Sharp pains in the heart, could it be caused by anxiety? - Heart Disease

by AnneBronte, Oct 13, 2005 12:00AM

Thank you so much for your response, it almost brought tears to my eyes because it was so relieving! And I have been doing so much reading and research on anxiety and panic disorders, that's how I gained control of it the first time it happened. But since these heart pains started, it just kinda freaked me out and got the fear going again. But again, thank you so much! You have no idea how much that helped.

by tickertock, Oct 13, 2005 12:00AM

To: AnneBronte

I have similiar pain and was diagnosed with costochondritis which is secondary to a CTD that I have, its very sharp and quite severe, I have had it nearly every day for the last 11 years. I had all the usual cardiac work up and nothing of any significance was found. I must say its very frightening and hard to understand that it ain't serious. I am not saying that you might have costochondritis, I am only saying what my diagnosis was and that the pain is similiar to what you describe. What I do know is that most chest pain are muscoskeletal in nature and not cardiac related, of course always trust your doctors advice , if not get a second opinion. Good luck.

by DaveUK, Oct 13, 2005 12:00AM

Been there with this one too...some years ago (I was 22 then) I presented chest pains around the heart area at my local hospital and was tested for everything they could think of for 7 hours with no sensible cause found. 5 minutes with my GP the next day left me with the name of a condition I couldn't remember after leaving and a prescription for anti-inflammatory drugs. I was confused for a bit, but after some research I found it was for inflammation of the cartilage around the rib cage area. I was very relieved as I have a huge history of irregular heartbeats. Seems like it's fairly common if very painful...the best advice I found was if you can push anywhere on your chest and aggravate the pain it's not your heart as it's under a load of bones! Helped me! Keep working on the anxiety stuff too, pretty much everybody who suspects a heart related problem gets it (including myself) and just remember that it's never going to kill you. Deep breathing is the key weapon I�ve found for this...look up some techniques if you haven't already.

Take care

by wmac, Oct 13, 2005 12:00AM

To: Annebronte

Im no doctor, but im guessing that your heart is not inflamed!
Maybe you had a pluresy attack which I have had before and they gave me ibruphen, or maybe he feels that maybe you may have inflamation (inflammation) of your chest wall or something. I dont remember reading that he did an xray of heart or echo, so with not doing that I dont know how they would know that your heart is inflamed. Chest pains are very very scarey and I do know that all to well. Did you do any heavy lifing recently maybe you pulled a muscle there or maybe you turned the wrong way. Who knows but I bet that your going to be just fine. Dont freak out Hahaha, ya I know easier said than done, believe me I have been there and im still there. Stress sometimes makes my chest hurt so I just try to relax and sometimes I put a heating pad on my chest and it helps me alot. Take care
wmac

by Christie2004, Oct 14, 2005 12:00AM

To: Anne

My youngest son 22 years old has recently started having panic attacks, too.  He has been virtually unable to work until he had a full cardiac workup including wearing an event monitor for a month.  He was also placed on some sort of antidepressant that is also used for panic attacks.

He is finally convinced that his heart is ok.  He does have PVC's, too.

He is just now able to go back to work.  Panic attacks and cardiac anxiety are horrible problems that can significantly affect your ability to work and enjoy life.

(His father had the same thing at the same age.  Interesting, isn't it?)

by txnetguy, Oct 14, 2005 12:00AM

I have occasional PVC's on a daily basis. Like most people, we all have bad and good days.

I take taurine supplement (1 to 2 grams a day) and it seems to help my PVC's. I am not sure if it's just a placebo or if it is taurine working. I took taurine because of this excerpt:

"Taurine comprises over 50 percent of the total free amino acid pool of the heart. It has a positive inotropic action on cardiac tissue, and has been shown in some studies to lower blood pressure. In part, the cardiac effects of taurine are probably due to its ability to protect the heart from the adverse effects of either excessive or inadequate calcium ion (Ca2+) levels. The consequence of Ca2+ excess is the accumulation of intracellular calcium, ultimately leading to cellular death. Taurine may both directly and indirectly help regulate intracellular Ca2+ ion levels by modulating the activity of the voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, and by regulation of Na+ channels. Taurine also acts on many other ion channels and transporters. Therefore, its action can be quite non-specific. When an adequate amount of taurine is present, calcium-induced myocardial damage is significantly reduced, perhaps by interaction between taurine and membrane proteins. At least one study has suggested taurine's ability to function as a membrane stabilizer is related to its capacity to prevent suppression of membrane-bound NaK ATPase.
...
Azuma and associates have observed that taurine alleviates physical signs and symptoms of congestive heart failure (CHF). Chazov et al were able to demonstrate that taurine could reverse EKG abnormalities such as S-T segment changes, T-wave inversions, and extra systoles [PVC's] in animals with chemically-induced arrhythmias."

http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/fulltext/taurine3-2.html

Extrasystoles are PVC's. Fish is rich source of taurine so it makes me wonder if taurine is another factor for reducing cardiac deaths other than omega-3 acids in populations who eat fish.

by txnetguy, Oct 14, 2005 12:00AM

AnneBronte,

I get sharp shooting pains on my chest as well and I am 33. It's definitely due to my excessive anxiety. My chest muscles get so tense, often when I don't realize they're tense! If they're tense too long, it will cause shooting sharp pain pangs.

