I'm convinced I have an undiagnosed heart problem

[Alwaysworrying25]

Just that really. I'm convinced I have an undiagnosed heart condition and I'm a ticking time bomb, but the doctors don't listen to me. I've had periods for years, of heart palpitations, chest pains at rest and with exercise, breathlessness, light headedness, random episodes of racing heart to the point I feel unable breathe or move properly, which do actually fuel my anxiety. I've been to th GP many times, I've been to A & E many times. Every time they say my heart is fine but how do they know that? I had a 24 hrs holter monitor about 2 years ago, which found ectopic beats, they said every other beat was an extra bear but that this was normal and benign? But how do they know that? Without doing other tests?

I do have a history of OCD, and health anxiety and I think this is why the doctors say it's all in my head but it's really affecting my life. I'm sure something is seriously wrong and I truly feel like I'm a ticking time bomb and I'll drop dead at any moment. I'm so scared.

I looked at seeing a private cardiologist but I just couldn't no afford to do it. How can I make them listen to me and give me the neccesry tests to check my heart? I have a young son with special needs and I'm making myself sick that I'm not going to be here for him one day soon when this happens.

To add, I am overweight so I guess this does contribute to some of my symptoms and I'm working on losing weight.

Iv had all the blood tests, vitamin d, iron etc which all day sufficient. This is ongoing since my son was born so almost four years I've been having these symptoms.

Your vitamin D is not fine. It’s low. Have you had your blood calcium levels and magnesium levels checked?

I missed that! Please get your blood calcium, magnesium, vitamin D and parathyroid hormone levels checked. These are all symptoms of primary hyperparathyroidism which is curable with an operation. If it is and you have successful surgery even the GERD and gallstones will disappear and the weight as well.

So you weigh 20 stone but aren’t pursuing WLIs, have anxiety but won’t take medication and worry about your heart but won’t wear a heart monitor? To be honest I think you need to be proactive about improving your own health first and foremost. I know it’s easier said than done but there are immediate things you can do to make your situation better beyond having lots of cardiovascular tests.

I'm not egging her on @99pwithaflake more saying that things can be missed. I was diagnosed with anxiety and fibro and dismissed as a woman - also low ferritin b12 and d which were marked as normal and it was something else - life changing which could have been caught with a CT and different blood tests (and being listened to). I've never had anxiety or fibro and it should have been investigated properly. With how the NHS is now, you have to advocate for yourself and keep asking questions and if necessary get second opinions. Unfortunately once you've finally got a proper diagnosis and treatment, you then meet and speak to a lot of others (mainly women ) who have experienced the same.

People are acting like they are medically qualified, and simply feeding her into a spiral. It’s the risk of forums like this, people can’t take a step back and say this is an obese woman, likely morbidly obese showing the health issues associated with that and has diagnosed anxiety, and urge her to focus on those things, instead people are telling her what they’ve got wrong with them, suggesting she’s got it too, urging her to have more tests and she’s had multiple health issues now suggested to her she may have. It’s awful to watch it play out; the damage being done.

Sorry everyone
I've been trying to get through all the replies and respond but there's so many I'm losing track.

I came here for advice because I didn't have no one else to ask, I feel at a loss with my symptoms and also to get it all out that I'd been keeping inside. I can't talk toy family and I don't really have many friends. My family do tell me that I'm being unreasonable in pursuing the fact that I think I have something wrong withy heart.

I KNOW I have anxiety, quite severely. I've lived it since I was a teenager. Every day of my life. I'm getting bashed for "refusing to medicate" I WISH I could just as easily shove some tablets dowmy neck and make it all better but I PHYSICALLY CANT. it is not an excuse, but I actually can't. Imagine if you were being asked to purposely ingest poison.. could you do it? That's how it is for me. The fear I have outweighs the need to feel better. I don't know what it is. I wish I did but the distress it causes me it's indescribable. So don't bash me please when you actually only know the things I have shared with you. Those of you that have experienced a similar anxiety, I know you will have a better understanding.

Those of you that have said this is feedingw.intk a spiral, it's not actually, I feel seen and heard with the things that people are suggesting, that there are some red flags, I've been ignored for years and told there is nothing wrong. We are always being told to listen to our bodies.. yes I'm massively obese. I'm taking steps to manage to this. I've said a million times, I KNOW this isn't helping my issues. I KNOW I have a mental illness that is probably making it worse. But I also know is that this isn't in my head. I've not made it up. I have these symptoms especially with my heart daily.

