Charlotte's story: "I've learned to live with anxiety-related chest pain"

“I first went to my doctor when I was feeling palpitations – strange sensations in my chest and a feeling that my heart wasn’t beating normally. They arranged an ECG (electrocardiogram, to look at the heart's electrical activity) test and found nothing abnormal.

A few months later I started feeling chest pain too. Mostly in the centre of my chest, spreading outwards, for a few minutes. After experiencing this several times a week, I went back to the doctor. I had an ultrasound of my heart (echocardiogram) and wore a 24-hour ECG monitor for a week. Neither test found anything. 

Finding out that nothing was seriously wrong was a relief but also disappointing as I thought, at least if they find something, we can start treatment. 

I've learned to live with anxiety-related chest pain

The chest pain and palpitations have continued and about a year ago I was given a medication called propranolol, a beta-blocker that can be used to treat symptoms of anxiety. Since taking this, the palpitations and chest pain have become less frequent. 

If the pain is really bad, I’ll take painkillers. Sometimes it helps to do light exercise, such as walking, or distract myself with cooking or listening to familiar music. Cannabidiol (CBD) patches also help. But mostly I’ve had to learn to live with it.” 

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