My heart feels strange
Posted , 54 users are following.
Hi
I've been to my doctors numerous of times and she has told me everything is fine with my heart. I've had routine blood tests - came back clear apart from a little high protein (she told me this was nothing to worry about). I've also had a ECG done and that was fine. But I'm not convinced... My heart just feels strange all the time - I NEVER get palpitations ever. My heart seems to beat irregular or skips beats. I guess it's like a fluttering feeling in my chest. Also I sometimes have chest discomfort, which seems to go into my left arm and back. Does anyone else have these symptoms and are they anxiety related? I'm sick of worrying!
Thanks in advance x
5 likes, 62 replies
samuels charlotte96197
Posted
From what you have just described and as a past sufferer myself, it sounds like you may have panic/anxiety issues going on at this stage.
samuels
Posted
Wrong person .....sorry... I wasn't watching what I was doing.
jane28941 charlotte96197
Posted
Sorry I know this is an old discussion but I am scared I have myocarditis. I had a viral infection just over a week ago. The day after getting the viral infection I went to A and E with a suspected heart attack. I had 2 ECGs both of which came back clear and my oxygen levels levels were at 99%. I was told I'd had a panic attack. Well a week on and I'm experiencing tightness in my chest, small sharp pains on both sides, coughing up white phlegm, palpitations to the point it catches my breath and I can't breathe. Sometimes I can barely talk because the palpitations are that severe. I also have alot of wind. It hurts my chest to lift my arms up. I have been back to the drs for a third ECG and again it came back clear. I just don't understand it. I can't even get up the stairs without my heart pounding. Yet there is apparently nothing wrong with me
samuels jane28941
Posted
Have they checked for any blood clots, in the lungs ? even though you SPOz (oxygen) was 99%. The only other thing that comes to mind is IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) reflux/heartburn.
Have you any swelling in your legs, especially calf muscles ? myocarditis also causes swelling as it , the viral infection can damage the heart, this is why I asked if you had the heart specific blood test, Troponin blood test.
jane28941 samuels
Posted
Hi yes I had a blood test the day after I got the viral infection. Which came back clear. Just bothered I'm still getting these chest feelings nearly 2 weeks down the line. No swelling anywhere. I'm just worried myocarditis has developed in the past 2 weeks. The viral infection seems to have gone the chest problems have not.
samuels charlotte96197
Posted
Hi,
Did you have the troponin blood test ? that's the heart enzyme that is released if your heart if damaged in anyway, myocarditis can do that and therefore raise your troponins, this then gives the doctors more to go on in what to look for.
Next time you get these pains again, I'd recommend you go back to your emergency department even if you have to call for an ambulance.
Another thing to do is try to reduce any stress as much as possible, don't focus on the fluttering heart, I know it's hard but it can be done
if you find any improvements through relaxation it's highly likely that's all you were experiencing, panic anxiety.
If doctors had thought anything was wrong with your heart, especially angina they would of given you nitrate medications, most likely the spray under the tongue.
jan34534 charlotte96197
Posted
If you have anxiety, Skipped beats and fluttering are very common and harmless. I have had skipped beats on and off for years when I’m anxious and sometimes when I’m not. Trust the ekg. If something was wrong, it would have showed up.
You should work on relaxing your mind and you will find that the fluttering and skipped beats will lessen. The more you react with anxiety, the more fluttering and skipped beats will occur. The brain sends out adrenaline when you are anxious and that can cause your symptoms.
Listen to an audio called “Mindfulness breathing Guided meditation 10 minutes “ on you tube.
It’s important to focus on your breath to gain control over anxiety. Listen carefully and use earbuds if you have them.
there are many other meditations on YouTube for anxiety. I do this every night when lying down to sleep. They greatly diminish or eliminate any symptoms I might be having., and relax my heart rate and rhythm. Try them! You are going to be fine. It’s not the symptoms, the problem is unmanaged anxiety that many people have.
do things that make you relax. Don’t take life too seriously. Stay active and social. Eat healthy and get some exercise. Speak with a counselor if you have an unmanaged anxiety., and do the meditations.
Hope you feel better soon 🌸🌸🌸
samuels jan34534
Posted
Hi,
?Very well put together, your comments
. Now I have forgotten which side controls what now, we have the parasympathetic nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system, as I have said I have forgotten which one it is, one that controls our organs gets sensitised and over reacts or under reacts and sends the wrong signals to our brain, tricking us into thinking something is seriously wrong with one of our major organs, 9/10 it's the heart people complain about, skipped beats will show up on an ECG (EKG) but not fluttering. I had suffered panic/anxiety for 22+ years with agoraphobia, panic is not a problem for me anymore, agoraphobia is my major disability at the moment. I know what caused my anxiety, it was caused by a snake bite while out hunting in the bush, luckily it wasn't our most venomous snake because even the smallest drop of venom would of killed me without treatment. Also back then the world wasn't as fast paced as it is today where everyone is studying so hard to gain their desired qualifications for their future or people are so stressed out due to work commitments and what is expected of them nowadays and the cost of living, you know paying the bills. Back 20-30 years ago anxiety wasn't really heard about like it is today, you may of met 1 out of 20 that suffered it, now you would met 3 out 5 that suffer from it, I also believe it's what's going into our processed foods, flavourings and even our organic food, organically grown has been found to be not as healthy as it was first made out to be.
