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Anxiety or Angina/Heart Problems?

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xelnagaevil
xelnagaevil

I am a 27 year male, fairly in shape, decent diet. About 3 months ago the skip beat began, along with uneasy chest/ upper abdominal feeling. I have experience the heartbeat skip or extra beat before back when i was 15 up to early 20's and it just disappeared one day and did happen again until now. The difference is that now it came accompanied by a pressure/tightness feeling in chest and abdomen which creates a feeling of shortness of breath, not gasping for air, but more of a "i can't get a good deep breath feeling". I have gone to the ER several times, had several EKGs, Chest X Ray and blood work, all came back normal. Although i am aware of all tests being normal, I have convinced myself there is something wrong with my heart. I am currently waiting for my insurance to kick in so that i can visit a cardiologist and maybe do further testing. 

I have however tried to narrow down what triggers the episodes to no avail, it starts in the morning about an hour after waking up, up to the moment i fall asleep. I have tried not drinking coffee vs drinking coffee, no difference, I did noticed drinking alcohol makes it worst, I stop eating too late since being full at night is the worst. I tried taking Magnesium which helps a bit with the skip heartbeat.

Symptoms are as follow:

chest tightness/pressure

feeling of shortness of breath (not gasping for air)

uneasy abdominal/chest feeling

occasional chest pain (rarely happens)

skip or extra heart beat (this is what really bothers me, it happens throughout the day and when it happens i feel like i have to take a deep breath)

I feel like when i get my mind off it it alleviates it, when i realize i am not thinking about it, immediately i start to think about it followed by all the following symptoms. All this started soon after my wife lost her job and the birth of my second child so there is a good chance all this could be caused by anxiety/depression but i can't help but to worry about the worst. I hope to hear from other who have/had similar symptoms.

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • clr1166
    clr1166 xelnagaevil

    Posted

    I have all of these symptoms, the skipping beat being a very scary one. I've went to doctors and they've did tests and showed there's nothing wrong with my heart and lungs, that it's anxiety, but that doesn't stop my worrying. I still have episodes where I convince myself my heart is failing, but once the anxiety eases I realise that's all it was - anxiety.

    I don't know how to relieve the symptoms, apart from the usual "breathe deeply, in through the nose and out through the mouth". Try to distract yourself from any negative thoughts whether it's reading a book, watching your favourite TV show, or going for a walk. I find walking helps with my breathing, funnily enough. I guess I'm just focused on getting some fresh air and having a long walk that I forget about any issues with breathing. Hope your symptoms ease up soon smile

    • xelnagaevil
      xelnagaevil clr1166

      Posted

      Hello chenise16,

      Thanks for the reply. It good to know I am not alone, I have read many posts but have not seen the "skip heartbeat" being mentioned, which you are right it is the scariest of them all. You are right about going for a walk, i fail to mentioned that, but it does seem to help a bit, along with other distractions that do not include me being sitting in one place as that seems to increase it, and laying down is probably th worst, it feels like my heart is going to jump out of my chest.

      Although i cannot seem to stop the constant worry about my heart, there is a bit of logical thinking i am able to squeeze in which keeps me at bay up until i am able to go to a doctor, and that is that if this was something serious with my heart, going for a walk isn't exactly something that would ease it up since it would exert my heart even more, I am however not a doctor so I'm not sure if that is exactly how it works, but it make a bit of sense, so when the skipping begins at around 9:30 am everyday i am able to ignore it just enough to not end up in the ER. Best of luck to you and again thanks for sharing your experience.

  • sweethheart5703
    sweethheart5703 xelnagaevil

    Posted

    I've had similar things with my heart skipping or being weird. It hasn't happened in a while. But it definitely sounds like yours is caused by anxiety. I would try to see a psychologist. I've been going for health anxiety. I swore I had herpes and testing for that came out negative, now I'm thinking its HIV or something crazy and it's all because I keep feeling and seeing symptoms. (Probably most of what I'm feeling is just stress and anxiety) I saw four doctors about my throat and all said it was fine. Throat culture came back normal. I'm waiting for my results for the STD's I haven't checked for yet. Tomorrow is the latest I'm supposed to hear from them but I was really hoping I'd hear something today. I called and they are super busy and said they'd call me back. I don't really think I have the worst things but I'm still fearful because I was very stupid and let my guard down with a guy I thought I'd be dating long term. Anyways. My mind has definitely played tricks on me. Waiting is horrible. I think you are fine. Try to find a hobby. Start working out or something. It relieves stress and anxiety. I'm going to start kickboxing this week. I hate anxiety. I never had anxiety until a couple years ago. This year has been the worst for me health wise. I had stomach issues I caused myself, dairy allergy, stomach ulcer, had to have a colonoscopy and endoscopy. Lost 10 pounds. Finally gained it all back and was feeling great but stupid me looking for love and ends up in this mess and getting something going on with me. Ugh. Anyways don't stress. Don't overthink. Stop googling. Go spend time with your family. Hugs.
  • deirdre._03652
    deirdre._03652 xelnagaevil

    Posted

    Dearest young man...congratulations on your second child..that is wonderful. .xxx

    It does certainly sound like stress young man...it takes had it very, very badly many years ago..it takes know how real that fear is...it takes lost years of my life worrying needlessly. .

