Patient's Query
Hi doctor,
I recently visited the doctors as I was unable to catch my breath and was feeling strange. The doctor performed a breath test which came back fine. I had an ECG and the doctor said that my ECG showed possible left ventricle enlargement. He then asked me to perform different breathing while he checked me with a stethoscope. He said he could hear no blockages or other problems and that my blood pressure was slightly raised, usually, it is normal. He said that I was suffering from anxiety and had a panic attack. I have suffered from anxiety all my life. When I asked about the enlargement he said my ECG was borderline. I am now worrying excessively about this and whether to have another ECG just to be on the safe side. I am fit, eat a healthy diet and have not drunk since I was in my 20s. I work out regularly since the age of 25 and I am now 40. I had this ECG abroad as I was working away so I am wondering whether to have it checked back home. I sometimes feel like I cannot take deep breaths when I am stressed, but I do not feel this while exercising. I have a very tight left shoulder and my left rib is sore near the top of my left breast near the armpit, like a muscle aches that comes and goes. I am quite an anxious person, worrying about health issues particularly after losing my mother to breast cancer.
Hello,
Welcome to icliniq.com.
Did you ever have chest pain or symptoms of excessive sweating with pain?
If your ECG is fine, then there are very fewer chances of you having a cardiac pathology. Left ventricular hypertrophy develops after prolonged hypertension in individuals, but as you have said you have normal blood pressure so I do not think LVH should be there. To relieve your anxiety you can undergo a stress echo or TMT (treadmill test) to rule out inducible angina. Also, you said you do not develop symptoms during exercise so I do not think stress echo or TMT will come out positive.
Patient's Query
Hi,
Welcome back to icliniq.com.
No, I do not have excessive sweating. I do get palpitations like skipped beats rather than racing when I am lying down or resting sometimes. I always feel them on the left side near my back or neck, never in the right. I do not get chest pain during exercise and just feel like I have pulled a muscle on the left side. The area feels sore when you press it too.
Hi,
Welcome back to icliniq.com.
Your symptoms do not seem to be of cardiac origin. You should not worry much, do not think much about it.
I have seen many patients like this and the best way to relieve your anxiety is to get a cardiac stress test (TMT or stress echo) done. If those are normal, then you do not need any further testing. Just relax and do not think much about it.
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Answered byDr. Lohit Chauhan
Medically reviewed byDr. Hemalatha
Same symptoms don't mean you have the same problem. Consult a doctor now!
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