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Missed heartbeats!
I have had anxiety/panic attacks for nearly six years now and have pretty well had all the symptoms during that time but one I thought I'd got used to was the heart irregularities but they are worrying me again.
I get a fast heart rate sometimes (in fact I think its fast but my pulse is never much more than about 80) but that is my least frightening one, far more scary are the missed heartbeats which are happening daily at the moment whereas I usually get them once in blue moon.
I've been scaring myself silly about this recently (its not happening in the night or at least if it is, its not waking me). Also my palpitations feel like a muscle twitching/fluttering rather than a fast heart beat.
Over the years I've been a few times to the doctors and he's never been able to hear any irregularity - I did ring last week as I wanted to know if my palpitations were the same as everybody elses and he did feel what I described fell under my anxiety umbrella (it was a phone consultation) and offered to put me on the moniter but we both agreed that the likelyhood of capturing it was unlikely. My doctor does know me well and I like him but somehow I'm still fretting about it.
I had such a good year last year with my anxiety and getting out and about on my own but then had a panic attack in Jan while out, which I have let get quite out of hand and unless one of the kids will come out with me I can't much further than the end of the street.
Does anybody else have a) phases of missed heartbeats that are every few hours over a period of days? b) fluttering or twitching heart muscle/beat lasting a few seconds? c) Does it happen sometimes on movement aswell as when you're still?
Love Piglet (I've used the name piglet as sometimes I find it hard to be brave)!
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Hi Piglet. Yes i get them all the time The doctor told me it was all to do with the stress.I suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. Like yourself i cant go out myself unless i have someone beside me.Its so scary my heart gets these palpations and pain in my chest. But if your doctor has put you on the ecg machine and your hearts fine try not to worry.But if you are like myself you still will.But as i said i suffer from that nearly everyday.Ijust try to forget them I tell myself i have had them so long and been to gps about them. And everything is fine. please try and chill if you need to talk we are all here for you. take care piglet and i no its hard but try not to worry about them as it feeds them if you do.I have been getting mine for three years now. take care ..bye fran1888
Frances Gill
Love & Respect to you all...
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Thanks Frances,
Have just done an hours yoga and 75 steps on my stepper and didn't get one missed beat or anything, then got one putting the washing in the machine. I'm going to try really hard not to concentrate on them so much and see if that helps - I had Ibs in Feb and was really down with it and couldn't have left the house if I'd wanted to but as soon as I genuinely stopped being scared it got better so I am hoping this might happen again with the heart worries.
Best wishes
Piglet
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Hi Piglet,
I got those irregular hearbeats in the past as well. My doctor was nice enough to put me on the 24 hr monitor and it came out fine.
One thing that was recommended to me was to start doing some exercise whenever an irregular heartbeat happens. That way, its a distraction and when you think about the abnormal heart beat you just relate it to exercise, which is pretty normal. I doesn't have to be like going out for a run but something like push ups or situps should be enough.
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hi piglet
Yes i get them to nearly all the time. My doc has said they r anxiety related but it took me a long time to b reasured they r not dangerous and still being told there not. Even when i am relaxed i get them and when i am doing things so u r not on your own.
I try not to let them bother me but when i have them alot it can b worrying,Yes i had palpatations to but i don't get them as much now. I am now over my anxiety {for now} but i am still getting ectopics {missed beats} i think i will have them all the time mine have been going on for 3.5yrs when i had my first anxiety/panic attacks.
take care
lin xx
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Thank you so much everybody for answering, it has helped tremendously.
I might print them off to keep in my handbag and everytime I get silly about it I could read them for reassurance (I wonder if I can do that).
I think the site is great and have chuckled outloud at many things as it all feels so me!!!!
I wish I didn't feel so embarassed/ashamed of having anxiety its just people around me seem to see me as so confident and strong. I'm trying to work on 'this is me, take me as I am' at the moment and be more honest about it rather than make up excuses all the time as why I can't do things (hiding it is really just adding more tension isn't it) my youngest can't understand why I don't just admit to people this is how I feel and why would I be ashamed anyway.
