Strange "drop" feeling in chest

[appstudent]

Hi. I have a fairly involved question, so please bear with me. I was recently diagnosed as having panic attacks by my primary care physician. I am 24, recently returned to college. Before I went to school, I had none of the problems I am about to describe.

My feelings of being weirded out first started when my left arm and hand started going numb. Doctor said it was due to neck spasms. Next, different things started to pop up. I definitely have panic attacks (periods of racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, tightness in my chest, nausea, etc) but I also have a strange feeling in my chest 95% of the day. It feels sort of hollow all the time, and every two minutes or so I will have a feeling like a "drop" or almost like a shock in my chest. I have had PVCs (all the time) for at least 5 years, and it almost feels like a more severe one of these. When I'm having this problem, I also have difficulty swallowing and can sort of feel the swallow going all the way down. The drop feeling is worse when I bend over or crouch down.

I went to the cardiologist last week and he did an echo and said I have a perfectly normal heart. He prescribed alprazolam for the panic attacks. What I can't make anyone understand is that even when I'm not having an "attack" I still feel icky inside. I take my pulse a thousand times a day and it varies from 58-85 when at rest, depending on the time of day. Also, I wake up in the middle of the night feeling like my heart is barely beating (super slow) and I can't breathe.

I have been experiencing terrible insomnia, mostly due to the fact that I am terrified I'm dying. There are sometimes periods of days with no sleep whatsoever (it's 4am as I type this!). My main concern is that I could have a heart condition that would not be easily identified just with the echo. I haven't passed out or had trouble exerting myself or anything, but when I feel this way I don't want to do anything but be perfectly still and I can't stop thinking about it.

It also seems to perhaps be connected to food. I used to love eating and look forward to it and my family really based a lot of our good times around meals, but now food sickens me. When I'm hungry I get the "drop" feeling, then I think if I eat it will go away, but it doens't and sometimes actually worsens. Then I think perhaps I need to use the bathroom, and I either will go and be sick to my stomach or not be able to go. I have never had problems with my bathroom habits before, but haven't been "regular" in over a month now.

I want so much for this just to be anxiety and for it to go away naturally. People tell me to think of something else and it's just my "panic attacks" but when you have physical symptoms that are very bothersome and constant, it's hard to just turn it on and off. Please let me know if there is anything else this sounds like, or if I should just trust my cardiologist and take my xanax and try to find some counseling.

PS - Additional info about the alprazolam. It's only .25 mg, and I've taken it twice. The first time it didn't seem to do much. It definitely calmed me, but didn't help with the hollow chest/drop feeling. Tonight I took it and actually experienced some relief. I was able to go out with friends and be very productive. However, once I went to sleep I kept waking up and my heart rate was very low. I don't know if this is because of the xanax, but it was very scary and has kept me awake.

I'm sorry to post all this, but I have been to the doctor multiple times and they are very helpful but I never leave fully satisfied. I'm really scared and this is interfering with my school work and social life severely.

[Tall_T87]

It is absolutely insane how you have described my symptoms to a T!!!! I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder about a year ago and have been on Sertraline (Zoloft) ever since. It helps me a lot and I have less panic but I do still dive so deep into my mind with every heart beat I feel and every flutter. My HR can be as low as 48 sometimes and I just don't wanna move either... I am 29 and this all started for me because I would wake up in the middle of the night and feel like my heart was racing but in reality, I had a normal HR and then the panic attack would hit. I never think I'm dying in the moment and during the attacks I'm relatively calm physically but I am afraid I will die soon and my heart will fail me soon. Eating helps but eating too much or greasy foods etc, can cause palpable beats naturally. When I'm active, I feel best because I think I'm preoccupied. It's funny because my fingers are on my throat a million times a day and I check my fit but an unhealthy amount as though I can do something in the moment. I always just self talk myself into disparity and feel pains that bounce around my chest and neck and heart burn and GERD and constopation that turns to diarrhea. I also have sleep apnea which doesn't help. Every time I got to the doctor they say I have a textbook heart and everything's fine. So perhaps we should trust our doctors and not google the life out of ourselves.. maybe we're spending so much time being afraid that dying wouldn't matter much anyways... sometimes I just hope I have a heart attack and then it would just be done and then I panic and freak out and back to square one... I don't know if this helped but it helps me to know that other people have the same thing.. so yeah.. I hope everything works out! Good luck!

[Shy_girl_]

I have  lots of these symptoms does that mean I have anxiety  

[Kaylar88]

ooooof. how awful! I feel your pain. I have health anxiety in combo with PVC's and I've been able to convince myself of some real doozies over the last decade. When I'm going through an anxious time in my life (going back to school would qualify) I can manifest all types of strange symptoms. Did your cardiologist run a holter on you? if not, that could help to ease your mind. I think it's important to seek that peace of mind, but also be reasonable in your quest. At some point we have to learn to trust our doctors and to try and relinquish control on issues that are out of our hands. easier said than done, I'm still working on that myself. I'm sure it helps to know that you are not alone.

[casslol2323]

Hey, I've been having this exact feeling too and I'm only 15 years old. It really scares me when I get that "drop" feeling in my chest and it keeps me from sleeping. I believe I have anxiety, because I'm always worrying about everything, but I haven't been diagnosed with anything. My mom told me the feeling I get in my chest is just heart palpitations which is something I get with my Anemia because I am anemic. But it still scares me and I get it randomly. Sometimes I will get pain in my heart too and I just get so scared. I don't know what to do. If anyone has any ideas on what this could be, I would love to read it. Any advice or information will be helpful. Thanks. Glad I'm not the only one feeling this! Just hoping its nothing serious.

[zazbo]

could be MVP Mitral valve prolapse. This is when the valve that feeds your heart is further down into the heart rather than back up in the artery. sometimes with heavy work or even crouching down will cause what they call regurgitation. this is when the blood from the chamber flows backwards out the in valve. this created a pulling sensation on the sides of the heart wall giving you a :bump:feeling.  This issue is not uncommon and usually is be-nine. however in severe cases it can result in the need for a valve transplant.
this issue is hard for the doctor to diagnose being usually when your at the doctor this issue isn't showing its self. I myself got them to attach the heart monitor then crouched down a few times so they could record it.

[mcateehardy]

You have just described ME! I am 65 years old and have been putting up with this for years. But I do not have panic attacks nor ever taken Xanax or anything else. I was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse when I was very young, so I have attributed it to that. The only other thing I do is to cough several times when it is bad. It does seem to help as though it is jetting my heart back to normal.