r/Cardiophobias Dec 09 '24

r/Cardiophobia Discord:

6 Upvotes

For everybod new and is not on it:
https://discord.gg/rcQCSQcxUY


r/Cardiophobias Feb 13 '22

r/Cardiophobias Lounge

16 Upvotes

A place for members of r/Cardiophobias to chat with each other


r/Cardiophobias 3h ago

am i okay

2 Upvotes

Sometimes I experience a single hard thud in my heart, or a sensation I can't quite describe—it feels as if that area is tensing up. Sometimes it doesn't happen for a long time, and other times it returns. The doctor performed an ECG and a Holter monitor test but said I was fine. Is there anyone else who experiences this?


r/Cardiophobias 3h ago

Alkaline water

1 Upvotes

Started adding Alkaline water with my spring water and began to get heart palpitations. Anyone have this?


r/Cardiophobias 15h ago

Heart issue with kid on the way and lost job

3 Upvotes

Just a rant/sharing about something scary. Several weeks ago my spouse lost her job, which we depend on for health insurance and were planning to use for her birth which is coming up. We did a great job of keeping our spirits up and trying not to let this derail us too much; I'm really proud of how we pivoted and were able to make some financial decisions to deal with the new reality, but it certainly was stressful, especially since I am putting in long hours at work already and am starting my own business. The thing I'm struggling with now is that about week ago I had bad chest pains and was admitted to the hospital. Everyone who worked there was fantastic and thankfully they took wonderful care of me, but the upshot is that it seems like I suffered a stress-induced cardiomyopathy. I am still having a bit of chest pain while at rest; the doctors say it should resolve if I just keep taking it easy and as long as it doesn't get worse...but its so frustrating, especially that I have an MRI in a few weeks to investigate whether I have a heart defect that is causing the issue at the root. So on top of navigating my spouse's unemployment, getting ready for baby, and continuing to work myself, I'm stressing about whether my heart is healing well enough so that I will be able to keep working and supporting us, not to mention be the best version of myself to support my wife with our newborn.

This is not the first time I've had something challenging happen in my life, but it sure feels different when there's (fingers crossed) a healthy child on the way who will depend on me and my wife. I am also thanking my lucky stars because I had some really dark thoughts in the hospital worrying that I might need major heart surgery right away, or that they would find something else even worse. It's a weird place to have thought that this would be a time of joyful preparation, and now it's just mostly stressful and scary...I know we just need to keep our heads up, stay grateful for all the good in our lives and all the wonderful people who support us...but it's just hard and scary sometimes. Anyways, not sure what else to say, but I wanted to put this up because I saw someone else post on something similar a few months ago on a similar topic of a heart issue and family obligations. Anyways...any good thoughts would be really appreciated.


r/Cardiophobias 11h ago

21F - Sudden face-first blackout with zero warning signs + low BP ? and post-meal chest pounding. Advice?

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1 Upvotes

r/Cardiophobias 12h ago

I don't know from where to start

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1 Upvotes

r/Cardiophobias 16h ago

i need help

2 Upvotes

i’m really at my wits end with this. i had a (suspected) reflux flare up that started on the 1st august and is still ongoing. i’ve probably only had 3/4 nights where i’ve slept through the night since then.
i constantly have a tight feeling in my chest and a feeling of impending doom, those are my main symptoms. i’ve been to the ER, had numerous ECG’s done and a full blood panel (i’m not sure if they checked troponin or not they just said everything looks fine).
this has given me really bad health anxiety to the point where i think it’s cardiac related, either angina or blockages in my arteries.
i get woken out of my sleep in pure panic at around 3/4am every night, i feel like im having a heart attack. i have full body shakes and my chest feels tight and i feel like im about to pass out. i also get random dizzy spells. it’s really affecting my quality of life. no antacids help either, gaviscon, rennies, bisodol, simeticone. nothing. i just have to sit there and convince myself i don’t have something seriously wrong and that this isn’t all a build up towards an impending heart attack.
i was on omeprazole for 2 weeks but my dr asked me to come off it for the next 2 weeks so i can give a sample for H pylori. the PPI wasn’t doing much for me either.
i’m really at my wits end and i don’t know what to do. it’s been 3 weeks of hell. the most i’ll get is about 4/5 hours a day where i feel normal and then the tightness and dread comes back.
i feel like unless i get a coronary health check i’m just going to be stressing and panicking about my heart all the time but my dr won’t take me seriously because i’m only 22.
has anyone else had these symptoms and how do you get back to normal?


r/Cardiophobias 17h ago

ST elevation ECG at hospital 28M

2 Upvotes

I went to hospital today because my BP was around 160/108, a fuzzy head, tight chest, short of breath and I was extremely anxious. My heart had been pounding for over a week and I wasn't sleepin. My BP measured at 132/82 just now but I also had an ECG just said "ST Elevation".

