Health anxiety - Really scared...

Hello everyone and my apologies for the long post that will follow. Just to give a little bit of background and introduce myself first of all.

My name is John and I am 26 years old male. I have been in the US for the last 2 years,left my country and family behind and came to marry my wife and started a new life and job. My first symptoms started about 10 months ago. I started having weird chest pains on my left side, arms and under my left ribs. I went to the doctor and he did some blood work back then which came back fine. He also ordered a 24 hour holter monitor which did show a couple of PVC'S and PAC'S but nothing that made him worry. My pains kept on persisting back then and I went to the ER where the doctor did and EKG and told me that everything was anxiety related.

Since then, I have been struggling... I thought that something was wrong with my brain for a month or two, because of random dizziness and increase in heart rate. We did a brain MRI and ofc everything came back normal... After that, I started worrying that I have west nile virus, I would get a bit hot and I would worry to death. I had a neck X-RAY because of neck pain for months and also a neck MRI which showed only a bulged disk... I was kinda fine for a little while, but I started school a couple of months ago and combining it with work I got overwhelmed.

My current symptoms started almost 5 weeks ago. I started having some chest pains on the left side of my breast bone, increased heart rate and PVC's. I immediately drove myself to the ER where the doctor did 2 EKG'S (the first showed some PVC'S, the second was fine), X-RAY of the chest, blood work, CT scan of the chest, everything came back normal and I was released. The pain kept on being there, so I went to the Urgent care 2 more times, more tests and everything normal again. I even went to the cardiologist, had a stress test which was also normal. I went to a psychiatrist, who put me on celexa and ativan. I had really bad side effects and stopped both of them after 2 weeks of use.

Lately I have been having really weird symptoms. I have countless PVC'S, increased heart rate(especially after I eat, for at least a couple of hours which goes as high as 150 sometimes for a bit), stomach upset, chest pains that go on my arms, back and shoulder and a lot more that I can't even think off. The last doctor that I went told me that I might be suffering from GERD.

I had by now in a year : around 8 EKG'S, 5 blood works, 3 chest x-rays, 1 x-ray of the neck, 24 monitor, stress test, ct of the chest, head mri, neck mri and some more that I might be forgetting. I have let myself totally, can't enjoy anything at all, and I am in constant stress 24/7. I feel that I have a heart problem that the doctor's have probably missed and I keep on googling things all day long. I have seen so many different problems from blogs, to health websites, that I am sure that something is wrong with me...

I have also started CBT, I have my 4th session this week, but it doesn't seem to be helping that much.

Any ideas and/or suggesting would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you and sorry again for the long post.

idk, you need to find a medication you can tolerate, many of us can't endure the anxiety/panic without
a little help, you might try the ativan alone, I personal y used xanax by its self and did quiet well. You really need to pay attention to what I am going to tell you,
these anxiety and panic attacks will not kill you!!!!!!

The only power they have over you is fear, fear is only able to scare you, find a way to distract yourself
and start fighting these attacks, yes you can. Read all the posts you can here there are many people with
the same problem you have, PAD is a thief and robber of your life, fight back! Peace

Larry ***

Hi IDK and welcome.

I am sorry to hear of your worries and health anxiety. It is easy to see why so many people have concerns regarding their health when feeling the symptoms brought on by stress. It is a vicious cycle...anxiety = symptoms = more anxiety and so on.

You have pretty undeniable proof that you are healthy physically, with the exception of possible GERD...so now it is time to focus on managing the anxiety (and treating the GERD which together with anxiety managment will help!)

CBT is awesome, so good job on getting started! The downside? It does take time and dedication. Try to be patient and hang in there. Do all of the exercises and homework that is given to you, and know that it took me about 10 sessions to start seeing improvement. Once I did however, it was pretty amazing.:)

In the meantime, why not check out our Resources here? In this link you will find: Informative articles,  exercises and coping skills to bring down overall anxiety levels and symptoms,  even two book recommendations for managing health anxiety specifically!https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=9&m=104206

Keep posting with us as well. Support is key and makes a huge difference. We are here to understand and care anytime you need encouragement.:)

Talk to you soon,

Scaredy Cat

Idk,

I am in the same boat as you. I myself suffer from health anxiety. I have had all the symptoms you have and have done all the tests you have done. This disorder sucks...big time. It not only takes away th control you thought you had, it takes away the joy you should be having.