Going off the point a little there - its just my goal this year is to work on my self-esteem.
Thanks again
Piglet x
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Hi Piglet,
You're totally correct in all your assumptions - ignore them and they subside.
Palpitations: palpatations
Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com
Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...
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Hi Piglet
Welcome to the site. Just to let you know i've suffered with these ectopic beats for about 24 years now and i'm still here :D. Granted they still freak me out from time to time but its just a case of knowing how to deal with them when they happen.
I'm like you can be doing something strenuous and not get any then i might be washing up and get a couple.....weird or what.
Anyway take care.
Tracy
x
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Hi Piglet,
I've had them for nearly three years and get them just like you do. Some days are worse than others, but as everyone else has said, we have all been told they're not dangerous. Wish I knew how to convince myself, but we are all in the same boat and still here, so it must be true!!![8D]
Have you tried any relaxation/deep breathing. I have got a good relaxation CD called Complete Relaxation, by Glenn Harrold and when I started using this I did feel calmer. I also take Vitamin B100 B Complex from holland and Barrett, Magnesium and Vitamin E and always have a bottle of Rescue Remedy about.
Hope I've helped a bit.
Take care, Linda.x
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Thank you again everyone - I feel so much better about it now and only had one today so far and that could have been as I was overbreathing abit ie; from my chest rather than my tum.
Over the last 5/6 years I have picked up some tips/books/props etc which have really helped and I'll put those on the site sometime soon in the relevant section but I have to say coming on here would score right up on the top of my list of real help and reassurance, even before I had asked my question just reading some of the postings was reassuring. My other goal this year is not to brood or bottle anxieties up and now I feel I've got somewhere appropriate to go to ask.
You've all really helped.:):):):)
Piglet
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Hi Piglet
Glad to hear you're feeling more positive today :D. Keep it up you'll get there.
Take care
Tracy
x
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Hi Piglet,
Keep it going. Some day are just too hard to do it alone all day - we'll still be here on that day ..
What are you going to be doing to work on your self esteem this year ?
Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com
Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...
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Hi Meg,
Regarding how I'm building up my self-esteem,
1. I've been reading up any books by Richard Carlson 'Don't sweat the small stuff' range and trying to incorporate some of his suggestions into my everyday life. I like this guy as he's not too holier than thou and his idea's are reasonably normal (like all the books by him I've read so far).
2. I got some affirmation cards by Louise L Hay, she does some for teenagers which are really funky and I got for my kids (never too young to think positively). I've got two sets (widom cards and I can do it cards) they are beautifully colourful and lovely to look at. I pop them around the house and use one as a bookmark to keep reminding me of the sentiment. I also bought two cd's by her (you have to be selective with her stuff though as some is way too cheesy for me and over my head - she does say to only take what is appropriate for you at any given time though, and this may just be my northern roots denying anything too different). The cd's are affirmations repeated over and over again and I do think by the law of averages if you keep bombarding yourself with positive thoughts, some must take. I got 'Feeling fine' which always jollies me up and 'Stress free' which is a calmer one.
You did ask!!!!!
Piglet
NB: All bought off Amazon - I'll try to remember about the link in future. Think my bank will always know if I'm a bit agoraphobic as my purchases off Amazon go through the roof - reading being such a good distraction!:)
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Both good choices. I know what you mean about the Louise Hay ones that can be ' pass the bucket ' stuff.
You might also like to view
'what to say when you talk to yourself' - shad helmstetter which makes you work a bit harder at recognising what your current self flagellating patterns are...
and later for the mother of all big reads 'Feeling Good ' - David Burns .Chapter 3 particularly.
Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com
Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...
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Thanks Meg,
I have put both of those books on my Amazon wish list to get as soon as my bank balance catches up.
Not feeling at all bad the last couple of days symptom wise - now I need to deal with the agoraphobic bit. This the worse phase of this I've ever had so far. Often I just have a couple of weeks then I get out and about again. I am going out intermittently with one of the kids as an escort (even if they don't always realise it) but in the last few months really haven't wanted to ever be out by myself. I am amazed really as I've always been so independent but I get so fed up of feeling ill when I'm out and really wish every outing wouldn't feel such a flippin challenge.
