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1910089 tn?1322051342

Silent heart attack

I recently went to a Dr for back pain and came out of there discovering that I have had what she called a silent heart attack. My BP at the time was extremely high, "Stroke level" which prompted the Dr to have an EKG ran which showed that I had a heart attack. I'm only 40, I have been diagnosed with sinus tachycardia a couple years ago. Due to moving 5 hours away to a small town I stopped taking my Metropolol,I haven't had symptoms so I wasn't too worried about it. I had a great Dr, down state for 12 years and I put finding a new Dr on the back burner. Life took some very traumatic turns this past year and a half, I was caring for a terminal friend, dealing with the death of my God son, we lost our house down state which was why we had to move and leave everything I knew behind. . A lot of bad things happened but I held it together... until finding out about my health, it really triggered some feelings of anxiety. The Dr has me on Atenolol, pain pills and muscle relaxers for my back and Klonopin for my anxiety. I havent felt any symptons of anxiety or heart palpitations (which came along with my tachy cardia) in a couple of years and now I have all of them back ever since I have found about my heart and taking these meds. I'm recently getting over the stomach flu and am wondering if that can cause strain on my hear?. The anxiety and heart palpatations get worse at night, the Klonopin does ease the fast heart rate.I'm scared, still waiting for the Dr's office to set me up an appt with the cardiologist. What can I do to ease the anxious feelings and calm my heart down?
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1910089 tn?1322051342
Jon,

this did help so much, thank you! I have noticed increased anxiety since being told about the heart attack. My Dr did say the same about not reading about anything like this on the internet. I'm however only looking for possible answers or even an idea of what I might be facing, I will take both of your's advice. I didn't  know about the 50/50 chance of the EKG and learning that does make me feel a bit better. I hope that you had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Penny
Helpful - 0
159619 tn?1707018272
COMMUNITY LEADER
Wow, that's quite a bit you've been through. Let me give you a couple things to think about. First and most importantly, an EKG is not accurate for diagnosing a past heart attack, it's about 50/50. The EKG gives indications that there may be damaged heart muscle because it picks up an abnormal electrical pattern of conduction. Having said that, there are many things that can cause these indications that are not the result of a heart attack including the placements of the leads on the EKG itself so there really is no use in worrying about this until you see the cardiologist who will run tests to confirm, most likely a stress test with nuclear profusion to start. I can assure you of one thing, if your doctor felt there was a serious problem you would not be waiting for an appointment with a cardiologist still, you would have already seen one.

What you need to do is concentrate on your BP, take your meds and change your lifestyle to help reduce your BP. Try to eliminate stress, watch your salt intake and take your meds. Also, don't spend time on the Internet reading about heart disease as that will only increase your anxiety, if you have questions ask your doctor. I know it's easier said than done, but just relax, take it easy and let go of the stress and worry. You will get your answers when you see the cardiologist, there is no sense getting worked up before then as it will only make things worse on you.

I hope this helps,

Jon
Helpful - 0
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