View Full Version : Health Anxiety and Skipped Heartbeats
Hi to all,
Firstly I would just like to say, what a great forum, I have trawled the internet over many nights and Im glad I found this resource as it has already helped me 'chill out' a little bit about my anxiety symptoms, just by reading other peoples stories it helps. Superb!
My problem is I have suffered anxiety attacks since I saw a relative die of a heart attack when I was a kid. But it has always been manageble, until the skipped heartbeats started. About 5 years ago I started getting them, but they have been worse the last 6 months, Im told its stress, alongside a deep seated health anxiety caused by what happened to me when I was a kid. And Ive been put on beta blockers and anti depressants (which help a bit).
The problem is although Im told dont worry about it, no-one will give me a straight answer about, what causes them and why? Can anyone help?
I get them whilst exercising (which really frightens me), just after exercising, when resting, when working, well just about all the time really. Sometimes I get 3 or more in a row which is when I do think its all over, and my time has come!!!
Its a feeling of nothingness in my chest, then BAM a huge beat that nearly knocks me off my feet, then I have to check my pulse for 10 minutes, till I calm down, then feel stupid. Im driving my wife mad with it, although she is VERY understanding, and has been my rock when I have been really down because of it.
Can anybody help put my mind at rest, I feel if I can understand it then I may be able to cope. :)
honeybee3939
23-11-06, 13:47
Hi Stu,
A BIG warm welcome to you, lovely to see you here, im sure you will get some great advice here while making new friends on the way:D
Check these posts out they may help:
Palpitations
Palpitations (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/NMPcms.php?nmppage=palpitations)
palpatations (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2284)
Missed heartbeats! (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3186)
sorry for being silly....but.... (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3320)
Palpitations? Reassurance needed and some answers! (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3371)
Missed heartbeat question again (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3550)
IS THERE ANYMORE I CAN DO???? (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3784)
ectopic heart beats (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4664)
Love
Andrea
xxx
"If you have a worry turn it into a problem, you cant solve worrys but you can solve problems"
Hi Stu, and welcome.
I am exactly the same as you, I saw someone die 7 years ago (heart attack) and since then have been terrible with the health anxiety. Doctors did say to me that seeing that, along with other things that happened around the time - probably was the trigger.
Also, like you the symptom I struggle with most is the missed heartbeats, you might have seen posts I have started myself in the past.
I have never actually taken any medication for them as I am too scared to even take simple pain killers like paracetamol....lol! So, at least you are helping yourself a little by taking them!
I have had many tests though that all have confirmed that there is nothing wrong, but still I struggle with them every day.
I have a variety of different ones, some fluttery, some mild and some that make me think....oh my god this is it.....just like you!
You are certainly not alone in this one. I have cut caffiene out of my diet completly, this helped a lot. Other things are to take it easy with the alcohol, smoking and other stimulants.
Apparently most people have them, its just an unfortunate few that actually feel them (aint we the lucky ones!) I am always checking my pulse too....drives my friends and family nuts. I really think this makes it worse though, I know when I am distracted or doing something (not able to walk around with my fingers stuck to my neck, checking!) then I tend to have less.
Read up on all the other posts and I am sure this will help you alot, it certainly does me good. This place is great.
Angie
<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">Hi to all,
Firstly I would just like to say, what a great forum, I have trawled the internet over many nights and Im glad I found this resource as it has already helped me 'chill out' a little bit about my anxiety symptoms, just by reading other peoples stories it helps. Superb!
My problem is I have suffered anxiety attacks since I saw a relative die of a heart attack when I was a kid. But it has always been manageble, until the skipped heartbeats started. About 5 years ago I started getting them, but they have been worse the last 6 months, Im told its stress, alongside a deep seated health anxiety caused by what happened to me when I was a kid. And Ive been put on beta blockers and anti depressants (which help a bit).
The problem is although Im told dont worry about it, no-one will give me a straight answer about, what causes them and why? Can anyone help?
I get them whilst exercising (which really frightens me), just after exercising, when resting, when working, well just about all the time really. Sometimes I get 3 or more in a row which is when I do think its all over, and my time has come!!!
Its a feeling of nothingness in my chest, then BAM a huge beat that nearly knocks me off my feet, then I have to check my pulse for 10 minutes, till I calm down, then feel stupid. Im driving my wife mad with it, although she is VERY understanding, and has been my rock when I have been really down because of it.
Can anybody help put my mind at rest, I feel if I can understand it then I may be able to cope. :)
<div align="right">Originally posted by Stu M - 23 November 2006 : 13:29:17</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">Hi Stu.beleive me you are not on your own,i am amazed there are so many people out there all sufferin the same as us,its hard eh,but we all carry on,that makes us pretty damb strong individuals,
Hi Stu
i too am like you mate,same sort off situation but i will not exercise now as im to scared.
mine came on me all of a sudden i can remember it as clear as anything
i was sat at the pc on a hot sunny day i had the sun on my back for a while and i was getting hot,then i felt faint and dizzy and i had to lie down,since then ive been worried about my health and back and forward to the docs.
this site has helped me a lot as you realise you are not alone and it happens to all walks of life,you just have to try and not let it take over.
i must admit i had a little health drive with eating and drinking and i did feel better,but with christmas looming im back to my bad ways
take care mate
red
Thanks for the welcome, it is appreciated!!!
