25 year old afraid of heart failure!

[ap030]

Hi, I am a 25 year old male.  I have always been paranoid of heart problems due to some odd symptoms I have had.  At checkups, though, doctors always tell me I am normal and have nothing wrong with me.  At least, they did at my last check up, which was a year and a half ago.  Let me know what you think.

I have always had a persistent problem with feeling lightheaded and fainting.  This happens every once in a while, especially if I get poked with a needle (i.e. at the doctor's office).  I will usually faint, be out for a minute, wake up very disoriented, faint again 5 minutes later, me out cold for another minute, then gradually be okay after that.  Doctors have told me this is no big deal.

When I was 18, and in a stressful situation for a few months, I developed a strong awareness of my heartbeat: I could always feel it beating, especially when I was lying down, and I could see it beating because it vibrated my abdomen.  I also thought my heart was beating a bit irregularly but that was never proven.  I also had shortness of breath and mild abdonimal and chest pains at the time, too.  The doctor said it was just stress, and an EKG supported this diagnosis.

When I was 20-24, I used to jogging/running a lot for fun and fitness.  Occasionally during and after running and would have mild soreness in the chest area and feel like of lightheaded.  Other times, during running, my legs would feel strangely itchy.

I have gotten swollen hands occasionally over the years, which is accompanied sometimes by odd bumps on my skin in various places.

Now at 25, over the past week,

1) My awareness of my heartbeat, which has always been there (but less so) since age 18 has increased again
2) I had a morning of off swollen ankles (well, swollen tops of feet where feet connect to legs) along with itchy bumps on legs, all which went away after a few hours.
3) I have been feeling really under the weather.
4) I have had little appetite, which is odd for me
5) I have developed vision that is occasionally blurry, especially at the end of the day.  This is generally accompanied by feeling rather out of it and a bit lightheaded.
6) I have a mild cough
7) I have been getting winded from even small amounts of walking.  The winded feeling takes hours to go away.
8) I had the worse diarrea of my life for about an hour... who would have thought that much fluid could possibly have been hanging out my digestive system!

Any idea what's young on with me?  I hope it's not congestive heart failure.  Let me know what you think.  Is it safe for me to exercise, assuming I feel mostly better withing a few weeks?

Thanks!
-Alex

[Encephalomalcia]

I am not a doctor. There has been 11 people in our family that have had Congestive Heart Failure. Symptoms of right side heart failure is swelling in legs and abdomen.  Left side heart failure is water in the lungs.  All their heart problems showed up on a EKG and echocardiogram.  They were not able to complete a stress test.  

Lightheadedness is common and feeling of your heart beat is common.  You probably have a strong heart beat.  Also, feeling of all your pulses like in your neck is common.  I actually can watch and count my beat by my neck.  I have been lucky so far and have no heart problems.  When a person gets up suddenly there can be a drop in blood pressure which is the lightheadedness and passing out.  When you get up in the morning sit on the edge of your bed for a few minutes before rising.  

I would doubt if you have any heart problems, but if it is worrying you so, you could have an angiogram and that would tell it all.  Talk to your doctor.  

[Momto3]

Hi again,

Hey Alex, you might want to check out the "Heart Rhythm" forum.  There are a lot of young people on the forum and a lot of discussions on palpitations, etc.  Here's the link:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/92?camp=msc

Hope you're feeling better.

connie

[ap030]

Well, that is reassuring, thanks for the advice... I hope you're right!

[Momto3]

Hi Alex,

Welcome to the Heart forums!  We're glad you found us, but sorry for what brings you here : (

I read through your entire post, and although I am not a doctor, I did not see anything so suggest any sign of a heart condition.  Many of the symptoms you described can also be attributed to anxiety, stress, fatigue, viral illness (ie: cold, flu)....

The awareness of your heartbeat is common, and VERY common in younger people.  Swollen ankles and itchy skin can be from a number of things, including sensitivity to detergents, soaps, other agents and/or warm weather.

Feeling under the weather, loss of appetite, blurry vision, especially at the end of the day suggest fatigue, stress, anxiety....Again, I am not a doctor, but these symptoms are common and do not suggest anything serious.

Given your stress test results, it would be shocking if the shortness of breath pointed toward anything cardio-related.

The diarrhea can be from a huge variety of causes, including anxiety, stress, viral or bacterial (do you have a fever?) illness, food poisoning, irritable bowel....lots of potential causes.  Are you able to keep any fluids down?  

You might want to talk with your family doctor and ask about the possibility of anxiety (you won't necessarily "feel" anxious) or other potential causes.  Regardless of the cause, explain that you just don't feel well.  

Hope that helps