i fear this.. is this because of anxiety?? thanks

I think that everyone has a fear of death to some degree, it's just that for anxiety sufferers it's 10 times worse.

Yep. I fear this, too, specifically sudden cardiac death. That's my only real "health" hangup related to my anxiety---fear of dying suddenly. I don't fear dying a long, protracted, painful death of an awful disease like most people---I fear just keeling over. I also hate surprises. It's a control thing, I guess. Many people with anxiety have issues with being "in control". We're not necessarily domineering, we just like to have our own little worlds to be somewhat predictable. Anyhow, this is a fear that crops up from time to time with me and it's awful. Just remember that most deaths aren't sudden, barring, say, a traumatic accident. I find that medication has helped me the most with this fear, because therapy wasn't doing anything for it (that's just my experience, though).

I second what CircusSquirrel said. I have the same fear of sudden cardiac death. Therapy didn't help me either.

thanks everyone, did you guys have this fear after the anxiety started??

I never used to have fears like this until my full blown anxiety hit me. I think a lot of anxiety sufferers (especially those with health anxiety, like me) have this fear. I'm sure there are plenty of people that don't have anxiety that have that particular fear. You are certainly not alone.

Yes I have this fear too that came along after my first initial anxiety attacks years ago and the only way I have ever been able to control it is with medication although I am not on any now. It's a control thing.

Hi when my first panic attack hit i thought that i was going to die right there on the spot.. It frightened me very much and that is when i lost control of my life and fear started to rule it... I was afraid because i thought that i was in control of my health, but when you start getting symptons like heart racing and palpitations, its hard to focus on anything else but the symptons.. Death is a frightening thing to us all but i believe that if we have faith it makes it alot easier to deal with... Anxiety is something that we can learn to control, which helps lessen the fear... I understand i have been there believe me i know exactly what you are going through...

thank you .

Hello,

I been reading the boards for a couple of months and this thread actually inspired me to actually post. I have suffered some level of anxiety all my life. I didn't know it was anxiety until my therapist made me realize what I been feeling.

My story starts when my mom suddenly had a TIA back in Dec. After that she had alot of issues with her pressure so I did a lot of back and forth things to the doctors. She got better but during that time I had a panic attack at work. It was horrible but I let it ride. I had them before many many years ago. Went to doc he told me it was all due to stress. In May my cousin how was 5 yrs older than me suddenly died. He had no health issues, supposely it was aneurysum. Well that really had put me over the edge. My anxiety level has gone thru the roof. I went to my GP and he found my pressure was high after 3 visits he put me on meds which weren't agreeing with me. They made me feel worst. In 2 months he tried 2 kinds of meds. My pressure was fine but I totally felt horrible from the side effects. In Aug I found out another cousin of mine was in the hospital. That triggered another panic attack that sent me to the ER, I thought I was having a stroke. Turned out I had a sinus infection. The ER docs told me you are having a panic attack and mentioned to me about 80 % of the population has one in their life time. They gave me Xanax and told me to follow up with my Doc. Well my doc finally realized my HBP was due to anxiety and discontinued the drugs. He wanted me to see a Psychiatrist but I refused I said I don't want drugs, I will try to find a psychologist instead.

I been in therapy for about a month now, the attacks are less and don't last as long. I get chest pains and feel on edge alot but I also suffered from Acid Reflux. Even though I know it is the reflux in the back of my head I am thinking can it be my heart. I have had an event monitor and a echo done and seen a caridologist, I do get PVC's but he told me again it was due to stress. I used to work out 3 times a week this anxiety has gotten in the way of my work outs just like another poster has said once my pulse goes up I get scared, then the anxiety symptoms begin. This is very annoying. I am trying to beat this naturally. I also started acupuncture last week. I am hopeful it will help. I just want to feel normal again and not fear that I will pass out or have a heart attack. That is my story... Thanks for letting me vent.

Mike

I wasn't afraid of this until after my anxiety came on at age 14 with my first strange heart sensations. Then several years later when I began having full-blown panic attacks, the fear of sudden death intensified.

if you don't have VT then you have nothing to worry about. And if you don't know what VT is then there is no fear, you won't die from sudden death

It's great to be able to share life experiences with anxiety. I started having panic and anxiety around my teen years as well. As I got older, the anxiety became much more intense and harder to hide/control and handle. I guess that's because as we get older, we have much more responsibilities and aren't as innocent. I to have health issues with anxiety, and I believe it's alll about CONTROL. We can't control everything in life, and we as anxiety sufferers love to have our routine, and control our surroundings. Unfortuneately, we can't control all our health issues, and that scares us. Good luck to everyone and keep pushing straight ahead.

