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Avatar universal

Cardiovascular disease OR just anxiety?

Hi Everyone,
                  I post a question on another forum but didn't get a lot of answer...

Since more than 1 week, I have strong chest pain, always on the left side of my chest, the pain is stronger after a meal, while I do a physical task like taking my shower (actually I can't take a shower since 3 days cause of the fast pulse rate and the pain, I take a bath and take it very slowly) BUT also seem to occur around noon and also all the evening at the same around the same time and last 3-4 hours with a irregular heart beat (by irregular heart beat I mean a pounding heart beat and a heart beat who can be as low as 50-60 and go up tp 160 or more BPM in less than 10 seconds and return to 80 BPM 5 seconds later... it's all the time irregular and can see my heart beat very hard if I look at my chest, even with a shirt on)... The chest pain seem to be worse since 3 days and at the same time the pain occur, I feel very weird, dizzy and like I will faint and be sick... What bother me the most is the fact that it's occurs at rest with minimal exertion and last 3-4 hours in a row. I sweat a lot also when the chest pain occur and have neck pain on the left side, pulsating veins on my head, back pain on the left side in the upper part of my back, eyes pain and of course insomnia and constipation...

I'm diagnosticed with a severe panic disorder with agoraphobia and have also a cardiophobia since 1 year... but I swear the god that I never felt that way before. I now fear to be alone in the house, I always need someone near me just in case I pass out of I have a heart attack...

I'm talking 8 mg of Rivotril (benzodiazepine med) each day, but it's not helping me for the chest pain and the anxiety or the fast pulse rate...

Tomorrow (1st february) I have an appointment at the hospital for a 24 hours monitoring of my blood pressure... my cardiologist RX that to see what happen with my blood pressure, he think I need to eat more salt but I eat more salt since 4 months and don't see any difference, I'm worse than ever...

I wonder if I should stop at the emergency and ask to have a ECG test, to see if i'm having something wrong with my heart ???

Is it possible that all of what I live since more than 1 week is only related to my anxiety ? Normally, when I have a panic attack, the fast pulse rate or irregular heart beat last only 5-10 minutes and I never have chest pain with my panic attacks... anyway a panic attack don't last 3-4 hours in a row...

Well well, thanks for any advises ;-)
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Avatar universal
This morning my pulse rate is above 150, fast, pounding, irregular (I mean that my heart beat fast for 3 beats and stop 1 second and restart very fast for 4 beats in a row and stop again 1-2 seconds and restart...) and the blood pressure around 160/100... I have a headache who is not a normal one, high blood pressure for sure, and my chest hurt a lot, especially on the left side near my arm pit...

I know that the best for me will be to have 120/80... but it's not usual for me, i'm more in the 130-140/70-80 normally...

Is it dangerous to have a high blood pressure of 160/100 ? And the the irregular and fast pulse rate, what I can do to reduce it? I have to go to my appointment this afternoon and just the idea to be in a car make me feel sick... ( I do severe panic in cars... even if i'm only the passenger and don't drive)... Deep breathing don't reduce my pulse rate, relaxation or yoga also... a brown bag don't reduce it also, it's not seem to be linked to an hyperventilation problem... We have 15 minutes of road to do to go to the hospital... it will be a long ride...

Thanks ;-)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Good luck tomorrow! You have my support!:)

Yes  169/109 high.You are only 35 years young. Even the  old way of right numbers ,you should have around 135,as they use to say: the first number should be like your age
  35 = (1)35............for second number 85 is perfect..

Anyway do NOT eat salty, that is a nonsence in my opinion. Well ofcourse if he has more info that we dont, but he must explain to you why do you have to eat salty.

Let us know about your visit tomorrow!
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Avatar universal
Hummmm i'm a little bit confuse now... I just take my blood pressure and the result was 169/109 ... The second number is very high for me, I usually have a maximum of 85 for that number... Really weird... i'm not surprise that my hearrt is pounding a lot!!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi !!!
      Well, my cardiologist is a LOT BUSY!!! I tried to call him today to have a RX for an ECG but I fall on the answer machine and he don't call me back, as usual, he normally take more than 2 weeks before returning his phone call... I think that the fact that I need to go to the hospital tomorrow will give to me the best opportunity to have a ECG at the emergency... if they want to make it... cause the last time I go to that emergency, they make me wait 12 hours in the wating room and I finally see a regular Doctor and he said that it was only anxiety and he return me to home with a RX for some Xanax... I was already on the Rivotril, who is stronger than the Xanax to relieve the anxiety (not in me... i'm addicted to the benzodiazepine meds, they don't work anymore on me...)... anyway... will see tomorrow... I know that having that ECG will make me less anxious, especially if I have to stay alone at home this week, at least I will know that the chest pain and the irregular heart beat are just anxiety related and will not kill me... but to be able to get that ECG, I will have to not told the peoples who worl at the emergency that I have an anxiety disorder!!! If not, they will make me wait and do nothing for me! I hate the public health system!!!

