I had a heart attack about 7 years ago. I had done everything right..diet, working out , no high cholesterol. My mother died of her 3rd heart attack at age 64 and I knew I had a family risk . Bad genetics..my HDL [the good cholesterol] was very low and there's nothing that raises it substantially.
It took me between 18 and 24 months not to have an anxiety attack anytime I felt something unusual near my chest. Unfortunately there are several things ,like GERD and chostochondritis {inflamation of the rib cage},that cause weird
chest sensations.
It does get easier with time. It used to rule my life but now its mostly in
the back of my mind. Time will definitely help and a good therapist might speed up the process.

I had this in a huge way. Mine was the result of my husband having a heart attack at a young age, and my mom dying of mesothelioma at a young age. My worry compulsion latched on to those like a leech.

But yours is even more justified because you went through the illness yourself so naturally you would be even more scared.

Are you having anxiety issues other than this particular issue? Do you feel like you have mentally healed from your illness, aside from this fear? It can be a very scary thing to be so near death, especially when you are as sensitive as we are, and it can take a long time to mentally heal from something so jarring. Its like a lightning bolt straight to our soul, and it can make us really over sensitized....meaning it makes us have a strong reaction to things that we wouldn't normally react so strongly to.

Also there is a chance your anxiety reaction is just a conditioned habit to that topic. Whenever there is a topic that once caused you anxiety, and then you are reminded of that topic....just the reminder itself is enough to make you anxious because of the association. So even though you may be mentally healed from what you went through...you now have a formed habit of reacting negatively to the subject.

If you haven't taken some time to mentally deal with what happened to you, I would do that. Really baby yourself for a while and allow yourself to feel whatever roller coaster of emotions you are feeling, because the brain is pretty amazing and so is the human subconscious and they work pretty well together and usually manage to sort things out on their own in situations like this.

The problem with people like us is that we don't let them sort it out on their own and our conscious mind.....us.....starts overthinking everything and throwing our two cents in the mix and screws everything up.

If you do feel like you have mentally healed from your illness and you HAVE taken care of yourself, than this is probably just a habit that you have to break by just ignoring it. Your subconscious will get bored with it the longer you don't pick it apart and analyze it. It can take some time but it usually works. Just don't overthink it.

And if neither of those two things work, I would probably consider talking to a therapist if you aren't already because maybe this really was such a shock to you that it has given you some PTSD issues.

That's my dollar's worth anyway. I hope you are able to get past this. Good luck. :)

Hi gardenchic,

I am the same way. I have had some level of health anxiety since I was a teen, but it got way worse in the last three years (peri-menopause may be a part of it). My husband had a heart issue and then I ended up going through a long thyroid issue that ended in surgery. Luckily, I started therapy three years ago and she has really helped me through all of this.

With my therapists' help, I have read and worked through some of The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook. Especially helpful is the chapter on how the body responds to anxiety. I also try to avoid reading any articles about health issues. I never click on those articles like "Seven things a woman needs to know about heart health" or I will end up monitoring myself for heart issues for days. It's exhausting! Finally, when I get really worked up, I tell myself that the only medical diagnosis I have is General Anxiety Disorder, so it's likely that I am just experiencing anxiety and not symptoms of some disastrous illness.

All the best to you. You are not alone!!

Thanks everyone. Whenever I encounter one of these situations, I tell myself to take a deep breath and it will be ok. Seems to help a little, but there are times I can't handle it.
I do see a therapist occasionally... however its expensive to see her, and my insurance quickly runs out. I try CBT, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed. I just want a break from my health.

To make things worse I just got some test results back that my white blood count and kidneys are tanking. Not good. I really don't need this. I'm so sick and tired of getting bad news. I'd like to have just a little while, where everything is good. please.