1. Community
  2. Mental health
  3. Anxiety Disorders

Chest pain , palpitations ... Anxiety ?

Posted , 7 users are following.

Banana15
Banana15

Hi all , I'm a 20 yo female and I've been suffering daily for 6 months now with left sided chest pain, palpitations, dizziness, fatigue and breathlessness. My heart rate never seems to go below 100bpm.

It all set in one night when I was lying in bed and I immediately went the the ER because I thought I was having a heart attack. I've had numerous blood tests, chest X-ray, ecg, ekg, electrocardiogram, Holter monitor and event monitor all of which came back perfect. My doctor diagnosed me with anxiety and panic attacks but is refusing to give me any medication to help.

Cutting back on sugar and smoking seems to help but I've yet to experience a completely normal day. This past week has been the worst for me as every time I walk anywhere it sets in really bad so I've been housebound. 

Could this possibly be anxiety? Sorry about the long winded post but if anyone has any ideas on what this could be i would love to know.

0 likes, 19 replies

19 Replies

  • michelle_34992
    michelle_34992 Banana15

    Posted

    Yes it can be! Yours are classic symptoms of anxiety, I have the same and have had similar tests all normal. Its really hard to beleove a mental condition can manifest so physically but it can. My symptoms are 95% physical I still have a hard time accepting it is anxiety.

    It started after my 3rd child was born, I had I tense all day headaches and pressure I was sure I had a brain tumour, mri ruled it out headaches disappeared. Then I started having palps tachycardia chest pain and now I'm having breathlessness so I think I have copd or asthma!

    I'm having cbt at the moment, hope it starts to work soon. I've also bought a good book call self help for your nerves.

    Why won't your Dr give you meds? Do you mean benzodiazepines? I know many Drs don't like to prescribe them. My Dr offered a ssri but I don't feel particularly depressed just extremely anxious.

    • Banana15
      Banana15 michelle_34992

      Posted

      He said he won't give me meds because of my age and he thinks I'm capable of dealing with it on my own. He recommended a website called moodgym and told me to use that. I'm going back to him today because this week has been so bad and I can't continue like this everyday. Fingers crossed he will do something this time. 
    • rawb
      rawb Banana15

      Posted

      Listen to what he says, 90% of anxiety cases don't require medication. People you see in asylums need medications normal people like you don't. He's doing you a big favour as they're highly addictive and have massive side effects. You need to learn to cope, if you're just sitting at home doing nothing then you're not gonna learn anything. Stop googling symptoms of diseases you might have. Cause you don't have them. You've been tested by your GP and a nurse. They both say you have anxiety... So learn how to relax, learn about yoga deep breathing relaxation progressive muscle relaxation etc but most of all learn how to control your breathing. Trust me your doctors doing you a favour. If you're still struggling contact IAPT or MIND.

      Trust me do these things they'll all help you, don't just sit at home thinking about everything.

  • shell58234
    shell58234 Banana15

    Posted

    Hi. Yeah it all the signs. Your story is seminar to mine. But i was put on diazepams for anxiety and panic attacks worse thing i ever done. I was left on them for 7 years. Then here comes the biggest problem of my life. 100% hook on them. After years of experience of this drug i started to get off them. It takes year's. So keep away from valium please. Panic attacks are scary but just tell yourself it's not going to kill me. Easy said i know but in time you will control the attack s. Just ride them out. If you really int able to get out of the house you should explain this to your doctor as there is safe med's which can help.

    But you would be shock to know how many people suffer the same feeling you get. Be strong and remember to call your doctor cause getting out helps.

    Regards shell

  • charlotte82836
    charlotte82836 Banana15

    Posted

    It's all symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks well so my doctors tell me.

    I've suffered with my nerves for years but in January this year all of a sudden while at work I just felt like I was going to die I.couldn't catch my breath and terrible chest pains anyway went to A&E was given ecg and bloods and told wasn't heart attack. So I thought great. The next day and so on it just got worse pain ect all symptoms of heart attacks then I read a lot of stories about.young women being misdiagnosed with health anxiety instead of heart disease. I saw my gp about 5 times and he didn't believe it was heart related at all. Ended up in A&E a further 4 times again ecg blood tests and chest xray so I was sent on my way. So I have sort of come.to terms with the fact it isn't a heart attack. But I can't get out my head that it's heart related in some way. I'm.on ssri sertraline and although I feel calmer I still have.pain ect. I also have diazepam which just make me sleep

    • rawb
      rawb charlotte82836

      Posted

      Charlotte just throwing this out there but try getting a hot water bottle or a wheat bag for your chest pain. Let me know how it goes. smile if the pain goes or subsides slightly then it'll be muscular. smile
    • rawb
      rawb

