Bad time

[mummyanxious]

I had a really stressful day mid week. Tenses up, palpitations cane in waves and my chest was so tight i felt like I was having a heart attack, especially when i started getting pain in my jaw as well. The day after I felt ok but yesterday I felt and looked really pale and tired and washed out. Today I have felt dire. Got up and felt lightheaded and just very odd. Went shopping and general running about doing errands today and when I got home I felt knackered and my ears were ringing so loudly. I also thought I was going to be sick at one point.
Tonight I have got onto my bed and as soon as I lay on my back my heart started going berserk again. All random rhythm. I shot up and coughed and it went back to normal. I'm fed up of being frightened to lie down and relax. I keep getting random pains down my arms and in my neck and jaw. I don't know what to do next, I've so totally had enough of not knowing what is wrong with me.

[Rennie1989]

You're focused on the symptoms too much, this feeds them anxiety which makes them worse. Chest pains are a very common symptom of anxiety and are harmless. Don't be afraid to lie down and relax, do something that will occupy your mind. Also, try breathing deeply (letting your abdomen rise with breathing) as this will stimulate the heart to relax to a normal heartbeat.

[mummyanxious]

I've got dreadful pain in my ribs and sternum from where I was tensed up.
This morning I just felt rancid. I felt like I was going to keel over, I'm sure my heartbeat and bp have plummeted.
I really don't know what was going on with my heart when I lay down either. It was completely out of rhythm for ages. Well it was a rhythm but not normal.
And my ears are ringing so loudly and my head feels full. When I bent over my most started just running! Very odd.

[Rennie1989]

Blood pressure does not drop when you're anxious, if anything, it rises.

And they are all normal symptoms of anxiety. Just take some TLC because it sounds like you've been tense and anxious for a very long time. A bath sorts me out when I've been tense.

[mummyanxious]

I'm worried about why I feel so awful when I lie down on my back. I know when I was pregnant I was told not to because it shuts off the major vessels carrying blood around your body but that was because of the baby lying on it. This cannot happen when not pregnant but maybe something is happening that's causing my heart to skip when I'm lying flat on my back???

---------- Post added at 21:11 ---------- Previous post was at 21:10 ----------

Thanks for your reply. I've been under a lot of stress for a long time. Its certainly taken its toll.

[Rennie1989]

I cannot answer that, why not just relax by sitting on a couch/recliner instead? Although I do think that you're concentrating your mind too much on your heartbeat and need to stop thinking about it.

[fluff]

hi mummy anxious :)
ive had this aswell before it was when i was going through a very stressful time, i would lay on my bed or a sofa and thump thump heart go so fast and skip beats aswell, i also looked really pale aswell and so weak. Im alot better now but at the time i believed it was always something like heart attack allsorts which made me worse and worse i was trapped in this for ages and i never believed doctors it was anxiety it was a living hell. My advice is really try and slow down and look after yourself i know its hard when you have children though and other lifes problems :hugs:

[Insomniac]

Hi mummy anxious. This is an interesting post for me because I've been feeling very similar. I wish I could offer some advic, but I can sympathise. I have been convinced that the tight chest pain, and skipping beats is a heat attack about to happen. My breathing exercises do help, and I'm still here so far. Breathing in through my nose, and out through my mouth making sure my exhale is longer, helps me get back in control. It eases the palpitations.

I am lying here now, aware of the stabbing pain which comes and goes, and the palpitations, but trying to concentrate on my brethi, or distract myself with other things. Hope you feel better very soon. I think rennie and fluff are right though, we all need to take care of ourselves, as well as our families. :)

[mummyanxious]

Thank you for your replies.
I've got another dr app this week but this dr always refuses to check me over. I almost feel embarrassed to discuss my heart issues with her as she's told me there's nothing wrong so doesn't believe there's anything when I go.
Maybe she's such a good dr she doesn't need to examine people but what if you describe stuff incorrectly to her. Like the other day I took my child for something and she based her diagnosis on our description.

[Andria24]

Mummy - you need to focus on your anxiety disorder. Almost all of your posts relate to the same heart anxieties, and despite lots of reassurance and support, you're no further forward since you first started posting about them.

If your doctor isn't listening then find one that will. You need to start dealing with the anxiety. It's clear that you're not getting any better and, bottom line, you're a mother and you've got a lot of responsibility towards your children - not least that you're healthy and whole. Motherhood is hard enough without having to deal with an exhaustive illness like anxiety disorder.

Please ensure that you're correctly diagnosed and treated for the illness that you do have, rather than persistently focusing on something that you don't have.

[mummyanxious]

The thing is these days I have a much better handle on my anxiety and panic attacks but the heart symptoms are the forerunner and ones that remain and are getting worse instead of better. When I first had skipped beats and heart symptoms I would have them infrequently. I couldn't catch them on a monitor. These days they are with me all day every day. I can't even move position some days without them. Simple tasks like loafing the washing machine, going upstairs, hoovering, cooking. They happen all the time. Its like my heart has now got used to being out of rhythm and can't go back to normal. I'm worried this is permanent.

[debs71]

In my experience with them, palps/perceived heart symptoms are self-perpetuating to a huge extent.

When you continuously consciously or even sub-consciously fixate on them they go on and on. Often they appear to stop for a while, then you become aware mentally that they have gone, and THAT restarts them again, then you get anxious about that, and so it goes on!!!

They are infuriating, but they also are to the most part, ANXIETY driven.

When you accept that your symptoms are anxiety or even if you are not convinced but decide to resign yourself to that fact and focus on dealing first with the anxiety, that is when you get to the crux of the physical symptoms....there is no other way. x

[Insomniac]

I used to have this. I would get them on and off, even with anxiety pretty much under control. Then I became more aware of them. I started noticing them more, which made me feel worried about whether they meant something wrong with my heart. I eventually had them for about a week with hardly a let up. Once I had check up and was reassured my heart was fine, they gradually eased off.

I still get them now, but I see them as a symptom of anxiety, rather than something to feel anxious about. I know that the andrenaline causes them, and when I worry about them I have more adrenaline and more palpitations!

I still worry about other things, and worry about my health, but I realise that the palpitations are a symptom of anxiety rather than anything else. Hope this helps you. It is scary when our body reacts and were not sure why. But most things are caused by the illness of anxiety itself, and our hyper awareness of it.