I have PVC's and if I worry about my PVC's my anxiety gets worse. My blood pressure and my heart rate are just fine. I had a cardiac checkup last year and they came out normal - my heart is structurally normal and the cholesterol level is normal as well. Even with assurance from my doctor, I still worry excessively which shows that I need counseling to deal with my fears.

by AnneBronte, Oct 14, 2005 12:00AM

Thanks to everyone who posted a comment! It's good to know that I am not alone although I wish that no one suffered from these problems....take care everyone!

by txnetguy, Oct 14, 2005 12:00AM

I just found a much more extensive article about taurine and a person's PAC/PVC personal experience with it.

http://www.coldcure.com/html/taurine.html

He claims that his 15,000 PACs a day went down to a few a day. That's his OWN experience and doesn't mean you'll get the same.

Once again, it's not proven yet except in dogs. It hasn't proved in humans (who would give cardiopoison to humans?!?) so it's not known if it'll do the same for humans.

by tropicalbreez, Oct 16, 2005 12:00AM

hi im a 23 yr old female and never in my life had anxiety or pains in my heart until i delivered my son he is now 3 and its so hard to enjoy every little minute with him ..ive been to the doctors they tell me its axiety .ive been to the er umteen times they tell me my EKG turned out fine my blood work turned out fine my Xrays turned out fine ..why does this little thing in the back of my brain tell me otherwise..i have a friend that was 32 and 7 months pregant with her first little boy .she had a sudden heart attack on the 18th of last month .she didnt make it through and neither did her son...so now im really paranoid about my pains now .today out of the blue for no reason it felt like something was strangling my heart i had trouble getting my air in .... then it flopped im not sure if this is anxiety related or not but im am like freakin ....ive been told i have mitral valve prolapse. does this have anything to do with it ...can someone relate to me?

by tropicalbreez, Oct 16, 2005 12:00AM

hi im a 23 yr old female and never in my life had anxiety or pains in my heart until i delivered my son he is now 3 and its so hard to enjoy every little minute with him ..ive been to the doctors they tell me its axiety .ive been to the er umteen times they tell me my EKG turned out fine my blood work turned out fine my Xrays turned out fine ..why does this little thing in the back of my brain tell me otherwise..i have a friend that was 32 and 7 months pregant with her first little boy .she had a sudden heart attack on the 18th of last month .she didnt make it through and neither did her son...so now im really paranoid about my pains now .today out of the blue for no reason it felt like something was strangling my heart i had trouble getting my air in .... then it flopped im not sure if this is anxiety related or not but im am like freakin ....ive been told i have mitral valve prolapse. does this have anything to do with it ...can someone relate to me?