      Posted

      Also make a very conscious effort to breathe through your nose and not your mouth. A lot of my chest pains (central sternum area) was caused by swallowing air into my stomach from gasping for breath.
    • charlotte82836
      charlotte82836 rawb

      Posted

      Great advice I'm going to try the hot water bottle thing. That's where my chest pain is right in the centre of chest. What I don't like is the left shoulder and arm pain. I try to ignore it as much as I can. And I no longer Google anything that's related to health
  • rawb
    rawb Banana15

    Posted

    Yep. 100% anxiety. If your heart rate is over 100bpm resting then that's slightly fast, especially for your age. But if you're having caffeine or eating a lot or smoking cigarettes then it's not impossible for it to be that high. Especially if you're anxious! My doctor didn't want me to take medication and he reluctantly gave me propanalol to lower my heart rate (was 110 when I went to see him once) but it's regularly 60-75 when I'm at home. If you've had your heart tested by so many different methods and it all comes back normally then believe them. Why would you not believe them? They're not doing it to spite you. It's healthy. Don't take medication unless you really need too. It's addictive and you become dependant on it. Take some time off work STOPPPP googling your symptoms as that will make you so anxious reading horror stories,
  • Banana15
    Banana15

    Posted

    The last time I had my heart rate checked it was 126bpm but nurse said that's ok. I've cut out sugar and caffeine as much as I possible can, and I've cut back smoking a lot. After I smoke a cig my heart beats harder for a few minutes before calming down a bit so I'm trying to not smoke but it's obviously very hard and addictive. 

    Im not a person to take medication, I don't even take painkillers but at this stage I can't leave the house and I'm at the end of my tether so I am willing to try anything. 

    Thank you you all for your advice, I have a doctors appointment again today so I'll see how that goes.

  • andrew74543
    andrew74543 Banana15

    Posted

    Hi, just wondering what what the outcome was with your doctor? I think they usually recommend cbt first before meds which is probably what im Going to try, I get all the symptoms you get and I'm still trying to work out if it's anxiety or something else, the more I read on here the more convinced i am that it is all in my head! 
    • rawb
      rawb andrew74543

      Posted

      Believing it is all in your head is half the battle. I always flirted with the idea it was all in my head but I believed it wasn't. As soon as I accepted it was all in my head I instantly felt a weight off my shoulders. (Metaphorically and physically.. I was carrying so much tension there!! Haha) cbt works if you believe you're anxious. So try it mate smile
    • Banana15
      Banana15 andrew74543

      Posted

      Hi Andrew, 

      The doctor pretty much said he doesn't know what's wrong with me. He had previously sent me to a psychotherapist to get her professional opinion whether or not I had anxiety and after seeing her once she didn't think I was anxious. so im at a loss for words. 

      He had me undergo tests for a very rare thing called Pheochromocytoma, which is tumours of the adrenal glands that are most commonly benign. They can produce the same symptoms of anxiety so I should be getting the results for that today , after waiting 3 months for them. 

      He also said if this comes back negative then it could just be the case of no probable cause and he will try me on medication to manage the symptoms themselves since they can't find the route of the problem.

      fingers crossed everything comes back ok. I did the CBT already and I did find it helped a lot with how I was feeling towards my symptoms so I would recommend you do it.

      Have you tried out the website called moodgym? My doctor recommended it to me and it is a very good site. 

    • andrew74543
      andrew74543 rawb

      Posted

      I just find it hard to truly believe it's all just anxiety, I'll take your advice though and go for the cbt! 
    • andrew74543
      andrew74543 Banana15

      Posted

      Hope your ok! I'll check that site out, this site helps a lot though! 
    • rawb
      rawb andrew74543

      Posted

      Mood gym is no more imformative than the NHS / IAPT / MIND websites which are all free. Don't be swindled into losing money. Doctors aren't allowed to recommend 'pay to receive treatment' services. So it sounds bogus to me. Just my 2 pence, stick to the NHS, you pay your tax money for it.
    • andrew74543
      andrew74543 rawb

      Posted

      I thought it was free, didn't realise you had to pay for it! I'll stick to using this then cheers mate 
    • rawb
      rawb andrew74543

      Posted

      The best free service for meditation is headspace, the best free service for panicking is digipill. IAPT have an app too and that's called DONT PANIC. That's also free.

      Good luck pal. smile

    • Banana15
      Banana15 rawb

      Posted

      Hmm I didn't pay anything to use that site ... It was all free for me from the start.. I'll also check out them other websites you recommended , thank you 😊
Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.