Probably being a bit negative about this, as last year I was getting stronger and more confident all the time (I know as soon as I hit a bad patch perspective seems to go out the window and my memory doesn't remember that there have been more good patches than bad).
Later on I'll have a little look round the site on agoraphobia.
Piglet x
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HI all...im the new boy..lol...
i get these...well, they seem exactly the same as everbody elses at least. 2 yrs ago i lost my mum suddenly, i was 29 and over the past two yrs its hit me in so many other ways other than just emotionally. my life since then has just one big bundle of stress and anxiety to a level that ive never experienced before.
only in the last 3 months or so have i felt these "flutters" or what i now think are "ectopics".....and its weird...cos i can run 5 miles with my friend and feel fine but then when i hit the sack i get them....i have no idea why theyve suddenly come...ive been under "the kosh" of stress and anxiety for the past 2 yrs...but only now i have them.
"MEG" on this website copied a link to me which explained these ectopics perfectly and in a non medical, easily understood way.
is there anyone here who has had them for years? does it mean now that as i have them ill always have them or will they go with time? ive suffered imeasurably from post traumatic strss since suddenly and unexpectedly losing my mum and wish my negative fears and anxieties would go....i guess time is the key right? please say it is! [:I]
russ..
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It's funny to see this post again as it was one of the first I did and what brought me to the site in the first place.
I have to tell you the ectopics etc have lessened incredibly since this post and although I will never like them I don't think my fear of them is anything like the same anymore.
Meg once said (in a simiiar thread) to see them as no more serious than a run of inconvenient sneezes and for some reason that has stuck with me and seems to really help keep it in proportion if I do get a little bout.
Funny how some lines/quotes really strike a chord isn't it.
Love Piglet :)
"Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" said Piglet.
"Supposing it didn't," said Pooh after careful thought.
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piglet....i like your quotes!
Yeah i guess your right and although im still new in expriencing these "ectopics" as they continue and i slowly realise that nothing is actually physically happening or wrong with me the better i feel about them....
russ
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Hi Piglet... I can really relate to the heart beat issue... I was sooo scared when that became part of my day, my dad died at a young age of a heart attack so i had myself convinced that was goin to happen to me.. ive had 24 hr monitors on several times even had a wrist band on cos no matter how many times the doctors told me it was stress related i convinced my self i was about to die from a heart attack... but eventually i learned to live with them and if they happen now i keep repeating over and over again im not going to die.. one doctor suggested i splash my face with very cold water and the shock will bring the heart back to a normal beat or to hold my nose close my mouth and push down ( as if you have constipation) for a few seconds and the heart rate comes back to normal.. i find the freezin cold water very helpful when im at home, im now back leading a very active and normal life and ive learned to accept and live with the panic attacks, its taken me 15 yrs to realise they wont kill me
Liz
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by the way Piglet forgot to mention but did you read the article on this site about egtopic heart beats its wonderful and will put ur mind at rest
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Hi everyone, I've only just found this site and it seems to be just what I need to keep me sane!
For more years than I can remember I've had runs of ectopic heartbeats which have scared the life out of me - I'm usually fine for several months then suddenly there they are again. I get 3 or 4 ectopics in a row, which feels like my heart is completely irregular - this can happen every few beats, or every few minutes, no real pattern. I've had some awful nights, convinced I'd wake up dead!! This goes on for a few months then fades away. No idea why. Had ECG's, 24 hour monitor, which on the third try actually caught some of the blighters:D, and the docs said "You ARE having ectopics ([Duh!]but they are nothing to worry about." That's ok then! Tried atenolol and propranolol (I think) and now on bisoprolol - but nothing stops them.
I'm really trying to ignore them, but it's very hard. I don't have any big anxieties - apart from these things! - and my husband is very supportive. It's great to know other people have the same problems, I feel very alone sometimes.