Angie, I hate taking tablets, and do have some bad reactions to some, but beta blockers do help in the short term, but I would prefer not to take any. It did take me a long time before I had the courage to try some, I thought I was the only one that had a problem with the idea, lol.
Lynda, Thanks for the sentiment, but I dont feel very strong most of the time, my doctor said I didnt have faith in my body. Hes right I know, but it not only knocks your faith in how well your body can cope but also your faith in your own self confidence, Im begining to think that maybe the key.
Blimey Red, Im not the only one to be scared of exercise, what a position to we are in, you need to exercise to help with the palpitations, but because you get the palpitations your too scared to exercise. One of the reasons Im taking tablets is to help try and keep the little blighters subdued so I can exercise again, I will let you know how I get on.
Again thanks for the responses, its nice to know we are not alone.
:D
hI STU
These are the bain of my life! There is another website resonancedirect.com click on heart palpitations and read some of the posts of a doctor RLR who explains this really well hope this helps carolx
Thanks for the link Carol,
These things realy impact our quality of life, i hope someday to get a handle on it.
I will check out the information on that link tonight, and let you know if it helps.
Stu
what you describe sounds like it a pre ventricular contraction, or PVC. they are fairly common and not normally anything to be worried about. do a google for PVCs, there is loads of info on them. i found cutting out caffeine helped a lot.
hi. i am 26 yr old male also worried about this. After worrying about these ive been feeling really lousy and dizzy everyday. Feeling like im going to die. >can anyone tell me if you feel the same sensation, or what you think this is.
I feel a weird feeling in my chest. like a contraction or something. Like a gasy type feeling. Then there is a pause in my beat and then a large beat. Sometimes they are milder then other times. When i get one. ill usually get another 2 or 3 after that a few mins apart. Then i might not get for hours or for days. I just got a holter monitor test done. Im waiting the results. Unfortunately i didnt get any strong sensations while on the monitor.
Hello PaladinX,
What you describe is pretty much the same as i get everyday.
I am working on what I can do to stop it, or at least live with it. Its very very frightening and I sympathise with everyone that gets this.
As a previous poster informed me they are called PVC's or ectopic beats, and from what i am learning now, millions of people across the world suffer from it and its not life threatening.
Even having learned this I still 'freak out' every-time and think im having a heart attack (thats anxiety for you), but im still here, so perhaps they are right, it wont kill me [:I]
I have felt a bit better since finding this forum, as its great to find un-conditional support, and see that you are not the only one with these sorts of problems.
Stu
Keep Smiling :D
thanks for your response. yeah ive been having alot of anxiety over it. And i think my anxiety is leading to other symptoms. Simply because when i get those ectopic beats i dont feel anything bad just the weird sensation. But then i worry about it and then the next few days i feel very dizzy and like death.
Whats weird to me is i have read most people get them, but i wonder why i feel them so profoundly. The sensation is not completely foreign to me, I think i have had it before, but never in runs. Im nervous cause these things started right after i raked leaves one day
Anytime PaladinX. I find it takes me a while to recover after one of the worse skipped beats, it used to be until i had a good night sleep, but now after a few years of these its a few hours.
My main cause of anxiety I think is similar to you, I cant understand why I feel them so strongly if nothings wrong. I sit there and wonder how people can have these things (or so Im told) and live a normal life, therefore i talk myself into thinking there is something inherintly wrong with me (does that make sense?)
One question though, does anyone get a mild electric shock feeling when the large beat hits after the pause. Occasionally I get it in my chest and sometimes in my left arm, and of course this makes me think im dying straight away :( Its only for a second, but still scares me!! I can normally keep myself resonably calm with this as it only happens every so often, but im curious if im alone with this one?
Stu
I get the electric shock sometimes, im just not sure if its related to the ectopic beats or just nerves firing off,, It might be that u feel the beat and get nervous and get a shock from nerves/adrenaline..
what has me more scared is i dont feel good lately either.. I feel very lightheaded like my head is clogged.. I hope its not related.
Hi Pandalinx
Please read heart palpitations part 1 to part 6 on the site resonancedirect.com a doctor wrote this and it does really help. It explains what is happening when you have these and why
hope this helps carol
Sorry Carol,
Im not sure if im being a bit dim, but I couldnt find a 'Heart Palpitations' section on the website www.resonancedirect.com.
Stu
Hi stu
click on the forum link half way down then you can click on palpitations
Thanks Carol, found it.
Im reading through it all now, lots of information there, Great !
Stu
Hi Stu hope this helps Its a pity none of the english doctors mention the vagus nerve ...it makes sense! As you will see the american doctor RLR is certain thats what causes most of these
same happens to me, I have been very much worried about it, I would love to have people tell me that its nothing but my brian
Hiya all
I used to,suffer really bad with palpitations feeling likey heart literally stopped then bang like someone had thumped me in the chest as if my heart started again, it's nothing to worry about they are just that palpitations,
I dare bet aswell the more you think about them the more you seem to get them ?
Only time I ever feel mine now are when I'm laid in bed normally on my stomach but because I know what they are and don't think about it the less it bothers you to the point were i no longer feel them or if I do its like oh a palpitation I've not felt that for abit.
Like I say the more you let it bother you, the more and sometimes stronger they get to the point it feels like your heart is thumping out your chest or stopping all the time with what feels like missed beats or completely stopping of the heart..
It's hard I know ar first but don't worry about them they Will ease and you'll get to the point were you don't pay them any attention and they will go
Good luck...
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.