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Anxiety?or Heart problems?..really worried
Hello,I am new to this website and I hope someone can help me here....
Sometimes,I am very emotional when I lose a loved one(relative, bestfriend). I am very healty person.Non-smoker,Non-drinker.I've been stressed ever since I lost someone I really love,and I was so stressed that my heart started beating hard..I already let go of the emotianal feeling...but then I started to feel strong heartbeats on my chest,mild-numb hands and feet.As I was going to sleep,and close my eyes for a few minutes..I can feel that strong heart beat on my chest.It doesn't hurt but uncomfortable coz I can't sleep well when I feel this strong beats on my chest...I notice that...when I inhale/exhale, I notice changes on my heart rate...Sometimes fast,sometimes normal with the strong hearbeat; I also feel kind of passing out because of that heart beat and it now bothers me and becoming worried...Is there a possibility that I am having heart problems?Or is it because of Anxiety?I just wanted to make sure because I've never had this feeling before.It's been 5 days now and it's still like this..If it is Anxiety,what is the best thing to do to get rid of this uncomfortable feeling/heart beat.?My hands and feet are kind of numb and that's why I thought it's not normal.Or if it is a heart problem, is it possible to get rid of this "feeling" as well?How?I just hope that I will be in good shape.Thank you very much doctor.....Please help me.
Sometimes,I am very emotional when I lose a loved one(relative, bestfriend). I am very healty person.Non-smoker,Non-drinker.I've been stressed ever since I lost someone I really love,and I was so stressed that my heart started beating hard..I already let go of the emotianal feeling...but then I started to feel strong heartbeats on my chest,mild-numb hands and feet.As I was going to sleep,and close my eyes for a few minutes..I can feel that strong heart beat on my chest.It doesn't hurt but uncomfortable coz I can't sleep well when I feel this strong beats on my chest...I notice that...when I inhale/exhale, I notice changes on my heart rate...Sometimes fast,sometimes normal with the strong hearbeat; I also feel kind of passing out because of that heart beat and it now bothers me and becoming worried...Is there a possibility that I am having heart problems?Or is it because of Anxiety?I just wanted to make sure because I've never had this feeling before.It's been 5 days now and it's still like this..If it is Anxiety,what is the best thing to do to get rid of this uncomfortable feeling/heart beat.?My hands and feet are kind of numb and that's why I thought it's not normal.Or if it is a heart problem, is it possible to get rid of this "feeling" as well?How?I just hope that I will be in good shape.Thank you very much doctor.....Please help me.
COMMUNITY LEADER
There is no way anyone on this Community can answer your questions, but we will try to help you along the way to answers.
First it is best to at least discuss your symptoms with your primary care doctor, and best if s/he can do an electrocardiogram to the first-line heart health check.
Then, given anxiety or other emotional difficulties possible effect on the heart, try to calm down and get your mind off of you losses and worries. How? That's the real question. Some suggestions: talk with friends, focus on family and work, read something enjoyable/challenging..... think up things that really take you full mind and try them. Maybe an over the counter sleep aid may help at night. They don't help me but do help my wife go to sleep.
Try to think positive, sounds like you have a health life-style and your love of people will come back to you from those who love you.
First it is best to at least discuss your symptoms with your primary care doctor, and best if s/he can do an electrocardiogram to the first-line heart health check.
Then, given anxiety or other emotional difficulties possible effect on the heart, try to calm down and get your mind off of you losses and worries. How? That's the real question. Some suggestions: talk with friends, focus on family and work, read something enjoyable/challenging..... think up things that really take you full mind and try them. Maybe an over the counter sleep aid may help at night. They don't help me but do help my wife go to sleep.
Try to think positive, sounds like you have a health life-style and your love of people will come back to you from those who love you.
First of all, I'm terribly sorry to hear you've lost a loved one. Never ever an easy time. Second, Jerry is absolutely right about going to see a doctor and having them check you out. Not everyone's favorite thing, but when it comes to questions about your heart, go to the doc. Can the anxiety be causing your symptoms? Sure. Or at least the anxiety is amplifying your symptoms. When I went through my divorce I had the strangest of symptoms - scary tingling in my hands and feet when I was stressed out. The sensation eventually subsided when I adjusted to my new situation.