I gained 40lbs in weight this last year, I had the exact same issues as I do now 40 lbs lighter. (Yes I know I was obese then too) And when I was first investigated in 2022 with the holter monitor I was again much much lighter.

Have they offered you counselling to address this issue?

But your symptoms are very, very likely to be caused by your anxiety which you refuse to take steps to address.

You need to find a way to be able to take your medication. You've not been recommended it for shits and giggles - it's because you're unwell and you need to take it. You will ruin your life and your health if you carry on the way you are.

I take anti-anxiety medication myself FWIW and it has changed my life beyond belief. It's nothing to be scared of. If you would take your heart medication, why not look at the anxiety meds as a way to help your heart too?

Anxiety can convince us that there is something very wrong with our heart because the symptoms can mirror heart problems almost exactly. Chest pain, shortness of breath, palpitations etc. You have come on here to seek reassurance BUT constant checking and reassurance seeking are also symptoms of anxiety. I realise that you are doing it in order to find relief from your symptoms BUT all it actually does is feed the anxiety further and you end up going to round in neverending loops. You have already been reassured several times by various clinicians that your heart is healthy but you still need more reassurance, hence my point above. Are you currently under the care of a psychiatrist? If so, when was your last review and are you due one in the near future?
Are you able to access any talking therapy or CBT?
I think you need to practise reducing checking and reassurance seeking but I think you need some professional guidance. They will also be able to help you with relaxation techniques etc which will help to reduce your symptoms by calming down your nervous system and reducing cortisol.

I was under the CMHT and had a psychiatric referral and appointment and all they did was officially diagnose my OCD and "anxiety and depressive disorder". Then once it was clear that I wasn't a danger to myself or others. I was discharged. I've completed several cycles of CBT through the talking therapies in my area. Once you've completed you can't go back for 12 weeks. Aside from the medications that I struggle with I have taken steps to soothe my anxiety. I have periods where I am very well and then I have periods where my OCD will flare up (more the intrusive thought and obsessions) and I become very unwell.

It's really frustrating isn't it. Can I ask which medication(s) they have prescribed for you?

Citalapram, sertraline, duloxetine, propranolol. Althought the duloxetine was for pain not anxiety. Apparently there is evidence to say it helps with pain from fibromyalgia. I don't even take pain killers, so I am constantly in pain in someway or another.

Ah ok. What are you up to this evening? Could you take a hot bath maybe and distract yourself with a hobby? I'm wondering if you could challenge yourself a bit and see if you could maybe stay off your phone for a couple of hrs until 2000 ISH? Sometimes it's nice to give our.brain and body a bit of a rest. I'm going to have a hot shower, light a nice candle and stick a film on. I need something for my hands to do so I'll probably fiddle with some crochet at the same time.

Oh I'll be kept busy with my little one when he comes back from nursery soon and I'll he settling him until later this evening.

OP. I've been a similar weight, Similar iron/ferritin, vit B & D levels. I had 'sleep disordered breathing' (1 level down from apnea but makes you feel rough & causes weight gain). I had to have iron infusions & I now have a vit B injection every 8 weeks. During this my chest hurt & my heart 'skipped about'. Which of course causes anxiety which makes things worse, even if you do have a heart problem. I'd go back to GP, ask for supplementation, ask for a sleep study, ask for support for weight loss if you can. Don't give up x

But they are feeding into it op as they are validating your fear there is something wrong with you. I understand you want that validation but it doesn’t mean it’s right. These people don’t know. Your doctors do. You will always find people on line willing to diagnose you tell you you are unwell and have what they have. It doesn’t mean they are right and your doctors are wrong, and yes they are encouraging you to beleive you’ve something wrong and keep going back, to not give uo, that your doctors are wrong it can’t possibly be anxiety and then weight added in.

personally I think you need to hide the thread.

Hi, I get palpitations after alcohol and a big meal too, I don't drink anymore because it isn't worth it. My main symptoms are air hunger(feel like I can't catch my breath), chest pains, I get headaches a lot, dizzy when I stand up, brain fog, nausea and extreme fatigue. One of the major symptoms for me is that I can't stand still in the same spot for any length of time or I get really dizzy and ill feeling, for example if someone stops me in the street for a chat or if I'm standing chopping veg after 5mins I feel ready to keel over.

