Hi i'm new here. I'm 18, and at the moment, going through quite a worrying time. I'm having problems with my heart (at least i think i am). It feels as if it's straining, or even blocked, i can't describe, it just feels as if i'm going to have a heart attack at any minute. I'm 5''5 and about 119 pounds. I exercise regularly, gym, running you name it, i do it. My eating isn't particularly the best, i'm not the healthiest, nor have i ever been, i wouldn't say i ate worse than anyone else really though.
Last year, i was sent to the hospital with suspected meningitis, which i never had, but it terrified me, when after a while alone in the hospital wardfull of old people, i was told i just had tension headache, with no medication and told to go home. Afterwards, i thought i had gone completely mental, the doctors wouldn't believe a word i was saying, and day by day i gradually got worse and worse, my parents were staying up every hour with me, i couldn't sleep, one time at 3 in the morning, i just had to go out and run, couldn't eat, i had convinced myself i was about to die. I had to go to the A&E one night, because i went to sleep, and felt as if my heart had stopped, and i could barely breathe. Got to the hospital and sent me home not long after, saying everything was fine. I had mounds and mounds of blood tests, each and everyone saying i was perfectly fine. From my thyroid to everything. It made me worse, and they were pretty much just saying i was a headcase. The only person that believed anything i was saying was my teacher and she helped me through it. I had somebody sent to my house, a physchiatric nurse thing. I just got so sick, i totally shut myself off, but by some bizare reason, one day i woke up, no anxiety, no nothing, and my life just got back to normal. The pains had gone, although my headaches stayed, and some tingling in my fingers.
I've been fine for over a year now, but i just feel it's coming back. My hearts been a bit dodgy for the past few weeks, even after exercise etc. It just feels clogged. I'm starting to get tired legs after 2 weeks of exercise (3 times a week and running inbetween days), pains in my legs. Pains in my left arm, my heart even when i'm asleep, beats fast as if i'm exercising. Yet when i'm exercising it seems to do the opposite, not slow down or anything, but just stay at the exercising pace. Sometimes it seems to beat so hard when i'm sleeping, it makes my ears buzz horribly as it used to this time last year. I've been having a bad stomach now and then. The things that Haven't come back, are the pins and needles in my arms and legs. But when you lie on your arm or something and it goes dead, mine stays dead for quite a long time, and feels bruised.
Yet the doctors tests, my blood pressure, blood tests etc, just keep saying i'm perfectly fine. He thinks it might just be a trapped nerve somewhere near my heart, and that i'll grow out of it, but i haven't grown out of it since he's said. This time though, i really don't want to go back to the doctor, i can't stand being told i'm just a hypochondriac, or a nutter basically.
Does anyone else have experience of something like this? Any suggestions wouldbe appreciated :(, sorry for the long post. I'm just relieved to have found this board.Thanks.
RE: Heart problems?
Hi derouge,
First I must say I'm a layperson and not a medic. If they see the thread, people here will suggest better things than me.
Please don't mind me saying this, and I might well be wrong, but it does sound psychosomatic. It's quite easy for a person to get into a "loop" of attention so that the more they think something is wrong, the more they think about it, and in the case of the heart just putting your attention on it with anxiety would then make it beat faster or make you more aware of the beat. Then when you feel the change in the heart, you could get even more anxious, so the heart goes even stranger --- and the attention loop goes that way.
If this is what's happening, then it wold go away if you don't have your attention on it. The heart is very easily affected by the mind. For example, medical tests of blood pressure can be hard to assess since people's blood pressure may go up with anxiety ina medical setting. It would also fit in with your exercise seeming OK ... you've got your attention elsewhere when running (mostly). So this could be what it is. It doesn't mean your "mental" - it means you're normal and misinterpreting the results of attention.
But that's just a theory. Try testing it out. It's hard to know.
It sounds to me as if it's the worry that's to be overcome. Is there anything else stressful in your life? If you can run, and tests are clear, I wouldn't be too concerned about the heart. But if you think I'm wrong try to get even more tests if it gets worse BUT ... trust the results.