If indeed you do have some sort of arrhythmia, know that you are not alone, not by a long shot. More people have one type or another and live long lives in spite of it. Every one of them will tell you anxiety makes the symptoms worse - a vicious circle because the fact of having a quirk with one's heart tends to cause anxiety (how could it not.) Again, the best thing is to see the doc and go from there. Whatever the underlying cause, know that there is a wealth of personal knowledge and friends here to if nothing else commiserate with you. Hope some of this rambling helps.
If indeed you do have some sort of arrhythmia, know that you are not alone, not by a long shot. More people have one type or another and live long lives in spite of it. Every one of them will tell you anxiety makes the symptoms worse - a vicious circle because the fact of having a quirk with one's heart tends to cause anxiety (how could it not.) Again, the best thing is to see the doc and go from there. Whatever the underlying cause, know that there is a wealth of personal knowledge and friends here to if nothing else commiserate with you. Hope some of this rambling helps.
Hi Jvegalogs,
While you need to have a doctor give you a workup to assess the condition of your heart, I can almost assure you that it is only stress related. There are 3 things that can basically happen to your heart that are bad: 1) a clot that clogs the system resulting in tissue death, 2) congestive heart failure where there is some sort of backup in the system or a deficiency in the ability of the heart to pump as rigorously as it should or 3) an electrical problem that ends up causing a total loss of coordination in the cycle.
I have had exactly the same symptoms as you have had. I remember after 9-11 getting those really heavy heart beats all the time because I was really stressed about the prospect of getting drafted. I was an undergrad at the time and in olympic level condition (played D1 sports) but my heart would beat so hard that it would shake the whole bed. This alone is not indicitive of a heart problem. I think it may lead to an enlarged heart if it happens for decades but I'm not sure. I just know that I've had it and according to my doc, I don't have an enlarged heart.
Definitely get your ticker checked out and consider some meds for anxiety. I really think that there is nothing in your history that indicates heart disease of any type. Classic symptoms to watch for are dizzyness (and you have to seperate what is truely dizzyness and what is stress after an 'oh my god' moment), fainting, severe chest pain etc.
While you need to have a doctor give you a workup to assess the condition of your heart, I can almost assure you that it is only stress related. There are 3 things that can basically happen to your heart that are bad: 1) a clot that clogs the system resulting in tissue death, 2) congestive heart failure where there is some sort of backup in the system or a deficiency in the ability of the heart to pump as rigorously as it should or 3) an electrical problem that ends up causing a total loss of coordination in the cycle.
I have had exactly the same symptoms as you have had. I remember after 9-11 getting those really heavy heart beats all the time because I was really stressed about the prospect of getting drafted. I was an undergrad at the time and in olympic level condition (played D1 sports) but my heart would beat so hard that it would shake the whole bed. This alone is not indicitive of a heart problem. I think it may lead to an enlarged heart if it happens for decades but I'm not sure. I just know that I've had it and according to my doc, I don't have an enlarged heart.
Definitely get your ticker checked out and consider some meds for anxiety. I really think that there is nothing in your history that indicates heart disease of any type. Classic symptoms to watch for are dizzyness (and you have to seperate what is truely dizzyness and what is stress after an 'oh my god' moment), fainting, severe chest pain etc.
Thank you for the support, I feel a lot better now.My heart rate is normal,my urine color normal,I don't have highblood pressure.It is the anxiety.I do my best to relieve this stress I had,and live a happy life.Now,I feel great.no strong hearbeats now.The only thing is, I feel a little..just a little numbness on my feet.I can still walk,I can still run,I even played soccer with my friends and didn't get tired at all.I hope this feeling continues,but I will still go see my doctor.Thanks guys....(I hope even numbness on my feet is not a bad symptom).Take care and God Bless
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