View Full Version : Popping sensation terrified.
I've just had a popping sensation in heart and now I'm terrified . I don't understand what it was. Anyone ever had this happen them. I've had my heart checked loads of times and ecgs ,blood tests and chest X-ray and all came back fine but whatever this is has absolutely terrified me.
ServerError
05-10-16, 15:33
Where exactly did you feel the sensation? There's a good chance it wasn't your heart at all, but rather something muscular, which is completely harmless.
That said, the effect of adrenaline on the heart in anxiety sufferers causes all sorts of strange but harmless heart sensations.
I felt in around the heart area . I'm still scared and worried about what it was. It felt like something popped in there.
I felt in around the heart area . I'm still scared and worried about what it was. It felt like something popped in there.
If something did actually "pop" on your heart, you'd probably be in the back of an ambulance by now.
Your obsession with your heart is ridiculous, it really is.
ServerError
05-10-16, 17:23
I felt in around the heart area . I'm still scared and worried about what it was. It felt like something popped in there.
And where is the heart area?
If something did actually "pop" on your heart, you'd probably be in the back of an ambulance by now.
Your obsession with your heart is ridiculous, it really is.
I know it is but I can't seem to help it . I don't need to feel any lower than I do right now. To you it might seem ridiculous but to me this is a genuine fear that causes me to have panic attacks and the fear is crippling.
---------- Post added at 17:25 ---------- Previous post was at 17:24 ----------
And where is the heart area?
Around the center of chest a bit to the left.
ServerError
05-10-16, 17:35
The heart is in the centre of your chest. It does tilt to the left, but any sensations to the left side of the chest are unlikely to be from the heart. Especially popping.
Ella, you said that CBT didn't work for you. Did you just try the one course, do you try and keep practising what you learnt? You also mentioned you are working with a new therapist - what kind of suggestions do they give you to challenge these fears?
My new therapist is trying to help me to learn to calm my body down but it's not easy when your in a constant state of fear all the time. I'm doing everything she asks me to do but sometimes I feel like I'm fighting a battle I can't win.xx
What does she ask you to do exactly? X
ServerError
05-10-16, 19:35
My new therapist is trying to help me to learn to calm my body down but it's not easy when your in a constant state of fear all the time. I'm doing everything she asks me to do but sometimes I feel like I'm fighting a battle I can't win.xx
Have you ever thought about not thinking of it as a fight? I never use the word 'fight' to describe my anxiety and my recovery journey. I just don't believe that thinking of it as a battle and constantly fighting how you feel is helpful. For me, it just seems like it would add to the stress and anxiety already present.
I don't believe it's possible to fight anxiety. It will win if you do that (this is my opinion, please note). What if you just let it be there, accepted the feelings that come, put your CBT techniques into practice and gradually came to learn that these feelings can't hurt you? This is how I got better and many others have employed this technique to some extent or in some way. Regardless of what you do, I think everybody who has anxiety has to accept it to a degree, no matter what strategies they are using to get better. But I really hope you'll consider stopping fighting with how you feel all the time.
Do you take medication? I can be very helpful with those feelings of being on the verge of something awful. I remember that feeling all too well. It didn't go away overnight, but by increasing my understanding of anxiety, taking sertraline and getting on with living, I noticed that feeling of being somehow doomed gradually ebbing away.
Nobody is a lost cause with anxiety, and you can get better. I promise you that.
My new therapist is trying to help me to learn to calm my body down but it's not easy when your in a constant state of fear all the time. I'm doing everything she asks me to do but sometimes I feel like I'm fighting a battle I can't win.xx
You'll never calm your body until you calm your mind. You must learn to accept that the body is a living breathing machine. Twinges, pains, strange sensations etc, it's all in a day's work for the human body. I reckon that each and every one of us get pains in our chest, leg, head or whatever throughout most of the day. Most of us will barely notice it, but you are 100% focused on something being wrong with your heart therefore you're 100% focused on that area.
When you zoom in like that, you will notice every little thing. You have been tested, tested and re-tested when it comes to the heart, everything with it is absolutely fine.
I think I've had one ECG in my life when I was about 19. I give my heart not one thought, other than trying to protect it by eating well and excersising. I couldn't tell you if I get the odd pain or sensation in my chest. I'm not looking for it so I don't notice.
At some point you're going to need to realise that the problem is in your head. Chest pains are much more common in people who regularly suffer panic attacks, but they arise from the muscles and chest wall. The heart is a strong muscle, it's not made of glass.
While heart disease is very real, you clearly don't have it, so what is it that makes you think it's all of a sudden just going to give out on you?
Have you ever thought about not thinking of it as a fight? I never use the word 'fight' to describe my anxiety and my recovery journey. I just don't believe that thinking of it as a battle and constantly fighting how you feel is helpful. For me, it just seems like it would add to the stress and anxiety already present.
I don't believe it's possible to fight anxiety. It will win if you do that (this is my opinion, please note). What if you just let it be there, accepted the feelings that come, put your CBT techniques into practice and gradually came to learn that these feelings can't hurt you? This is how I got better and many others have employed this technique to some extent or in some way. Regardless of what you do, I think everybody who has anxiety has to accept it to a degree, no matter what strategies they are using to get better. But I really hope you'll consider stopping fighting with how you feel all the time.
Do you take medication? I can be very helpful with those feelings of being on the verge of something awful. I remember that feeling all too well. It didn't go away overnight, but by increasing my understanding of anxiety, taking sertraline and getting on with living, I noticed that feeling of being somehow doomed gradually ebbing away.
Nobody is a lost cause with anxiety, and you can get better. I promise you that.
I'm on setraline myself .