I'd like to tell you all about a fantastic book called Self Help for your Nerves, by Dr Claire Weekes. It's published by Thorsons (Harper/Collins) and is so helpful, really easy to read and makes such a lot of sense - I keep it handy for when I get too worried. It's far the best book I've seen.
I tried to download Meg's info on palpitations etc but can't make it all fit on my paper - all the right hand side misses off - not technically minded, anyone suggest anything?!
Sorry it's so long, hope I strike a chord with someone!
Rosekay ;)
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mine speeds up right upon waking then goes back to normal but the skipped beats are really fast double beats thats what my doc has told me and its nothing ti worry about..
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Cor nearly a year after I posted about this, this funny thread is up again for the third time!!!! and just look how many have read it!!!
I have to say I have been having a run of them again this last few weeks but unlike this time last year seem to be dealing with them much better.
Love Piglet xx
"Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" said Piglet.
"Supposing it didn't," said Pooh after careful thought.
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hiya! ah thats so good when you can see you have improved x
fibrochat) http://apriltones.proboards54.com
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Dear all
I have only started getting these in the last 2 months ...from no-where they appeared and they are the boll***s i hate them so much...does anyone ever remember the very first time that they had them, gee that was the most scary time ever, i thought that was my lot,,,still do though.
Does anyone get dizzyness with them too, because when i get the pause i then get a slight dizzy spell and then its like the pause goes into play again with a great big thud... i cant ever get used to them and theyscare me and now i am so depressed by them.. without the other thousand things wrong ith me...but this are the scarest... my eptopics have never been shown on an ecg... oh because they hide when they see a monitor..so of course i think i really do have a heart problem... any advice more than welcome...oh going to start my clitrapramwill these help as beta-blockers didnt..
ashley x
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Dear Ashley
I know how scary these wretched things are, I've spent so long absolutely panic striken and convinced I'm about to drop dead - it really affected my whole life for years. I got so I was afraid to go out and do anything, and I pestered the doctors so much! (Still do, actually!!) Everything I've ever read about the things says they're harmless. Every doctor and two cardio specialists have told me the same. I had a heart scan which was completely normal. You have to allow yourself to believe the experts - and all your fellow sufferers! - though I know it's not easy, especially if like me you get bad attacks at night (everything seems worse then). My turning point was thinking to myself, I'm going to end up at the end of my life looking back and realising how much time I'd wasted being afraid, and I really didn't want that to happen. I keep a little collection of articles about ectopics handy for when I get a panic, which I still do sometimes, then I can re-read and calm myself. Also, the book by Claire Weekes I mentioned last time is so helpful, I'd really recommend it. Hope this helps a bit - you're really not alone, we all know what it's like.
Thinking of you
Rosekay :D
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Thanx for that,when i read that last message from you rose i wanted to cry.because i am just so scared--im at a point where things just have to get better ..or i will end it...sorry
ash x
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Hey Ash,
Hang in there Kid! It WILL get better, honest. I'm not saying it'll be easy or quick, but you will learn to manage the panic. I've been having these things for about twenty years, and I'm still here! Don't give in, pester your doc to get checked out perhaps with a 24 hour monitor (I had 3 goes of that before they caught the things, so persevere!), that'sl going to help ease your mind. It will take time, don't expect miracles, but you'll get there. I know its terrifying - I remember lying in bed thinking I would die, and I just didn't care any more, I felt so bad.
Sites like this help, keep in touch. :D
All the best
Rose
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hey ashley,
just want to say as well that i have the same thing, have had the 24-hour monitor that never caught anything, my mom and my sister have them too...and they really are harmless! but it just feels so strange to have that skip and then thud, i think it could be the anxiety that causes the dizziness after you feel that. i have had them since i was about 15 (am 30 now) and they come on and off, and i have learned to sort of live with it...normally i only get them when i am stressed out...i am getting them now too.
the good news is, they won't stay! i hope you can do something to relax today, and just try to pamper yourself in some way if you can, have a bath or whatever it might be for you.
all the best,
kelly
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Thanx kelly
I do appreicate the surport people have given me in regards to my eptopics... its so hard to get ya head around them as they are just so freaky..