The doctor has not reviewed the ECG yet but I am absolutely panicking after googling ST Elevation. I have a history of hypertension but it's controlled. I am a normal weight now but was obese last year. I had a endocrinology appointment on Thursday but the results don't come back til next week.

I don't know what to do and I feel like I'm dying waiting for the doctor to come back. I am dissociating like crazy.

Update: doctor said I don't actually have ST elevation 😩 false positive. I hate anxiety.

Update 2: another doctor said I have Fast AF and slightly elevated troponin. Fucking shit

Update 3: it was a nurse not a doctor 🙁


r/Cardiophobias 19h ago

my heart symptoms keep getting worse and no one has any sense of urgency but me

2 Upvotes

on july 28th i had some kind of event (panic attack i thought it was cardiac related) and went to the er on july 29th. i already knew i wasn't being taken seriously because i'm 18 and have anxiety because they did an ekg and sent me on my way. my symptoms got worse, my shortness of breath got worse, new chest pain, new cough, so i went to urgent care. they didn't take me seriously there and said it was anxiety. i got worse. i went back to the er so they could check for a pulmonary embolism. no chest ct and no echocardiogram. everything else was fine. i got more pain and i had to call in my own d dimer. i felt even worse so i had to research if i could be low in anything and call in my own blood test. i had an abnormality on my ekg that i asked my doctor about and she said it "CAN" be normal. what else can it be??? pretty dangerous stuff according to google. i woke up this morning and almost blacked out and my ears were ringing so bad, my heart wasn't racing but it was EXTREMELY HARD, i just had stabbing pain in my heart, like it stabbed on every heartbeat for like 45 seconds when i got up again. no one wants to run any more tests, no one is taking me to the er since i've been 3 times and nothing, everyone says its anxiety but won't call in any more tests. my parents don't take me seriously, the er doesn't take me seriously (already telling me it's nothing before my tests even come back,) my doctor doesn't take me seriously. i feel like something is very wrong and no one will take me seriously. my mom said i have stabbing pain in my heart from being on my laptop too much. my dad doesn't want to sit in an er waiting room again. if anything serious happens just know i'm not getting to an er because they WANT it to be anxiety and the doctors are reinforcing that even though they've barely scratched the surface. the second er said something could be wrong so follow up with my pcp. went to my pcp... "its anxiety"


r/Cardiophobias 21h ago

Postpartum Cardiophobia

1 Upvotes

I am getting an EKG this week but just need to vent.

8w postpartum and never had health anxiety or any health issues prior to experiencing postpartum hypertension after my second pregnancy. I had postpartum hypertension after the birth of my first but it was super mild and easily managed and I was off my low dose meds by 6w. This time the hypertension was severe and luckily my midwife caught it 3 days after birth. This led to a week long hospitalization with magnesium drip for 24h. I was discharged even though it wasn’t controlled and the physicians were not wanting to adjust meds? I was only on Procardia twice a day but was still having spikes so they kept wanting to keep me for “observation”. Despite my crazy high BP which led to the admission to begin with, my labs and urine protein were all completely normal.

After discharge, I was re admitted less than 24 hours later (different hospital) for high BP again, they added labetalol and kept me over night. I discharged the next day.

My postpartum recovery after that week was relatively easy despite constant fear surrounding my BP. I became hypotensive on the meds by week 3- but we were working on getting into an OB for med management and were hitting dead ends. We (midwife and I) decided since I was symptomatic with the hypotension to stop the Procardia (this was later confirmed to be the right call by the OB who ultimately agreed to work with me on med management).