by Mr.Vincenzo, Oct 18, 2005 12:00AM

Im 23 years old,and about a year and a few months agoi hurt my hand playing baseball. i got hit in the hand. i played through the pain and wrapped my hand and everything pain was in the left hand on last two fingers.. i played through it and a vibration went through my body as i was batting... so next inning when i went out to pitch all of a sudden i couldnt cats my breath my neck started hutrting and only way to take pain away was put my left arm over my head..... so i left the game and drop home breathing heavy.. home was about 25 minutesa away.. i called my mother..haha ya .... and told her wha t was wron felt warm i side and pain.,.. all of a sudden i coulndt feel my body no more it all was going numb i never felt it before it scared me so much... thought i was having a heart attack drank like 2.5 liter of water in the store in less then 2 minutes was draining them down....ambulance came, i was talking on phone to mother to help calm me..... and pain submerged ... everyday id wake up with the shakes alwaysa holding a pilow for safe keeping.. when i went out i had to take it really slow and was able to only go a certain farness without being scared and thinking something was wrong and i was going to die.. i kept going farther and father just took ibrprophin when i was in alot of pain and was given .5 ativan nerve pill for anxiety...never really took them only if it was an emergancy,took me 4-5 months and i pretty much was over it completly had the odd episode and belived things were finally alright,. it was the biggest relief of my life...Part of my problem is when i hear things on tv and stuff i think i have it i dont know what cause this but since that day at baseball when i got hurt its begun.... baseball Season began again and i was nervous the first time i was out on the mound but i was okay going through season never pushed myself fully or anything some days feeling a little axiety and pain but hardly really...then on the august long weekend i had a tournament, and i piotched the game of my life and one everytime i threw though sometimes id feel like this numbeness in my hand or if i swang a bat this numbness up my are for a few seconds and had to shake it off..... next game which was stupid of me i caught. i felt sooo sore then and everything went home ice myself down and relaxed went to bed... next mourningi was still sore and i went to my aunts house for a bbq with my aunt who lives with my my incle brother and sister... i di eat alot it was good but i felt soo sore after like i could breathe or cath my breath it settled on my way home i was on the freeway and i could breathe felt like i was having atack again pulled over grabbed my nerve pills and took them believe i was dying saying cruel things to my brothe because he wouldnt let me call 911 because they all say it was the eniety but i managed but i setteld down my aunt drove home and i relaxed, but thats when the pain started again but it was worse this time i got an ekg ecg.... and it showed nothing wrong that was about 2 monts ago. but had the pain again just believed it was exniety again...so i went to the docotors got an xray everything came back normal.. then i went to an athletic theropist who deals with professional athletes..also my uncles bestfriends for over 30 years so i knew he wouldnt bologna me. told him my symptoms in the arm and everything and he x-ray pointeout how deep in xray what they missed was hw my spine was shapped wasent normal and with sypmtos of a pnched nerve in the c5-c6 area which causes the exienty cause your bodies feeling new pains all the time...still i get exiety attack sand i cant go far places without worrying that no ones around and will understand what im feeling it scareds me i lost my job because of it and that makes me feel bad.i can go out with certain people i trust enough and only now im learning again to go out on my own helping its a long process but im managing.....Noiw this is all the relations i had to explain it thouroughly so maybe someone can relate somewhat to my story and give me an explinationon cause people sRug it off and they give me mickey mouse answers and it dosent ease my mind......The other day i had the flu and my chest hurt so much kept thinking it was my heart even though im sick got sharm pains in between sholder blades near spine...i go to physio and he adjusts the nerve so it may be that but im not sure..... So earlier today i was haing pains in my left side sorta sharp not to severe was on top of breat bone still slightly hurting now. and in back o shouler it goes around the breatbone the pain too and im worrying so much that weent to hospital it was soooo busy and lady sad to me that it wasent an acute problem when i asked so i left and went up to get an ekg done.. but guy who did it said he had to send it to cardiologist to get a good readin so i asked if i should go to hospital he said dosent think so.. says the doctor will give you results in a few days but if thats so how do i not know something is wrong it scares me. what can i do to help myself get over this anxiety, or is there really a problem there with my heart.. it scares me sometimes i just need to be reassured please post asap and help me with this problem if yu can thank you very much...by the way i was givin anti inflamatories but i had a bad reactio to them so doctor just said take ibrprofinto help it....???? i dont know what to believe

by Hammer76, Oct 19, 2005 12:00AM

Hello everybody, am a 28years old male, Architect, lebanese working in dubai. 6 month ago, i was under a lot of pressure. Went out and had a big meal with my family, came back home to sleep, and 5mn after i layed my head on the pillow, i felt like i was having a hurt attack, numbness in my hands, very fast heart beats, coldness and sweating, it was a mixed feeling between fear and discomfort, in addition to weird thing combined with the others, burping. My mother and my girlfriend took me to er that night, stayed there for few hours, the doctor said it is stress, anxiety and stomach maldigestion.
I was so scared and till now am still scared from the idea of heart attack so much.... from that day i started having panic attacks and anxiety attacks, and it is not something that i like. it is affecting unfortunatly my social life and my work life. one month ago i learned about heartburns on the internet, cause i was facing them, went and did some examination, the results are; i am lacto tolerant first and my z-line ( which i couldnt understand, is accentuated, and in the HUT test i ended up being positive.
i stopped eating milk and lacto products, felt better fortunatly.
last night something happened to me, i had a dinner that includes fibers, went to sleep afterwards, i couldnt, took some panadol nights, didnt work, iwas feeling kind of weird havy on the chest and on the heart, and i related this night to that 6month ago night, i had a lot of gas and i mean a lot, so they kind of heat on my heart, but everytime i relief my self i feel better but they kept on coming back, so two times i had my heart beating like crazy, and the result is a panic and an anxiety attack that caused me staying awake all night and coming to the office in a very strange mood feeling that my life is on the edge and that my heart is going to fail in any moment.
Questions:
AM I CRAZY? EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO ME LIKE HEADACHE STOMACH ACHE OR ANYTHING I LINK IT TO HEART THEN IT CAUSE ME A PANIC ATTACK WHICH MAKES MY HEART EVEN BEAT FASTER

ARE GAS POSSIBLY A REASON WHY PEOPLE HAVE HEART PULPITATIONS DISORDER?

IS HOMEOPATHY A GOOD CURE FOR ANXIETY, PANIC ATTACKS AND FEAR?

HOPE THAT I CAN HAVE SOME ANSWERS CAUSE SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE I AM GOING NUTS, CANT SLEEP, THINKING A LOT ABOUT MY HEALTH.