ashley x
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Fellow Scardey Cats
I get these almost daily some days more than others. I have had irregular hearts beats and flutters for a couple years and it still freaks me out. I have them when I am moving and more often when I am still. I also gets light dizziness with them at times. I almost feel like the flutter moves up from my heart into my face and lightly takes my breath away. Does that sound familiar? Also have quite a bit of tightness and even heaviness in my heart area.
love
Ardyce
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Forrest
I think you are the first person I have heard of who also has them first thing in the morning. This is especailly frightening because I think*here I am having heart problems and Im not even doing anything strnuous...it must be bad ....perhaps Ill die in my sleep soon* Good to know this may be common anyone else experience these as you wake? Also can someone post the link to the eptopic beats? I have yet to read it but am always reassured to know that I am not alone.
Ardyce
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http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/default...c=palpitations
There you go mate.
Love Piglet
"Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" said Piglet.
"Supposing it didn't," said Pooh after careful thought.
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I wake up in the morning with eptopic beats, and go to bed with them ..i have fluttering,thuds,flips,spins... you name it.. actually at times it feels like i have a tiny tiny washing machime in my chest and my heart jumps in it .. yeah sometimes to have its wash.and it feels like my heart is getting thrown around the washing machine..
I have had 5 days eptopic beats free,just a few flutters here and there..what with all my other symtoms from my medication i dont need them to show thier ugly face either..
eptopic beats..i cry when you cry
ashleyx
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Hi everyone,
I've had these strange 'flutters', missed beats, irregular beats since I was 18 (now 38). They first started about a year after my dad died suddenly from a heart attack. At first I was convinced I was going to drop dead too...and went on to have full blown panic attacks where I couldnt even go into the garden without thinking I was going to die. The doctor said it was stress (I moved away from home and started a new job a couple of weeks after my dad died....and hated every minute). Thing was I didnt feel particularly stressed till I started having them!
Eventually I got through that and they settled down until my older brother suddenly died too from heart problems and then they were back full force. I was pregnant at the time which seemed to make them worse. I had ecg's etc but was told they were 'normal' ectopics, common in people my age.
They settled down again until last year when I was under real pressure both at work and home and ended up going off with stress/ depression. I must admit at times they do really scare me, but I've had them for so long and nothing terrible has happened so far so I kind of use that to talk myself round. In fact they kind of give me a warning sign that I'm starting to feel under pressure.
I also suffer them at odd times....during the night, first thing in the morning, during the day....but strangely never during exercise.
Propanolol really helped but I stopped that when I started feeling better, but as we speak I am considering going back to my GP, to ask if I can go back on them as I feel myself getting really anxious again.
Dont know if this is any use to anyone but thought I'd share it anyway. I know how frightening it can be.
Take care everyone
Coni X
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Hi Piglet,
I too am plagued by the skipped beats although at this point I also refer to them as thuds or shuddering as well
I do not think they are palps as that would be very fast beating
It is more for me like thud, shudder, or flip flop sensation
Immediately afterwards or in fact as it is occuring, I get a feeling of released adrenaline- do not know if it is because I am fearul of the sensation or if the fearfulness causes the sensation. I would have to say the sensation comes first. I alos get right away a tightness in the throat and that tightness lasts for a good bit.
I can get a lot of them- for a spell it seems that i was having them for days and weeks at a time
They can occur out of nowhere meaning I was not feeling anxious or frightened prior to it occuring ,well, at least not on a conscious level
Of all the anxiety symptoms I have had they are the most scarey and annoying
I would take the lightheadeness, inability to take a deep breath etc over the heart thingys in a minute
I went about two months ago or so for an echogram as the doc thought he heard mitral valve prolapse- I did not have it and he said the test was all normal
Ok says I then why do I get these sensations?
If I recall correctly I think it was you who posted that you had the heart things and then they went away for a long time only to return. Ditto for me, Piglet. Do they think we miss them? LOL. I should post a No Vacancy sign on myself.
I think too for folks like us they continue due to a heightened sense of awareness of them- I got them a lot in the evenings when I got into bed thus now whenever I get into bed I am rather on guard- soooo being on guard certainly does not make one relaxed.