---------- Post added at 21:11 ---------- Previous post was at 21:09 ----------
You'll never calm your body until you calm your mind. You must learn to accept that the body is a living breathing machine. Twinges, pains, strange sensations etc, it's all in a day's work for the human body. I reckon that each and every one of us get pains in our chest, leg, head or whatever throughout most of the day. Most of us will barely notice it, but you are 100% focused on something being wrong with your heart therefore you're 100% focused on that area.
When you zoom in like that, you will notice every little thing. You have been tested, tested and re-tested when it comes to the heart, everything with it is absolutely fine.
I think I've had one ECG in my life when I was about 19. I give my heart not one thought, other than trying to protect it by eating well and excersising. I couldn't tell you if I get the odd pain or sensation in my chest. I'm not looking for it so I don't notice.
At some point you're going to need to realise that the problem is in your head. Chest pains are much more common in people who regularly suffer panic attacks, but they arise from the muscles and chest wall. The heart is a strong muscle, it's not made of glass.
While heart disease is very real, you clearly don't have it, so what is it that makes you think it's all of a sudden just going to give out on you?
I don't know where the fear has come from but I do know that since my mam passed in June the anxiety has spiralled and I'm struggling to cope with it .
---------- Post added at 21:12 ---------- Previous post was at 21:11 ----------
What does she ask you to do exactly? X
I have to do breathing exercises and listen to the meditation recording we do each week.xx
Woke up again this morning with chest pains and pressure feeling in stomach and abdomen area . It's horrible being scared every day and being terrified of death all the time. I'm even having lightheaded feeling aswell .
ServerError
06-10-16, 11:42
Many people with anxiety wake up with these feelings. Our cortisol levels are highest in the morning, which goes some way to partly explaining it.
The question for you is, what are you going to do to handle this? It isn't going to just go away in one go. As others have said, a calm mind is essential to calming the body. Try reacting to these sensations without fear. It isn't easy and I'm not saying it is. But is fighting with it, worrying about it, being frightened of it, getting you anywhere? You're going to have to begin to shake off your fear of these feelings. No matter what treatment plan you take, the one thing we all have to do is begin to accept the feelings that come up and to understand our anxiety.
Ella - unless you are proactive in at least attempting to confront and manage this fear, it will continue. The therapy you have described sounds like it would hardly touch the surface to me - does she know how often you seek reassurance? Nothing wrong with that, but then you need to act on it, or its pointless.
You need to try and refrain from seeking reassurance every time you feel something you perceive as worrying. As SE has mentioned above, "fighting" is the wrong way to think of it. Accepting that you feel these pops and pains etc but know that you have been checked out exhaustively. There are triggers for most of us, painful ones. But it is up to us to try and change the behaviours that we keep repeating, and trust that nothing is physically wrong. Maybe time to make a start on that Ella x[COLOR="blue"]
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Ella - unless you are proactive in at least attempting to confront and manage this fear, it will continue. The therapy you have described sounds like it would hardly touch the surface to me - does she know how often you seek reassurance? Nothing wrong with that, but then you need to act on it, or its pointless.
You need to try and refrain from seeking reassurance every time you feel something you perceive as worrying. As SE has mentioned above, "fighting" is the wrong way to think of it. Accepting that you feel these pops and pains etc but know that you have been checked out exhaustively. There are triggers for most of us, painful ones. But it is up to us to try and change the behaviours that we keep repeating, and trust that nothing is physically wrong. Maybe time to make a start on that Ella x[COLOR="blue"]
[
I tell myself every day that I'm OK regardless of what I'm feeling the problem I have is believing it because the what if thoughts are so strong. My therapist knows how many times I've been to hospital this year alone and when I seek reassurance because if I don't tell her she can't help me. Sometimes it's so overwhelming and the fear is crippling.
ServerError
06-10-16, 12:44
Ella,
I don't mean to sound like I'm repeating myself, but you do get to choose what impact that fear has on you. Fear doesn't exist in a vacuum, and we are not at its mercy. If it's crippling, it's because you're allowing it to cripple you.
You hit the nail on your head: you tell yourself you're okay, but you don't believe it. And you ask 'what if?' all the time. Those 'what if?' thoughts are what is keeping you trapped in this spiral. Your only way out of it is to begin challenging those thoughts. You can't suppress them or force them to go away, but you can choose the extent to which you listen to them.
Anti-depressants and therapy can play a role in helping us recover from anxiety, but nothing has more power over it than ourselves. You have to take this thing by the scruff of the neck, truly see it for what it is, and begin to move past it. What other choice do you have?
I suspect that the reason you're not really responding to my posts is that I'm challenging you to do things and to take an attitude that your anxiety and negative thinking patterns tell you you can't do. But it's a lie. You absolutely can do it.
Many people with anxiety wake up with these feelings. Our cortisol levels are highest in the morning, which goes some way to partly explaining it.
The question for you is, what are you going to do to handle this? It isn't going to just go away in one go. As others have said, a calm mind is essential to calming the body. Try reacting to these sensations without fear. It isn't easy and I'm not saying it is. But is fighting with it, worrying about it, being frightened of it, getting you anywhere? You're going to have to begin to shake off your fear of these feelings. No matter what treatment plan you take, the one thing we all have to do is begin to accept the feelings that come up and to understand our anxiety.
How do I calm my mind when it's in constant fear and the thoughts are always what if thoughts. X
ServerError
06-10-16, 12:47
How do I calm my mind when it's in constant fear and the thoughts are always what if thoughts. X
It's a good question. You can't force it, though. The key is allowing your mind to be in whatever state it is in and not getting so mixed up in it. This attitude, this recognition that your mind is behaving this way, will bring calm in time. It's a gradual process, though.
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