To struggle to believe this is just anxiety and not something more serious?

[anxietyattacksorworse]

I’ve had years of anxiety problems (diagnosis of cptsd) .

Around about 2 years ago after a very long day I had a funny attack where I suddenly felt like I was passing out, heart going very quickly and irregular, couldn’t move my hands and feet, face was numb and hearing went funny - I’ve passed out before with medical stuff and felt just like that .

Person I was with rang 999, they advised to go to casualty for an ECG which I did - normal . The doctor said they were fairly convinced it was a panic attack but if happened again to go to A&E as not completely sure .

It happened again the next day, then GP started me on propranolol and they stopped .

About a year later - same thing happened again, I wasn’t sure so went to A&E - again, told they thought it was a panic attack but if it happened again to go back for another ECG.

The same thing happened yesterday lunchtime - started with feeling as if I was removed/detached/going to faint and then got worse . GP surgery said go back to A&E to get an ECG . Spent seven hours there being monitored etc, another ECG, all fine .

I’m under cardiology review anyway due to an extensive familg history of heart problems (arrythmia) . I had a 3 day monitor, echo and stress test in 2018, and have had well in excess of 40-50 ECGs - always totally normal . Get a lot of ectopic heartbeats (usually if I’m very stressed or nervous) . Cardiology said last appt (June) they’d keep me on 3-5 yearly echos and holter monitor, but gut feeling is there’s nothing serious .

So why can’t I believe them? It’s like a broken record in my head, I’m convinced it’s heart problems (which I am sure is making this worse!) . Is it just a form of health anxiety?

Sounds like health anxiety to me. My ex-H suffered badly and he genuinely couldn't stop the intrusive thoughts. Are you taking anxiety meds? Once he found the right ones they REALLY helped him!

I’m on an antidepressant and still on the propranolol yeah, I’m not honestly finding either are helping much but GP’s very reluctant to change them as have had bad side effects before, and not getting many side effects with the one I’m on .

Cbt therapist here, this would likely fall under the remit of panic disorder, possibly health anxiety if the worry about your heart was present all the time, however we would only treat this until all physical health reasons had been ruled out. However I'm pretty convinced it is anxiety op from what your saying. Propananol should help, if not maybe enquire about cbt available through the nhs x

That sounds very like anxiety to me.

My symptoms are a little bit different but I was recently given a 2week long heart monitor which was really effective as gave a prolonged look at my heart rhythm. I wonder if it's something you could request? Ideally you'd catch one of these funny events on the monitor.
I was diagnosed with SVT because of that monitor, when all my other investigations were normal (including numerous ECGs and a A&E trip etc)

Have they ruled out that it could be some kind of seizure?

They haven’t, no, I did at the back of my mind wonder about that as one of my parents and my sibling have had seizures - but surely if it was a seizure I’d lose awareness?

I do get funny feelings of Deja vu sometimes but have had that since I was a teenager and always put it down to tiredness .

Have spent much of this morning waiting for the same thing to happen again which isn’t great, I’m sure that’s probably the worst thing I could do .

Thank you, that’s what they’re saying yes . Cardiology said they’re doing the 3-5 yearly tests more to put my mind at rest than because of any real clinical need for them . I had CBT a few years ago which made a big difference .

Anxiety symptoms can be SO much more physical than most people realise. Given the tests you've had and your descriptions it sounds entirely likely that it's anxiety.

Have you had your hormones checked? Also low vitamin D, folic acid and B12 can cause issues.

It does sound like healthy anxiety though, if you’ve already had blood tests and nothing has come back that will be the most likely cause. You have my sympathy because I’m struggling this this too. With all the CBT and counselling I’ve had over 2 years I’ve not been able to combat the anxiety without medication.

Op, my DH has a whole host of minor heart issues and any one on their own would not be a concern but with him having 3-4 of them, it's a worry that they are combined. I bought him a Withings ECG watch. It's been life changing for him and he worries much much less now about his heart. It tells him 1-4 times a day that he has signs of afib etc and even picks up when he doesn't feel the actual symptoms but it's still happening. If he feels any flutters, he just puts his fingers on the watch to activate the ECG mode and it radiates him right away if he needs help or not. It logs all activity on hood phone too.

May be with you looking into it? I paid £250 2 years ago

Functional or non functional seizures?

Functional in parent, sibling its more debatable, they have a diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy but have never had an EEG to confirm .

I've got fibricheck on my phone yeah, which is good to a point - if it thinks you've got an arrhythmia it charges another tenner to find out what it is (which I've paid twice only to be told it was sinus tachycardia) .

Bloods have all been checked and normal yes .

It does sound like health anxiety
YOu sound similar to me OP. I am on controlled drugs for anxiety and health anxieties are awful

My family have a hereditary heart issue and everyone i know of, over age 50 has copd

i feel like a ticking time bomb sometimes i get so low i just cant face the future and have some very dark thoughts.

DH suffered with very similar symptoms, including deja-vu. Luckily we had private medical at the time and they fitted him with a monitor (internal) which he had to wear for some time - basically until it happened again.

It turns out that his heart was stopping, he would faint, his heart would then restart. He was fitted with a pacemaker and the fainting has stopped, although he still gets the "warning" symptoms before the pacemaker kicks in. His always occurred when he was sitting down.

Maybe ask for your full bloods doing? When i had very low iron in pregnancy I had all those symptoms and almost had to have an iron transfusion. My mum gets similar symptoms when her thyroid levels aren't right.

Propanol made me feel really weird. Like I was dizzy permanently. Could it be that? I had to stop taking it

i had the exact same thing about 6 years ago. Had three episodes within a short space of time that landed me in a&e. I was 100% sure I was having heart attacks each time. Had tests done and everything and drs put it down to panic attacks. I also was put on propanalol. I had 2 more attacks that I managed at home. I knew it wasn’t panic attacks and racked my brains to try to think what it was.
i eventually came to the conclusion that my Mirena coil could somehow be at fault so I got it taken out…. And I never had one of the attacks again. I told the dr about all this afterwards but they have poo-pooed the idea and act like I’m a nut job! But the fact it disappeared right afterwards has convinced me. I also had another nasty side effect from the coil and would never have it again!
Hope you find out some answers soon. I know first hand how scary it is!

I'm the same, and it is anxiety for me. It's awful, debilitating, scary and I hate it. Very few people realise quite how physical and severe the symptoms can be. Mine follows a serious collapse for a medical reason and now any time there is a slight change in my body (could be a temperature change, needing the loo, wind etc.), my mind will interpret it as "YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE!", and my heart starts racing, my vision closes in, I get ringing in my ears, pain in my chest etc.. It's just horrible and you have my sympathies. I'm on propranalol and high dose ADs as well, the propranalol is the only thing that seems to have an affect. Just wanted to say you're not alone.

Yes that’s exactly how I feel . Any thing that changes and I think I’m dying . I’m terrified constantly and absolutely exhausted . I desperately need to do household chores tonight but I’m almost too scared to move in case I die whilst I’m doing it . My heart rate was up at 130 yesterday, but all I was doing was speaking to my GP surgery .