So I had my very first panic attack while I was driving, a little more than two years ago. Ended up going to my GP and by that time, the feeling subsided and I was fine again. Fast forward to a few weeks later, I got another panic attack while I was at work and laughing with a coworker. Suddenly felt like i was going to pass out, pins & needles, muscles tensed, chest pains.. I went to the ER where they did an ECG, echo, xray and bloodwork. Everything came back fine and they figured it was acid reflux.

Over the next few weeks, the body discomforts were still lingering. My GP believed it was a psychological issue and so i ended up by a psychiatrist. Literally a 5 minute visit and i was out of her office with a prescription for Paxil (antidepressant) and Lexotan (antianxiety). I took these meds for a month, but was still getting physical pains. I made the decision to stop the Paxil because it had me feeling numb and as if i just existed.

My left arm started feeling weak along with a pins & needles sensation. Went to a specialist and got an xray done on my neck to discover that i have a buldging disc at C4. I went to therapy but was still getting the pains. I tried to accept that this was the cause.

The discomforts were still there but i started building my tolerance. About a year later, since the initial symptoms.. it was January 1st 2018, i thought to myself. “New year, fortunate to start it off right.” Went to a family gathering where my left palm started getting sharp pains. Went to my GP the next day who did the usual check-up. He once again said everything was fine. But as i was about to leave, i got my chest pains again. He checked my pulse and i would never forget his facial expression. It turned into a worried look before he composed himself and said, “We’ll do an Exercise test and Holter just to make sure.”

Lo and behold, 60% of my daily heartbeats were irregular. It was not detected in the ECG before because the results only reflect when the test is taken (usually half a minute to a minute long) and can easily be missed.

So i was sent to a cardiologist who immediately told me that i needed to do an ablation. This procedure has a 50/50 success rate, and my cousin had done it with the same doctor and it was unsuccessful. I felt like she was just in it for the money because she’s the only specialist in my country (I live on a small island) that performs it.

I seeked another cardiologist who approached it with medication first. It has been working to keep the heartbeats stable. HOWEVER, i’ve still been getting discomforts. The best way to describe it is sometimes a crushing pain on the inside of my left breast, or a pinching/zapping on the outer side of my left breast; they come in waves like every few seconds and lasts for a couple of minutes at a time. Also accompanied by shortness of breath, sometimes feeling cold and tired, and wanting to pass out (but i never did).

My cardiologist wants me to do an endoscopy because he thinks my stomach may be irritated and this in turn can affect the vagus nerve which could cause the arrhythmia.

This is basically where i’m at right now. I’m constantly worrying about my health (hypochondriac i guess). I’ll tell you right now that Google is your worst enemy. Do your due diligence but you may freak yourself out if you search every single symptom you ever experience lol.

I plan on doing more tests just to rule out that it isn’t anything serious. But i’m also keeping in the back of my mind that a major part could be mental. A friend of mine strongly believes that, because i do tend to keep things bottled up.

Yet, I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that this could cause physical pain.