Recent Issues, assuming anxiety

[sp1r17]

Hello all,

I've recently had, what the ER called, a panic attack. When I went in, they noticed an arrhythmia with my heart. I've been seeing a cardiologist, and they have confirmed that I have Wolff-Parkinson White syndrome. They did an echocardiogram on my heart, and a stress test. After the stress test, however, my cardiologist told me that he saw potential signs of coronary artery disease, but told me not to worry as I am 27, 5'9" and 150lbs, and that it could be nothing. I'm having a CT Coronary scan on the 3rd of next month, but ever since then I've been feeling sharp pains in my chest that seem to occur more when I'm laying on my stomach/chest, difficulty breathing (as if there is a constriction in my throat, which has led me to assume I'm asthmatic). I've also been having these feelings of despondency, as well as random depression where I start crying for no reason. I've been to the ER twice this year already, and both times the doctor said I was fine. This past visit they ran blood tests and did an X-Ray on my chest, and told me everything looked perfect. I guess my question here is, has anxiety taken a giant hold over me after these recent cardiologist visits? Am I battling with depression that is on-setting my anxiety symptoms, or do they both go hand-in-hand? I am starting to feel like I am just going crazy at this point, and I can't talk to anyone about it anymore because it just feels like it's all I talk about.

[AnxiousNoMore]

Anxiety and depression go hand in hand feeding off each other in a vicious circle, so it is not uncommon to have the 2 build up to where you have a hard time figuring what is the problem. Since you know the trigger is anxiety, work on that as much as you can until the test in late Feb.

It seems nothing bad has been proven, however your mind won't let go, and keeps rolling the same anxious thoughts daily, so instead try to find something that relaxes you more. The pains you feel are from tensing up in fear imo, and I experienced the same thing for a week but in ER after day 7 they said if my heart was in that kind of condition I would have been dead long before. So I instantly relaxed after the results said I was normal, which hopefully you will do as well.'

Try to focus on the fact that nothing bad has been proven or is pointing to any problem and in fact the cardiologist said it could be nothing to see if all that helps.

PS this is day 12 waiting for a biopsy result for me, and although I think about it often in the day, I quickly refocus on more tangible things that exist right now, instead of on "what-ifs. Worry will not provide test results for either of us, so good luck.

[sp1r17]

Thank you for your response AnxiousNoMore. It does seem that I am always anxious, even if I'm not really thinking about anything. I'm trying to work through it, it's just a difficult road that I've never been on before. Still trying to figure things out, and it's hard to distinguish if there is actually something wrong with me or not, at times. This helps me, though.

[Paxiled]

My question would be, did this anxiety/depression start only after you found out about the heart irregularity, or has it been there before?  If only after, well, who wouldn't be upset?  Once you get used to whatever it is, it will probably pass as you enter your new normal.  If it's been around awhile, then it has nothing to do with your heart and your response to the heart problem is part of a larger problem.  Then the question would be, how bad is this making your life -- not every emotional tic is a problem that needs attention.  But if it has been making your life difficult for awhile, it might be time to get some therapy for it -- the docs can handle your heart problem, most likely, but worrying all the time and being sad just make everything worse and waste time.