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Undiagnosed and scared...Help me!
Strange illness...undiagnosed and scared...help!?
About a month or so ago, I started having these really weird heart palpitations that seemed to come overnight. I could literally feel my heart pounding so hard and heavy in my chest ALL the time. Even when I wasn't thinking about it I could still feel it. When I look at my chest, it looks and feels as if my heart is going to jump out any minute! I don't smoke, drink, do drugs, or drink or eat anything with alot of caffeine. I'm 5'2, 116 pounds, and was always pretty healthy and happy with no serious health problems. But after a few weeks, the symptoms didn't go away. So I asked my dad to take me over to the American clinic on the Army base where I go to school (I live in Germany in a little German village, so I thought that was the first best place to go!).
So they checked me out. My vitals were a bit high/irregular, so the doc prescribed Atenolol to help calm me down and slower my heart rate. I'm not sure whether it helped me or not. The doc told my Dad to take me to go a German heart doctor the next day, so he did. The heart doctor there was really nice, and he did an ultrasound of my heart and said it was ok. I also did a breathing test, which came out normal. And an EKG. So he said I have nothing to worry about and that everything looked fine and to come back in a few weeks for a stress test and 24 hour holtor monitor. And he said it was OK for me to continue taking Atenolol. Also, before all this started, I didn't get my period for 2-3 months. Also got swollen throat glands and felt really weird. I also get WEIRD heartbeats that are skipped and feel like 'flip-flops'. I also get a fluttering, numbing weird feeling in my chest. Everyone keeps telling me it's anxiety, but I don't really think it is.
But a couple days later, I woke up feeling REALLY sick one night, like I was going to throw up, then my heart started beating REALLY fast and my stomach felt like it had acid in it or something. So my dad drove me to the German hospital. My pulse was high for a while, but I calmed down after a few hours and they told me it was OK to go home. They wanted me to stay overnight for observation, and so did I, but my dad refused. So we went home. Later than night, after I woke up from a nap, I had the same racing heartbeat again! This time I just calmed down after drinking a big glass of water and taking ALOT of deep breaths.
The next few days, I started feeling REALLY sick. Sort of like the flu, except it felt like something was in my heart. My parents just told me it was anxiety and that I could be OK, but I begged them to take me to the hospital. Eventually they did, and I stayed there for 3-4 days. They did 2 ultrasounds, a 24 hour EKG, 2 blood tests, and they said everything was perfectly normal. I'm really worried that maybe they missed something, or that something is there that they just didn't see. But I'm pretty sure they knew what they were doing. But I'm still scared that something is wrong.
I've experienced many muscle aches and pains, dizziness and lightheadedness, and when I start to move around just a little bit, my heart starts beating too fast, and I have to sit down. I can't even go up the same old hill that I always go up on my way home from school without stopping a couple times! I'm getting sicker and sicker. I also have irregular heartbeats when I'm trying to sleep. But I will get to see my heart doctor again soon and endocrinologist soon.
I'm really scared that there's something wrong with my heart and/or there's something there that's causing it to act all weird that no one is catching. But all my doctors so far said I'm fine. But I REALLY don't think so. It's not anxiety. Something is really making me sick. I really want to go back to the hospital, but it's really expensive. I'm so scared and the worst part is, no one knows what's wrong with me yet. I'm too sick to even go to school and just walk around. But I'm going to get more tests and stuff done. I'm scared to death that maybe no one will find anything wrong, and that I'll have to live with these symptoms for a LONG time. I'm also scared of having a heart attack. That's my BIGGEST fear. But I really do think there's something wrong with my heart or that my heart is reacting to something in my body that shouldn't be there. I feel like it's 'sick', or that something is making it sick. And I get headaches and feel really awful.