?Now I experienced what all of us have, I started getting chest pains around 15 or so years ago, they weren't panic pains, I knew differently but try telling a doctor that, was next to impossible. Every test I had came back perfectly normal with the exception of one but it wasn't a matter of life and death, it was just I was found to have a weird lipid profile, so weird that no one can make sense of it, my results have been viewed far and wide by all sorts of specialists throughout the world. I was finally diagnosed as having small blood vessel spasms in the heart, now I have been informed that these vessels can't be seen by the naked eye or even by an angiogram. I was also told there was no cure for these spasms, there was medication to try and reduce the spasms and associated pain (angina type pain), this wasn't picked up on an ECG, in fact my ECG's were perfect as was my coronary arteries, pristine condition was the words my cardiologist used.
?Each time I presented to our emergency department I was to be told like most anxiety sufferers are that it's just panic/anxiety and asked why is was on nitrates, I had said to them they had better read my notes properly next time
.Cut a long story short, about 8 years ago an emergency doctor actually made a diagnosis of Prinzmetal Angina (coronary artery spasms), these do not show up in ECG's like a lot of doctors and cardiologist seem to think they do. Going back a couple a few years now I had to call an ambulance due to my chest pain, ECG was normal , everything else checked out in a physical examination, Troponin blood test was ordered, results came back, doctor and nurse came out into waiting room with chair and took me into the emergency rooms, I asked why the hurry, the answer, you have had a heart attack, my troponins had come back raised high enough for the heart attack diagnosis, my type of heart attack though was called an NSTEMI, to which even an ECG didn't pick up. To date I have had 3 NSTEMI's and now have mild heart disease along with prinzmetal angina, yet ECG s still come back normal. Doctors no longer tell me it's panic/anxiety because they had solid proof via a heart specific enzyme that is released when the heart is being damaged or someone experiencing a heart attack. I was 45 -46 when I had my first heart attack, and as I have stated everything was coming back normal on that day with the exception of the troponin blood test, that is the golden blood test for any cardiac conditions/damage that has occurred .
?Basically what I'm trying to convey is if you have suffered from panic/anxiety for a long time, you and you only know what is different from normal, if it's not normal to you and doesn't fit in with your anxiety pattern then it's not anxiety related, see anxiety follows a set routine and pattern, sure it will throw in a new symptom every now and then to trick us into thinking the worst. even with that kind of scenario you can differentiate.
joseyboy charlotte96197
Posted
I'm sorry this is 4 years after original post, I hope this answer helps you and others..
I had what I thought was palpitations, heart skipping beats, fluttering, I had many symptoms..got the usual answers , anxiety, stress, palpitations.
Had numerous tests done, all came back fine.
What doctors are reluctant to diagnose is vagus nerve dysfunction. Nerve in your stomach will twitch ( we all get twitchy nerves) it's a major nerve, read about it. Sensation of lump in throat etc..many symptoms.
When my nerve twitches is so uncomfortable, not sore just weird, really feels like heart has turned Into butterfly. Sometimes brief, sometimes minutes. Once o even had sensation of heart missing beats for 3 days.
So if your sick and tired of hearing about "anxiety" "palpatations" and you just know it's not that...consider what I've just said.
alison88042 joseyboy
Posted
samuels joseyboy
Posted
Hi,
?Very interesting, Have you been diagnosed with this and if so what treatment(s) are you on ? What testing did they do to confirm the diagnosis ? I see vagal nerve stimulators are used to control/prevent epileptic fits. In a way this sounds like another form of anxiety/depression but someone has actually found a root cause in the "stomach" ...... "digestion" and vagal nerve dysfunction part.
carol48459 charlotte96197
Posted
carol48459 charlotte96197
Posted
haydee04 charlotte96197
Posted
Thank you..
carol48459 haydee04
Posted
samuels haydee04
Posted
Hi,
?We all react differently when angry but the usual signs of being angry is body shaking / trembling. Naturally when angry our heart rate increases. You need to work out what's making you angry, is it because the way you feel, I.E feeling ill, chest pain, etc etc or is it just the feeling of being angry all the time ? As carol has asked what other symptoms do you get with this ?