Is this a heart problem ?

Heart palpitations? can this all be anxiety or a more serious heart or health problem?

• I am 24 5'10 about 200lbs.So according to my doctor these heart palps are due to "anxiety". It all started when I was drinking a lot,drinking energy drinks a lot, smoked for about ten years, and taking supplements. I first started to notice my arms and legs would fall asleep and that I would get a heart palp here and there. But I thought no big deal as every time I get the flu since i can remember i would have heart palps with sob. The thing is though i was sick with the flu then bam i was in the ER with a run of palps with sob they didnt stop till i was gave a lowpressor (betablocker .25mg) Then about a week later I started have longer lasting pauses with sob and slight arm and chest pains at random with or without activity. My heart would start to beat fast then slow and hard or the other way around. This all happened over a year and a half ago. I went back to the doctors and have had a nuclear stress test and echo. And after that over the year I have had another echo, countless ekgs, x-rays, a holter, event moniter, and an abdonimal CT scan. The only thing they have seen is some regular nothing to worry about palps. I get that though I have had those when i get sick and they dont worry me. The thing that worries me is I get a long pause sob, i cant breath, it stops because there is no blood flow to my lungs due to the pause or prolonged palp. and that does scare me and gives me high anxiety. so I will admit i do have anxiety but its due to this. Also sometimes my hands will become red, usually its one at a time. Also I get a random wezz in my lungs on and off. I hack up dark mucus and really white mucus(for about a year and ahalf). And twice in the same night i had what seemed like an adrenaline rush and my heart started to beat so fast, it was like snap,snap,snap really really fast then it thuded or palp'd back into a normal rhythm, twice but it happened so fast it was over in less than minutes. Also occasionally i start to feel really weak and weird, almost like my blood sugar is dropping. One of those times i went to the ER feeling that way and i was told it was anxiety and my potassium was low either a half a point or one point. Doctor gave me a supplement to take for a few days ( made me feel weird). Anyways now I refuse to take anything. My doc wants me to use xannax and other meds as a cruch and i wont. They make me feel worse. I am not sure what is going on???? I hate venting this out but my docs wont listen and jump directly to anxiety. My father had his thyriod nuc'd and my sis has problems with her limpnodes. My other sister has had breast cancer and my grandfather died of cancer. both of my grandmothers have had heart problems, one a peacemaker and the other a heart attack. I am compelety stumped as how these things are happening and Its not being caught or seen by my doctors even with all those test? So any input, thoughts, or suggestions is greatly appreciated. I am having a horrible time living my daily life becuase of this stuff. So thankyou for your thoughts or suggestions.

• Answer:

  If you suspect of any physical health problem you should visit with your doctor right away! If it turns out you have no physical health problem, you should still look after yourself and change your life style so that stress affecting you is minimized. If you can totally eliminate stress through any adjustments, ONLY YOU KNOW HOW TO DO THAT, that would be the best and no doctor out there would be able to achieve such a thing. The concern is, that, even though stress is not scientifically (at least as of now) a direct cause for tumors, any existing growths in the body have been proven to precipitate/worsen in the presence of high amounts of stress.(from clinical studies) The mechanism stress worsens tumors or causes them to metastasize is rather simple. Hormones which are released in the body during stress, such as cortisol and adrenaline, worsen existing tumors. Cortisol weakens the defense mechanisms of the body which fight foreign cells. This gives tumors a chance to proliferate. Adrenaline, in large amounts, directly promotes tumor cell proliferation whether it is in excess(anxiety) or deficiency(depression). Since tumor onset is thought to be random among individuals, anyone should stay away from excess stress as a preventive measure to avoid any possible undesirable consequences.