Sometimes when my heart feels 'sick', I also get abdominal cramps and other weird feelings. But my pulse is usually good when I'm (resting 70-80), and I never really have severe chest pains. But I definitely feel like my heart is just so sick and that I'm sick. I just have this feeling that my heart and my body are really going through something bad right now. But the doctors so far say I'm OK, so what else can I do? I try to calm down and relax, but it's so hard for me.
What could possibly be causing all my misery? If int's not my heart itself that's causing my problems, I think it may be a virus/infection/syndrome/disease or something that's triggering it. The doctors believe that what I'm going through is physical and maybe partially mental, but I know that by worrying I only make my condition worse. It's so hard to believe that just a a month or so ago I was completely fine. I can't believe all this happened. It's so overwhelming. I just want to get better. I would give up everything just to feel 'normal' for one day. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to die and sometimes I want to just so that I could make it go away. I just wish I at least had a diagnosis so I could get treated for it, but now I'm scared that maybe no one will find anything and that I'm slowly dying. I really am physically sick. And I'm scared for my life. I just wish I knew for sure what I had. I know it takes time sometimes to make a diagnosis, but I'm too sick to even go to school and walk around just a little bit. I'm getting worse, NOT better.
PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
About a month or so ago, I started having these really weird heart palpitations that seemed to come overnight. I could literally feel my heart pounding so hard and heavy in my chest ALL the time. Even when I wasn't thinking about it I could still feel it. When I look at my chest, it looks and feels as if my heart is going to jump out any minute! I don't smoke, drink, do drugs, or drink or eat anything with alot of caffeine. I'm 5'2, 116 pounds, and was always pretty healthy and happy with no serious health problems. But after a few weeks, the symptoms didn't go away. So I asked my dad to take me over to the American clinic on the Army base where I go to school (I live in Germany in a little German village, so I thought that was the first best place to go!).
So they checked me out. My vitals were a bit high/irregular, so the doc prescribed Atenolol to help calm me down and slower my heart rate. I'm not sure whether it helped me or not. The doc told my Dad to take me to go a German heart doctor the next day, so he did. The heart doctor there was really nice, and he did an ultrasound of my heart and said it was ok. I also did a breathing test, which came out normal. And an EKG. So he said I have nothing to worry about and that everything looked fine and to come back in a few weeks for a stress test and 24 hour holtor monitor. And he said it was OK for me to continue taking Atenolol. Also, before all this started, I didn't get my period for 2-3 months. Also got swollen throat glands and felt really weird. I also get WEIRD heartbeats that are skipped and feel like 'flip-flops'. I also get a fluttering, numbing weird feeling in my chest. Everyone keeps telling me it's anxiety, but I don't really think it is.
But a couple days later, I woke up feeling REALLY sick one night, like I was going to throw up, then my heart started beating REALLY fast and my stomach felt like it had acid in it or something. So my dad drove me to the German hospital. My pulse was high for a while, but I calmed down after a few hours and they told me it was OK to go home. They wanted me to stay overnight for observation, and so did I, but my dad refused. So we went home. Later than night, after I woke up from a nap, I had the same racing heartbeat again! This time I just calmed down after drinking a big glass of water and taking ALOT of deep breaths.
The next few days, I started feeling REALLY sick. Sort of like the flu, except it felt like something was in my heart. My parents just told me it was anxiety and that I could be OK, but I begged them to take me to the hospital. Eventually they did, and I stayed there for 3-4 days. They did 2 ultrasounds, a 24 hour EKG, 2 blood tests, and they said everything was perfectly normal. I'm really worried that maybe they missed something, or that something is there that they just didn't see. But I'm pretty sure they knew what they were doing. But I'm still scared that something is wrong.
I've experienced many muscle aches and pains, dizziness and lightheadedness, and when I start to move around just a little bit, my heart starts beating too fast, and I have to sit down. I can't even go up the same old hill that I always go up on my way home from school without stopping a couple times! I'm getting sicker and sicker. I also have irregular heartbeats when I'm trying to sleep. But I will get to see my heart doctor again soon and endocrinologist soon.
