Anxious over my heart

[OGNinjaDon]

Hey guys,

I've posted similar things before, and gotten answers which I believed to be true. Just want to run these symptoms by you and see if there really is nothing to worry about.

I'm 23, I smoke about 10 a day, drink caffeine but not coffee usually tea or green tea and not all the time. My diet is not perfect either.

I have been very stressed for around 8 weeks if not more, had a whole heap of symptoms develop and this anxiety/symptom has been there from before this started until this day.

I have been getting heart palpitations, skipped beats, fluttering sensations and chest pain. From what I have noticed, it is always when I am relaxed.. or atleast sitting down. Description:

- One or two occasions it feels like my heart stops, then kicks back (dont feel a thud) but my body just seems to wake up again and i get an electric shock feeling pass through my body afterwards

- Heart fluttering happens a lot, every day now at least, cannot pinpoint it to anything in particular, im drinking more water etc.


I think the 'electric shock' feeling comes from anxiety and will happen whenever i get scared of something, so not worried about that.

The issue I have is with work, my bosses are literally sick and tired of me having days off to see people/appointments and such like. So my doctors thinks my heart is fine, by reffered me for a 24 hour ECG just in case, I just don't think I can get time off any time soon.

What I personally think is it is all down to anxiety, and I'm fairly ok at dealing with this, I would just like to know if these sound like very common symptoms of anxiety and I shouldn't worry about them, or if I should risk losing my job just to have a 24 hour ecg?

The other thing to mention is I have started dating more recently, which I hadn't done for a number of years. Could this all be down to hormone changes etc?

Thanks.

[countrygirl]

I have had ectopic heartbeats since I was in my 20's and am now 53. At their worst I it was every 3rd beat wan a missed beat. I also got fluttery feeling as well as all the sensations you describe.
I had these ectopics picked up on numerous 24hr ecg's and always told by Drs/cariologists that they were harmless but horrible and that only anxious people can feel them although everyone gets them at some time they just don't feel them!
Also they happen most when your heartrate is low and then dot go away when the heartrate is fast.
Have you tried taking a big breath and coughing as this often resets the beat quicker - it works for me.
Remember they are horrible but harmless and cardiologist consider them to be a normal variation of hearbeat.

[OGNinjaDon]

Hi, thanks for responding.

Sounds awful, though it seems you have come to terms with them.

My issue is I only started noticing them early this year, before I actually realized I had anxiety. Though I know I was becoming more anxious at that time.

I know they are normal, and I have learned to take only relevant information, by that I mean normal PVC's happen at times of being relaxed, and not when doing exercise.

My next question is; i was sat with a girl I like, just getting to know her so very anxious and nervous. When I was 'plucking up the courage' to put my arm round her for the first time, I started getting really fast hart rate. All of this is normal, though after about 15 minutes of really fast pounding heart I had a 'heart stopping' feeling followed by a big thud and electric shock feeling.

You said they happen most when heart rate is low, can it also be normal to occasionally feel them (big ones) when your heart rate is fast yet you are not moving?

Thanks again.

[Sam123]

Hi,

If you've had ECG's done before and your doctor has said you are fine, honestly 100% you are fine. The human heart isn't this weak, fragile thing that could stop at any given moment. It is in fact an incredible machine that is hard wired and programmed with back ups to beat and pump blood, it is a muscle that is strong.
With anxiety we tend to fear heart problems, for obvious reasons our heart is very important to us.
All it takes is hearing a few stories and bam my heart anxiety comes back.

I can tell by your posts you obviously already know you are fine, there will never be enough tests to make you not anxious about it, it's the anxiety you need to overcome, if this is a daily problem and interfering with your life i would recommend CBT therapy and speaking to your GP about it.

Also i'd say its very normal for your heart to increase and 'mess about' if you're nervous and anxious around a girl. Even if you don't think you're consciously worrying about your heart, with anxiety we are always hyper alert to everything we feel.

Hope this helps

[OGNinjaDon]

Yeah that does help. I haven't had any tests done, and quite frankly i don't think I will just yet. I know I'm fine and testing myself is only prolonging the anxiety over it, I just need to ride the symptoms for a while and not perpetuate the anxiety over it.

Thanks.