making myself more crazy :(

[janni]

After nine months of chest pain and ectopics i had a stress ecg on thursday last week. In response to exercise my heart was normal but on cooling down/recovery I had ectopics. The cardiologist said they were benign and I didn't have heart disease. Stupidly I AGAIN googled ectopics after exercise and saw bad news :( I ended up phoning the British Heart Foundation on the Friday. They too put me at ease but I came out in a cold sweat after what I read on google. Now I am back to square one. My heart misses beats when I wake up and I wonder why it only does it at certain times. Scared to go to sleep cos it seems like it de regulates at certain times or am I just being my stupid doomsdaying self. I just want to get over this and try get on with my life but then something else always crops up. I have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome too apparently brought on by somatization disorder. Can anyone shed any light on the skipped/ectopic beats please. Thank you in advance

[janni]

[Going home]

Hi janni, I know they're very scary and uncomfortable but try not to let them distress you..the doctors and the british heart people are right when they tell you there's nothing wrong with your heart. Alot of us get these ectopics, ive had them for many years and it just means that my heart is super-sensitive to anxiety or stress and even eating too sometimes, if whatever ive eaten irritates my stomach I can get ectopics then too.

Its so common to get them when you're at rest that you could say its normal! When we're moving, exercising etc, the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide is more regulated so the heart beats more regularly (Dr. Claire Weekes always said exercise can help get rid of ectopics in her books) but at rest, if you're an anxious kind of person you can be breathing quite shallow without being aware of it and this upsets this balance and makes the heart jump around a bit. Adrenaline does the same thing at rest, again because exercise uses up any excess but sitting watching the telly or reading doesn't.

I get them on waking too sometimes but put it down to maybe not having a relaxed sleep or enough sleep, or if ive been drinking the night before etc.

Hope this helps
Anna xx

[zippy]

I know how you feel i have m.e and fibromyalgia and i just get used to my symptoms and some new ones come along and i panic and get anxious its something serious and its going to get missed. I would try not to worry if you have been checked i know its easier said than done.I sometimes get like i cant get a breath as i am dropping off to sleep and it frightens me the next night incase it happens again.Its a vicious circle.

[Worrier]

Janni,

What are we going to do with you?? Google is such a distressing thing for people like us with health anx and look how it has made you feel.

You just need to start believing what the docs have told you, and live life otherwise you will torment yourself forever. That is what I decided to do a few months back, stop fretting over these things and honestly they go away and the days are so much easier.

Be kind to yourself, your body and mind, relax and let go of all this out of control worry, it does more harm than good.

Take care
Natalie x

[randomworry]

hi janni

dont know much about skipped beats but im sure it must be a sign of anxiety have you tried different forms of relaxation like yoga to help out?

[janni]

Thanks everyone and I plan to start Pilates soon take care all. Gentle hugs.