Worrying about my heart: tests normal, but I'm anxious

@tngirl1
Why are you worried? When did these pains start?
Jake

@tngirl1 welcome to connect a great group of people . stress can cause a lot of problems to thinking you are having a heart attack to the tightness you may fill in chest . Stress has been known to kill so you need to quit worrying and get on with your life . Find some way of distressing yourself . If all the test and the cardiologist said your heart is fine then this maybe what is causing you to feel as you do . Is there something in particular you are worried about . ?

I had went to ER three months ago with chest pain shortness of breath and rapid heart rate. They ran EKG blood work CT scan. All came back normal. I was told it was a panic attack. Then I had a echocardiogram and a nuclear stress test. They came back normal. I’m just worried that they might have missed something and I’m worried that something in my heart could change since having all the test done.

I’m just worried that they might have missed something and I’m worried that something in my heart could change since having all the test done.

@tngirl1 Did the Dr. prescribe anything for your panic attacks or anxiety to help you?

Yes I’m taking buspar 15mg twice a day but haven’t found anything to help me to sleep. I have tried a few medicines but they made my heartbeat all over my body.

@tngirl1 I have been where you are, and had the same tests with the same symptoms. My dad actually was a heart patient and I was afraid that would happen to me. I saw him talk himself into having the first heart attack, and he couldn't let go of stress and it took a toll.

Take a breath, and be thankful that the doctors didn't find heart disease. That is a gift. Your tests are recent, and 3 months won't change that. You don't want to have heart disease. I know you want an answer, and you can find one. There are other reasons for having chest tightness like stress. This happens to me, and it happens in a rapid response to stressful situations. You can learn to be resilient and cope with stress. Stress is a major playing in the cause of about 80% of all disease according to doctors, and it takes a toll on your body. We evolved in a way to allow stressful events to get our full attention because it was a survival mechanism, and this gets triggered by events, and our body reacts as if it was life threatening. You have a choice to move past that thinking or get trapped in it. What you think has a big impact on your health. Don't talk yourself into having a problem.

I have thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) which makes my neck and chest muscles tight. If I am stressed by someone treating me badly, my muscles get tighter and can trigger a muscle spasm and pain into the left side of my chest. It starts with a neck spasm, and a few seconds later, causes the chest spasm. I have taken myself to the emergency room before for this, and was cleared as they only found anxiety. It's important to rule out heart disease, and then confront the causes of the stress and try to gain some resilience over them. When this happens to me, I can use my hands to stretch the muscles out and release them which stops the chest pain. I wouldn't be able to do that if it wasn't a chest wall muscle spasm. It can also happen because of moving my head to a certain position compressing nerves because of the tightness in my neck and chest. You might want to get a blood pressure cuff and take readings so you know what your normal pressure is and consult a doctor about that if yours is elevated. After a stressful event, mine can instantly shoot upward, but I've also learned how to lower the BP with deep breathing and relaxing music. Those were things I learned to do because I had to confront my fear of surgery. I was using music as therapy and measuring my blood pressure before and after the music session and I could lower my blood pressure 15 points.

Here are some suggestions I can give you.

Join the Gratitude discussion group here on Connect, and share what you are grateful for. That goes a long way toward banishing stress and fear and helping you feel valued and connected.

See a physical or massage therapist who does Myofascial Release work. This is how you can learn to physically release tight fascia and muscles in your body. It helps me a lot with TOS, and the stress causes layers of tightness that may take time to unravel. http://www.myofascialrelease.com

Get some exercise. (as long as your doctor agrees)

Volunteer somewhere doing something you like... maybe an animal shelter.. nature center...museum....

Take a soaking bath with Epsom Salts. You'll absorb magnesium through your skin which helps muscles relax.

Spend time in nature, or with anything that inspires you with art, music or creativity. All of that has a calming effect. We have an "Art for Healing" discussion here on Connect too.

Work out the reasons that you have a stress reaction in your life. You can do that by writing journals, listening to Ted Talks, a counselor, asking yourself why you feel like you do... and is there another way to think about the problem instead?

I would also recommend the books by Dr. Sood, a Mayo physician with a mind body practice. I didn't have these when I was going through my anxiety before my surgery, but reading them explained why my methods worked to overcome my fear and anxiety. I had spine surgery at Mayo. I was afraid of having major surgery, and also afraid of not having the surgery because of the disability that would have happened to me because of spinal cord compression, and I decided that fear would not make that choice for me. I had to find a way to overcome it and I did.
Here is my story. https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2019/01/09/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/

I think you can go to Mayo and take a course in Resiliency and these are the books that are used. I recommend them and you'll find way to cope and think differently instead of letting stress take over.

Tngirl1
What changes do you think could occur?
Drawing blood isn’t going to change anything in your heart. MRI uses magnets to line up hydrogen atoms and radio waves and a computer to produce an image, how can that cause changes. The same holds true with your other tests. There is no mechanism for them to do any damage.
Your fears are irrational.
These type of fears are responsible for “so-called” anxiety and the cause of panic attacks.
You need to step back into reality and stop worrying about things that don’t pose any real danger. Life isn’t always a “walk in the park,” we all face hurdles in life but to be truly happy we have to face and accept them. I believe a psychologist could help you get rid of your irrational fears.
Wish you health and happiness,
Jake

@jakedduck1 thank you for your reply. I have been to talk to someone and she put me on some medicine to help with the anxiety. I’m still not getting any relief when I’m sleeping. The medicine that I was to help me sleep was causing me to feel my heartbeat all over my body and it would keep me up at night.

@tngirl1 hi, and welcome to Connect. As you can already see, the members are a very caring group and try to help each other with health problems.
You have already gotten great advice and comments, I too think your anxiety attacks are bringing on your symptoms and as @jenniferhunter suggested you should try to get involved in things that will keep your mind occupied so you won’t be stressing.

I agree too that the gratitude discussion group can help a person be more mindful of the things in their lives they can be grateful for, especially that all of the tests you have had have come back with good results.
JK