Questions posted in the
Heart Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
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Subject: Re: A series of problems... I am 28 years old, stressed out for work, and I do not do alot of regular exercise. 6 months ago I woke up suddenly during a hot night with an extremely fast heartbeat and my head felt like it was bout to explode. It calmed down after around 5 minutes. I went to the hospital and they did an ECG which was perfect. For the next month I lost 5 kilos and I experienced other attacks and finally went toa doctor who asked me to carry out a holter and doppler as well as blood tests. Everything was perfect, so my doctor put me on Sereupim and Lexotan as therapy for the panic attacks. I have since experienced less panic attacks even if I often get the sensation of one arriving. I have although had during this period a series of pains in the chest (on the surface between the ribs - after a few days of it I got a red inflammed area around the pain area) which went away after a few days. Sometimes if I am pushing myself up with my left arm I get a terrible spasmic pain which goes across the chest. I have experiences neck pains and terrible head pains (seem like electric static on the surface of my head and nerve pains in the head) which leave me tired and feverish even if I have no temperature. Finally, if it all were not enough I often feel out o breath and that I cannot take a deep breath as my stomach seems inflammed. This passes over a few hours. Can they all be connected? I sit just stress. I keep worrying that soemthing is wrong with me but I have had enough tests....I am frightened and confused.
Dear Joel It sounds like a lot of different things are going on in your life. If you experienced the rapid heart beat sensation while you were wearing the Holter monitor, and if it was normal, then you do not have any type of arrhythmia. If you did not experience any symptoms while you were wearing your Holter monitor, than the test did not really exclude the possibility of an arrhythmia. Losing 10 pounds unintentionally is concerning. While a number of medical problems can cause this to happen, depression is on the list. Depression can often coexist with panic attacks. It may be worthwhile addressing this possibility with your doctor. I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck. If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
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