THANK YOU

by Hammer76, Oct 19, 2005 12:00AM

Hello everybody, am a 28years old male, Architect, lebanese working in dubai. 6 month ago, i was under a lot of pressure. Went out and had a big meal with my family, came back home to sleep, and 5mn after i layed my head on the pillow, i felt like i was having a hurt attack, numbness in my hands, very fast heart beats, coldness and sweating, it was a mixed feeling between fear and discomfort, in addition to weird thing combined with the others, burping. My mother and my girlfriend took me to er that night, stayed there for few hours, the doctor said it is stress, anxiety and stomach maldigestion.
I was so scared and till now am still scared from the idea of heart attack so much.... from that day i started having panic attacks and anxiety attacks, and it is not something that i like. it is affecting unfortunatly my social life and my work life. one month ago i learned about heartburns on the internet, cause i was facing them, went and did some examination, the results are; i am lacto tolerant first and my z-line ( which i couldnt understand, is accentuated, and in the HUT test i ended up being positive.
i stopped eating milk and lacto products, felt better fortunatly.
last night something happened to me, i had a dinner that includes fibers, went to sleep afterwards, i couldnt, took some panadol nights, didnt work, iwas feeling kind of weird havy on the chest and on the heart, and i related this night to that 6month ago night, i had a lot of gas and i mean a lot, so they kind of heat on my heart, but everytime i relief my self i feel better but they kept on coming back, so two times i had my heart beating like crazy, and the result is a panic and an anxiety attack that caused me staying awake all night and coming to the office in a very strange mood feeling that my life is on the edge and that my heart is going to fail in any moment.
Questions:
AM I CRAZY? EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO ME LIKE HEADACHE STOMACH ACHE OR ANYTHING I LINK IT TO HEART THEN IT CAUSE ME A PANIC ATTACK WHICH MAKES MY HEART EVEN BEAT FASTER

ARE GAS POSSIBLY A REASON WHY PEOPLE HAVE HEART PULPITATIONS DISORDER?

IS HOMEOPATHY A GOOD CURE FOR ANXIETY, PANIC ATTACKS AND FEAR?

HOPE THAT I CAN HAVE SOME ANSWERS CAUSE SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE I AM GOING NUTS, CANT SLEEP, THINKING A LOT ABOUT MY HEALTH.

THANK YOU

by DOSI, Oct 27, 2005 12:00AM

Hello to everyone. I am a 22 year old male, no major Health problems, no Heart related problems in the family) and have recently had a major panic attack about 3 weeks ago. Ever since this attack, I started having palpitations almost all the time. I try to eat small portioned meals throughtout the day but it feels like my heart has to work really really hard just so it can accept the food going into my body. It is also very hard for me to sleep. I have been to the ER 3 times ever since that incident but by the time I get there I tend to calm down, and they dont have time to see what I have. I went to a cardiologist and he told me that I had nothng and that I should just relax and take it easy the next couple of days. I was shell-shocked when he told me this because I was thinking that he would give me something that would help me, but he didnt. After this incident, I went to my personal physician and he gave me TOPROL XL 25 MG time-realesed capsuls (once a day) and Xanax 0.5 mg (2 times a day if needed) for anxiety. The funny thing about these pills is that after 1 weeks use it seems that my body is becoming more and more immune to their effects especially the TOPROL XL and instead of taking 1 every 24 hours I now take 1 every 18 hours and day, and day by day the hours lessen. The last time I went to the ER, the doctor told me that these pills are very dangerous, and that a 30 year old man had overdosed on them a couple of days before. I called my physician and he said that it is nonsense and that it is ok if I up up the dosage of Toprol XL to 2 pills a day. I am starting to get very worried. I am waiting for my Heart monitor (Holter Monitor) tests to come out tommorow. It is funny because everything started 3 weeks ago after this attack. Prior to my initial attack, I was having a burning sensation inside my stomach and I felt very bloated and had gained weight the last 6 months (about 20 pounds, something unusual for me since I use to have a very fast metabolism. I had also been a smoker for 5 years, smoking about a pack a day, but I stopped it ever since and the burning sensation has gone away at least. During the burning sensation time period I was taking a lot of Rolaids and Pepcid but had continued smoking regularly. The day before my attack I tried to quit smoking and took a nicorette gum for the first time (non-perscription), but the next day I smoked a cigarette after eating and thats when I had my attack! Ever since I have been in total shock at the way my body is functioning, I feel very weak, I have lost about 10-15 pounds, and I am having difficulty sleeping. I get an attack once or twice a day, usually a Xanax will work after a while, but it seems like my heart is working abnormally all the time now. I am not a very anxious person, and I am very calm, but I have to say that I am quite frightened by this whole scenario. All my bloodtests for thyroid or diabetes were ok, my cat scan was ok, and now I will take an ECHO cardio test next after I get my results for the Holter monitor. I am trying to get my Magnesium and Phosphorus levels up because I have heard that antiacids can deplete them. I dont drink, I dont drink coffee, and no soft drinks. I dont know what caused this, but I really need some help, just reading some of your guys posts have really comforted me already, I will appreciate a response. Thank You very much, and good luck to all of you from the bottom of my heart, I hope that we can all feel better from these terrible things that we are feeling.

