Palpitations scaring me:((

[Bonnibelle]

I'm really getting upset and scared about the palpitations I'm getting and I need some words of wisdom to help. I posted on he palps section but got very little response so I hope it's ok to ask here with it being busier and a forum I use often.

I had a horrible turn one evening in February this year which landed me in an ambulance. My heart was 160 and I ha palps, it was determined I had panicked but I had been on the drug Dosulepin a month which can cause a fast hear rate so they took me off it. I had an ECG in January before the event and one in the ambulance that night, I was told both were fine and to just feel reassured it was due to the meds. I had been suffering with palpitations alot whilst on the drug and soon after stopping it they went. In the last 2 months though I'm having them daily, my GP told me they were just due to anxiety earlier this year. This week I'm having them every night as soon as I sit down to rest. It ruins my evening as I sit there all night worrying I'm going to have so many they won't stop and I will end up in hospital and suffering for agoraphobia that isn't something I'd find easy.

When I get them they are like either a thud in the chest that takes my breath away or flutters at the base of my throat in the centre. They terrify me, it's just a fear of them not stopping. I wish they'd stop:blush:

I've been feeling much better, I've been fighting anxiety, panic and agoraphobia after my brother attacked me 10 months ago. I've come on so much so this is just making me feel low again.

I'm going to see my GP next Friday, I rarely go now but I feel I have to, to get some reassurance about these. It's a long wait and I am scared what he will say. I don't want beta blockers, just want to not be scared of them and to know what's causing them. Can anyone help?

[Pigeon]

Hello Pearl35
Sorry you're not feeling too good. I know the feeling of panic you must get when you get the heart thuds and palpitations as have experienced heart thuds lately - it's really scary.

But you must take heart from all the things that re written on here about the link with anxiety and that even people with normal hearts have them. You have had tests and medically trained professionals have identified the cause.

You mention that you have had anxiety since an attack by your brother. I once had counselling CBT and they explained how trauma/general anxiety often finds a weak spot and the result is health anxiety in those who are susceptible.

Pleas don't worry. Everything will be fine. :hugs:

[Bonnibelle]

Thank you Pigeon. So kind of you to reply.

I started counselling earlier this year for the trauma, it's helped alot. I used to have health anxiety but it eased off alot in recent years. After my nan passed last year it came back for a while and I think again recently as its just been the anniversary of her death. I watched her passing, it wasn't nice.

Hopefully it's just been stress causing them and as I expect them at night it makes me apprehensive.

[kathryntay]

OMG I am soooo where you are right now. I am constantly feeling this and more. I just got back from my therapist this morning and she was very reassuring to me, but...ugh...this sucks. Sorry I don't have any grand wisdom...just wanted to say you're not alone.

[Daisy Sue]

Hi Pearl - I know how it feels, both physically & emotionally... palpitations (& ectopics) are what brought me to this forum initially).. can I suggest something? Keep a notebook handy, and make notes like a diary every time you feel you're having palpitations.. write down what you were doing just before, and in particular how long before the palpitation you had something to eat... I say this because 9 times out of 10, my palpitations are meal-related, and I noticed you said you get them in the evenings - is this soon after your evening meal?

If so, like me, your palpitations (or some of them at least) can be directly linked to your stomach, and there are things you can do to help it, if it does turn out to be that.

[Bonnibelle]

Thank you both.

Yes my palps come on after eating, when I'm full. But also I dress the evening as I know they'll hit so maybe I bring them on?

[Daisy Sue]

Thank you both.

Yes my palps come on after eating, when I'm full. But also I dress the evening as I know they'll hit so maybe I bring them on?

Ok - this is what I have learned helps me... I don't eat large meals at all, I have 'snack meals', and if you're hungry doing this, then eat little & often, rather than fill up in one go. Also there is a stomach medicine you can buy at pharmacists called Kolanticon (maybe check with the GP/pharmacist it's ok for you first) - it has an antispasmodic in it as well as the minty/chalky antacid - this really helps calm my stomach down and in turn helps with the palpitations.

And I guess most importantly, tell yourself it's just mechanical, just a hiccup, and your heart is ok & nothing bad is going to happen. I ended up seeing a heart specialist, and one of the things I was told was that there are two kinds of people, those who are aware of their palpitations and those who are not - so basically everyone gets them from time to time, just some of us are sensitive to them and get worried, which makes them worse.

[Bonnibelle]

Thank you.

I have noticed after eating sometimes the palps feel like wind pushing up. My palps don't always come on after eating but usually. I am just wondering because I have had some evenings when I get them, and that is the time of day I start to feel on edge, I dread it from about 6pm I think to myself that I am dreading sitting down to watch tv because I know they will happen, and then they do. During the day I can sit and not notice them. So yes I am wondering if I am just being over sensitive and the anxiety of them possibly happening each night is actually causing them.

I am seeing my GP next Friday, I am long overdue a blood test to check my low ferritin levels and my cholesterol so I am going to ask him about the palps when I go. I just hope he doesn't want to run tests. I am 80% over the agoraphobia but I find it tough still going to appointments as I feel trapped. Hospital appointments especially fill me with dread.

[Daisy Sue]

I'm just the opposite - I always feel safe near or in a hospital ;)

Good luck with your appointment, I'm sure the GP will reassure you.

& you're welcome - I hope I've helped a little.. it's amazing with anxiety how things can calm down once our minds accept that we're not actually physically ill, it's the anxiety causing the symptoms..

[Bonnibelle]

Thank oh Daisy Sue, you have helped alot xxx