat slowly, they beat fast, and they beat normally. In the absence of all the checks you have had, my advice would be quite different, but tomorrow you will read your post and see how in fact, you have answered your own question when you wrote: "but today I have been feeling very anxious"!
Please, please be assured, that this has built up through the day to the point where your mind and body is restless and panicky. You've gone to bed and there you are, lying in the quiet with all these thoughts building in your head. The result? All the other symptoms of panic kick-in.
Get up Laura. Make a drink. Go and watch some mindless programme on TV. Anything but lie there continually Catastrophising.
YOU ARE GOING TO BE FINE! I expect to see evidence that you are in one piece later today, and I'm confident that I won't be disappointed.
I know it's horrible, just horrible. But it's not going to kill you.
This message is sent with my best wishes, and a great deal of empathy. x
Hi Laura,
I hope you are acutally sound asleep right now
Just in case you aren't, I thought I'd say "hi" and remind you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with your heart. Anxiety causes your heart to race, skip beats and pound. It won't hurt you. It's just uncomfortable. It's okay to feel uncomfortable. You will be fine. Just tell yourself that you are young and healthy and that there is nothing to worry about. The anxiety will eventually pass. Try to distract yourself, take a hot bath, talk to someone over the phone. You will be fine!
Best,
Linda