Please help

[peanut]

Dear ab ers

      This is by far the most serious post I have ever or ever will write. I also see the important notice above but I really need help. I have a serious problem with my temper. I threw a steel car ramp into the windshield of my truck yesterday because it kept sliding forward while i was trying to drive up it. This is only the beginning of the things i've done. The good thing is that i do not take my frustration out physically on other people. Now lately i can feel pain sort of like mild heartburn in my chest when I get mad. Its starting to scare the hell out of me and I dont know what to do. It may be easy to say just stop getting so mad but its not that easy. My employer does not offer medical insurance, I cant afford to pay for it myself and I sure cant afford a medical bill of this magnitude. Has anyone else experienced this or know someone who has? What did you/they do about it? I need help really bad, someone please help me, i'm not ready to die at 32 years old. AB PLEASE DO NOT DELETE THIS POST.

[FP]

Are you in the US peanut?  We dont pay for a visit to a GP in this country.  You can get chest pain from being stressed; it certainly doesn't always mean that you have a heart problem, so don't get yourself even more stressed by imagining all sorts of things!!!!   I get stressed out myself and get physical symptoms as a result of it. 

Try and relax and get yourself a check up, if only to put your mind at rest. 

Have you a close friend or family member you can confide in about all this - you do need to talk to somebody?

[peanut]

yes fp, I am in the US. A doctor visit costs me an arm and a leg. Now if i had 3 of each that would be no problem but i only have 2 and need them both. As a matter of fact, i was diagnosed with WPW Syndrome when i joined the fire dept here. The department paid for the visit but i am no longer involved with them. WPW stands for Wolf Parkinson White. This is part of the reason im so scared. The cardiologist told me that my heart could jump to 300 beats per minute and i could drop dead at any time. Needless to say i dont need the stress.

[Cetti]

Never having heard of Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome I've just looked it up and can see why you would be concerned about your stress levels.

Have you thought of enrolling in Anger and Stress Management classes? It's worth thinking about. Some stress is fine but when it gets out of hand then whatever has triggered it off has to be unlearned - and it is possible to unlearn this so that should put  another worry out of the way.

I know this sounds feeble but try deep breathing just to help you relax a little.  In through your nose and out through the mouth. In times of high stress we all tend to gulp through the mouth making tension doubly worse.

Please forget about dropping dead - it's not going to happen!  You'll be fine!

[Kay]

Peanut please try a relaxation tape/cd. They really help in unwinding as they will get you breathing properly which is from the diaphram.New born babies breath this way from birth and they're not stressed. Good luck.

[JOEYSHABADO]

Health psychologists used to think Type A's (jumpy people, you would spend some time on answerbank also tapping your feet, a bit snappy) as predisposed to heart disease, but it's been narrowed down to those who are so in a way that has a component of hostility (we've all met them). This doesn't sound like you.

Maybe some exercise would help. Sure works for me.

Good luck dude. It'll work out.

[peanut]

Thank you all for your responses, cetti, you are right, anger management may be a good idea. In a Pickle, WPW is kind of hard to explain. You know when you feel your heartbeat you can feel it both contract and relax? Well when mine relaxes it has sort of an electrical interruption. This can only be seen on an EKG. I went in for surgery to get the source of this interruption burned off but they refused to do it because the source is only a millimeter or two from a main artery and if they hit it it would kill me and they decided it wasnt worth the risk and left it alone. Fina, maybe a cd would help, thank you for the suggestion.And finally JOEYSHABLYDO no i am not a jumpy person or anything like that. Also, you are right i'm not a hostile person either.

[smudge]

Hi peanut - you may recall some time back that I also suffer from Wolfe Parkinson White. As you are probably aware, WPW is an extra electrical connection in the heart. I have had medication for this, but am now on the waiting list for ablation. This is a procedure that zaps the extra electrical connection, thus giving you a normal heartbeat.

Hope you feel better soon.

[smudge]

Our posts crossed peanut.

[JOEYSHABADO]

Dam. Hope you guys get better. What about pacemakers? Or is it not that kinda thing?

[ann_h]

Come here on holiday.

It costs about $35 to see a doctor as a visitor.

Meanwhile, I am again appalled that the supposedly richest country in the world can treat its people like this. The US administration should be ashamed.

[FP]

ann_h.  I so agree with you.  

[peanut]

how right you are ann_h

[peanut]

JOEYSHABLYDO,

        No, i don't think a pacemaker is practical for this sort of thing.

[mycatis]

Well done for being man enough to ask for advice! I dont know how long your temper has been this bad but maybe it's because you are scared about your medical condition which makes you angry which makes your heart feel bad etc etc. A vicious circle

I really hope you can find some sort of help, good luck and I'm sure everyone will agree that we're all thinking of you