Chest Pains

Hi

I was wondering about the relation between panic attacks and chest pains?
I have been getting really discomforting chest pains and heart palpitations. When i went to the doctors he said everything was fine after he ran tests on me. I have to admit this is just macin my panic worse, but i need to know what is causing it and if it is serious. I am so nervous about my heart!

please help

Chest pains during anxiety disorders are very normal indeed, in fact 99% of the people I have spoken to with anxiety and panic disorders get chest pains as a symptom of their disorder. These can be due to muscle tension or strains, indigestion, back problems and other harmless causes.

I have never spoken to anyone with an anxiety disorder who discovered that these pains were caused by anything else. Palpitations are perfectly normal too, they will disappear with the anxiety as you eliminate it!

I get chest pains with my attacks but usually not that bad. Palpitations I certainly get much more frequently. Anxiety is a horrible thing that affects your whole body as I have learned. Sometimes I have problems digesting food and at times nausea makes me feel like I don't want to eat at all. The point of this is to say that anxiety can make you feel like your body has gone haywire. But you must remember that it is just a physical reaction to negative thinking. As the anxious thoughts go away the symptoms do as well. Always hard to realize this during an attack but try to keep repeating it to yourself until you believe it.

Hi,I decided to come out of hiding.I have been trying to control this disorder for over 35 years.I will be 40 this May.I am a Mom of a 6 yr old(no anxiety in that )I have been married for 17 years,so YES we are marriage material,others really can have compassion even though they mite not have the condition.What I know to date is that we are hard on ourselves I wonder why? I have such a hard time letting go of the controls.I read some of your e-mails and one thing I get is that people with this condition are often the most compassionate,highly intelligent people,and sensitive.I think that's why we have this condition or better yet it has us!My anxiety started when my Dad left I was 5 years old.I have been trying to do everything perfectly.I push myself to the wall and then wonder why it hurts when I hit it.I truly get that it's the chronic negative self talk.I have been to counselors,used meds alittle bit here and there.I believe medication is important if you are not able to get out of bed.It's hard to change but why I have found is when something stops working for you,change is inevidable.I know everything that there is about this condition and still when those heart palps,chest pains,shakes start happening it scares me.I have those days where I feel so alone and then I want to run but I keep coming.I know my condition is getting less hold on me.My self talk is kinder and I'm not believing the negative.I wonder if it has to be this hard or if that's just my attatchment to life being a struggle.I would like to communicate back and forth.Have a calm day! Carmon

does any one get etopic heart beats or missed beats, they really scare me and i always feel them ,its like a thud and flickering sensation in my heart The doctor says there worse coz ov the anixiety, and theres nothin wrong with my heart, coz these missed beats are normal, but i lose it every time i feel one and its so hard to convince my stupid brain that theres nothin wrong with havin one. any advice? xx

Anxiety, by nature has to prepare the body for action so the heart, being the fuel pum of the body, has to work heart. In anxiety disorders, in over 90% of the sufferers that I speak to, the heart symptoms are the first to rear their ugly head.

Take it from me folks, I have spoken to thousands of sufferers with every possible heart related symptom you can imagine, however, no one has EVER come to any harm and, in EVERY case, these symptoms have been eliminated along with the anxiety disorder.

In the mean time, try these tips:

Don't drink sweet drinks or drinks that are too hot or cold. Don't drink too much fluid. Minimise or eliminate caffein and tea. Aoid spicy food. Sit up straight to enlarge your chest cavity. Sit with your hands behind your head. If the heart races, take a deep breath and hold until you feel your heart bump. This can feel strange but often it helps to slow your heart down. Chew an iced apple (keep in fridge). Keep chewing until gone. This starts the dive reflex which slows the heart down.

ABOVE ALL stop researching your symptoms on the internet!! You are fueling your anxiety!!

Charles