By the way, I have a floppy mitral valve in my heart. It gives me a heart murmer. When it was found the doctors were fascinated and asked if I'd wait around while loads of medical students were all brought in to listen to it through their 'scopes! It was a rare case for the students to hear. Very reassuring, huh? I first felt it as a huge loss of rhythm and just going into a "flutter" when I was only about 14. Scared the heck out of me. Then the medics said I shouldn't play sport; then they said any cut could allow bacteria in that would lodge in my heart. Ouch -- I don't mean to make you even more frightened. ;)The point of the story is that I just got on with life. I KNEW I could play football and run all day so just carried on doing it. I've done sport most of my life, had bloody injuries and gashes without even thinking about it, and now -- decades down the line, just finished a 50 minute jog right now. The medics made far too much of it in my case. Oh, the real point in telling my story is that I just stopped worrying at all about my heart and I'm MANY years down the line since then. 😀
So to sum up - sorry this is long -- don't dismiss that it could be your own mind affecting the heart. If that's it, forget the heart and it'll go away over time. The reason I suspect this MIGHT be it, is that you appear so worried about your health in general, yet sound as if in reality you're very fit?
Good luck,
Venetian
RE: Heart problems?
Thanks Venetian. I think i may have given the wrong impression out here. I did go with the doctors for a long while, he gave me beta blockers, i just thought it was a passing thing. My mind was fine at the time, i wasn't anxious or anything else, but when time progressed, the pain was getting worse and worse. Yet when i told the doctor, he was completely dismissive of anything. So as the pain worsened, yet they still persisted ( they didn't even suspect anxiety or anything mental related) i started to get slightly worried. I seen a different doctor, who took me a whole lot more seriously, and thought it might have been some form of pain disorder. He himself said he didn't think i was anxious, no signs to suggest i was whatsoever.- It's quite hard when your getting so many conflicting answers, to stay in sound mind. However, the next visits i seemed to be passed around somewhat. Then the other doctor started to come through with this trapped nerve theory. This on top of the whole meningitis scare, made me lose faith somewhat.
I've never been anxious before, i've never really worried about my health either. This just came totally out of the blue and for no apparent reason, they couldn't explain it, the tests were saying i was fine, like i mentioned the ecg's. Yet the pain really was there. Even when i was seeing this nurse, it was still there. I don't know if family history has got to do with anything, but no one in my family have had any kind of anxiety related illness. I'm certainly not the type that likes attention that's for sure. If i can avoid the doctors, i do so like the plague lol The last time i went afterthis episode, i had an ear infection, she said i had a virus in the inner ear, but said it was best not to give me anything for it, and to see if the infection would drain away with my fluids or something to that effect, it never did, and at one point, my ear bled. I haven't been back since.
I exercise yes, but after a few weeks continuously, my legs start to throb and ache, and if attempt to go to the gym the next day, i can barely lift my legs. I seem to get niggly little injuries afterwards when i have to stop too. I have really bad skin too on my face, i get really bad periods and the cramp sometimes reduces me to tears. Is this in relation to anything?
RE: Heart problems?
It's difficult to give advise even for a doctor over the internet, so we'd better admit that even a medic can't do that and I'm not one. Won't try to be!
OK, so it sounds as if you are clear that it's not psychosomatic. Obviously it needs to be seen hands on in real life (again) if that can be done and if it still persists. If it's real, it's real. The one thought I do have is -- it may be real and physical but not actually the heart? You can be the best judge of that. I know that sometimes people mistake muscle strains or heartburn (a gastric thing) as being heart-related. I'm not saying you are, but it may be something causing pain in the heart region that isn't actually a problem with the working of the heart itself?
Beyond that, I think anyone on HP, like me, is likely to be as puzzled as you...
Let us know how it goes on.
(And the core problem might actually be that in another thread you come 'out' as a Newcastle fan. That can't be great for anyone's health! - just joking, I like them.)
Different topic, on running that shold be easy to figure out. If you do it as part of a club and with experienced people, they can advise not to overdo it, on proper footwear, and ... some people do in fact find their bodies aren't suited to running and keep breaking down. But there may be a gentler way of doing it, warming up and down exercises, etc. (Just like I don't do!)
