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

@catcatanzaro60 One thing I have and still do for childhood problems whatever they maybe , depression,panic,anxiety pain or whatever Tappingsolutions.com can help you

@catcatanzaro60, I got those same lessons as a child. It took me 43 years to realize and ACCEPT that God loves me — and all that means for me. Stay strong.

@capausz Yes, I also have empathy for people with panics attacks. I had them for 4 months every morning as soon as I woke up and thought about having spine surgery. I felt like I was stuck on the train tracks, and couldn't move and the train was coming at me. I struggled with that a long time, and then one day it occurred to me that I wasn't born fearing surgery or fearing anything. Fear is learned somewhere along the way by our experiences and how we process or can't process the experience. That was a defining moment for me, and I reasoned that if fear is learned, then it can be unlearned, and I set out to figure out how to do that with all the resources I had from my life experiences. Being a creative person, I used music and art, and even singing to help me cope, and I checked in with people I knew who had faced significant fears in their lives as an example to me of what was possible.

Fear can be defeated. With anxiety, there is a link to something frightening from the past and something about the present subconsciously triggers the memory of the fear. When you discover what that is and can process those feelings from the viewpoint of your adult life, you can understand where it came from, and think about it differently. This is what I had to do to deprogram fear. There were lot of things I did, but one of them was giving myself permission to be fearful. I learned to accept fear as a normal emotion and make peace with it to understand why I was fearful. I think of that as making friends with the fear, and then it became something that is known and understood instead of an irrational force in complete control of my life. The belief systems we have as children don't always work when we grown up, and I was still thinking about surgery like a 5 year old. I found a new way to think about it and to be grateful that I could make the choice in my life to have the medical intervention that I needed to get my life and abilities back. I know that if I didn't have the pressure of future surgery that I had to face, I probably would not have confronted my fears. My life was completely changed by doing this, and the first step toward freedom from fear is to believe that it is possible to achieve. Give yourself permission to discover and to think in new ways, and to let go of the beliefs that are holding you back.

@catcatanzaro60 As Jennifer said we need to take control of our life not our emotions one tool to help with this I'd Tapping on our Meridians

Hello I was not sure why all that came out about me. I am trying to get myself together after my melt down in October. I am still struggling. That was my feelings over 30 years ago. I was taking all 3 children to church I could hear the ravings and rantings. I decided that day never to go back to that church again. It actually changed my life for the Good. I learned from this new knowledge. Thanks for the support.

@tngirl1

Have you talked with your doctor about the side effects of the med you are currently taking? Often a switch in meds can be quite helpful. There are many meds to help with anxiety, perhaps your doctor could switch you to another?
It is certainly worth a phone call to your doctor's office.

Will you call them?

Hello @tngirl1

Have you talked with your PCP about the continued symptoms of tightness in your chest and the burning feeling? There are other problems, such as gastrointestinal problems, that can cause these symptoms. You might consider asking for a referral to a GI doctor to see if there are any stomach related issues that might be causing the problem. It is important to be our own advocate when it comes to our health when we are dealing with health issues.

@tngirl1 I agree that you can worry about your heart when nothings wrong. I, too, went to the ER with chest pain. Turns out it was anxiety. I went to a cardiologist for a full workup and he found nothing. He said the chest pain was likely from esophageal spasms. He told me to use mylanta and an anti-anxiety whenever it happened. Last week when it happened again, I didn’t have the medicine with me. My therapist talked me Thur some relaxation techniques and it went away. Better than medicine! Try relaxation. I sure hope it works for you

What kind of relaxation techniques did they teach you? I could use some of those right about now

@hgarm you main thing I’ve learned is EFT or The Tapping Solution also mentioned by @lioness. The best thing is to google “tapping solution” and you’ll find an into and information. My therapist taught me because I hate MRIs and I can virtually do in while I’m getting the MRI. It also helped to settle me down that day. She also has me do relaxation breathing and then picture a beam of bright light coming in my head and spreading all over as I breathe. Practice when you are already relaxed. Let me know how it works!