Cardiologist said he's 80% sure my heart is fine - But I think there's something else wrong
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For several months I've experienced chest pain followed by a fast heart rate and sometimes it's not even chest pain, but more so an uncomfortable sensation still followed by a fast heart rate. I haven't been myself for months due to the chest pain and the anxiety and distress it causes. Here's a timeline of events starting with 2020:
June 2020: Had shortness of breath and fast hear rate. Went to ER, they ran EKG, X-ray and blood work. Everything was normal other than my potassium at 3.0 and TSH of 13. Met with my doctor who suggested I eat more potassium and put me on tricyclic antidepressant for IBS symptoms. I took Amitriptyline for 1 year, up until July 2021.
July 2021: Woke up at 2:30am to sweating, chest pain, shortness of breath, a heart rate of 163 and feeling light headed with weak legs. Took myself to the ER, they ran blood work, x-ray, CT Pulmonary angiogram and all tests came back normal, including Troponin. Potassium was 2.7 and I was given 3 potassium pills and a prescription for 2 weeks worth of potassium. I took all of the potassium and chest pain/fast heart rate continued. ER doctor recommended I reach out to a cardiologist. I stopped taking the Amitriptyline because I read it can induce QT syndrome, which low potassium can also induce.
August: My dad passed from covid and the night after he passed I woke up with chest pain and very fast heart rate. Went to the ER, blood and EKG was normal and was given anxiety pill and a prescription for anxiety meds. I did not take the prescription and instead threw it out because it can cause heart issues. Potassium was normal at 3.9.
Chest pain and fast heart rate continues but as my potassium levels go up it changes into more of a discomfort or a dull squeezing/tight/crushing pain. I also met with the cardiologist who had me wear a holter monitor for 2 weeks, do a stress test and an echocardiogram.
September: While petting my cat I suddenly got an abrupt dull crushing/tight/squeezing sensation in my chest followed by a spike in my heart rate. I tried to ignore it because I also had a costochondritis flare up and thought it was just my chest wall because the pain had been peaking lately. A few minutes later there was more of the same crushing/tight/squeezing pain that didn't last long, but every minutes continued to worsen. I was very scared by the last episode and ended up panicking. The last chest pain I got caused my head to feel weird and that's when I started to panic and drove myself to the ER. Blood work, EKG, CT Pulmonary angiogram and X-ray were all normal. Potassium was back down to 3.2, TSH was 11 and D-Dimer was just above normal at .53 (cut off is .50). ER doctor assured me I didn't have a blood clot and gave me Toradol for the inflammation from costochondritis.
Met with the Cardiologist again to go over results and he told me all the holter monitor showed was extra beats, the stress test was normal and my heart looked good on the echocardiogram. I went to the hospital website patient account and they listed two diagnosis's as:
Nonrheumatic mitral (valve) insufficiency
Precordial pain
The cardiologist did not mention this at all. He told me to eat more potassium and go to the endocrinologist for the high TSH for further thyroid testing. I feel that the cardiologist wasn't listening to my symptoms and was instead too focused on the most common heart diseases. I've read up on QT syndrome, Torsades de Pointes, Stable/Unstable Angina as well as coronary artery spasms. The cardiologist also told me if I continue to to have chest pain to call him and he will do a coronary angiogram to show me that my heart is ok. He ordered a cholesterol test, but I haven't received the call to setup an appointment yet.
Last night while trying to sleep, I woke up a little after 4am to a rapid heart rate, then panic set in, my left arm and fingers were tingling, then both hands were tingling, my head felt funny and I kept doing everything I could including drinking cold water, breathing, walking around to try to stop the panic attack. My upper abdomen was bloated and tender to the touch and I ended up having to go to the bathroom multiple times. I was also burping a lot than I normally do. After it settled my heart rate stayed elevated for the rest of the morning. My body started having another panic attack, which left my body shaking for several minutes due to the tension in my muscles. I need to note that I did not have chest pain, rather my entire chest felt very heavy, but again I'm still having a costchondritis flare up and pushing on my sternum and ribs resulted in pain. So that could have been why my chest felt heavy. It seems like I'm waking up every week to this scenario around the same time. I'll get a couple days of good sleep, then wake up with a fast heart rate, have a panic attack, then left feeling unwell for a couple of days afterwards.
Is this all anxiety related? Is it my potassium? The ER doctor told me my potassium level isn't low enough to have symptoms, but I have been having symptoms of low potassium. And wouldn't QT syndrome or Torsades de Pointes, angina or a coronary spasm show up on the holter monitor I wore for 2 weeks? Why would I have chest pain with "extra beats"? Some of the chest pain over the past few months catches my breath and I have to take a moment to breathe through it and some of it has spread through my chest and into my left arm. Is it possible the Mitral Valve insufficiency is causing this?
I'm sorry for the novel, but It just doesn't feel right and I'm doubting the cardiologists results. I haven't felt good for months and now I have so much anxiety and distress from all of this. I just want to go back to normal.
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