How do I know I'm going through anxiety, and not heart problems.

[gshanereid]

Ok heres my story. Im 18 years old and last march I started taking this product called N.O. Xplode. (Nitric Oxcide Explode) I had freaking awesome workouts (excuse my youthful expressions) mostly due to the amount of caffeine they put in this product but was getting in great shape. I loved working out and I just was addicted to it. Riding the bike, lifting weights, etc. Anyway I continued to take this supplement for 7 months. I read on the internet it can damage your liver so I threw it down the drain, stopped taking it, started worrying. The first two weeks I was off of it I felt fine. But would worry myself sick at night about what I may have done to my body. During the day I was fine though. But one day I stood up off the couch and my heart started racing I went lightheaded and thought I had heart problems. After that episode my heart continued to race when I would stand up or be the slightest bit active. After about a month of heart palpitations and worrying myself sick I was sitting in biology and started having panic attacks. I had 4 attacks in one hour so I went to the doctor after class. I told him my story so we did blood test. I had high cholesterol but thats it. He said to not worry about the cholesterol. He also performed an EKG on me and the test came out normal. He then told me to stop worrying and that I was fine, he also prescribed me xanex. I take Xanex and for the most part it works. But yesterday in P.E. I jogged about 5 feet and my heart went absolutely nuts. It wasr racing fast and felt like it was skipping beats. I laid down on a bench and my heart went back to normal within 2 minutes. Was this a panic attack that was just triggered by exercise, or was my EKG wrong and I do indeed have heart problems?

[MrGreen]

If you done nothing and suddenly one day went out jogging I would expect the heart race that bit faster. I don't see anything uncommon in that one at all. We can also look at the xanax. Your medication. Maybe they are having an effect on. They work different ways for different users. Were they are meant to calm people down, some people do experience some anxiety when they first use the medication. Others might not experience the same side effects at all. As for the eating? I would look towards your thinking on what you imagine those things you were taken when you were mad into exercise might have done to your body. The fear that it might have done something to your insides. Putting food into your insides might make you panic as you expect a reaction.

Nursie makes a good point. You can have such thing as a stress test done. Wire you up some and monitor your vital organs. Just to see if everything is working as it should be. Might be worth having one done. Just for peace of mind.

I just think you are worrying too much. Adding unwanted stress to the situation. You have to learn how to control that.

[gshanereid]

OK. thank you alot it really means alot to me that you would take time to put up with my paranoia. I guess my biggest concern is when I tried jogging and my heart went crazy. Do you guys think the sudden adrenaline triggered a panic attack? Honestly im just really scared right now and want my life to go back to normal and want to be able to go back to my old workout eventually. I really enjoyed working out and biking and now I cant do any of that because of my irregular and rapid heartbeats during. I am also very frightened about how it speeds up and skips after eating. I know I sound pathetic and like I worry to much, but if you could just please understand how scared I am. I have never had this much anxiety or fear about my health in my life and im only 18. I haven't been normal since early September and im so depressed about my heart. I honestly hope its a mental disorder, I just have a hard time believing extreme anxiety can put me on the couch motionless all day. But maybe because I have been doing nothing but worrying for bout 2 months.

[nursegirl6572]

First of all...one meal a day?  That is not healthy, especially being as active as you are.  Not that it has anything to do with your symptoms...but that is something you may consider changing.  That actually can have the opposite effect that what you are trying for, as far as health and fitness.

It is likely that you are just fine.  It sounds like more of an anxiety response more than anything, and now you've become hyper-aware of any little sensation.  Things that may have even been present before that you never noticed.

That being said....it wouldn't hurt to have a work-up by a cardiologist, more for peace of mind, but also to rule out the presence of a new heart murmur (which are very common), etc.  They can do an echocardiogram, which looks at the heart structures via ultrasound..  An EKG looks at the electrical functioning of the heart...and they are very valuable in ruling out serious events, such as heart attacks, but there are other studies that can be valuable as well.  But, an EKG is not a "worthless" test by any means! I just think a more thorouogh work-up would give YOU some peace of mind and it would allow any condition to be ruled out.  Just tell your parents that you would feel more comfortable with that so you can let it go and move on.  Are you on their insurance?  Otherwise, if you are of legal adult age, why would you need their "permission"?

In my own opinion, it sounds to me that you could be having PVC's (premature ventricular contractions), which most times is a fairly benign occurence...but if you ARE having them and the symptoms are bothersome, a doc may want to consider trying a medication like a beta blocker.  PVC's are often what causes the feeling as though your heart "skipped" a beat....or has an "extra" beat.  I have them myself quite frequently and I KNOW they are irritating...they are very noticeable.  When I first experienced them, I was frightened also, until I found out what they were. I went for an eval and actually saw them on the EKG...which was neat.  

I actually noticed the frequency of PVC's to increase after taking meds such as Xanax and Ativan, and while my psychiatrist could never state a correlation, I know there was a cause and effect deal happening there.  I only ever took the Ativan (years ago) very infrequently...and would have PVC's for several days AFTER taking it.  Happened every single time....so that is something to keep in mind as well.  To this day, if I ever have a need to take a Xanax (very rare), I notice some PVC's in the days following the dose.  

Bottom line though...even with my recommendation...it is HIGHLY unlikely at your age and in your state of health, that you have anything wrong with your heart at all.  Make sure if you get to a cardiologist...that you tell him about the product you use for your work-outs...just to be sure it isn't the culprit of your symptoms.

Best of luck, try not to worry too much.

[gshanereid]

Thank you so much for your comment! But I am still concerned, I might also add that my heart speeds up after eating, can that be tied to some psychological concerns on eating. I do eat one meal a day if that means anything. Also my heart still beats fast after I take my xanex. Is it just my anxiety side telling me that this one pill should solve everything and its not solving it, which leads to more anxiety. But seriously man, thanks for your time and comment, I hate to bombard people with questions but I just fear I have either a heart problem or a serious anxiety disorder. My parents refuse to take me back to the doctor because of the EKG coming out normal. But me being Mr. Anxiety I researched EKG and now Im convinced they are worthless test.

[MrGreen]

I think the first heart scare has just made you more conscious of your heart. Let us just pretend that when your heart first start really fast, that day you got up off the couch, and you said ' agh, this is nothing ' and paid it no attention at all. Your whole situation would be different today. It is kind of like you began to focus inwardly and became fully aware of every little blipp that was going on in your body. What is the first thing we do? That initial reaction? To find something to blame it on. Exercise or loads of movement. So from then on in whenever you did anything that could be considered excise your were more focused on your heart than you would have been a year ago. You also had the added worry about the product you used. Had it done any damage to you. You wanted answers and your body reactions were the answers. The heart. The pain. Any slight twitch. This was you reassuring your mind that the product had maybe done some damage. When really it hadn't. But we let things get deep rooted the more we believe in them. The deeper they get the harder the situations become too. Panic attacks can kick in. Total stress. They can all be linked back to your intial reaction when you felt that first pounding heart. It just carried on from there. You now have to try and believe in your doctor and trust in the fact that there is nothing seriously wrong with you. Once you get over that hurdle you will find things should become a lot easier for you. You EKG was right. Trust in it. You have just let all this build up. Now you have to learn a few coping methods. Theraphy is good for teaching you ways to cope. And to let you see how you blew something minor into something massive. Until you can get help, try a little distraction. MP3 player is out and about. So you won't notice the amount of walking you might be doing. Maybe a hobby for indoors. Really you just have to learn how to cope with it. Bit like rewinding the whole situation. Back to when you were well and had no worries. It can be done. You just have to believe in yourself and others.