[MyHeart!]

I am 14. My problems started about a month ago. During Health Class. My Teacher was discussing what happens during a stroke. That's when the problem struck. She Told us all that to test when somebody was having a stroke, you should ask them to try to smile if you think they are. Ever since then I constantly put my fingers to the sides of my lips, and flex my mouth, to test if I was smiling. I learned recently that that is when the hypochondria started. It kept me up at nights, and every now and then I would jump right out of bed and run to the mirror because I thought that I hadn't Smiled. That continued but I was starting to partially get over it, that's when we started talking about medical emergencies 3 weeks ago. That there and then is what intensified my hypochondria to where it is today. I learned the dreadful information of what happens during a heart attack, and how it could be different every time so I couldn't be completely sure. This was the thing, I remember I was always listening to my heart, always cringing at the slightest shoulder and heart pain. Always sure that I would have a heart attack. This has continued up to this very moment, and today I learned that signs of a heart attack coming on involve chest pains and pain in the left arm. I have had pain in the left arm, I have also been having minimal pain in my chest. This has insanely freaked me out. As you could have guessed by now, this apparent hypochondria has caused me much stress, which eventually turned into anxiety, And once I had my anxiety attack, I was extremely paranoid! Please, Anybody who knows! Please tell me if Im in any mortal Danger, I'm pretty scared!

[tickle]

In order to ease your mind, go to your doctor and have a complete physical check up.

Tick

[Clough]

Hi, MyHeart!

Yes, please go to your doctor and have your heart checked out to make sure everything is okay. I've had chest pains where I thought that I was having a heart attack. After I was taken to the hospital, they checked out a number of things there. My heart was fine!

It turned out that I was just having a panic attack. So, now I know, at this point in my life, that it's not really my heart that is the problem. So, that's one less thing that I have to worry about. It's just being able to use the proper coping mechanisms to deal with my panic attacks.

Thanks!