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Young with Cardiophobia

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Posted 6/2/2015 2:56 AM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone, first time posting here.

about me- I'm 25 and have had some bouts of tachycardia. Cardiologists have said it's not a big deal and I'm fine.

My problem is I'm convinced I'm going to die from something heart related. To date, I've had probably 15-20 EKG's, stress test, echo, worn a holter monitor twice and an event recorder for a month. All my blood tests have been negative, and doctors have consistently said I'm fine.

The thing is, I feel so physically bad. I'm not overweight, have played sports all my life, and largely have lived my life with no fear of anything whatsoever. But since these bouts of tachycardia started last December, my life has screeched to a halt.

I used to go to the gym and be pretty strong, never really felt tired from life, and thought I would live til my 70s barring a catastrophe. Now I feel like that catastrophe is just around the corner.

If anxiety is causing all my symptoms, then I am astounded it is the culprit. Some things like heart racing and 'brain fog' are expected but other things I can't even explain, like my lips vibrating and being able to feel my pulse in my teeth...

I guess I'm just writing here to be heard. And my question would be, can anxiety have this many different and just weird symptoms? Also, as I said I've always been active and felt fine, but now I'm scared to get off the couch when I'm home alone in case I'll pass out. Can being sedentary have such a huge physical effect on someone where they feel 50 years older?

Thank you to anyone who reads this far :-)
Posted 6/2/2015 7:24 AM (GMT 0)
This is the most random fact that might "help" you...I say "help" because it's just weird, really....ok...I feel a pulse in my teeth. I always have, even before I had anxiety. I also had a pulse in my stomach. about ten years ago I was in the ER for my knee and I had a very heavy pulse in my stomach. I figured since I was at the ER I'd ask a doctor. he said "i'll be right back" he came back with another doctor and showed him my stomach, which looked like it was beating. the doctor felt my stomach and said if it just happened for the first time it could be hernia, but I'm thin and turns out thin people have pulses in lots of places. I asked about my teeth and my head and a few other random body parts...he said it's normal and there is no bad reason for it. it has nothing to do with anything. it just happens...
see, not much help, because I have anxiety and I feel a pulse in my teeth some times, so I don't know why.
I'm sorry you have tachycardia, and I know it's hard to believe doctors say you're ok when you don't feel well. sometimes when I feel anxious or depressed I feel physically unwell.
hope you start feeling better!
Posted 6/2/2015 8:32 AM (GMT 0)
Hi

Welcome to the forum you will get good support here from others who can relate to what you are going through.

I am pleased you have had a lot of tests and they have all come back clear that is good news and you now need to do the hard thing which is believe those results if there was something wrong it would of showed up in your tests.

It sounds like you are suffering with health anxiety which a lot of us suffer with here myself included. Anxiety can cause all sorts of symptoms both physical and mental including the ones you mentioned but the good news is lots can be done to help with anxiety such as taking medication or doing some talking therapy such as CBT or Mindfulness Meditation the best person to ask about these is your doctor.

In the meantime take a look at our resources thread which you will find on the main page first post which has some useful links to self help guides.

Stay with us and keep posting.

Hibee
Posted 6/2/2015 5:40 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome Upside, I'm happy you found us but sorry you are dealing with these symptoms. I also suffer from tachycardia and have all the heart test, my doctor thinks it might be one of the meds I'm on which I will begin tapering off of at the end of the month from my shrink, but I understand how you feel. I've recently in the past 3 days been getting chest pains and I'm thinking again it's my heart, I'm trying with all my might to believe the test and my doctor that my heart is okay. So must you, believe in the test and your doctor, I know it is hard but it is the first step at getting better.

Yes, anxiety can cause a HUGE list of symptoms, see this link for the list and know that it isn't all conclusive, most are listed but not all of them. Anxiety effects each of us differently. Also check out the top thread titled resouces as Hibee suggested, there is alot of useful links there.

www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-symptoms.shtml#symptomslist
Posted 6/2/2015 7:12 PM (GMT 0)
I'm sorry you're going through all of this, my anxiety also started the second I started "suffering" heart palpitations and found out ive got a heart murmur, now everytime I get a pain in my chest ( ive got costchondritis ) or in the arms, etc, I panic and instantly go into "im going to have a heart attack" mode, i'm trying my hardest to trust what my dr has told me, which my echo and holter came back good, my hearts in good shape, etc.. it is so tough to deal with health anxiety and trying to accept what your doctor has told you, but, that's what you've got to try and do.. maybe speak to someone about getting on anxiety medicine, or into CBT or some other kind of therapy, or both the medicine AND therapy, I can tell you "try not to let it get you down" but id be a hypocrite if I told you that, we're all here for you! I noticed that a lot of people on here have Health Anxiety, etc. Just know you're not alone!
Posted 6/2/2015 7:53 PM (GMT 0)
I also have "palps" and costicondritis, I'm always aware of my pulse. I've had several ekgs, 24 hr holter, echo, blood work and an event monitor for a month. I still have a hard time convincing myself that I'm not gonna drop like a fly due to some heart related issue. So you see you're not the only one! I know it gets rough at times but I just try not to stay in a funk and worry about it for too long. Hope I helped!!!
Posted 6/2/2015 11:29 PM (GMT 0)
Sometimes anxiety manifests itself in the weirdest ways. Often times they're scary. Sometimes I feel like my neck vertebrae is vibrating--like someone is putting a cell phone on it. Doctor's say it's from anxiety. Who woulda thought. I definitely get the lib vibrating thing, too. Excess adrenaline (the fight or flight hormones) can cause weird sensations like that. Since anxiety sufferers are constantly on edge, that adrenaline has no where to go. I'm 23 years old and have suffered from cardiophobia, too. Regardless of what the doctor's say, we're always going to hone in on those little things that feel weird!
But something that really helps me is: When you hear hooves on the floor, what's more likely? Zebras or horses?
:)
Hope this helps!
Posted 6/3/2015 1:19 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you very much everyone for the responses, it's good to be in the company of people who have dealt with similar problems.

For me, the weird thing is just how physically bad I feel from being sedentary for a few months due to no exercise as a result of my Cardiophobia and fear of running or something. I'm definitely ready to get past this though.
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