by DOSI, Oct 27, 2005 12:00AM

Hello to everyone. I am a 22 year old male, no major Health problems, no Heart related problems in the family) and have recently had a major panic attack about 3 weeks ago. Ever since this attack, I started having palpitations almost all the time. I try to eat small portioned meals throughtout the day but it feels like my heart has to work really really hard just so it can accept the food going into my body. It is also very hard for me to sleep. I have been to the ER 3 times ever since that incident but by the time I get there I tend to calm down, and they dont have time to see what I have. I went to a cardiologist and he told me that I had nothng and that I should just relax and take it easy the next couple of days. I was shell-shocked when he told me this because I was thinking that he would give me something that would help me, but he didnt. After this incident, I went to my personal physician and he gave me TOPROL XL 25 MG time-realesed capsuls (once a day) and Xanax 0.5 mg (2 times a day if needed) for anxiety. The funny thing about these pills is that after 1 weeks use it seems that my body is becoming more and more immune to their effects especially the TOPROL XL and instead of taking 1 every 24 hours I now take 1 every 18 hours and day, and day by day the hours lessen. The last time I went to the ER, the doctor told me that these pills are very dangerous, and that a 30 year old man had overdosed on them a couple of days before. I called my physician and he said that it is nonsense and that it is ok if I up up the dosage of Toprol XL to 2 pills a day. I am starting to get very worried. I am waiting for my Heart monitor (Holter Monitor) tests to come out tommorow. It is funny because everything started 3 weeks ago after this attack. Prior to my initial attack, I was having a burning sensation inside my stomach and I felt very bloated and had gained weight the last 6 months (about 20 pounds, something unusual for me since I use to have a very fast metabolism. I had also been a smoker for 5 years, smoking about a pack a day, but I stopped it ever since and the burning sensation has gone away at least. During the burning sensation time period I was taking a lot of Rolaids and Pepcid but had continued smoking regularly. The day before my attack I tried to quit smoking and took a nicorette gum for the first time (non-perscription), but the next day I smoked a cigarette after eating and thats when I had my attack! Ever since I have been in total shock at the way my body is functioning, I feel very weak, I have lost about 10-15 pounds, and I am having difficulty sleeping. I get an attack once or twice a day, usually a Xanax will work after a while, but it seems like my heart is working abnormally all the time now. I am not a very anxious person, and I am very calm, but I have to say that I am quite frightened by this whole scenario. All my bloodtests for thyroid or diabetes were ok, my cat scan was ok, and now I will take an ECHO cardio test next after I get my results for the Holter monitor. I am trying to get my Magnesium and Phosphorus levels up because I have heard that antiacids can deplete them. I dont drink, I dont drink coffee, and no soft drinks. I dont know what caused this, but I really need some help, just reading some of your guys posts have really comforted me already, I will appreciate a response. Thank You very much, and good luck to all of you from the bottom of my heart, I hope that we can all feel better from these terrible things that we are feeling.

by capper, Nov 16, 2005 12:00AM

New hear and was looking for some help. I have been experincing some mild heart or chest pain in the left side of my chest. It is not real painful but it is enough to where I know it is there. I had had this type of thing occur last year at about this time. Went to the doctors had ekg that was good. Doctor said I was fine and sent me home. A few weeks after my visit the pain stopped until about two weeks ago. My family thinks I am crazy in the head. I do not know if it is some sort of anxiety or depression and it is my body's way of dealing with it or if it is something I should be concerned with. Anyone else with the same type of thing. Thanks people

by Debadoo, Nov 17, 2005 12:00AM

Hi Capper and Everyone,

I'm new here as well I'm 40 year old female, with same symptoms. I want to start off with when I was 24 years old, I had my second child, 2 weeks after he was born I was sitting at the dinner table and felt myself passing out. I never did passout. months went by and I still had this strange feeling of feeling strange in my head, like I was not really in my body. One night after visting my Grandfather in the hospital I was at home taking my makeup off and my heart starting racing so fast and pounding out of my chest, I made my husband rush me to the ER that was (30 miles away), the doctor there gave me a shot and everything went away. I went to a caridologist and he did a eck he saw where I had a Martial Value Prolapse, he said that it is really no big deal, lots of people have it. He put me on a beta blocker and anti-depress medication. After a year I weaned off of them, he said that was fine and he really believes that I was having panic attacks from anxiety. I have been doing good for these years, have palpatations at times, but I had a episode about a month ago that concerned me. I was sitting on my couch and had a stapping pain in my left side right below my ribs, it took my breathe away. after 10 mins it went away. the next day I had a panic attack that usually last only 5 mins and the day after that I started feeling abnormal like I did a long time ago, not feeling like I was even in my body, confused at work, hard to think about work or anything else at that matter. started feeling a heaviness on my chest and short of breath, not bad just like needing to take a heavy breathe everyonce in a while. I got scared and went to the doctor and she did a EKG which came out normal, all blood test were normal. She wanted to start ruling some things out and wanted to do a ECG but I found out that my insurance cancelled on me and I will not be insured again until December. A lot of people tell me that it is anxiety, but My doctor did not tell me that at all. the pain is not constant and it is sharp under the rib cage and then it gets in the middle of my chest or mostly at the side of my left chest now. I have started having a lot of belching and gas, and the doctor has prescibed some medication for that, dont see where that is really helping, also she prescribed an anti-inflammory as well, no relief there. Just knowing that same symptoms are occuring and we all are going to the doctors puts my mind at ease, but sometimes I freak out and get really scared. How can GAS do this to you body?? much less anxiety.. I dont know about you guys but I hate feeling this way .. Comment back keep in touch and maybe with us going to doctors we all can get some relief ..

by goosey77, Nov 24, 2005 12:00AM

Wow, I've found fellow anxiety sufferers! Bad that we all have it, but good to know I'm not alone.

