Heart pounding suddenly so scared

[missworry]

Hi I wonder if this has ever happened to anyone else, I suffer with ectopic heart beats which at the moment I'm managing. I feel like I've been doing so well controlling my anxiety then today out of the blue while shopping my heart started to pound and lasted about 10 mins I tried to stay calm I got some water and sat down and my heart went back to normal thank god. I'm so worried now that it will happen again or I'm going to have a heart attack it def wasn't a panic attack as I felt find b4 and if happened out of the blue, thanks for reading I wiuld really appreciate any replies xx

[jerseyguy]

Hi Missworry,

This happens to me all the time. I can just be sitting watching tv, driving, even sleeping and my HR just takes off. This started about 4 years a go, when 3 nights in a row I woke out of a sound sleep with a 125-135 HR. I went to 4 different top cardiologists in the NYC/NJ area and 3 said it was anxiety, but the 4th sent me to a neurologist who actually listened to my symptoms and gave me a test called a ansar test. I took the test and found out a have autonomic neuropathy which is very rare for a healthy person under 40. I would suggest anybody having a racing heart for no reason, dizziness, palpitations, sweating, sleep disorders ect.. get this test. Again in my case I knew anxiety wasn't causing my symptoms, it was my symptoms causing my anxiety.. When your heart is racing do you ever check your HR to see how fast? I was also told by my doctor if you are tachycardic HR over a 100 but in a normal sinus rhythm this is not dangerous.. Hope you feel better..

[missworry]

Thanks for replying your post was very interesting but I don't think they do that test in England. It's not happened since so fingers crossed I'm trying to keep my anxiety about it at bay not always easy thou. My ectopics are bad but that's probably because I'm worried about it, it's a vicious circle. If it happens again I will go and see doctor it's s scary time when you feel your about to die at any moment but I think that's most people's worry on this site. That's why we are here eloping each other x:)

[catsandnaps]

Misworry, I get the same symptoms. I will be oblivious to my heart rate, then it kicks in and it starts pounding fast. It has happened to me many many times, and it will probably happen more. I have finally conceded that this is not a heart problem, it is an anxiety problem. All the skipped beats and fast beats are my anxiety disorder. And I'm fearful of it, too. When it happens, I practice a few things. First is to let it happen. I try to stop fighting it and let it happen. The more I sit in the feeling, the less scary it feels, and the less intense my panic attacks become. It sounds simple, right? It's tough, and I understand the struggle. Let yourself feel the fear, but do not dwell in it. Second is I get my mind moving. It feels very odd that I am sitting there with my heart bumping out of my chest, and I'm trying to look up Youtube videos or looking up jokes online, anything to get my head out of myself. But it really helps me.
All this stuff is simple to talk about, but harder to put in practice. Just know you're not alone, but you can get through this. Good luck