I'm really scared that there's something wrong with my heart and/or there's something there that's causing it to act all weird that no one is catching. But all my doctors so far said I'm fine. But I REALLY don't think so. It's not anxiety. Something is really making me sick. I really want to go back to the hospital, but it's really expensive. I'm so scared and the worst part is, no one knows what's wrong with me yet. I'm too sick to even go to school and just walk around. But I'm going to get more tests and stuff done. I'm scared to death that maybe no one will find anything wrong, and that I'll have to live with these symptoms for a LONG time. I'm also scared of having a heart attack. That's my BIGGEST fear. But I really do think there's something wrong with my heart or that my heart is reacting to something in my body that shouldn't be there. I feel like it's 'sick', or that something is making it sick. And I get headaches and feel really awful.
Sometimes when my heart feels 'sick', I also get abdominal cramps and other weird feelings. But my pulse is usually good when I'm (resting 70-80), and I never really have severe chest pains. But I definitely feel like my heart is just so sick and that I'm sick. I just have this feeling that my heart and my body are really going through something bad right now. But the doctors so far say I'm OK, so what else can I do? I try to calm down and relax, but it's so hard for me.
What could possibly be causing all my misery? If int's not my heart itself that's causing my problems, I think it may be a virus/infection/syndrome/disease or something that's triggering it. The doctors believe that what I'm going through is physical and maybe partially mental, but I know that by worrying I only make my condition worse. It's so hard to believe that just a a month or so ago I was completely fine. I can't believe all this happened. It's so overwhelming. I just want to get better. I would give up everything just to feel 'normal' for one day. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to die and sometimes I want to just so that I could make it go away. I just wish I at least had a diagnosis so I could get treated for it, but now I'm scared that maybe no one will find anything and that I'm slowly dying. I really am physically sick. And I'm scared for my life. I just wish I knew for sure what I had. I know it takes time sometimes to make a diagnosis, but I'm too sick to even go to school and walk around just a little bit. I'm getting worse, NOT better.
PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE UNDERSTAND !!!! YOU TOTALLY SOUND LIKE A HIGH ANXIETY TYPE PERSONALITY THAT BRINGS ON ALL THESE SYMPTOMS!!!!!!!! I have suffered for years 23 years to be exact, and I am still here ......and I still check this forum when I get to many weird heart beats . like You I had all the test was told it was in my head and sent home with a big bill! The trick is get a hold of your mind . I noticed in your post you said many time you thought your heart was sick and your thoughts become your reality ! Start to say I am perfectly healthy and my heart beats perfectly healthy and strong every time you have a negative thought, say that to over ride the negative thoughts ! get a hold of some self help books about relaxation and positive thought . Maybe something else is going on in your life and you don't want to look at , so you focus on your health and you don't even realize you are doing it . You are young and have a long road ahead of you this is fixable but you must work hard on fixing the inside of you ! If you need some suggestions on good books to help let me now ! Believe me,,,, I and the people on here totally understand everything you are saying you are not alone !
HI there. Please try to stay as calm as possible. Also, read the posts here. You are in the right place. The symptoms you have, we all have had at one time or another. I have lived with these symptoms for 31 years and have felt like I was dying many times. I didn't. The more afraid you are, the more you work yourself up and the more these things will happen. If you think that when they wake you up from sleep it can't possibly be related to anxiety.....well, you're wrong. Anxiety can cause a multitude of horrible symptoms. Your body LOVES to react to the chemicals released by fear. Before you get upset at what I'm saying listen to this: I don't think anxiety STARTED your symptoms. The heart just does things to some people. However, once it does something to scare you, your body will react and make everything worse. Trust me on this one. If they've done all these tests and are going to do more, listen to them. If you feel bad, come here and talk to us. Read these posts. They will help you cope. I don't think they will find anything seriously wrong with you, but if they would, they may be able to treat it. Try to relax as much as you can until then. Oh...and water never hurt anyone! *hugs*
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