heart relatted

Question

I'm 26yrs old and i have een given zoloft by my doctor for what he believes is anxiety/depression. I started having panic attacks about 4 months ago, where my chest would hurt and my heart would pound really bad. it would often happen in the middle of the night, or sometimes at work just sitting there. I've always exercised lifting weights, and am 5'6 155lbs. The thing is, starting about a month ago i noticed my heart beat would go up and my heart would pound hard while working out, or even walking up the stairs, and if i push myself a little to work out harder my heart beats so fast it scares me. like extremely fast where i tell my self if it goes any fast i'm gonna have a heart attack. So i adressed this with my doctor and this is why i am on zoloft now. which has helped with the panic attacks, i haven't had any since i started taking zoloft, but now i'm afraid to do anything in fear that i will have heart failure or something. Also before i started the zoloft i had insomnia and never slept, not even an hr a night for months. My doctor seems to think my increased heart rate is caused by a combination of anxiety and lack of sleep. he said because of these issues, my body has been producing a certain hormon that increases the heart rate. So i now take sleeping pills that work and i've slept three nights straight so far, and the zoloft, but still my pulse will rise easily and my heart will pound hard and extremely fast under exercise or intercourse. I'm almost convinced i have some sort of heart condition, or sickness that is increasing my heart rate. I've had 2 ekg's done to date, and my blood pressure is normal. what the hell is wrong with me?

This discussion is related to Physical Exercise and heart pounding, shortness of breath.

madamebrianne · Answer

How are things now?

Trod1981 · Answer

ok, i went and did the stress echo. they say everything looks fine, they said i did really good. they worked me like a cheap ***** though. they set the freakin thing to full incline and they made me hold the bars the whole time. my heart rate got up to 191 and i didn't feel anthing weird. i however felt very out of breath, probably because i smoke. so the doctors going to review the echocardiography, the ekg's, and the tread mill test. he'll know for sure what, if anything, is wrong. maybe i have super human abilities maybe my **** can go 220 lol

Trod1981 · Answer

ok today i went and saw the cardiologiest for the first time. nice guy. they set me up for a stress test, echocardiography, and they are taking blood to test my cholesterol. So by the end of this week i should know whats going on with me. it feels so good to get somewhere and start to get my questions answered. As of this week they have tested me for the following:

3 EKG- normal
Blood pressure-normal
blood sugar- normal
anemia- negative
thyriod-normal
electrolights- normal
various organs-normal
Aids- awaiting results
All std's- awaiting results
cholesterol- this week
Echo-this week
stress test- this week

omanlover · Answer

i am sorry trod, i go through sth like that! i know it is difficult to believe what anxiety can do, at the begining! i pray for you, do trust god! he might not answer your prayers immediately , but he is there takeing  care of you, in different ways.for me, prayer make me feel relax & secure! 
 i hope you get better soon!^.^

Trod1981 · Answer

sorry to seem aggressive, i'm just getting frustrated with doctors. it's like they refuse to believe it's anything but anxiety. show me a peace of literature or proof that "anxiety" raises your pulse rate to 180? I know theres something hidden thats causing these issue. i'm not saying i know what it is, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see whats going on. Hopefully i will get an answer soon on why my heart races while working out and why i felt faint. please do pray for me, cause god doesn't hear my praiors....

omanlover · Answer

you seem to be very agressive ! sorry i just felt that way !
did yoy change your doc!
i believe you rally should be a doc, apparentley you will not need to study intensivley for 6 or7 years!
you are a doctor by nature!
 i was praying to you , but now i am fraid you will be very siappointed if your result was ok!
weird!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trod1981 · Answer

so i went to the doctors today and had a long talk with the doctor. they truley believe i have a chemical imbalance and it's causing my anxiety. i am not stress out , or at all anxous. They refered me to a cardiologist this time though. i also had urine and blood taken to test for aids and every std there is. I had a lot of girlfriends in my late teens early 20's. As of now i have been tested for anemia, electrolights, thyroid issues, and difficencies like iron or whatever else there is. i've had two ekg;s done and they were normal. Blood pressure is normal, blood sugar level is normal.

So i drilled her about the feeling faint, and she said shes not concerned with it and it's not caused by zoloft. She said it's typical in young women and men. I tell her yea but this just started and i've never had this before. her reply was well you may have things going on in your life and sometimes ppl have anxiety and don't even know it. I should become a doctor cause they make a lot of money and every patient has the same thing. ANXIETY!!! I did my research and there is no technology availible to man that can detect and sort of imbalance in the human brain. Antidepressants are a fabrication by the pharmasutical companys and can often CAUSE a chemical imbalance! 

At least now i'm set up with a heart doctor. I'm gonna have to drill him to give me a stress test and echo. i need to know if my heart is good, and why my heart rate rises so much under physical activity. I have no health insurance and i don't care. it's come to the point where i need to save my life. **** doctors bills!

omanlover · Answer

hi, i wish you feel better now! 
if you are not comfortuble with your doc do change it! see  a second doc & athird ....
if  you get the same answer from all i guess you have to believe it is amatter of time! try to think positively,ok!

