Hi doctor,
I am a 37-year-old police officer who has been in the job for over 19 years, I have seen tons of tragedy in my career. I have always been a hypochondriac and ultra-sensitive to any irregular heartbeats or heart-related issues. I grew up around a family who always helped each other out and was cared for by my grandmother (mom and dad always worked). The older family members have all since passed away but I think growing up with them and my job has done me more harm than good. I now constantly question every single thing I feel going on with my body. I am 5'6" and weigh 170 lbs. I do not typically work out since we have a ton of animals at my house so I am doing an activity with them daily, I would not call it a workout but it is me moving around. I am currently on several medications since I have high blood pressure and anxiety. I take Lisinopril, Inderal, Hydrochlorothiazide, Asprin, fish oil, and Nexium. A few years ago I had one brief episode of A-Fib, they believed it was holiday heart syndrome, my rhythm reset itself and never had that issue again. So with that being said, lately I have been feeling down and out about my health, I bring a laundry basket from my basement up to my second-story bedroom and I am out of breath. I constantly think about having a heart attack, I am so worried that it makes me sick to my stomach and also my anxiety starts to give me symptoms. I have been so worked upon certain occasions that I actually went to the ER and they said nothing was wrong. I do not know what to do to stop thinking about this and worrying it is going to happen to me. My family does have hearth issues but all lived well past their 80's. I had an episode a few months ago where I started to get really nauseous and felt like my heart was skipping a beat when I felt it skipping a beat is when I felt the overwhelming nauseous feeling. I went to my cardiologist and he gave me a monitor to wear, he did notice that I had an extra heartbeat from time to time and said it was completely normal, I told him I can feel this each time and it gives me extreme anxiety, I am afraid it is just going to stop beating. I had a stress test was done about 5 months ago and all normal. Another one of my big fears is that my arteries are clogged or getting clogged, I wish there was a non-evasive way to test this so that I can ease my mind, that is what I need a way to ease my mind that everything is working as it should and no issues. I know it may sound weird but I just need peace of mind. I don't know what to do at this point, I do not want to have a heart attack and I want to stop thinking about it all the time. What can I do? How do I know that when I feel these extra heartbeats it is normal? I have never had an abnormal EKG besides when I had the 1 round of A-Fib. This is most likely why I have high blood pressure and anxiety. Is there any hope for me getting over this fear, I do not want to be the 37-year-old that has a heart attack.