For me it's always worse in the summer, I can't deal with heat at all, it sets all of my symptoms off and stress is another thing that can floor me. For the most part though taking electrolytes, exercise and medication has meant that outside of flare ups caused by stress or illness or summer heat it is very manageable. If you are diagnosed with pots there are a few different medications that you can try for me it's Ivabradine that helped.

What is your iron level at? I’m severely anaemic but the NHS keep saying my iron levels are fine!! I’m heading for blood transfusions they are so low! Low iron causes all your symptoms

So does obesity and anxiety,

Treat the obvious (anxiety and obesity and high blood pressure) then see how you feel. I have horrible anxiety induced palpitations along with some chest pain and take propranolol twice a day now and it’s calmed down. HRT has also helped.
If you would take heart medication then you can take anxiety medication. If prescribed propranolol then that IS heart medication. It’s not that you can’t take it, you are choosing to let the anxiety win and remain in this awful state you’ve got yourself into. You have to help yourself. You’re the one in control, nobody else.

You’re not being given reassurance OP you’re being validated.

You came here wanting to be told there is something wrong with you even though medical professionals have told you there isn’t.

So let’s put it into perspective shall we?

You say you can’t take medication. Fine. Well, if it’s anxiety you have then not taking your medication means that you will continue to have anxiety. Crippling yes, but life threatening? Na you’ll be alright, you can just be anxious.

But if you have a heart condition and you don’t take your medication then you’ll die. So assuming you’d be prepared to take heart meds in order not to die there is 0 excuse for you to not take anxiety meds.

A heart condition isn’t something to aspire to. Although granted if you don’t lose some weight soon you’re likely to end up with one even if your symptoms are anxiety related.

There’s nothing I can’t tell you about having a heart condition.

The palpitations, the breathlessness, the arrhythmia, the cardiac arrest, the surgery to fit the ICD and repair a valve, and the ultimate transplant 8 months ago.

You think you have a heart condition because you want a heart condition. Trust me, you don’t.

You should want this to be anxiety which is helped by meds. You don’t want to have a heart condition.

You’ve been told by medical professionals. You need to ask yourself why you won’t listen to them over a bunch of strangers on the internet who will be only too happy to tell you what you want to hear.

How bloody ridiculous.

Of course I don't WANT a heart condition. Are you alright in the head?? What a silly perspective to have.

You may think I'm seeking validation or reassurance and maybe I am, I don't know, but I'm not sitting here thinking "oh goody, there all telling me I've got x,y,z. That's just stupid.

I FEEL like I've been gaslit for years, it's anxiety, it's your weight etc, and both are true. However, I know myself and I know my body, anxiety, overweight or not. I've not been overweight my entire life and the whole time I've had these problems. These symptoms, I've had for YEARS.

You don't know me, you know what I've shared with you all on here and you can have your own opinions on what you THINK. But I find it really insulting that you would say "you WANT a heart condition". The whole purpose of this post was for advice or guidance, or experiences of others who may have felt similar or been in similar mindset to me.

If I had come on here and not been truthful, and just said ive been having these symptoms but I don't have anxiety and I'm a normal weight, your response would probably be different. Don't penalise me for being fat, don't penalise me for having a mental illness. Your post is actually a bit unkind.

I am very aware that I need to get the weight loss under control and that things may or may not improve with that.

I don't know how much more I can explain about my fear of medications. It's an actual phobia, anxiety inducing, it terrifies me.

Being put in a life threatening situation maybe it would he different, I don't know. But right now, my fear of the medicine to treat my anxieties greatly outweigh my need to want to feel better, and I just cant explain that.

It's offends me greatly when people say "you choose to be like this". I don't choose to be like this at all, I don't enjoy living my life in constant fear of everything and everyone. If I could he "normal" I would, but I can't.. yes medications will help me. But I don't believe me that anxiety is causing all my symptoms. Nor my weight. It's contributes. But I don't believe they are to solely blame.

I am not pursuing weight loss injections because I cannot afford them, they aren't recommended with conditions I have (gallstones) and I have approved my gp, I don't meet the criteria for referral on the NHS. I do not have weight related health issues, I have bouts of high blood pressure, but not high enough to warrant medical intervention, and lifestyle changes recommended, which is what I'm doing.

No, the only thing that would reassure me is to NOT be diagnosed with one. I just feel like I'm not being taken seriously, because of my anxiety and because of my weight. Yes they are contributing factors. I know that. But I also feel like there is something else at play. I shouldn't be criticised for that.