Ectopics and 'Stomach Pressure'

[nicktaylor]

Hi all,

I've been reading the forums here for a while, and I posted a couple of times last summer. I started having bad panic attacks last May. They've pretty much gone away now - though I do still have what I'd call a 'low level' of anxiety... It's always there bubbling away and comes back as soon as something makes me feel uncomfortable.

One of the biggest scares is ectopics. I started getting them a while after having my first panic attack - just randomly out of the blue like a 'thump' in my chest, and what seemed like my heart flushing into my stomach, literally like a toilet flush in my chest!

I only used to get them one at a time, maybe once every few weeks. Lately I've had them more often (sometimes a couple of times a day) and in groups of three or four.

They seem related to my stomach - if I move suddenly, or if i sit hunched over, or if I eat a big meal - it's like my podgy stomach (which is fatter than it should be, though I wouldn't consider myself hugely overweight, just a bit podgy :)) is pushing up into my chest and stopping my heart beating properly. I read somewhere that pressure onto the diaphram might do this... has anyone else had the same thing? It's got me a bit scared that just pushing myself in the wrong way can make this happen - though I guess I know deep down that they won't kill me. [8)]

Thanks everyone,
Nick.

[EebyJeeby]

Hi Nick,

I recognise your symptoms very well. That feeling in your stomach is in the solar plexus region (where there are loads of nerves) and it is tension in your diaphragm. This is a bit of a catch 22 situation as it both causes, and is a symptom of, anxiety. The flushing feeling you mention is a rush of adrenalin.

You must have a level of underlying anxiety at the moment which is being prodded by something. Has anything happened recently to make you more stressed?

When my PAs first started, the diaphragm thing caused me no end of anxiety and in the end, I went to a sports massage/reflexologist friend of mine who said that my diaphragm was in spasm. She did some work on me and actually it was the reflexology that "untied" it. After that, it was kind of bruised and I had all those sensations when bending and in particular after food as you describe.

It does go away eventually, but I found that it took a series of counselling sessions and a lot of soul-searching to identify the causes of my underlying stress and then doing something drastic about it (moving away from where I lived in my case) before it went. Literally, once I had a moving date confirmed, I woke up next day and the feeling was gone!

It occasionally tries to come back when under stress but its power is 100 times less than it was before. I use it as my stress alarm now - it goes off when I have some issue or other to deal with.

Most of us have a bit of a belly and I can assure you that yours will not stop your heart beating properly! This is plain old anxiety up to its tricks.

Have you had any treatment or seen anyone about all this since it started last year?

Eeb x

[nicktaylor]

Hi eeb,

Thanks for your reply! The anxiety started when I had an awful lot of stress and broken sleep due to bad neighbours in the flat above ours. They're still there, but very much quieter now. The stress recently I think has been because I'm just about to start a new job, and have been a bit worried about resigning, etc.

I saw someone for some CBT towards the end of last year which helped immensely - I don't really have too much in the way of 'full on' panic attacks anymore. I'm just left with the ectopic heartbeats - which are all a bit wierd. I also saw a heart specialist before the CBT, and I wore a monitor for a week, which came back all clear.

The heartbeats are just a bit scary, really feels like a kick in the chest and I can feel my pulse go 'wonky' for a second. Particularly unnerving when there's a few at once! You're right though about the diaphragm - I'm forever feeling tense in the solar plexus, just between the bottom of my ribs. I get the impression I'm generally pretty tense in that area - feels like I need someone to open my chest and stretch all the muscles out!

Good to hear that someone else has similar symptoms though. I'm going to try to push through the anxiety and exercise more - I figure that should help with the relaxation too... Just need to find a way to conquer the fear of keeling over and dying when I'm out jogging or something!

Nick.