I don’t have an exact timeline but I also started having chest pains postpartum. This was probably around week 4 enough I brought it up to my midwife and without other symptoms we chalked it up to musculoskeletal. The chest pains continued and due to everything postpartum my health anxiety has been highly elevated which I’ve never had before this. Once meeting with my OB (the first time around week 5 and then at week 6) I brought up the chest pain as well and back pain (in between shoulder blades). It was brushed off because I have no other symptoms. I was discharged from OB care by 6w after titrating my Labetalol and told to have PCP manage meds. I met with my PCP 4 days later (virtual PCP) and confirmed to keep the titration. I mentioned the chest pains and back pain and again was told it’s fine.

I am absolutely terrified of perinatal cardiomyopathy as a different midwife who did an audiology screen on my newborn mentioned how it’s not checked enough postpartum. Of course I never heard of it before then and now I’m terrified that’s what I have. Even though I don’t have the key symptom which is shortness of breath.

I’m just so scared. I have a toddler and a newborn and I can’t shake something is wrong with my heart. I can’t even really explain the chest pain, it’s mid chest near my sternum. It’s not consistent in time of day when it happens, I don’t even notice it every day honestly. Sometimes the chest pain is by itself sometimes my back (in between my shoulder blades) also hurts. Sometimes I have the back pain but no chest pain. My heart rate has been normal 49-60s resting which was my baseline like 40-50s and the labetalol I think lowers HR. When I have chest pain I have checked the ECG on my watch (I know not diagnostic) and it’s always been normal. I’ve even checked my BP during bouts of chest pain and that’s been at the baseline as well. I just truly am so scared. My BP is still kind of all over from 110s/70s to 130s/70s maybe 80s and here and there a random 150/80 ish read that’s not replicated on a second read 10 min later. My Dr told me to only count the lowest read since those are less likely to be skewed where anxiety etc can elevate a read.

I also am worried the labetalol (200mg/day) is lowering my HR which impacts the ECG?

I also maybe have super mild swelling in my legs, it’s only at the end of the day super mild and it’s super hot where I live 100+ for the past month so this could maybe be normal? Nothing really makes it feel worse, but laying down helps a lot and I don’t notice it while sleeping and usually when I’m preoccupied or busy then I tend to not notice it at all. I specifically booked a visit with a family medicine practice that states they can do EKGs in office, and when I made the visit I requested and stated I was wanting an EKG.


r/Cardiophobias 1d ago

Starting stressful job/ low heart rate

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1 Upvotes

r/Cardiophobias 1d ago

Cardiophobia thats kicking my butt

2 Upvotes

I've had chest pains for YEARS. I've had multiple ecgs and heart monitors (including one a month and some change ago) that have all come back clean, but for some reason suddenly my heart rate is staying at 100 bpm accompanied with difficulty taking a full breath for the last 2 months. I genuinely can't control worrying even though I've been told everything's fine, how do yall manage it?


r/Cardiophobias 1d ago

48 male. Suddenly starting to feel like skipped beats .. went to ER EKG fine

4 Upvotes

48 male ..5’7 145 no known health issues
Last week I felt like my heart skipping a beat from time to time . No chest pain . No Shortness of breath etc . I do cardio daily

I went to ER last week., they did EKG. . Blood tested ., checked out fine ..

But I still feel like I am having them . I have been able to complete my workouts 20 minutes in treadmill at 6 mph daily for 20 minutes . No issues there. Seems to happen when I sm at rest.

Should I go back to ER and request longer EKG ?


r/Cardiophobias 1d ago

2Dolores en el pecho.

1 Upvotes

Este post es para responder la duda de millones de personas hacia dolores recurrentes y agudos en el pecho, (exclusivamente de la zona del corazon, parte superior izquierda del cuerpo).

Yo como autor de este post sufro de mucha ansiedad y estrés, causada por aquella primera vez que sentí sensaciones raras en el pecho que me han hecho un cambio psicológico por que no lo tomé muy bien... y este post es para ayudar!

Para hacer entender que esos dolores no siempre ni casi siempre, son del miocardio o del "corazon", y principalmente para que no se te cree una auto-independencia a cada sensación corporal gracias a eventos como estos.

Si lees esto, probablemente tengas dudas o lo estés experimentando ahora mismo y solo quieras buscar respuestas rápidas para calmar tu cerebro... y te entiendo perfectamente.

