Palpitations and anxiety

[Hila]

I hope you can understand my English as I am German. I really like this forum and couldn't find a German forum as good as this.
I suffer from anxiety and have other health issues. (graves disease, had my thyroid removed in February). Before graves was diagnosed my GP thought I have depressions but this was just the thyroid disease. I had tachycardia massive panic attacks etc.
After the thyriodectomy I really thought everything was ok. My heartbeat was back to normal, all I had to do was to take my my thyroid medication and get on with my life.

3 weeks later however the palpitations started and that was the end of all my hope.:weep:
I have them every day, sometimes all day long and I am so afraid of dying. I have two small children. My youngest son is only 1 year old.
The cardiologist said everything ok he couldn't see any of the palpitations on the monitor (24h). He said my body has to get used to the thyroid meds. But my thyroid levels are ok now and the palpitations are still there.

My husband cannot cope with my panic attacks anymore, neither can I.
I was prescribed antidepressants but my puls and blood pressure are too low now (80/50 52) and this worries me even more..........When my pulse is so low I cannot breath and think that someone is sitting on my chest.

I just want my life back! The worst thing is that nobody can tell me whether my extrabeats and missed heartbeats are ok, because no doctor could actually see them up to now.:mad:
Is anyone taking antidepressants helping with the palpiations????

I hope you can understand my English. Thank you for reading!

[Reemy]

Your english is very good, so please don't worry about that. I understood everything perfectly.

The skipped heartbeats are most likely ectopics. They feel terrible--like you miss a beat and then get an extra hard one--but there's no danger to them. A lot of us here get them. I know how scary they feel, but they aren't bad. If you're really worried, maybe the doctor can send you home with a halter monitor. That records your heart beats over a 24 or more hour period.

Your blood pressure and pulse may be a bit low, but if the doctor isn't concerned, don't stress too much about it. Some people run lower than others. Do you feel very tired? If so bring it up to the doctor next time. The more you think about these things the worse you feel (I know, because I do it, too.)

Are they still checking your thyroid levels regularly? It can take quite a while to adjust. The medicine keeps building up for a while, so even if it's at a good level a couple of weeks later, it can go hyper up to six weeks after a dose change. If you're having hyperthryoid symptoms, talk to your doctor and ask for another blood test. It can make you feel awful and very panicky when your thyroid level is off.

I hope you start feeling better soon. This place is great, and everyone here is really helpful.

[Reemy]

Oh, I just reread this and I see that you already had the halter monitor. Sorry, I didn't see that the first time. In that case, I would relax and not worry about that part. I'm sure it's just ectopic beats. You can read more about them here on the site.

I'm confident you'll be fine. I have major health anxiety, so I know how your feeling! :hug:

[Hila]

Thank you for your reply. Yes I get my thyroid levels checked every 4 weeks. I also need my calcium levels checked, ever since the surgery I need to take calcium. I see my endo every 4 weeks and he is the best!

Yes I had a holter monitor, thing is, I had ectopics BUT they couldn't see any. Not even one!! That is why I cannot relax. What if they are dangerous?
Stupid I know, but all I want is for the cardiologist to see them and tell me they are ok!:ohmy:

[jo61]

Hi Hila, your English is excellent! Glad you found NMP and you'll make lots of friends here and get some good advice too.

[Reemy]

Hmm, well if they are ectopics, then they're certainly not dangerous. And that's exactly what it sounds like. But they should show up on the monitor. Do you know if your doctor reads the full results or if the doctor has them summarized and then reads that to you? The thing is, ectopics are so common and unimportant (from a doctor's point of view) sometimes they don't even mention them. This happened to me once, the doctor told me about a different problem he found, but didn't say anyting about the 'skippy beats' that I complained about. Finally I sort of looked over his shoulder and pointed at the ectopic rhythm on the chart and said, "what about that?!" He said, "Oh, that's nothing." Well, it didn't feel like nothing to me. But, in fairness, he was a dreadful doctor that didn't explain anything :) Later I found a great cardiologist that explained it to me when I had to get other tests done for the other problem. Did you're doctor let you look at the results for yourself?

Try to relax, as stress can make the ectopics more frequent (as can a lot of things, like caffeine and smoking). As horrible and scary as the feel, they aren't going to kill you. I know that's hard to believe while you're feeling them, though. Focus on relaxing and drawing your attention to other things.

[Hila]

I got the result faxed to my place so I could read it myself! It says there was not a single one and everything is fine!
Normal ecg. That is what I don't understand, I definitely felt something but it was not recorded. That is what worries me? What was is then??
I will have to take it to my GP this week, she wants to talk about it. Maybe she can explain.....:shrug:

Thank you again.

And I am glad that you can understand my English! (lived in England for two years, but that was 10 years ago)

[spuds]

I have multiple ectopics (ever since an operation two and half years ago). Sometimes I can feel them and other times I cannot. However, I sometimes get the feeling in my chest, but when I check my pulse there are no missed beats or ectopics. Just because you feel strange, it does not mean your heart is doing something. It may just be anxiety.

Also, when they do heart tests (ecg etc) they are looking not just at what is there, but at what is not. They are looking for signs of heart disease - if your heart is structurally okay, then ectopics are apparently harmless. However, when you feel them in your chest and pulse and they make you so anxious, this is very hard to accept. I have had a few ecg's and been told I am fine, but I am still struggling with the anxiety that these ectopics have caused me. I have two young children and I feel like you. I hope you feel better soon. Best wishes.

This site is very useful:

http://rlr.qersys.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl

as is this one, though quite medical and harder to follow:

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/cardio/wwwboard.html