I've actually been having a lot of chest pains. Burning across my chest and then sharp pains that sort of jump around. I just had an echocardiogram done to check for valve issues (they run in my family) and I've been feeling short of breath and weaker than usual for the past few months. I also have headaches, phantom pains in my bones, tingling spots, and what I'm hoping was a visual migraine. Yeah, basically I'm a mess. And it's all related to health! I'm scheduled to have xrays and blood work drawn to rule out a pulmonary embolism (sp?) so that's what's got me rather freaked at the moment. It gives me hope that there are others having the same symptoms as me who are simply (yeah, "SIMPLY") dealing with anxiety issues. Three years ago I was having tingling and the pains, and after various brain tests ruled anything major out, I was put on Zoloft. It did seem to work. I got off it fairly quickly b/c I became pregnant a few months later and didn't want to be on an unknown med while pg, and luckily my hormones helped me breeze through the pregnancy with very little anxiety. But in the two years since my DS was born (two years ago today, as a matter of fact!) the symptoms have come back and brought on a new slew of symptoms. I'm hoping and praying it's just anxiousness. I didn't go back on Zoloft after DS was born b/c of breastfeeding, and unfortunately I would like to have another baby soon so I don't want to go on Zoloft. On the other hand, I don't know how much longer I can take this anxiety!

Well, anyway, just another fellow sufferer saying hello. Much peace to all of you.

by Jenni74, Dec 02, 2005 12:00AM

Hi Im new here and was hoping maybe someone could help me. Im 31 and about 2 and a half months ago i started having chest pain. I went to the ER and they did EKG, blood work, stress test, & something they were calling nuclear imaging, where they put somethng thru an IV and then took pictures of my heart. They also kept me overnight to monitor, because I have sister who had a heart attack at age 38. Well everything checked out and they let me go home the next day. About a month later, I went back to the ER for chest pains again. Same thing, they kept me overnight, said everythng was fine. When i left the hospital that morning, I decided to find a cardiologist, because i just felt that they werent finding something..The pain was too bad. So I saw the cardiologist that same week and he told me pretty much the same thing. That he thougth that I was prob fine, but he gave me the choice of if I wanted the heart cath done. HE said if that would give me piece of mind, and also since there was a family history, that he would do the heart cath if that is what I chose to do. Well, I chose to do it and the followingn week I went in for the cath. They found a 99.6% blockage in my heart and put in a stent. He later told me thank goodness I chose to do the cath, or else it very well could have killed me.
Well, Its been about three weeks since they put the stent in. And now Im feeling small sharp pains in my heart. They last only for a second usually but they have me terrified. These are nothing like the pains I had before the stent. These feel almost like tiny electrical shocks in my heart. Same place, same feeling every single time. Does anyone know maybe what this is? I do admit that I have been terrified since all of this happened. I have always had a phobia with death anyway so this is just almost unbearable mentally for me. It could be my nerves I suppose, but I just get the feeling that its not.
Thanks for listening..

by nstabl, Dec 16, 2005 12:00AM

Hi people, Mat here, I have the same issue as....DOSI,, if you're around, please contact me on msn! my screen name is ***@**** or at aim, my screen name is 'nst abl'.. or anyone with similar issues.. im only 20 with these problems and its freaky! thanks guys..

by XSDOGSTAR, Dec 28, 2005 12:00AM

So I have an urgent issue and there is no one who can really help me I don't think.  Doctors don't seem to care, get you in, get you out.  He's told me all about his culture though.  I have decent insurance and I must be equivalent to a few dollars for them.  I used to think that doctors helped people.  It seems like the ones here do.

A few months ago I was on a two week vacation in Colorado and it was stressful as all hell.  Driving up and down these mountain passes with death drop offs.  We at at some bogus restaurant called Handlebars in Silverton and I had some special award winning chili.  It was hot and I think that the guys there put something in it.  I don't know, but they were looking over at me when I finished it.  15 minutes later my heat rate was 120 bpm and I was only driving.  Then I threw everything up.  This was the middle of August.

My parent were visiting a few months back and at some point I was sitting on the couch and my chest hurt so bad that I was clutching it.  And then it went away.  It lasted about 5 seconds.  I should have went to the hospital, but everytime my parents visit we end up there for something that my wife has done.  So I didn't want worry them.