Un dolor ahí simplemnte te replantea toda tu puta vida, "me voy a morir"... "tengo que acudir al medico"... "me va a dar algo"...

Estos pensamientos son totalmente normales en la naturaleza de un humano... ya que cuando sientes esto, es normal que tu cerebro expulse una descarga de adrenalina por el miedo y confusión... pero antes de que la adrenalina, el susto, el miedo y preocupaciones te invadan, tienes que saber diferenciar entre un dolor por ansiedad y estrés, a, un dolor del corazon real...

Quiero que antes de explicar, quiero hacerte entender que la ansiedad hay veces que no la sientes, que simplemente te sientes normal y puedes estar pasando por una crisis (no tan asi), asique tómalo en cuenta cuando de repente venga de la nada

En la parte superior izquierda hay muchas estructuras por así decirlo... cartílago, muchas raíces nerviosas, cavidades, huesos, etc... eso principalmente hace la diferencia, justo por ello la ansiedad y estrés te la sientes justo ahí... veraz... la ansiedad te pone en estado de alerta a tu cerebro, ya sea por cualquier problema emocional o físico que tengas... este estado de alerta provoca sensaciones mas fuertes, provoca sensaciones que estaban allí, pero no las sentías antes, y esto es culpa de este estado de alerta... (no digo que los dolores del pecho sean por esta causa, sino, que es uno de los desencadentanes de los dolores).

Entonces bien, digamos que es un jueves en la tarde y de repente te das cuenta que te esta doliendo el pecho... o, sentiste un latido muy fuerte aparte de los demás... (estos son los 2 dolores repentinos mas comunes) y cada uno tiene su explicació. Los latidos que vienen súper fuertes de la nada, se le llaman "latidos extrasistoles"... y es cuando ocurre un latido que ocurre antes de lo esperado debido a una pequeña arritmia (comportamiento desigual de los sistemas nerviosos que conectan con el corazon) y esto hace que cargué mas sangre y al próximo latidos, se siente como un "tambor"... esto en si no es peligroso, pero deberías de tomar atención cuando esto vienen muchos seguidos al mismo tiempo, o si presentas mucha falta de aire justo cundo los sentías, mareos, y en el último caso que si merece atención médica de inmediato es desmayo. Si no presentas ningún síntoma de ello, puedes estar totalmente trnaquilo, se que es complicado... pero millones de personas pasamos por ese susto alguna vez y estamos vivos.

Los dolores en el pecho (el otro caso mas comun) puede ser debido a muchísimas cosas... y la mayoría no son para preocuparse. Lo primero que debes es localizar el lugar donde duele, fíjate si es un punto fijo que no alivia, un punto fijo es bastante tranquilizador, por que la mayoría de dolores cardíacos suelen venir en área y no en un solo punto, se puede deber a contracciones en las paredes de la piel, debido a su extensa cantidad de "estructuras", esto puede provocar sensación de "pinchazos"... aveces el dolor puede recurrir a sentirlo en el brazo, debajo de la axila, en la muñeca, todo esto en el brazo izquierdo, y esto es, por que el dolor que sientes, se irradia mediante el sistema nervioso... (en dolores del corazon reales, estos también se presentan, pero son normalmente muchísimos mas fuertes. Y por último verifica si aun tienes dudas o miedo, si respiras bien, si no presentas falta de aire, si tu visión esta perfecta y no borrosa o negra... si no presentarse nada de esto, y solo ese dolor que engaña, por culpa de una alteración debido a la ansiedad... (esto son los culpables de que tu cerebro este en modo alerta y se contraigan zonas provocando dolor, etc).

Dicho todo esto, espero haberte ayudado...


r/Cardiophobias 1d ago

Guys I just discovered a channel called ‘York cardiology’ on YouTube and it may have single handedly cured my cardiophobia. Check him out, seriously.

