Heart concerns

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I am 2 months + from jump. Got severe insomnia and high anxiety just last week. Only issue prior even during taper was feeling a bit off mentally. One month after jump I did get dizzy and fainted. Went to ER to check heart. They said no heart attack. I have a moderate calcium score and am 56 years old and smoke. Now I am feeling short of breath when anxious. Tried to swim laps today could only do a few before I had to stop. A few months back could do 30 laps. I am scared it’s my heart. :/. Any suggestions? Thank you.

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ER is usually very thorough when checking for severe heart issues. If they didn't tell you to follow up with your doctor specifically about your heart I would not worry.

Anxiety often brings about shortness of breath, cheat pains, and palpitations. And withdrawal can bring about consistent, and often intense, anxiety.

With your anxiety and insomnia I am not surprised you don't have the stamina to do many laps. Your physical capabilities can be drastically different between anxious and normal states.

First thing you should do is make a dr appt and have him do tests to put your mind at ease, like order an EKG or holter monitor. If you get reassurance from that, your anxiety may improve slightly. Next you will have to work on your anxiety. First step is accepting that you are still early in recovery and this process may require many more months remaining benzo free. Then accept you will have anxiety symptoms come and go for no reason during recovery. The symptoms will be uncomfortable, but they are just sensations and cannot harm you.

Do lots of walking and try getting into meditation and breathing exercises. Youtube has a lot of those meant specifically for anxiety.

Lastly, take a nice slow breath and calm yourself. You can do this.

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I am not sure this is how to reply, but thank you Crono for your quick response. I figured I should do a stress test, but probably won’t work well while I am sleep deprived. Ugh What was the monitor you suggested? 

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What is a Holter monitor? A Holter monitor is a type of portable electrocardiogram. It records the electrical activity of the heart over 24 hours or longer while you are away from your healthcare provider's office. A standard or resting ECG is one of the simplest and fastest tests used to check the heart.

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I've had a holter monitor. It sends continuous data to the company that is monitoring. If you feel an event, normally you can call and report it and at least when I wore one, the tech would tell me what the monitor was showing. It actually was very reassuring.

I could walk three miles earlier in the year and then I had a hip labral tear and I could not walk for a while and now I can walk at most maybe 2.25 miles.  With this heat, it's hard to walk anyway. Point being, I worked my way back up and will continue to do so.

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