I Panic about my heart rate

[jo8274]

Is it normal for me to have a resting heart rate of 85? I've suffered from panic disorder and GAD for around 12 years now and I've been on Fluoxatine for the past 2.5 years. They work for depression but not anxiety. My brother has recently ended up in a coma after being attacked and my resting heart rate can sometimes be as high as 100 does anxiety cause increased heart rate and will 2mg Diazepam as and when needed help me?

Thank you I'm so worried I'm dyng

[anthrokid]

Normal heart rate varies from person to person. In some people, such as athletes, a resting heart rate as low as 40 can be considered normal. In the same way, in a lot of normal people, a resting heartrate of 85 is normal, particularly in sufferers of anxiety. I, myself, have a resting heart rate between 80 and 90. I only started worrying about it being this high when I started suffering anxiety, but looking back, even when we did heart rates in high school mine was resting at around the 85 point. So it's not really that high. Anxiety can definitely increase heart rate, so don't be concerned that it's anything more serious or dire than that. At my worst, my resting heart rate was about 105. I'm sure you'd probably find similar trends in a lot of anxiety sufferers.

Taking 2mg of diazapem as and when needed may help to relax you and lower your heart rate, but make sure you are ONLY using diazapam when you really need it, and not just because your heart rate is higher than you'd like it to be. However, you may wish to consider doing some yoga or meditation, which is highly recommended for anxiety sufferers because it helps to lower your rate of breathing and induces relaxation, which will also help to lower your heart rate.

Make sure you talk to your doctor about your concerns as well. They'll be able to talk to you about it and help put your mind at ease :)

Remember, even at 100, your heart rate isn't particularly high, and you should try not to worry that you're dying due to that. The heart is a very strong muscle, and is very capable of pumping at that rate for a long time :)

[jo8274]

Thank you so much I was beginning to think I was the only one who had this issue, when I woke this morning it was 80 but when I went to visit my brother in hospital it went up to 100 so I know it does come down. Having said that, that's the logical side of me and logic isn't my strongpoint since suffering from anxiety

Thank you xx

[anthrokid]

You're welcome :)

Logic doesn't agree with any anxiety sufferers at the best of time, so you certainly aren't alone there! But that's why this forum is so good. Whenever you're too anxious to focus on the logic yourself, there's someone here who has been through the exact same experience and can help you out :)