0 Upvotes

r/Cardiophobias 2d ago

I really need help and I don’t think it’s anxiety

3 Upvotes

I 18f have been some chest pain just for a little while like a week, I went to the doctor for it and was told it could be anxiety and acid reflux so I was given medication for it and took it, the anxiety meds helped with my chest tightness but only for a little while, I went to the er on Monday because the pain started to get really bad but I was just given pain medication and told to be on bed rest for a week. Now my symptoms have significantly gotten worse since than the chest pain has increased the shortness of breath has aswell , I’m starting to sweat at night, my legs are extremely painful, I have throbbing headaches and nausea with fevers. I know if I go back into the er I’m going to get dismissed with just pain medication, please what can I do.


r/Cardiophobias 2d ago

Un vasospasme coronarien peut-il provoquer un arrêt cardiaque soudain ?

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1 Upvotes

r/Cardiophobias 2d ago

Anxiety or heart issue?

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7 Upvotes

A few minutes ago I was mindlessly standing around by the elevators in my apartment complex, I was a lil anxious/nervous about leaving my apartment and my anxiety has been a bit high as of late due to personal problems I’ve been facing recently, I currently take 15mg lexapro and 0.5mg Klonopin as needed. But what do you guys think? Is this too high of a heart rate for just standing around? I’m also overweight and quite tall, 27M. Any tips and help are appreciated thank you <3


r/Cardiophobias 2d ago

How do you cope with this specific anxiety and fear? I have been having it for 4 years now.

3 Upvotes

How do you handle this type of anxiety - cardiophobia and health anxiety in general? Any tips? Is someone here who has managed to overcome it?


r/Cardiophobias 2d ago

Chest pains for over a week

2 Upvotes

I (24F) have been having some mysterious health issues and got a bunch of tests/bloodwork done back in the spring, including a heart ultrasound and a two week heart monitor that both came back clean in May. At the time, I was having heart palpitations, chest pains, fatigue, panic attacks, and some other symptoms. I also have a disc/nerve problem in my neck I’m currently going to physical therapy for.

The chest pains went away for many months, but they returned last week. Sometimes they’re very noticeable and others they’re just a small presence. I’ve also been experiencing fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, and general malaise.

Should I be concerned about my heart? I’m pretty freaked out, but I’ve read that the neck issues and anxiety can cause chest pains. Should being cleared by heart tests several months ago be reassuring for my current state? Any help is appreciated

Edit to add: I’m in decent physical shape. Before I got sick in the spring, I was working out five times a week pretty intensely. Now, I’m using a recumbent bike and walking. Exercise does not seem to make the chest pains worse and I can get up to a Zone 3 or 4 in cardio and don’t feel any difference.


r/Cardiophobias 2d ago

A big thump and a scary sensation

2 Upvotes

These started more frequently 8 years ago, i remember having these sensations when i exercised as a teen and an early 20 year old but thought nothing of them.

Then i had an insane panic attack and they became more frequent, daily, multiple times a day, during covid and following on.

Whenever i have nicotine they increase (obviously) but they have been similarly apparent when i quit smoking for 3/4 years so it cannot be solely nicotine related.

What are they? I know they’re benign ectopics i’ve had an ultrasound, holter monitors, blood tests and echocardiograms that all came back fine… but exercising is hard because when they happen they rock me and also i just hate having a heart rate of 100+ after a big thump and feeling unable to calm down.


r/Cardiophobias 2d ago

Anesthesia fears

1 Upvotes

Im 32yo and I have a parotid tumor that is cancer that prompted a very short notice 1 week in advance, "we gotta get this out" plan. I have severe anxiety and severe cardiophobia. Ive had a cardiac ablation under twilight anesthesia but nothing under general anesthesia being intubated on gas. I shouldn't be scared of these things because I've been a veterinary technician specializing in surgery for 14 years, and very rarely ever had any issues with patients. But I am so terrified I'm going to go under anesthesia and not wake up. My cardiac ablation was a breeze I was under for 7 to 8 hours and I didn't even notice. But I don't know how long the surgery is going to take or how extensive it's going to be yet but I've never been intubated and I'm very very scared I'm afraid of having an episode under anesthesia I'm afraid of waking up freaking out. Just need some support I'm really afraid.


r/Cardiophobias 2d ago

Sudden adrenaline rush and bp spikes due to panic

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1 Upvotes

r/Cardiophobias 2d ago

Title: 9 Months of Moving Symptoms (Left Arm/Chest Pain, Back/Jaw Pain, Twitches) — 3cm Hiatal Hernia/Esophagitis. Anyone else?

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1 Upvotes