Stimulators
To start this off, I’m a 33M and a few years ago I thought I was having a heart attack on my way to work. Hard to breathe, sweaty, dizzy and felt like I was going to lose consciousness. Got checked out by an ambulance and they did an ekg and said all was normal and it must’ve been a fluke or something. Then it happened again. Then again. Then again. Every time I ended up in the emergency room thinking this was it. Every time they did an EKG and bloodwork along with several other tests. They say all is normal. Follow up with my pcp and he ran a myriad of tests. Everything came back normal. Also, all of this started the day I lifted something very heavy and awkward. I felt a little weird after doing it but I did have a few drinks the day before and assumed I was just a little hung over. I went home and ate lunch and on my way to work I started feeling like I was having a heart attack.
Back to the doctors. After all of these tests I was really confused. I felt awful, especially after I did any type of lifting. Fast forward a few weeks and I stumble upon something about a hiatal hernia and learned a little about the vagus nerve. My girlfriend suggested I go see her chiropractor. I scheduled the appointment and I felt amazing after. She put her fingers on my stomach and pinpointed the hiatal hernia and manipulated it back into place. I go back to my regular doctor and he scheduled me for an endoscopy and they didn’t find anything. Maybe because it was pushed back into place. Or maybe they just missed it. I felt much better but I still was not 100%. My doctor told me it’s all in my head or it’s irritable bowel syndrome and he wanted to prescribe me antidepressants. I refused and haven’t been back to see him in over a year and a half. Mind you prior to this I have never felt any type of depression nor anxiety in my life.
The issue now is I do have anxiety. I believe it’s health anxiety. Every time I feel a little off or a little dizzy or anything out of the norm i believe I’m on my way to a heart attack. But I also believe it’s my vagus nerve causing these issues. Surely I would have had a heart attack in the past two years if that was really the issue here. It drives me nuts that I’m living in fear everyday about this. Part of me knows that it’s not a heart attack but there’s always that other part that makes me think it really is going to happen again. I also have this weird buzzing/vibrating feeling in my chest and core sometimes, usually after strenuous activity, which I’ve read is from the vagus nerve.
My question here is has anyone been through anything like this before and has anyone used a vagus nerve stimulator to help them with it?
TL/DR
Has anyone with a hiatal hernia used a vagus nerve stimulator to help with anxiety and vagus nerve issues.