Let's start by saying I turned 19 on October 12th, 2010
This all started on July 1st, 2010. I had been taking Hydroxycut Hardcore X for about 2-3 weeks in order to cut down fat. I was exercising and eating very healthy. That night however, I smoked a joint to myself and took one hydrocodone (yes, i took my dad's hydrocodone for his teeth, stupid decision) immediately before I went to take a shower. I was pretty high from the joint and the shower was pretty hot. But I do remember I went to the shower thinking I had some sort of STD because of a bump on my pubic area, (which later became known as an ingrown hair from shaving) I kept thinking about it while I was high in the shower and I was a little scared. All of a sudden, I got out of the shower and completely blacked out, and the next thing I know, I'm on the ground next to shards of glass from a mirror I broke when I hit the ground. I got up and couldn't remember a thing, such as what day it was, where my dad went, what time it was, for about 2 or 3 minutes. I was really scared but after I collected myself, I went and laid on the couch and watched a movie and went to sleep.
I woke up and went to a group job interview the next day, everything was normal, or so i thought. I began getting really sweaty and anxious and dizzy, and I told my mom what happened the night before. She told me I should go see my doctor, who is a family friend. I went to his office and he said I had a concussion and I should get a CT scan. I got one immediately and the results looked perfectly normal. We went to go see a movie after, and I began feeling the same symptoms, like I was going to pass out. I started freaking out, breathing heavy, getting dizzy, and begged my mom to leave the movie and take me to the hospital. So we went and I began freaking out even more when I got there, legitimately thinking I was going to die. I was admitted and they said it was just a panic attack. After I left, for days I began getting very anxious and didn't feel like doing anything with my life in the summer. I always thought I was going to pass out and it was really debilitating.
3 weeks later, July 28th, 2010, I went to a friends house and smoked some weed. We were just hanging out, having a good time and I continued to smoke a bowl to myself out of a bong. It was a pretty good sized nug of weed, and I was really high after. I got a text from my girlfriend at the time telling me that I might have given her HPV, and I began to freak out. When I am high, my mind always races and I'm thinking really unusual, negative thoughts and I began to panic. I went outside to smoke a cigarette and I kept thinking about it. I went inside and sat down, my heart was racing, I started to get sweaty and light headed so i went outside to get some air. It just continued to get worse and I ended up blacking out again and I woke up trying to get off of the cement ground and had a HUGE gash between my eye and eyebrow bone, so deep you could see the bone. I had my friend rush me to the hospital and I got it all stitched up and told the doctors what happened, they took an EKG and everything looked fine, but I wasn't panicking when I got it. They released me with anxiety. I was disappointed because I felt like something was wrong.
Again, October 2nd, I took a preworkout supplement around 3 or 4 pm and began to freak out because I started feeling really weird, like passing out. I continued workout but i was really uncomfortable afterwards. I went home and my stomach started hurting and my heart was racing, again panicking. I thought i was going to throw up or have a heart attack. I went to the ER with a friend and it took so long for them to call me that by the time I went in a felt fine, but a little bit of pressure on my heart. I took another EKG and chest x-ray and both were completely normal. Again, no surprise, released with anxiety.
Over the past 2 months, after the workout incident, I've been having mild chest pains in my left chest, right above my heart. I could press the area and it would hurt, but i would also have palpitations and I could see my heart beat out of my chest on and off for these months. I have a dull ache in my left arm sometimes and heart flutters. I get light headed too a lot when I'm out in public but when i'm by myself or in my car I feel normal, but my doctor says its an inner ear virus. Now, I have HORRIBLE anxiety, can't go 10 minutes in my day without thinking about my health, my heart or if I'm going to die, literally. Constantly checking my pulse, being alone in my room with a house full of roommates having fun looking up symptoms online. I can feel it in that vain in my head or when i'm sleeping laying on my side. I spent HOURS a day doing this. I pretty much self diagnosed my self with a serious heart problem. I did horrible in college this past quarter because I didn't want to go to class in fear of something happening. I never want to do things that I used to do, like go out and party. I'll drink on the weekends, after all I party a lot and I am a college kid. But I'll be anxious that the alcohol will mess with my heart and I'll pass out or something. Before the first incident of blacking out, I'd always drink and have no problem at all.
Also, this has never happened before, but the day after drinking heavy on new year's eve, I got bad palpitations, very fast heart rate and a funny feeling in my chest for a couple hours, PVC's, very lightheaded. I'm pretty sure I woke up still drunk, but I don't feel any symptoms while drunk at night.
I had an echocardiogram done, looked perfect, the cardiologist said.
2 blood tests, both looked very normal
2 EKGs, again, looked perfect
Chest x-ray, perfect
I want to get a holter or event monitor to rule out an arrhythmia
Now my question is, did i develop a heart problem out of nowhere, or severe anxiety? Every doctor I went to said "you don't have any serious disease, go out and live your life" but I am feeling different. The PVCs after drinking scare me and rapid heart rates out of no where do too. Did the marijuana induce my anxiety? I have taken ecstasy 3 times in my life but not anymore. I have no history of heart disease in my family, my grandma and sister have diabetes and my grandma's heart problems were caused by her diabetes. My uncle died of a heart problem but only because he smoked 3 packs of cigarettes a day for 40 years. My dad smoked for about 30 years and is perfectly fine. I have smoked cigarettes for about 2 years, roughly 3 packs a week. I smoke maybe 3-6 cigarettes a day now and I'm planning on quitting this month. As for drinking, i don't want to hear that I should stop or anything like that because I don't drink too much. Just try to answer other questions first please.Someone please help me, this is taking over my life and I have felt like crying for no apparent reason at all over the past month or two. I left for college again today and felt like crying, never felt that way before. Is this turning into depression? Or does it sound like a heart problem? Could it develop into a heart problem? Did my experiences from blacking out cause the anxiety? Why is this happening to me? I would definitely consider myself a hypochondriac but I'm wondering if the anxiety caused the worry of the heart problems or if I actually do have heart problems and that is causing anxiety. I don't have widespread chest pain, just on the left side, right above and around the heart. I was working out very wrong for a couple weeks on my left side and I still work out. I'm currently taking xanax, .125 mg 3 times a day and it helps. But when I'm not on it I freak out again. Every doctor i've seen (3) have told me i don't have a heart problem..but I still feel like i might. I don't feel the symptoms when i am at the doc's office but when I'm alone or at home they come on and I freak out! Someone please help me!