Over the next month I was getting really tight in my chest and neck and jaw and couldn't relax at all.  So I quit drinking coffee.  I had about two to three cups a day and that sort of relaxed me parts at a time.  Maybe too fast or something.  So then I was having this pinching dull pain in my chest that would come and go.

So then my wife and I were in the park and I pick these huge wild mushrooms in the grass and they smell really good.  Big flat head and brown gills.  I taste a really small piece and spit it out.  I took them home and decided not to eat them since she was freaking out about poisonous mushrooms.  We read some web pages and find out there are very few wild mushrooms that are edible.  Don't ever eat a wild mushroom.  So I turned them over on a white piece of paper to make a spore print.  This was a Sunday.

The next day I had a doctor's appointment for that monday and went to it and told them that my chest had been hurting.  Pinching.  They ran an ekg wihtout shaving my chest and I had hands all over me trying to push down the round things.  The nurses cut together a few of the pages.  The doctor looked at and said everything was ok.  He asked me about anxiety and I have a lot.  I drive an hour in and out of work and am there 10 hours.  He gave me some samples of prevacid and sent me home.  And said try to calm down.

Same day at 2:00am I couldn't sleep and was really trying to.  My heart starting pounding faster and faster and I stood up and was warm in the face and lightheaded and scared at hell.  So we went to the close hospital.  The further one is better.  But we went to the close one.  We waited like 2.5 hours until they took me.  Someone was having a real heart attack.  In that time frame I felt warmness and flushness come and go off and on.  They ran tests the next day and the blood work didn't show enzymes that would indicate a heart attack.  It was an uncomfortable stay.  The gave me a microscopic piece of a pill that was a reaxor.  I told the girl, that's it?  She said oh no, it doesn't take much.  And it sounded like she liked the pills and had broken off most of a larger pill for herself. Then another doctor came in and listened with a special stethoscope (I think that this is what it called) and didn't find anything wrong.  He asked me what I did.  I am an engineer and trying to write a book and work on math on the side.  Did you ever publish it he said.  No, but I'm working on it.  Then another doctor came in and told me that everything was fine.  That his race supports each other and help each other become doctors and own gas stations if they do not have an education.
He gave me a script for nitroglycerin 0.4g pills (25 of them) and lorazepam 1mg 10 of them.  That was about two months ago.  I was told to then make an appointment for a stress test with ultrasound cardio.

So I got rid of the two mushrooms in the apartment since they had spores spewing everywhere.  They did make really pretty prints, but I threw those out also.  And I wonder if there is some link there.  I do have allergies and from what we read it could take a month for poisons to kill you.  They are called aflotoxin.  But I only had a very small taste and spit it out.  So unless spores inhaled can bother you?  Maybe it was coincidental that the attack happened a day or so after bringing them into the apartment.

Then I started taking a very small piece of the nitro when something in my chest feels like it was pinching, and then I would take a 1/4 to 1/8 of the azepam.  Some days it was bad, some days it was ok.  I couldn't make a link if it was heart burn or an air pocket, or if it my heart, or if it is only when I lay down.  I was on work travel in Panama City Floriday and felt fine down there.  So I am wondering if there is something in the apartment.  We do occasionally get mold in the bathroom that I bleach out once in awhile and replace the tub seal.

I took one prevacid of the sample pack.

Then I had the ultrasound stress test.  On the part of the beat that I could hear as loud I told the technician that that is the beat that I can feel pinching.  That's the one I said.  I can feel it now even.  It sounds like someone whipping a metal saw back and forth.  I was supposed to reach some internationally standardized number of ~168 or so in 15 minutes maybe and did it in 12.  So I am out of shape is what this amounted to.

I didn't talk the doctor and got sent out.  There was someone else he was busy with.  He was supposed to review everything. The technician said that I have three mild to moderate heart valve murmurs.  I caught the words MR, TR.  And he said they don't look at the aorta, but isn't that supposed to be the main one.  So is he not looking at the heart vein/artery, or didn't look at the fourth valve, meaning 3 of 3 looked at were mild to moderate on a three scale, mild, moderate, severe.  I think that the heart hole muscle looked good.  This was November 14.

The one night it was bothering me, I could really feel it beating hard and then the pinch, so I took a tad bit of the nitro 1/16, and you get the opening of arteries and face becomes full and was suprised that it actually hurt more this time.  So I just rolled around and tried to get to sleep.  I stopped taking the nitro and azepam.  I only used about 10 small pieces of the nitro and 6 of the azepam.

I told my parents most of this and they said it could be heart burn since I have this often.  Burning esophogus.  My father gave me a 14 packet of Prilosec.  I figured that since it was nearly the same name (perhaps stupid of me) that it would be like the samples of Prevacid that I was supposed to try.  I got through about 10 of them and it does get rid of heart burn.  But felt the pinching still and the tightness just as much if not more than before.  So I stopped short of the 14.