Venetian
RE: Heart problems?
Argh, it's got no signs of abating, i haven't eaten alot this time, and whatever i have eaten, has been fruit, or healthy stuff. I'm getting sharp pains in the backs of my legs, my arms feel as if i've sat on them for hours, numb, and burning. Not to mention pains in the heart/chest region. When i stand up, i get an auto pain in my head, just like a sharp shot in the same place everytime. Little black floaters passing in my eyes, and tickly sensations across my face and head. Can't get to the doctors until next week, god bless the NHS.
RE: Heart problems?
ORIGINAL: venetian
It's difficult to give advise even for a doctor over the internet, so we'd better admit that even a medic can't do that and I'm not one. Won't try to be!
OK, so it sounds as if you are clear that it's not psychosomatic. Obviously it needs to be seen hands on in real life (again) if that can be done and if it still persists. If it's real, it's real. The one thought I do have is -- it may be real and physical but not actually the heart? You can be the best judge of that. I know that sometimes people mistake muscle strains or heartburn (a gastric thing) as being heart-related. I'm not saying you are, but it may be something causing pain in the heart region that isn't actually a problem with the working of the heart itself?
Beyond that, I think anyone on HP, like me, is likely to be as puzzled as you...
Let us know how it goes on.
(And the core problem might actually be that in another thread you come 'out' as a Newcastle fan. That can't be great for anyone's health! - just joking, I like them.)
Different topic, on running that shold be easy to figure out. If you do it as part of a club and with experienced people, they can advise not to overdo it, on proper footwear, and ... some people do in fact find their bodies aren't suited to running and keep breaking down. But there may be a gentler way of doing it, warming up and down exercises, etc. (Just like I don't do!)
Venetian
I have actually been having a bit of a gaseous problem and my main pain, gets worse when it does arise, although sometimes it's never a problem, it seems to well up, and give me quite a bit of pain, but my main pains seem to be around the heart region. I've never really have heartburn, can it cause pains in the arms and legs too?
RE: Heart problems?
Hi,
No, heartburn feels to be around the area of the heart usually, and it's actually the top of the stomach or oesophagus. It's to do with indigestion, etc. I must say your problem has me foxed, but again I'm no medic. Do get to the NHS soon as poss. 😉
Venetian
RE: Heart problems?
Like Venetian, I'm not medically trained so this is just a passing thought...
Do you eat any foods containing MonoSodium Glutamate (MSG)? Things like flavoured crisps,powdered soups, chinese take-away's etc. There have been reported cases allegedly linking MSG to chest pains as well as other symptoms. Also consider food colourings and sweeteners as these can also have the same symptoms in some people apparently.
I hope you get it sorted soon.
Love and Reiki Hugs
RE: Heart problems?
ORIGINAL: Energylz
Like Venetian, I'm not medically trained so this is just a passing thought...
Do you eat any foods containing MonoSodium Glutamate (MSG)? Things like flavoured crisps,powdered soups, chinese take-away's etc. There have been reported cases allegedly linking MSG to chest pains as well as other symptoms. Also consider food colourings and sweeteners as these can also have the same symptoms in some people apparently.
I hope you get it sorted soon.
Love and Reiki Hugs
I do and have eaten the stuff you've mentioned for years, although i don't like chinese food. I drink juice with sweeteners too. Powdered soups recently i've been hammering. Pizza's etc i used to eat loads, although i don't eat them anymore. So food colouring and other things are really big on my diet. I just feel really clogged. I get dizzy when standing up as of today. It just feels as if my heart is really straining to pump bloody around, i know that sounds daft, you probably can't feel that, its just the only way i can think to describe it.
RE: Heart problems?
http://www.healthypages.net/forum/tm.asp?m=40719
Check out this thread. Sounds as though you may have an arrythmia. Which can come and go, only real test for it is to have a cardiac memo and record it when it happens.
Look at the other threads re palpitations etc. Not life threatening usually but very disturbing and hard to pin down.
Good luck
Jan