Quick History

Back in 2001 I had to go to the doctor because I had palpatations and trouble breathing. When my blood pressure was taken it was 190 over 130 and the doctor said it was as high as an 80 year old woman ready to have a stroke. Ran a ton of test that cost me 7 K....stress, heart moniter, blood work etc. Everything came back negative. Didn't have any tumors on my adrenal gland and arteries were fine but my heart was enlarged which caused part of my heart wall to stop working. Since I didn't have a history of HBP in my family the conclusion was that I needed to manage my stress better and get more exercise.

I quit the job I was in and started one in construction where I would get plenty of exercise. I took a xanax when I was stressed out and the only time the HBP ever seemed to bother me was after a night of drinking.

Present Time

I did well at my job and was promoted to a desk job last year. I noticed I was gaining weight and started to feel the same symptoms I had before when I get stressed out. I have to deal with alot of nerve recking things. So since I am about to turn the ripe old age of 30 the first part of December I decided I better start exercising again with jogging and weightlifting.

This is where one of the problem arises.....after I get done working out with weights or play basketball for a while I get sharp pains all around my heart area but never on my right side. It's not "take me to the hospital now!" kind of pains but an annoyance. With all that the doctor told me and what I read it's hard to tell what exactly is going on.

Guess what I am asking is if there are muscles right outside and on top of the heart that can be strained and be causing these pains or is it my heart itself and I should stop working out immediately or may end up having a full blown heart attack while working out?

I'd rather not go back to the doctor and spend another 7 K for him to tell me it's a pulled muscle and don't stop working out like the last time.

Also, my heart races everytime I drink alcohol. Sometimes it's one drink sometimes it's a couple. I thought wine was supposed to be good for your heart but when it starts to race and your face gets flush it makes you wonder. I have drastically cut back my drinking over the past year. I do enjoy a night on the town every once in a while to blow of some steam but the next day is horrible. I have the same feelings I had when I first went to the hospital for HBP....Harder to breath, pain behind my eyes etc. Again when I take a xanax everything seems to go back to normal so I figure that might have something to do with anxiety.

So does alcohol have this type of effect on people with HBP or heart disease and I should totally stop drinking? Or maybe it's a head thing and the alcohol adds to anxiety which is why when I take a xanax it is a major relief of the symptons?

The last question is can stress really make your blood pressure shoot up that much to the point where you think your going to pass out?

Thanks for your time reading this and I'm sorry for the long winded thread...I have tendency to do that when I am sleepy.