Health anxiety and dying

Dreaming24 · ‎21-08-2019

Just writing down my thoughts I’m hoping will help me gain some rational clarity on my anxious feelings. I’m really looking for support and positive stories!

I have suffered from health anxiety my entire life, especially surrounding my heart. I’m 25 years old and when I was 12 I had an echocardiogram to check out my heart as I told my mum I was suffering palpitations. All was good.

On and off my entire life I have gone through stages where I feel such terrible physical feelings that I struggle to explain to anyone but I feel like I am dying. Heart flutters, big heart jumps or beats, head buzzes and feelings of being out of it, and just a sense of something wrong inside of me I can’t explain like a pain or a sensation I can’t put my finger on.

I am going through a terrible stage now where I am convinced I have a serious heart issue and am dying. Every single day I believe I am having a heart attack or am going to pass out from a serious arrhythmia.

I see a psychologist but have run out of mental health plan discount and struggle to see her more than monthly because of the cost.

I have never been on medication for my anxiety and am seriously considering it now.

I faced my fear and went to the doctors the other day and organised to get a Holter moniter to check my heart once and for all.

The issue is I can’t get in for another week and I’m convinced I’m going to die before next week. I am struggling every day, especially when I’m at home with time to think. The physical feelings are so overwhelming I’m ready to take myself to hospital but they always eventually pass until the next time.

Has anyone else thought they had heart issues that they’ve found out to be okay?

How do you cope with the overwhelming feelings when everything seems so terrible?

assj · ‎21-08-2019

I'm so sorry you feel this way. I can relate.

I'm 26. When I was 16 I started with anxiety (my parents divorced) and I started having palpitations (sad woo!) I had times when I felt like I was dying. Everything you described sounds like intense health anxiousness and feelings I have felt before.

I'm glad you're getting a holter. I've had one of those. It'll help you understand your heart better and calm your anxiety. Being informed is so important. I'm certain you'll be ok. I know because I've felt the same way. After being informed about my health I feel much better.

Also your heart flutters could be related to PMS (are you female?) Hormone changes have been shown to affect heart rate. A few days before my cycle I get a rise in heartrate. It's not dangerous. My doctor prescribed me with medication used to calm down the heart. It also helps with anxiety. Maybe ask your doctor about it? 🙂

Samyol · ‎22-08-2019

Hey Assj, this is all very intriguing for me to read as I too visited the hospital earlier this year because I had an extreme fear of a heartache which in turn ended up causing chest pain and my heart to race constantly. It really is horrible what the mind can do hey... I genuinely hope you sort this all out, you're not alone!! I promise you won't die, stay strong. Hope you're okay.

Samyol · ‎22-08-2019

Sorry for my above post Dreaming24, it was indeed supposed to be directed at you, apologies.

Dreaming24 · ‎22-08-2019

Thanks for replying assj and Samyol I really appreciate it! Sometimes it’s just reassuring to know you’re not alone when you feel like your experiencing feelings that no one else could possibly have.

MrsEM · ‎23-08-2019

Oh my gosh Dreaming24 I could have written this myself word for word. I have been battling with health anxiety for 2 years now with it mainly focusing around my heart. I have every single heart related symptom you have mentioned. I have also had about every heart test imaginable... 3 holters, ultra sound of my heart, blood tests, numerous ECG’s, numerous stress tests on the treadmill, the cardiologist injected dye into my veins to see how it flowed through my heart. Every single test came back fine. I still don’t believe it and am still convinced to this day something is wrong but deep down I know it’s not because every test has been fine. I am sure sometimes my heart will stop or I am going to die. I have good days and bad. I am currently going through a terrible few days and reading your post this morning was exactly what I needed- to see I am not alone on this crazy roller coaster.

Please let me know how the holter goes and just remember you are not alone

Ash81 · ‎23-08-2019

Hello everyone! I’m writing here too even though I’ve written on other forums too! I have EXTREME HEALTH ANXIETY... funny though the only thing I don’t really worry about is my heart?! Right now I’m stressing about an itch to which the dr gave me a cream n told me to come back next week to examine... that’s led me to think bowel cancer (obviously)! Now I’m convinced I have it! Another gp two days ago felt inside there and said she felt nothing... I had a blood test which was normal. I had breast pain in February did an ultrasound and it was fine thank his. Having breast pain now again and yep I’m thinking it’s breast cancer again... my fear is cancer... any type of cancer... I’m seeing a psychologist too who says she will try cbt on me. I was on antidepressants which just stopped me from crying but didn’t stop the thoughts and fears. I’m writing this in my bed; as getting up and living (actually existing) is too exhausting. I hate this!!

Dreaming24 · ‎23-08-2019

I’m so sorry to hear that you feel this way because I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. It is reassuring to know though that we aren’t alone. I will be sure to let you know how it goes, I’m convinced it will be terrible news but that’s anxiety for you. Just remember how strong we are to be dealing with this every day.

44Max44 · ‎26-08-2019

Hi Dreaming,

I've found that chest pains and the occasional heart palpitation are very commonplace when I'm feeling particularly anxious, only with me I've learned that they are only a symptom of anxiety and not actually dangerous so I don't pay much attention to them anymore.

Something I'd recommend is after you've gotten your tests done to make sure you're all clear, you should go out for runs or bike rides or some other physically demanding task, because what this would do is make your heart work and you'd see that your heart has no problem even in the hardest scenarios. This will give you some faith in your own body and show you just how strong your body really is.
Of course, if you still feel anxious about doing any exercise, you can always start off small with a small jog or something and go from there. I promise you'll survive.

The reason a lot of us assume the worst even though we probably shouldn't be is because of a thing called 'self-destructive thinking' which pretty much means we usually assume the worst and tend to self diagnose very quickly. We're so desperate to find an explanation for what we're feeling that we believe whatever even vaguely fits the symptoms and can't get that thought out of our heads.
I myself went through this pretty bad a few months ago and went to the GP for multiple different things and tests and everything came back clear, but you can never really shake the feeling that something 'might' be wrong.

What I recommend again and again is 'The Anxiety Guy' on YouTube and specifically his 'symptoms of anxiety' and 'positive daily affirmations' videos. His video helped me through some tough times.

Hope this helps

liz30 · ‎30-08-2019

Hello! I had similar issues a few months ago. Feelings of anxiety and panic. I was scared about my heart. So I ended up at so many specialists getting so many tests done! It is nerve wracking and time consuming. I remember being the youngest person at a cardiologists office and everyone were like : why is she here?
I think now that I got everything looked at (cardiologists naurologists and lung specialist) I am definately more at easy. I say go get checked for a piece of mind.
But also what helped me a lot is buteyko breathing. I went to see a naturopath and now I have a bunch of breathing exercises I do daily and I can honestly tell that when my breathing is calm and relaxed all anxiety seems to disappear (not completely but it makes it much easier). I also take lavender oil to relax and I hear someone say before that it is almost as good as prescription meds
Good luck!