Aa
Is this anxiety, or is there something wrong?
Hi, I'm Male, 15 years old and slightly overweight- only about 1 stone overweight though.
Recently I've been finding it harder to get to sleep. My pulse has been a bit faster than normal sometimes. Sometimes, it also makes a "swishing" noise, which sounds sort of like a clock ticking. I feel sick on some nights, sometimes as if I'm going to vomit, other times just ill, and have never vomited after experiencing this.
I was trying to get to sleep earlier tonight after again experiencing an elevated pulse when I got a sudden sharp pain in my left side, it lasted for about a second, and this hasn't occured again. I had a very slight feeling of pressure near the middle of my chest.
I worry about things a lot, and this is preventing me from getting to sleep. Is there something wrong, or is this just anxiety?
Thanks for your time.
Recently I've been finding it harder to get to sleep. My pulse has been a bit faster than normal sometimes. Sometimes, it also makes a "swishing" noise, which sounds sort of like a clock ticking. I feel sick on some nights, sometimes as if I'm going to vomit, other times just ill, and have never vomited after experiencing this.
I was trying to get to sleep earlier tonight after again experiencing an elevated pulse when I got a sudden sharp pain in my left side, it lasted for about a second, and this hasn't occured again. I had a very slight feeling of pressure near the middle of my chest.
I worry about things a lot, and this is preventing me from getting to sleep. Is there something wrong, or is this just anxiety?
Thanks for your time.
Best Answer
In a nutshell....this is probably just anxiety. By the time a young person hits your age, they already know the signs of heart problems and if they match up the anxiety with what little they actually know about heart problems, they get themselves into trouble. And then they worry. That in turn raises the the heart rate.......which is a normal response; it's called the 'fight or flight response'. In most people the heart tips to the left, even though it is in the center of the chest. People figure that pain on the left means heart problems; not usually. Then they figure the pain is sharp, they are getting ready to have a heart attack. Pain that is truely related to the heart is never sharp, it's actually the opposite. And heart related chest pain is due to a lack of bloodflow to the heart muscle wall which is usually due to clogged or blocked arteries and is called Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). It takes 20+ years to develop CAD problems. Sometimes children and teens can have problems with true heart related chest pain due to having some form of Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). But even as common as CHD is (one in every one hundred children born has some form of CHD) chest pain in these children is extremely rare and is usually the result of heart muscle disease which is called Cardiomyopathy. They sometimes have a structural problem which can also cause the pain, but again, that is very rare. If you are really worried about this, talk to your parents and they can get you into the pediatric cardiologist.
I'm happy this has helped you, Mike. Knowledge, if it's correct in it's content, can do a lot to help people cope; the unknown can be scary. Now that you have figured this out for yourself.....go enjoying be a teen!! :) take care
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Teen Health Community
We answer your top questions about the flu vaccine.
Yummy eats that will keep your child healthy and happy
Healing home remedies for common ailments
Can HIV be transmitted through this sexual activity? Dr. Jose Gonzalez-Garcia answers this commonly-asked question.
Do you ever wonder exactly what happens to your body during your period? Ob/Gyn Elaine Brown, MD, explains the menstrual cycle in-depth.
Is the PS3 the new Prozac … or causing ADHD in your kid?
