Broken Heart Syndrome

One of the hardest things you may experience is heartbreak. My biggest heartbreak was losing my dad. As well as the emotional turmoil the physical effects of heartbreak were so intense and painful that I'd never felt pain like it. I remember saying to my mum it was no wonder you hear of older people not surviving the death of their partners. The grief and bereavement can become so unbearable that they just don't make it through. 

I have recently felt heartbroken, to the point where I felt helpless. Along with this emotional distress came an intense burning sensation and pain in the side of my chest travelling up into my armpit and around into my shoulder blade. I felt nausea, had a temperature and my skin felt like it was burning where the pain was located. I've never experienced stress to this intensity before. I believed it was due to stress. Once things had calmed down I decided to look into the effect stress can have on the heart and found that there is such a thing as Broken Heart Syndrome. I'm not saying this is what happened to myself. I believe I was highly stressed at a time where my anxiety was heightened and I felt as though I had a prolonged panic attack. I can't explain the burning pain but do find that stress has a very physical effect on my body and can be very physically painful. But what is Broken Heart Syndrome?

Broken Heart Syndrome is a temporary heart condition believed to be caused by a surge of stress hormones that cause your heart to react. It is described as feeling as though you are having a heart attack although it is not a blood clot but a disruption to the heart's normal pumping function. People can feel sudden chest pains and become short of breath when this happens. Broken Heart Syndrome can reverse itself, usually within a week or so but in rare causes can be fatal. They have found that women over 50 are the most likely to suffer with Broken Heart Syndrome and women more so than men. The stress can be physical or emotional such as major surgery or an accident to the unexpected loss of a loved one or a natural disaster. 

Much love,
Becky xx