im a cardiophobiac, any help please

[cardiophobiac]

hi guys,

im a cardiophobiac, all started in 2014 when I felt my very first pvcs. I got checked over promptly. had the usual echocardiogram, treadmill test, ekg, and weekend holter monitoring. all checked out great. the holter revealed 5 ectopics during day 1 and on day 2 there were none! pretty damn good yep I know. the only other things seen were dropped beats, known as 'sinus pauses' while I was asleep or whatever it was. I was told not too worry and continue my exercise regime.

I did just that, haven't dropped dead yet of course, but since them tests, I have looked far too much into heart disease in the young now. reading endless articles, stories, cited journals, and research control group studies. I quickly found fabrice Muambas situation, Patrick ekengs and a few others about sudden death after routine cardio checks.

this obviously got me really worried again. almost not believing the tests id had! life went on, so did my pvcs, and sometimes I would feel them after exercising, or when exercising. very infrequently and sporadic. I've now developed a fear of anything that raises my heart rate. I really am depressed in life. everything pretty much requires movement or quick sudden changes in activity ( walking into work, walking upstairs, sexual activity, cleaning the car and so on ) yet I am so hesitant to do any of them.

I feel the need to really have a cardiac mri scan to see if I have any scarring or fatty tissue that isn't being read on the usual tests. anyone out there with any experience?

where can I turn too? my doctors has given me sertraline 50mgs to try as it all got me very suicidal and I need something to take away the mental pain and torture, as such.

[Paxiled]

First, did anyone refer you to a psychologist who specializes in anxiety treatment?  Second, if one med doesn't work, and it's become that severe of a problem, try a different one -- different ones affect us differently.  There's really nothing anyone can say that will keep you alive forever and some day, hopefully after a long and fulfilling life, your heart will stop.  But worrying about it all the time certainly isn't going to alter the realities of life.  You've done the best you can, which is to have docs check if you have a heart problem, and the only way to truly know if there's a problem deep inside your blood vessels is to do surgery, which no doc will do without a good reason.  What you can work on is the anxiety, so don't give up because of one med failure.  Also, the suicidal feelings caused by antidepressants affect the young more than adults, and they go away with time for most people -- they are a start-up side effect.  

[Paxiled]

And when I say psychologist, they are the ones who do therapy.  Drugs can help with symptoms but in those cases where therapy works you actually fix the problem.

[cardiophobiac]

thanks for your reply. yeah I've seen a cbt psychologist before, and tried relaxation techniques. however my problem is a panic attack. its the worries and thoughts of a heart condition. more of a compulsive disorder, I need to break the chain in my thoughts.

[RubyWitch]

Then you absolutely must do what Paxiled has recommended and get back into therapy. Your heart has been thoroughly checked out and you do NOT have any underlying cardiac issues aside from a few random PVC's. EVERYBODY HAS PVC's..........they are totally normal and totally benign. Some people are just more aware of them than other's......and since you admit to being a "cardiophobic," you have become hyper vigilant about them.......so when you feel one, it scares you and you become anxious, when we become anxious, adrenalin is dumped into our system which increases our BP and heart rate and exacerbates the PVC's. Googling ANY type of medical condition is just asking for more anxiety and will do nothing to "break the chain" of negative, scary thoughts. Listen to Paxiled. Best advice you'll get. You can also go to our Heart Rhythm Forum and the folks there can tell you about PVC's and cardiac phobia's and how anxiety makes everything 10X worse and they will help you understand that you have nothing to worry about. These people helped me out. I have PTSD and panic disorder, two heart stents and have, on average, about 10,000 PVC's every single day. (Our heart beats over 100,000X per day) I'm 67 years old and have been dealing with these PVC's for almost 10 years and I'm doing just fine according to MY cardiologist. I was very scared at first, too. But I learned how to live with all this through therapy.........you can, too. Stop wasting your life worrying.