I don'T understand either why my Cardiologist told me to eat more salt!!! He think that I have low blood pressure I guess...

Last time I speak to him, he told me that I had a lot of heart tests last year and that they was all perfect and that it was only my anxiety !!! He don'T even take the time to listen to me and told he just RX the blood pressure monitoring test and say that he will look at the results and see what he will do later... He RX also an appointment with a nutritionist and wrote on the RX that it's to make a special diet for me with more salt in it!!!

Well... will write tomorrow what happen... my appointment is at 1 PM... if I want to go to the emergency before, will have to leave the house around 10 AM... will pray that they will at least make the ECG and a usual blood work for the heart diseases markers...

Thansk for your support! I appreciate it a lot ;-)

I don't feel good BUT I know that i'm not alone to leave that kind of situation...
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi !!!
      In fact, cardiophobia is a form of OCD... I always take my pulse rate or my blood pressure, especially if I feel bad... I can take my pulse rate more than 200 times a day... BUT since more than 1 week, I don't know what happen it's like my nervous system can't keep the control on my heart... the blood pressure is very weak, low or high-bordeline and the pulse rate is very irregular... add the strong chest pain that occur at rest and while I do physical task + the dizziness, the jaw pain, the neck pain and other symptoms and I know it's not normal, even for someone who are very anxious like me... I had more than 1000 panic attack in my life and I never felt that way, trust me!!!

To answer to your question, in the past, when I had a very fast pulse rate, my blood pressure was lower than usual... This week, I don't know why but my blood pressure stay high, even if my pulse rate is above 160... My usual blood pressure this week is around 150/90... If my pulse rate go above 170, my blood pressure machine can't give me a result and write an error message so I have to wait that the pulse rate decrease before taking it again...

For the shower, before the chest pain and irregular and fast heart beat since more than 1 week, I was able to take my shower but I had all the time a fast pulse rate but regular pulse and 10 minutes later my pulse rate was normal again...and of course my blood pressure was a little bit higher after the shower, who is normal cause the hot water and the fact that I had to move and do minimum physical things make it higher...

Now I wake up in the night and in the morning with a very fast pulse rate and irregular...that last all day long... sometimes I can have 1 hour where my pulse rate will be around 50-60 but the heart beat are pounding... I  can't fall asleep cause I hear the pounding heart beat...

More informations: I smoke but had to cut the amount of cigarette I smoke each day cause of the chest pain and irregular heart beat, so was at 20 day and now 5-6 maximum... can't smoke in the morning cause it's triggering a very fast pulse rate of 200 or more and trigger severe panic attack... Also, I'm not fit, 6 foot tail and 195 pounds, had morbid obesity for almost 10 years of my life and had a gastric by-pass in 2001 and loose more than 255 pounds... so i'm a lot concern about my heart, my artieries (fat accumulation + cigarette)... I had a poor diet for several years also, now I eat more well, more fruits and vegetables, little to no meat (only chicken), have an perfect cholesterol level, my LDL is perfect but my good cholestherol level HDL is not ok, it's low but probably because of my gastric by-pass who block the absorbtion of the good fat in my intestine... and i'm not active and don't exercise cause of my heart phobia... Anyway, just taking my shower is very difficult for my whole body... i'm tired for the rest of the day after that...

Well well... I know that anxiety probably increase the cardiovascular symptoms, the symphatic nervous system, hormones...

Last year, I had at least 3 ECG for my heart who are perfect, I had a X-Ray of my lungs at the same time and they was ok also and I had a holter 24 hours test to record my pulse rate and it was ok, at the time I had all the time a lower pulse rate of 50-60 and 30 at night... that why I asked my Cardiologist at the time to have the holter, cause it was not usual for me to have a lower pulse rate, in the past (2 years ago and more, my pulse rate at rest was around 80-90)...

Well, thanks for your answer  ;-)

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
  Your cardiologist also can order an ECG, doesn’t he? Sure if you feel very bad you can go to the emergency. I did in Ontario, when I felt awful, that way they did it right away, my appointment was only 2 weeks later.

In your case, it would give you at least a peace of mind. And that is something too.

But I do not understand why in the earth you need more salt?:) Let us know.

Best wishes!
Helpful - 0
367994 tn?1304953593
Q: "I'm diagnosticed with a severe panic disorder with agoraphobia and have also a cardiophobia since 1 year... but I swear the god that I never felt that way before. I now fear to be alone in the house, I always need someone near me just in case I pass out of I have a heart attack..."

>>>>>I haven't heard of cardiophobia, but I assume it is a fear of heart attack?  We all share the feeling of being alone somewhere with our heart condition.:)  

So everything is under control but the chest pain and the anxiety or the fast pulse rate?  How is your blood pressure when you have a fast heart rate?

Helpful - 0
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