No the good part, it gets better. Like Larry said, it will not kill you. You need to put that in your head first and foremost. It might scare th hell out of you but that's it. You have had the tests that you needed to have ran and they all came back clear. You yourself said you at in good physical condition. Now it is just getting over that mental hump. And that my friend is the hard part. I hate to say it but it is. With all the anxiety you have built up I've the past months, your brain as rewired itself. It now takes any stimulation or weird feeling you have and flips the Bat Signal on saying it needs help. You have to just find away to stop it. Whether it be medication or CBT, you are in complete control of the situation.

I wish you th best of luck with getting through this. Just remember to take a deep breath every know and then and relax. I hope something I said helped you.


Chris

Thank you so much for all your support. Yes, I do feel sometimes that I do not live my life anymore, which sucks a lot, because I want to go out and do things, but all those ''weird'' sensations hold me down...

I actually did try once to check the GERD forum, but after some things I read, I got more scared so I stopped reading, LOL. (horrible health anxiety, i know.)

I am going to the GI doctor in 2 days, hopefully that will prove to be helpful and tomorrow I have my 4th session with my therapist.

I do have to say though, that today after eating really light I didn't really have many symptoms. I also have to move a mattress 2 floors up, which didn't cause me any chest pains, but of course the chest pains came later after thinking about it.

Starting to realize how strong the mind is and how can actually ''cause'' those pains only by thinking about it over and over again is amazing.

idk I really don't want to tell you this but we have people who have been to ER countless times had ekg's
ect, and they still doubt that the doctors missed something, personally I would prefer to have PAD than
some real disease.

Our Moderators have pointed out to others here that therapists are all different, some probably should have chosen a different job skill, but it's about You, get what you pay for or get another therapist they can make a world of difference. Peace

Larry ***

Hi IDK,

CBT is usually a combination of talk therapy and exercises/coping skills which teach you to redirect your thinking. You learn how to turn negative/fearful thinking (which feeds anxious thinking and symptoms) into positive/rational thought patterns.

We have some book recommendations in our Resources for books that teach these techniques, as well as therapy downloads that have the worksheets that are used in CBT. You can have a look and see if any of these things look helpful.

You can also express your desire to move your sessions in a more pro-active direction by asking your therapist about implementing some worksheets into your program.

Hopefully between these two ideas, you can get some of the results that you are wanting to see.:)

S.C.

Thank you S.C. and Bluejay.

I will surely talk to my therapist about it, and even if I know that it takes time for therapy to work, me only doing the talking and not getting any exercises is not really helping me out right now.

I did check about costochondritis before, I am not sure if it might be a possibility or not. It does feel like a muscle pain sometimes, but again I am not sure what is going on.

I did go to my gastro today and I am going in for an endoscopy next Thursday. He didn't really tell me anything about my symptoms, he did say though that I had a lot of tests done, but he is interested on what the cardio might say on Tuesday.

I am hoping after all those appointment/procedures that I will be done with the doctors, I am getting really sick of going to the doctor all the time without finding any relief.

Thank you for all your responses, all of you are great!

Great news!!

I am glad that you have found a good PCP...and one that acknowledges the connection between GERD/GI issues with PVC/PAC's.;) (not all do)

It sounds like you are really on your way toward figuring all of this out, and moving forward with treamtent.

I am sorry you were delayed with your cold.;(

...but it is good that you were able to reschedule soon. (btw...if you are in the States....how is that going to affect your Thankgiving?!?)

Keep up the great work, and keep posting.:)

S.C.

Great news!

Yes keep us updated when you can and let us know how you are doing.

We are always here to understand and cheer you on!

Keep up the good work.

S.C.