Can physical activity, stress be actually detrimental to your heart?

Can reducing/treating anxiety and/or stress help with heart problem/palpitations?

• Okay so I have a heart condition, I'm not sure what it is but I'm seeing a cardiologist sometime in the next month. I take seroquel at night, I actually just changed from 500 mg to 400. I used to get horrible palpitations on 500 mgs, to where I couldn't catch my breath, I felt faint, lightheaded, and had to sit down for a minute, and they were started by even minute physical activity, like climbing a short flight of stairs. It's better on the 400, but I still get the palpitations. When I run, my heart goes spastic and my face gets really flushed and warm and I break out in a sweat and I can't catch my breath. Today I ran more than I usually can and I (discreetly) collapsed for a few seconds because my legs were too weak. Also, I have severe anxiety and depression problems, and I'm very prone to panic attacks. Lately, with going back to school, being a senior, having a VERY heavy caseload, and having some stressful stuff going on at home, it seems like my heart issues have been more prominent. Just a bit ago, surfing the internet I found some articles saying anxiety and stress can make heart problems worse, and I was wondering: if I get medication to treat the anxiety (which I've been meaning to do for a while anyway), would my heart problems decrease? I know that it's an underlying condition and it won't totally make it go away, I just want to know if it will even affect it.

• Answer:

  Short answer: Absolutely! Long answer: First of all, your "heart condition" can easily be anxiety related. I have had skipped beats and palpitations every 10-15 seconds for weeks at a time, and I got to the point where I couldn't exercise at all without my heart going crazy and feeling like I was going to pass out. But after lots of tests with two different cardiologists, it was all ruled out to anxiety. After spending thousands of dollars and a year of effort trying to figure out what heart condition or other disease I had, I started working on my anxiety. I suffered with severe anxiety and panic disorder for years, to the point where I was sedentary and could barely leave home. Couldn't drive a vehicle, go in a store, or do much of anything. My biggest symptoms were dizzyness, head pressure, skipped heart beats, and lack of energy. I had a dozen others though, like eye floaters, stomach discomfort all the time, high blood pressure, chest pain, etc. I went to a lots of doctors, and saw just about every type of specialist possible, before I finally gave up and settled on it being anxiety. I went through a long process of behavior correction that was both self taught and taught by a good psychologist I had. Now I'm doing much much better. I own my own business now, can drive by myself (and just got back from a 6 hour trip), and stores don't bother me anymore. I know this all sounds crazy to someone who hasn't experienced it, but to someone it has, hearing it from someone who has been there and made it through it, and found a way to make it go away can really help. I put together a program that's a little over an hour long video course that goes through everything I went through to get where I am today. If you're interested, you can find it at http://www.anxietycourse.com. There's an introductory video there that gives an idea about what the program is about.