I've gotten the report since then.  Had them fax it, as reluctant as they were to do so.  I also tried having them have the doctor call me and he never did.  He went home early one day and didn't get to it.  So I made a follow up appointment and then cancelled it.  I figured that since he couldn't take two minutes to call that everything was ok, and second that he really wasn't concerned about my concern.  So why pay another co-pay.

Birthdate: June 1971
Indication/history Chest Tightness, Mild TR
Sonographer David RDCS
Report: EKG at rest showed sunus rhythum, within normal limits.
Color Doppler Mapping: M-mode, 2_D and color doplar were performed.
Color Doppler of the left ventricular inflow showed mild mitroal regurgitation.  Left ventricular outflow was unremarkable.  RIght ventricular outflow showed mild to moderate pumonic regurgitation.  Right ventricular inflow showed mild tricuspid regurgiation.

Stress Test: The paitent (me) exercised for 10 minutes on a regular Bruce Protocol, achieving a maximal heart rate of 169 bpm.  Maximal blood pressure was 145/73.  The patient achieved a double product of 22.0 x 1,000.  At peak exercise, no significant new ST-T chnages were noted 80 milliseconds from J point.  Rare PACs were noted.

Stress Echocardiogram: The cardiac chambers were normal at rest.  The mitral valve leaflet is normal.  Trileaflet aortic valve is present.  The tricuspid valve is normal.

With exercise the ejection fraction increased by more than 5%, consistent with normal response.  Left ventricular cavity size was noted to be reduced, consistent with a normal response.

Conclusions:

1. Exercise for 10 minutes on a regular Bruce Protocol
2. Normal blood pressure and pulse response to exercise.
3. No significant arrhythmias.
4. ST segments were negative for exercise induced ischemia.
5. Stress echocardiography does not exhibit exercise-incuded wall motion abnormality.
6. Color Doppler mapping showed mild MR, mild TR, and mild to moderate PR.

MD, FACC

~~~~~

So it is still bothering me.  And I can't figure it out.  I was on Christmas vacation and drove to Canada to the in laws and sat on a couch for four days straight and didn't do anything.  It didn't bother me barely except when I shoveled snow and exerted myself.

When we drove back it started bothering me when the road became dark, and almost icy, with big trucks and bright lights barreling behind me.

So yesterday I am back in the apartment, Sunday.  I woke up from a nap with two really really sharp pains.  More so than ever before.  This morning I work up and had about 10 really really sharp pains.  Just like yesterday.  Weird that I had thought that they were sharp before this point.  Now they are really sharp.

So I am questioning:

Did those people in Colorado poison me?
Does the mushroom I tasted have something to do with it?
Do the mushroom spores that remain in the aparment trigger this?
Why didn't three doctors including the heart specialist, and two interns, (one who was a cute girl but stuck her finger in my butt to check my prostate for some reason when I'm in for a chest pain) why didn't anyone of them notice a heart murmur?
Why is it intermittant and increasing in frequency? Seems like it.
Does an acid stomach or tomato sauce cause heart problems?
Why in Florida did it go away for a few days?
Why do I feel it even right now?

I do have mild allergies to normal stuff and PA is notorious for green dust.  Does this have something to do it, although we do vacuum.

I can't figure it out and don't know what to do.

I have one friend that I'm very proud of that he is becoming a doctor.  I don't know exactly what type since we haven't been in touch.  I tell people I have friend that's really smart and had some hardships and is a real doctor.  Concerned about people's health.  I remember that was why he quit school earlier, from students making fun of sick people.  Sickness is scary, scary is dying, don't like being sick, don't like the idea of dying.

To complicate any analysis my back had a knot in it that popped a few weeks ago when I pulled my head forward.

I am also trying to make a connection between the terrible taste I have in my mouth some mornings (bacteria) and heart/chest pain.  Is this called a PAC?

I don't know what to do.

To summarize:

Paitent, male, 34, with a lot of anxiety.
Doesn't like taking pills.
Tightness in chest, neck, and arms.
Sharp pains in chest.
Back pain (I can reach it with my right hand, so it is high in location)
Doesn't smoke or drink.  "Maybe you should (drink)..." is what my doctor told me.  Encouraging isn't it.
MR, TR, PAC
Questions connection to mouth cleanliness and believes this is the first to go after.
Second is back pain from driving
Third is relaxation and perhaps Magnesium or potassium should be balanced better.
Fourth make a doctors appointment for next week perhaps, though I don't know what they'll do.
Fifth, reschedule dentist cleaning that is three months overdue and get pre-antibiotics prior to cleaning.

Thanks for listening.

XS

by 2nd Choice, Jan 13, 2006 12:00AM

I've been having really sharp pains in chest. I thought I was having a heart attack. I went to the ER and since I didn't have health insurance the nurse was kind enough to tell me that she really thought it was just anxiety. She said it would cost thousands of dollars to have all the test done. That was 2 weeks ago today. I thought knowing that it was anxiety would help me feel better, but the pain is still there as strong as ever if not worse. I think if it was a heart related problem then I would have been dead by now...right?
I don't understand how anxiety could make me hurt so bad. Is there anything I can do to stop the pain?



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