Sudden death use to be a big fear of mine. But now it is mainly the fear of having a panic attack to far from home when i'm joggin or walking and i'm not gonna freak myself out into having a heart attack. I went for a 5 mile walk today and i was ok till i was about 1/4 mile from my house than i freaked my heart started pounding then i was like "why am i doing this i'm fine!! this is all mental" i started to breathe in and out slowly and deeply made it to the house and ate some meatloaf. lol i made it. first time in about 2 weeks. Next week i will try running again.

Gimli,
Congrats! I am actually trying to get my exercise routine going again. I started running last year and I was really kicking but for a while, I got up to running 5 miles at a time (this is from near zero in the recent past to that, so it was quite the accomplishment for me). When my anxiety got bad again this year, my running fell by the wayside. I had a horrid bout of skipping heartbeats (like one or two every other beat) during a run after about a month break and it just tore me apart. I did see a cardio and he said I was fine, but I've only run twice since that. I long to pound the pavement again; I've got to just do it! Best wishes to you, I know you can do it. Always remember to give yourself credit for your accomplishments in overcoming anxious feelings, write it down in a journal!

Your gonna be fine 2 circussquirell. Thing we gott keep in mind. If we did it before we can do it again.

I had my first full-blown panic attack (althoughI've been anxious all my life)after I had throat surgery for sleep apnea, followed by inhalation pneumonia. I had rapid heartbeat one night at home, which scared me so much that we called 911. The docs said I had anxiety and put me on xanax; after a while my doctor switched me to klonopin. I didn't like the side effects so I've been battling this on my own for a while. I'm on a lot of other meds for acid reflux, hiatal hernia, and now an upper sinus infections. The antibiotics for the pneumonia have upset my GI tract so now I have recurrent nausea, lack of appetite, dry/sour mouth, etc. For years I used to have tachycardia, which was cured by two ablations, so I freaked out when I had a panic attacking involving another kind of rapid heartbeat. It seems to me that I breezed through two cardiac procedures, but these latest health issues have really taken a toll on me. I"m 56 and have always taken care of EVERYTHING in my family. My husband is on disability for bipolar disorder, even though I work full time, we are always broke and the medical copays are going through the roof.
Right now I am worry about a loud heartbeat (normal pulse) and thinking it might be a side effect of my antibiotic. Any advice on how to jump off this worry treadmill. Thanks, it helps a lot to read everyone's posts!:wave:

I didn't have a great fear of sudden death, or even anxiety until recently. I work in an electronics factory and one morning while I was going through time sheets for the previous day a young man who worked there fell dead. He was 25 yrs old. They did all kinds of autopsy stuff on him......two or three times...it was ruled that he was a healthy young man...no drugs....nothing. Everytime, I do time sheets...I have to control my anxiety....I moved to a different desk to do them, and that has helped some. I have recently developed severe palps...and am wearing a monitor now...so far the only thing they found in my echo was mitral stenosis. I dont know if this is anxiety....but I am like a previous poster who said he didnt fear a long illness, but sudden death...no time to tie up any lose ends...when I try to tell myself that wont likely happen....then I see that young man who did just that right in front of about 30 other people, and no one could help him.

do you know why he died?

Now gxpark do you wanna know the answer to that? I just ask because you know how us anxiety sufferers tend to think whats happened to someone else will happen to us too.

yea tnmom your right.. i dont now why i asked. i guess its my obsessivness kickin in again.. thanks for putting me in check.:p

Mileena42,

I have met a few anxiety sufferers in person and online who had similar experiences. One of them is my son's godfather. Someone he knew had a sudden, awful illness (but had a family history of the illness) and he died pretty young. That sent my friend into an awful spiral for about a year. He did some therapy, took some meds for a while, and he got considerably better. I also met a man in an anxiety group at a hospital who started having panic attacks after his friend died in a car accident. The man couldn't drive the highway where the accident occurred (it was a twisting mountain highway) and worried all the time. He did get better, too (though I haven't seen him in a long time). Sometimes events like this set off people prone to anxiety and sometimes they are transient events that will go away. Hopefully for you, this is just a haunting incident for you that will fade with time, and possibly some therapy or short-term meds. take care.

TY for your concern Circus. I am dealing with it on my own...and I believe things will continue to get better with time. My boss is considering moving our small group of workers to another building, and I hope we can do that, because we all need it. I can show you the exact spot on the floor the boy died.
As for what happened? I have no idea, and no one else does either it seems. We only know what it WASNT. No drugs...no heart problems or stroke or blood clot or anything of that nature. Whatever it was....2 autopsy didnt find anything.
Mileena