Is it possible I have damaged my heart by running too hard?

[Parasense]

I consider myself to be very unfit even though I am only 22 years old.
At the cardiologist's I've done a stresstest and I pushed myself way too hard

The betablocker i was on gave me a false sense of security,
i realized this 1 hour after i left the cardiologists office because I felt terrible.

4 days after this stresstest my heart still feels exhausted
and i still feel dizzy... although I can say the symptoms have improved.

Should I make another appointment to see if i've damaged my heart during the stresstest,
or is such thing not possible? (please forgive me for being so paranoid)



Oh by the way, the doc's diagnosis was that I am healthy even though I am out of shape.
The reason he gave me a betablocker is because i've had a problem with mental-stress induced tachycardia,
he told me to take it whenever i have tachycardia...

i haven't taken it since the day of the the stresstest so my dizziness and instinctive feeling of weakness...
a feeling that tells me i should not go out of the house and just lay on the couch to let my heart repair from possible damage, is not caused by beta blocker.

it is caused by the stresstest 4 days ago.
thanks in advance for the advice!

[Parasense]

I could hardly fall asleep the past 2 days,
because even though people tell me nothing could have been damaged during that stresstest,
for me that is not sufficient proof.

I visited my GP and had him do an ECG on me and it didn't show any new abnormalities (that weren't there before the stresstest).
This was the proof i needed to be at mentally at rest. :) :)

I have a strange feeling in my chest I will have to learn to live with though.
It feels like my heart "itches" and every heartbeats is an ich... it is pretty annoying,
but I only notice it at night when falling asleep.

[ed34]

"because I AM slightly hypocondriac"

I think that maybe 'slightly' is an exaggeration. Each time you exercise, you are doing your body the world of GOOD, not killing it. Of course you will feel discomforts if you are unfit, you are waking your body up. When you exercise, leave the house, walk very slowly to 10 minutes and then gradually speed up until you are walking at a normal pace. Walk for 20 minutes and then for the last 10 minutes walk home very slowly. This will let your heart speed up nice and gently and then slow down gently at the end. Drink plenty of water and have something to eat about 30-60 mins before the exercise. A carbohydrate breakfast will be best so you have some instant energy.
In a few days you will feel much better. Don't try to analyse every little discomfort, twinge, pain, ache etc, these are normal. Your whole body needs to get used to exercise and it takes time to adjust.

please let me know how this goes.

[Parasense]

The 1st days after the test I had dizinness and it felt like my heart was drowning.
As if my heart was "grasping for blood".

A really strange feeling. I'm sure it's not extra or skipped heartbeats cause I know how that feels like.
The drawning heart thing felt WEIRD....

Either way, I've been almost completely still for like 9 days to give my body the time to heal...
I feel none of the previous symptoms anymore so I'm gonna get active again.

Thanks for helping to re-assure me,
because I AM slightly hypocondriac.

[ed34]

To damage your heart from a stress test you would have to have a heart attack. The ECG trace would have shown this as you was walking on the treadmill. I personally don't think this is what's happening. You say your heart feels a bit weak, but I am not sure what exactly you mean by this. During a stress test you most certainly would not have caused your heart to swell and have to repair. It doesn't work like that. Also the beta blocker will have prevented your heart from overworking. Everything you describe are the symptoms all unfit people experience. I have a friend who is unfit and when he walks with me he can't even talk properly when we are walking up a hill. He gets a tightness of the chest, dizziness and a whole array of symptoms. Being unfit means the heart is unfit and not used to exercise but this does not mean it's damaged. It simply takes regular daily exercise (30 mins walking) to get it fit again. Each day you will find the task much easier.

[Parasense]

Prior to the incident I had been walking briskly 2 hours a day.
After the incident I felt like i should stay passive so my heart can heal from the trauma I had caused it.


One week has now passed.
I feel a bit better and am slowly getting more active...
although my heart still feels a bit weak from the stresstest!

I'm paranoid and think I have a damaged my heart a bit.
I hope the damage was not too much and will heal.

[ed34]

the heart muscle is not a muscle which you have direct control over. You can move your leg and work those muscles for example, but now sit down and tell your heart to speed up or slow down. If you overworked your heart then you would have felt some serious pains and it would have shown on the ECG trace during the stress test. My advice?
stay off the couch and exercise by walking briskly at least 30 mins a day.

[Parasense]

I just found this...

---A typical muscle injury ("strain/sprain" for argument's sake) (if that's what it is) goes through various repair phases. The first is the inflammatory stage, 2-5 days, then repair 3-5 weeks, then recovery, up to a year or more.---

I guess I should stay near to couchlocked for another 2 weeks,
just be on the safe side in case i really have injured my heart?