A few weeks ago I noticed I was having heart palpitations so I went to the doctor/gp and she listened to my heart and I got an ekg/ecg as well as blood work and she as well as a pulmonary/sleep doctor that I was ok. I have been getting my heart listened to for years as I used to take medication and had a check up like every two months but I have only had the one ekg and now ever since I went running the other day I noticed pains in my chest and back and arm. My dad and people think I am overreacting because it is my anxiety and I am always worried but I keep reading stories of young people who were missed diagnosed with anxiety and then died from cardiac arrest due to heart problems. There is no family history of heart problems or early death and I have never fainted or felt like I was going to pass out. I am so convinced I have long qt syndrome or HCM I just want to scream. My dad doesn't want me to see a cardiologist or anything I am going crazy lord help me. My chest pain is real and it usually lasts a few seconds and is not even that bad but heart problems are deceiving. I am only 18 for godsake but I can't handle this. Please help me out. Thanks
I am also 18 and suffer from the same thing. I have terrible health anxiety - had chest pains I thought were a heart attack. Headaches I think are brain tumors. I still get the chest pains sometimes and my doctor also told me it's just anxiety. My best advice to give you is stay off Google. I drive myself mad reading all the worst case scenarios and thinking about how I feel physically. If you have gotten tests, believe them. Your doctor would not lie or misread results. It is far more likely we are suffering from physical manifestations of anxiety than suffering from some life threatening disorder. Try to keep this in mind - I know how hard it is. And know that you are not alone. Health anxiety is very troubling, exhausting and consuming especially for people our age. Try to keep your mind occupied. And really, stay off Google!!! I hope you start to feel better soon.
Sorry you are feeling scared. Any problem with your heart would have shown up on the EKG. With anxiety you can actually create pains anywhere on the body. One thing you can try is relaxing your mind . The more anxious you are about this the more you’re going to feel symptoms. Because your brain sends out adrenaline when you are anxious and it can cause all kinds of symptoms.
listen to some great short videos on anxiety found on YouTube. They completely relax my mind and my symptoms. There is one especially for you to listen to called mindfulness breathing guided meditation 10 minutes. This teaches you how to stay in control of your anxiety. See if any of these meditations slow down your heart rate a little bit. Practice this often. Especially the slow deep breathing that keeps you focused. Don’t let fear and anxiety take control over you. Be proactive and positive. There are many audio meditations on YouTube for anxiety, stress, sleep, etc. use earbuds for a better effect. The more you do this the more control you will have over your symptoms. I hope you feel better soon and remember don’t Google symptoms and don’t sit around and think about this because things will get worse. You can do this! ❤️😁
First of all, your pain IS real!!! It doesn't matter if it is anxiety or not, the pain is still real and can be extreme and disabling!!! I have suffered with anxiety for over 20 years now and I can tell you from experience no matter what is causing your chest pains, you are NOT imagining them. I still struggle and am currently having a lot of the same symptoms you describe and have had these symptoms and many many others for over 20 years and I am still here...never had a heart attack and haven't dropped dead yet, thank God!!! I say that to reassure you that no matter how bad you feel, you will make it through it. I know you said you have had a few tests run and so far all the results have been normal, that is great news!!! I understand your thought that they are missing something, I still have those thoughts, that is what anxiety does unfortunately. I am not saying you shouldn't see a cardiologist, that isn't for me to say, but I would tell you to try to start treating this like it is most definitely anxiety. Find a therapist, a psychologist or psychiatrist. Get into some sort of counseling and talk about medications options for anxiety. I can tell you that the best I ever felt was when I was on a combo of meds and in regular counseling sessions. I lost my insurance so I am struggling once again without any meds or medical help, except for when I go running to the emergency room because once again this time I must be having a heart attack because the pain is so severe. It is a vicious cycle and will consume you if you let it. Be proactive, do all kinds of research online for tips to control your anxiety, try them all, you never know what might work for you. Keep a journal of all your symptoms, and what you were doing when they started, how you felt up until then, during, and after. Anything you can think of really to maybe help find out if you have a certain trigger or triggers. Also you can look back on it and reassure yourself that your felt the exact same way and you were okay. As I said I am unable to afford medical care currently so I do what I can myself. Hot epsom salt baths, aromatherapy, journaling, listening to music, breathing exercises, grounding exercises, and a number of other things I have found online to try and distract my focus to something other than my symptoms and my anxiety. Try and relax as much as you possibly can, tension only feeds anxiety, massage is a great tool. I wish you the best of luck and remember you are NOT alone.
I relate completely. I'm 28, female with no other diagnosed issues aside from panic disorder. Last year I started getting chest pains along with other symptoms that sent me to urgent Care twice. He said it was just anxiety. Finally got health insurance and saw a primary doctor. He also said I'm healthy, got some blood work done which came out clear. What scares me is he said I don't need cardiac testing, so now I'm constantly thinking "what if" just like you are.
I agree with a post above that if you have had all the testing, you need to start treating the anxiety. Otherwise, it will never go away. Ask a doctor about what you can do to treat it and if medication would be helpful. I'm going to be speaking to my doctor again about scary palpitations I've been having to make sure it is 100% not heart related, maybe change my medication (currently on lorazepam .5mg) and ask about seeing a therapist.