I wonder too if you or anyone else that experiences these heart things also feels a need to cry when they occur? That is the case for me.
I think too that a lot of this and with anxiety in general is a result of pent up anger and being people pleasers.
You are welcome to PM me anytime about this
Us " skippys" ( as in missed beats- LOL) gotta stick together
Hugs from across the pond,
Soup ;)
" I 've developed a new philosophy.....I only dread one day at a time." Charlie Brown
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Hi to all, I am new here but unfortunatley not new to panic attacks and anxiety. I have been reading with interest piglets messages and the replies, I thought, hope this information might help. I am a 48 year old male, VERY happily married with the BEST two children in the world ever. I have had anxiety and panic attacks for over 18 years, I was seeing the Doctor almost every week at first convinvced I had cancer, heart failure in fact you name it I had it. I have been in the last ten years, a Local TV Presenter, working LIVE in front of camera, I have run a succesful Recording Studio, past my driving test first time, had two children, well I was involved at some stage!!, am Now running my own very succesful business and am in the middle of moving both house and business, and as I type, I am missing heart beats, there is a lump in the lower part of my throat, I have wicked wind ' around the heart ! I have just walked to my Bank up a steep hill and checked my heart almost every step. This has been going on for 18 Years, and guess what I am still here, it gets better with time, acceptance and a little relaxation. MANY MANY things, in fact EVERY THING is acheivable when you are anxious or panicky. Think I don't have it as bad as you? yep me too, I thought no one could possibly be going through what I go through, or at least was going through, how could any one understand? how could I tell any one? Then I realised, hey what do I care what they who ever they are? think! I am me, I am proud of who I am and damn proud I am going through this and as I do learning so much more about myself and others than those who have never experienced this ever could. So I told people, I didn't take out an ad in the Local paper but started to share my feelings, worries etc with others, You will be amazed at how many people we all think 2" oh if only I could be like them, strong, comnfident etc" well YOU ARE, Exactly like them, talk to these people and you will be amazed, truly amazed at how many also 'suffer' maybe the same as you or in different ways, they didn't dare tell any one simply because they are so strong brave and confident, we all suffer to lesser and greater degrees, trust me on this no one here is alone, no one here is unique and no one is worse than any one else, and this is important, there are more of 'us' out there than you will ever think. I have weeks, months when nothing happens, and then bang, missed heart beats, racing heart what ever, I reach for my Claire weeks books, I highly reccomend these, have a read and like to think I take strength knowing " it's only my nerves messing about again, it happened over 10 years ago and I am still here....." bUt as we all know the time between 'sessions' takes it's toll on our memory and when having a 'session' it seems so new and fresh and hard to deal with, as the shirt says " same sh_t differnet day" and that is all it is. I will stop writing war and peace and just add this, I have had these feelings on and off big and small for 18 years, I have achieved, I am happy, I am healthy and I am still here. And that my friends is YOU every single one of you can/will/have coped, seen it through laughed at it and forgotton it, you will again, and next time the bogy man can't scare you quite as much until like me you end up writing a LONG LONG essay to friends you dont know but wish the very best to here. Take care all, and remember it ain't no big thing. learn from it, even dare I say come to like it, because when you do It's going away.
chris
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Well thankyou for your kind words of surport chris,i think thats just what we all want to hear on this forum.
I have been suffering with eptopics since december but in the last few weeks they seem to have gone.And guess what im having a heart monitor in june!They wont find any of the bu...gers.
S..ds law ahh xxxxx
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Funny that! I'm waiting for an appointment to be fitted with an event monitor and guess what? Yep, mine stopped about a week ago!
Shiv x
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Smashing post Chris - thanks for that!!
I was having them badly again a month or so ago and now they have calmed right down again. I seem to be handling them better with the passing of time however if I do get a good long gap between it can give me a new shock when it happens. It takes having a firm word with myself before I can 'accept' them.
Piglet xx
"Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" said Piglet.
"Supposing it didn't," said Pooh after careful thought.