Hello, I am a 26 year old male, non smoker, a couple beers on the weekend.
I just went to the doctor for what I think is a heart issue. I've been scheduled for a stress test for next week (echo, nuclear) as well as blood work.
The problem is the day after I saw her a new set up symptoms have cropped up and they are devastatingly terrifying. I am losing sleep over it.
First off, I suffer from general anxiety. Also, I have PVCs sometimes...no big deal. Those don't scare me anymore.
What IS scaring me is this new set of symptoms where I feel like I'm going to die at any moment, i'll describe them best I can.
Before I do, I want to state that my father had a heart attack at 25 and triple bypass at 33. I was also informed that my grandfather and great grandfather have all had heart attacks, too. So you can see how I am so apprehensive about
this situation.
I would also like to note that I radically changed my diet a couple months ago. I cut out all refined food, I limit saturated fats, increased unsaturated fats, more fiber and eat lots of vegetables now. I've lost 35 pounds doing this (I haven't exercised much at all) so I know I've made some important steps in at least delaying heart problems.
I am experiencing palpitations. That doesn't seem like a big deal...but the thing is they are happening frequently at rest. This hasn't happened until now. I mean my heart POUNDS like crazy. Like it's working way harder than it should be... Most of the time it's at a resting heart rate (70-80bpm) occasionally it'll be up slightly but I think that's due to anxiety. One beat will be totally normal then suddenly a few beats are beating against my chest. I can also see it in my eyes when it happens (I've been noticing the pulsing in my eyes for weeks now...). Another way to describe this would be that I feel the thump I normally would with a PVC but I know it's not a PVC. It happens with every heartbeat.
Another symptoms if where I'm just sitting here normally and then suddenly "BOOM!" in my chest. A an extremely hard painful thump in my chest followed by the a couple quick heartbeats before returning to normal.
I'm also getting these sharp pains that I KNOW are coming from my heart. It lasts for a split second and radiates. (My doctor suspects a mitral valve prolapse so maybe this was caused by that?)
Another big symptoms is sometimes I'll feel like I need to cough with a normal heartbeat. It's similar to a PVC in that I feel like I have to cough when it happens. These are NOT PVCs, however. It feels like a normal heartbeat but I just feel like I need to cough on every single heartbeat. It lasts maybe 10-15 seconds?
Also, I'm getting tingling almost burning sensation across my body. It started on the left side of the chest before migrating to the side, the back, and the arm and shoulder not always at the same time. I swear I even felt it on my head and face. I'm not sure if this is related or not but it sure is coincidental.
Finally, I just took a short walk today and I got short of breath a little bit. My heart rate wasn't up too much but I wasn't pushing myself at all. It was a leisurely walk....
These can happen at any time and I am terrified of going to sleep at night. I honestly feel like I'm going to die before I get a chance to go up and get the tests done.
I am uninsured and unemployed at the moment, so I'm thankful I was able to see a doctor at a free clinic. If I had insurance I'd probably go up to the ER just to rule out any immediate dangers...but I can't.
I'm just so freaking scared that I almost wish I would just die so I don't have to live with it anymore.
One final note: I can't exercise like I want because when I do, my heart rate stays over 100 for hours after I finish the workout....so I haven't done that. I'm also kind of terrified this is going to happen during the stress test...at least I'll be in the hospital if it does...
PLEASE, any insight will be a godsend. I'm so terrified I am going to die.
Edit: I would also like to add that my doc put me on pantaprazole for my acid reflux. I'd been on omeprazole for years. ...These terrible symptoms started around the time I started taking that (except for tachycardia hours after workout). I'm gonna go back to omeprazole for a little while and see if they go away. At least I'll be able to rest easy before next week's tests.
Post Edited (Bluejolt) : 8/14/2015 6:30:29 PM (GMT-6)