    THEN ONE DAY I WOKE UP AND THOUGHT....I have not had a heart attack or stroke yet....SO I did everything I was scared of...going out of the house alone was the worst...I was certain I would collapse crossing a Rd. !!! , I held onto walls ect.. as the months went by..I realised. .nothing has happened apart from panic, dreadful panic.....SO I set targets.....a whole week walking without support ( walls hedges fences ect )..

    After that ..it was a month...then go out, even when I didn't have to....EG ....WORK OR DOCTORS. .. AFTER THAT I BEGAN TO THINK...-right ......nothing has happened for four whole weeks they were difficult weeks .....SO I will just carry on and enjoy life , until something happens.....nothing ever, ever, ever, ever did...

    I am now 63yrs old...I have four children ( one set of twins )

    ND I AM ALSO A PROUD GRANDMA OF A BEAUTIFUL BABY BOY. ....PLEASE LOVEY. .DON'T WASTE ONE MORE DAY OF YOUR LIFE ON WORRY....have a chat with your Dr and go from there...you have got soooo much to look forward to. ....job situations improve.....and you have a family...a lovely wife and two beautiful children. .bless you young man xx have a wonderful, joyful, peaceful and loving Xmas. ...big, big ,warm hugs to you all. ...dee. xxx xxx .

    • Rahb01
      Rahb01 deirdre._03652

      Posted

      Hi desire,I got attracted by your reply and would love for you to share your experiences with anxiety..like what we're the symptoms you had that convinced you of a heart attack?I'm going through it now..I'm getting much better but I can't get rid of the thought still due to the morning chest tightness and soreness in feel..I discussed with my doc alot and he told me it's anxiety..I did 5 ecgs which are normal..and full blood count test too..it came back normal..so docs said I'm in pink of health..but itseeing hard to convinced myself..I use to be fearful of alot of things..staying at home or be anywhere alone,scared to sleep,eat etc..and now I'm almost normal..but the thought still lingers at the back of my mind..since I'm a housewife,Im thinking of going back ton work just so my mind have something to do everyday..just to get back the normal set of mind,and not anxiety driven mentality.but at the moment the one and only symptom that scares me is the chest soreness and tightness..sometimes I get a burning feeling..but all this most of the time stays in the middle of chest..any advice?I'm 23 young mom and happily married..
    • xelnagaevil
      xelnagaevil deirdre._03652

      Posted

      Hello deirdre. 03652,

      Thank you very much for sharing your experience, i do feel that doing stuff that your mind tells you not to do it is certainly hard but once you do it, it eases those anxiety symptoms. I will try to do that more and get over my fears, i have been feeling this way for about 3 months now and none of the worst case scenerios i have generated in my head have come reality, so you might be right if it hasn't happen by now there is a very good chance it s nothing more than anxiety. Have a great holiday season and a Happy new year, and again thank so much for sharing.

  • bethany1997
    bethany1997 xelnagaevil

    Posted

    I'm a 19 year old female. I'm not over weight that I know of but I don't have the best eating habits. I don't know if I have anxiety or something more serious. I haven't actually been diagnosed with anxiety because I haven't been to the doctor in a few years.

    But I do believe I have generalized anxiety disorder. I worry about anything and everything. All day I worry, it gets annoying but I literally can't stop. Doesn't matter how big or little something is, I worry. If I have any kind of symptom even as simple as a headache I google possible diagnoses instead of just drinking some water. I'm scared of being by myself, I'm scared of night time, if someone says something rude to me I think about it for hours, I'm scared of getting cancer, I'm scared something bad is going to happen to me because my dad is a smoker and I get second hand smoke, if my breasts are achy I think I have breast cancer. I'm scared that I'm not gonna get to marry my boyfriend because what if something happens to me, the list goes on and on.

    I do get headaches frequently, they are mild, usually I feel the pain on the sides of my head or the front

    My chest feels either tight and/or heavy almost every day. It's just uncomfortable more than anything else, I can still do every day activities with my chest like this. It happens randomly though, doesn't matter if I'm active or resting. It's almost always the center of my chest and/or under my breasts. I have never really timed how long it lasts, but it lasts for a while. And it's been happening for 2 years I think.

    Sometimes I have achy muscles and my legs get tired going up stairs or I can't get a good grip on a jar.

    I google every little symptom I have and according to Google I do have general anxiety, breast cancer, an ovarian cyst, lung cancer, angina, irritable bowel syndrome, etc.

    I am going to call the doctor on my next day off and make an appointment but I was looking for some oppinons in the mean time?? Do I need to skip the doctor and go to the ER?

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