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I don't have any diagnosed heart condition, except that I do have a rapid heart beat. That could be due to just lack of physical conditioning, or from other things.
I do know from experience that anxiety can cause me to have chest pain that can be severe enough to make it painful to take a deep breath. It does feel like there is something wrong with my heart, when this happens. However, it has only happened when I have had some seriously anxiety provoking issues on my mind.
One bad "attack" was provoked by social anxiety. I was going to visit someone I had not visited in years. I didn't think I felt anxious, but I had been extremely anxious making the decision to go make the visit. I had to pull over on the highway at a rest stop and lie down in the back seat for 25 minutes, until I gradually could take normal breaths without pain and it went away.
I went to a cardiologist and nothing was found wrong with my heart, which is what I expected. I don't consider these episodes that I have had as panic attacks. I never feel panicky when it happens.
I do think you should talk to your pdoc about the chest pain and about your therapist's opinion that it is related to anxiety. A person with a heart problem could also get chest pain from anxiety that might not be caused by the heart problem. At the same time, a person with an actual cardiac problem needs to protect against things that can stress the heart, which anxiety does do.
Last edited by Rose76; Oct 25, 2011 at 05:00 PM.
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