Anxiety ?

[Johnbo34]

Hello

My name is John, Age 34. I am a regular in the Heart Forums. I am looking for some pointers and advice, so without futher ado, here we go.

Dec 5th 2008 is when this all started. I had a close family member die of a heart attack at the age of 49. I began having chest pains shortly after that. IO also had the feeling of being in a dream like state from time to time. I have GERD and that seamed to get worse as well.

Since that time I have done a alot of actions to try and see whats up with me. And other symptoms have arose as well. Here is that list:
a) Strange feeling in my chest. Not so much as a flutter, but a crazy feeling.
b) Worse acid reflux
c) Dull ache in left side of back under rib cage after prolonged standing and walking around.
d) Cough that produces a sticky clear mucas
e) Anxiety from trying to figure out whats wrong with me.
f) Little stabbing pains in chest (Heart area, or Esophigus)
g) Headache from time to time
h) real close to dizzy feelings and pressure in my head. dont last long
i) Sometimes when I am about to fall asleep for the night I wake up gasping for air...then when I do fall asleep as is fine.

Some of the actions I have take was as follows:
Went to a cardio doc who ran a series of teat on me. Nuke Stree Test, Echocardiogram and a 48 hour Holter Monitor.
The Stress and echo came back good, however the holter picked up a few PVC and PAC's. I also had a pause in the beat for 2.8 seconds while I was asleep. The Doc wanted to see a little bit more and ordered a 21 day Holter Monitor which I am currently on day 17. (crosses fingers)

My vitals are as follows:
Blood Pressure is normal ranging from 127/77 to 134/80 just sitting there
Heart Rate is normal from every pulse check I have done. (Sevral times a day) 72-85
No fever

Does this sound familar to anyone here?

Thanks in advance.

John

[Johnbo34]

Ty all for the input.

Yes it is hard not to surf the web to try and find out whats wrong with ya. However doing so gives you knowledge, and knowledge is power. I also understand that is should be done in small amounts, because it can become compulsive pretty quick.

If my HM results come back fine, I will persue possible causes in the GI area. Never been to one so I am sure it will be a new exciting experiance...Yeah... :(
(Acid Reflux for over 15 years so I am sure it is GERD) And last but not least, I need to address the Anxiety. Never  worried much my whole life, then out of the blue....BAM.

[scaredjo]

hi i have had heart anxiety for over 2 years quite badly. i get all the symptoms you do and more!!! your BP and pulse are perfect. you know your heart is structually fine because of the echo and even though some skipped beats were detected most people experience them with no problems at all. i have palpatations nearly every day and in my 24hr monitor i apparently pressed the button which records when i feel them over 1000 times even though 1000 skipped beats werent actually recorded. when you have heart anxiety you feel every little sensation which most other people dont even feel, its cause your brain is so tuned in and trained to watch for symptoms to do with your heart.
hopefully your monitor will show everything is tickety boo and then you can accept its all anxiety and get on with your life. let us know how this turns out....i`ll keep my fingers crossed but im sure you will be fine

[jdb7560]

It seems you are being quite prudent about all this.

Have you seen your GI doctor lately? I know when my anxiety was at it's worse about a year ago, my reflux was out of control and I ended up with a nasty erosion where the esophagus meets the stomach. I swore up and down it was a heart problem and had all the tests done as well (though I did end up having SVT). The majority of the chest pain was from the erosion though. Anxiety aggravated the arrythmia and the replux. Luckily, I got referred to a GI and he found the erosion during an endoscopy. I never even thought of GERD as possibly being my main problem.

Seems your symptoms can be a combination of all three problems: heart, GERD, and anxiety. They may all be feeding off each other. Hopefully your cardiologist will figure things out after your 21 day monitoring. I highly recommend, if you haven't already, seeing your GI. Especially because you have worse reflux, the cough, and the stabbing chest pain.Good luck!

[Caveman24]

It sounds like anxiety to me. You are taking all the right steps by going to the doctor, taking his tests and making sure you are healthy. From the sounds of it you pretty much are. I am sorry for your loss and that can bring on alot of anxiety in itself especially dying at such a young age it does make a person worry about are health. Do me a favor though don't start searching around the internet looking at symptoms and trying to dianos yourself it will make everything 10 times worse in your head. The stabbing pains, the flutters, the weird chest feeling, the headaches, pretty much everything you are feeling is a bi product of anxiety and I know it *****. Just trust your doctors, and the results of your tests. Everything is fine. Let us know how your tests come out. Good Luck