Trod1981 · Answer

today i got dizzy and felt like i was gonna pass out. i called my doctors office and they said it's probably just anxiety! Is that the answer for every thing these days, anxiety!

omanlover · Answer

what's ptherope you are better.  i suffered from almost  the same symptom s you descibed , my dr thought i face a kind of heart problem, angina, all the test was -!  i was really scarred,when he said it is a panic attac, &  the pain was horrible! 
by time i found he is right. it migt take time(4 month in my case) but hope you get better.
check out your HMG level,  i remember my dr said my low hmg contripute in worsingthre situation.
do not give the pain a lot of weight, as lon asyou dr a sure you, it 'l go as soon as the med take place. you might make it worse if continue to scarre your self.

Trod1981 · Answer

thanks for responding. it gives me comfort to get a response from someone that knows my situation. The thing about me is that this really only happens when working out or running. my pulse reach 180+ the other day, while doing some curls, and i felt my pulse in my temples. is that dangerous you think?

kimmie28 · Answer

hiya all my ecg's came back clear untill my heart rate (svt) attacks got so bad i kept having to go to a&e. a heart tracing during one of these attacks is pretty much the only way mine was diagnosed, it was compared with the ecg's that were done during my normal resting heart rate. if i were you i would keep a diary of these attacks to monitor how long they last and what the max heart rate reaches.it could help the doctors to see any kind of pattern also note what you were doing at the time of the attack this will be to distinguish what could trigger the attacks. i was once in hospital as i think my bisoprolol (betablockers) sent my heart rate too low it went down between 47 to 50 bpm but it was only in as a precaution and the following day my meds were changed.if youre not happy get a second opinion from a different doctor. please try to rest and try not too worry too much and trust your instincts cut out aspartame found in sugar free products & cut out caffine see if anything changes. take care & keep me posted.

Trod1981 · Answer

ok now that i've been sleeping i decided to start hitting the gym again. i noticed that under extreme strain i recorded a pulse rate of 180 maybe slightly higher. i also did some cardio and ran on the tred mill. i reached like 174 while running on an incline. this seems slightly higher then what i'm used to, but perhaps i'm out of shape. i have noticed that my resting heart rate has gotten lower since i began sleeping. sometimes as low as 64bpm. One thing that concerned me tonight was that when i got home i wanted to test a theory. i did 20 pushups and immediatly took my blood pressure. turned out to be 119 over 50 with 108 bpm.. is 50 too low cause i normally range 62-76 for diastolic? should i be concerned with that? is it normal to hit 180+ bpm while working out? i know my max is 193 given the formula of taking 220 and subtracting my age.

Trod1981 · Answer

i looked it up, but it says this can be detected on an ekg. so far i've had two ekg's and both came back normal. If an ekg is said to be normal can there still be a condition not detected by an ekg? What do i need to do to ensure my heart is perfect? Sometimes i think i may be over reacting, but my resting heart rate is anywhere from 64-88. it's only when i do something like walk or go up stairs that my heart goes up to 92-110 beats. when i exercise heavily is when it quickly reads 160, as messured at the gym on the treadmill reader. But i think it's over 160 at this point cause it's going so fast.. i'm just scared something is wrong with me and i can drop dead. i want to have a clear mind and happily enjoy my life with my wife. I mean theres so many things that can cause these conditions, and all i'm getting right now is that i have anxiety, but there are some condition that cause anxiety.. shoot i could have a tape worm or something. heres what i have been tested for in the last 4 months.

1) when i had my first panic attack i went to the er and they tested my blood for hyperactive thighroid, tested my kidney's, liver, and i think pancreas. they also gave me an ekg that came back completely normal.

2) I continued having panic attacks that included uncontrolled shaking of my legs, then i became ill with a fever for 4 days,1 day of conjestion and then that was over. pretty much since then i have began with this rapid heart beats under physical stress. i then became so worry with my heart that i was too nervous to sleep. two months went by with poor sleep if any, reaching the max when i didn't sleep a wink for two weeks straight. So i had another ekg done and i presented my concerns with my doctor. second ekg showed a perfect heart. i was told to start taking the zoloft i was perscribed.

3) so i began taking the zoloft as directed, and the panic attacks stopped completey, however i still could not sleep and it was greatly effecting me mentally. so i returned to my doctor just recently, and he determined that this heart rate issue is relatted to a combination of no sleep and anxiety. so he doubled my zoloft to 50mg, and gave me some sleeping pills. i have began sleeping again since i started the sleeping pills, and i am generally in a good positive mood all the time now, but i am still very concerned with this heart situation! how can i function having my pulse race every time i do something. my doctor said i could be out of shape aswell, but i've actually lost 14lbs, and i am not fat. i have been going to the gym consistantly since before any of this started and to this day. i don't do cardio stuff, but i know i'm not out of shape.

kimmie28 · Answer

LOOK UP SVT i thought i had anxiety for a couple of years before i was hospitalised with my bad svt attacks i would have one every week then i had 3 in 3days i was forever in a&e. it was only then my heart problem was found. it;s vry common in men and women in their twenties, it;s not genetic and you were most likely born with it. if your heart rate goes over 120 bpm (beats per min) it's classed as svt. mine would go from average 90 bpm to 230 bpm thats why i had adenasine to bring it back down. there are severalthings you can do i had betablockers like you but like yours oo they didn't work or they sent my bp too low i would pass out. i had the ablation this jan but still have minor attacks. keep an open mind, don't be fobbed off, read everything you can get some background info it will atleast give you peace of mind that others suffer  from similar cardiac problems even at a young age. good luck!!!!!!!!