heart palpitations - anxiety or something else?

[worriedwithfear]

I'm 34, male and for almost 2 months I've been experiencing some strange, vague symptoms which are possibly anxiety related.

It's this slight sensation that I want to pee and it's most prominent at night and now it's disturbing my sleep. It started when I was waking up every night around 3/4am with that slight sensation. I've been sleeping a little better recently but I awake in the morning with that feeling and usually end up peeing. I don't know if I'm what experiencing is related to anxiety or not. Doctor has no idea. I've had urianalysis samples done 4 times, all normal, tested my blood glucose level using home testing kits before/after meals and that's normal too because diabetes can be a cause for frequent urination. I thought about prostate issues but doctor said it's highly unlikely at my age. So I figure it could just be my anxiety rising up whenever I feel these symptoms which in turn make it worse? I'm not sure because there have been some days when I've felt absolutely fine with normal urination etc.

The only other factor is that I started on mirtazapine 15mg around mid October and initially I only had some drowsiness in the morning as a side effect. A few weeks later I had about strange dreams/nightmares along with some hallucinations, mainly hearing things that weren't there but they both eased off.

Around 6 weeks ago I then developed the strange sensation in my lower tummy area occasionally making me want to go pee (which I did at times) but I would wake up every night around 3-5am. Then about a month ago I started developing bouts of frequent urination, like I would end up peeing maybe twice within 1-2 hours which is unusual for me to do so but then I would have days as I said where it was normal and I wouldn't need to go for hours and hours which is normal for me as I usually go around 2-3 times a day! So anyway still having these symptoms and I figured if it is related to the mirtazapine then I should stop it.

I went up to 30mg for a few days at one point but then went back down to 15mg. Took 15mg once a day for about the last two weeks and decided to stop it altogether 3 days ago.

Has anyone who's been on this drug had similar symptoms and I realise none of you can diagnose on here but from what you're reading does this all sound like anxiety related?

[ankietyjoe]

You're probably peeing because you've woken up rather than waking up because you need to pee.

I've also found that I pee more when I have anxiety, or I'm tired. It's a way for the body to rid itself of extra toxins that build up with anxiety. Cortisol and adrenaline, for example.

If you've been tested for the usual suspects, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[Bigboyuk]

Yeah could well be anxiety related, would recommend getting some help with your anxiety before it escalates! ATB

[toddsmum]

Frequent urination can be a side effect of some some anti depressants, when I was on sertraline I pee'd like a race horse.

[worriedwithfear]

You're probably peeing because you've woken up rather than waking up because you need to pee.

I've also found that I pee more when I have anxiety, or I'm tired. It's a way for the body to rid itself of extra toxins that build up with anxiety. Cortisol and adrenaline, for example.

If you've been tested for the usual suspects, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Yeah that's a key question the doctor asks you. How would you know yourself though? I guess if it's not a real desperate urge then it's more a case of waking up THEN noticing you need to go ?? Mine has never been a real desperate urge more of "I could go right now as I do feel like something is there"

So the extra urine could be due to these extra toxins/other waste products?

Another final factor which I didn't mention is something that could be co-incidental but I remember the exact date when the waking up in the night started. It was 2/3 days after I accepted a job which I am going to start this coming week. It's a senior position I've never had before and remember feeling anxious thinking about the responsibility and whether I am capable of doing this job or not. It was the exact time I first started having these symptoms. So maybe it's to do with that, it's hard to say as I've had more consciously stress induced events such as breaking up with a gf where I could not sleep at all but never got frequent urination as a symptom.

[worriedwithfear]

I'm 34, male and for about 2 months I've been experiencing some strange, vague symptoms which are possibly anxiety related. It's very hard to actually describe as there aren't any obvious physical symptoms.

It started with this slight sensation that I want to pee and it was more prominent at night and disturbed my sleep. I was waking up every night around 3/4am with that slight sensation. This was occasionally accompanied by bouts of frequent urination. So there were a few days, not in succession where I would end up peeing maybe a little bit more than I should, sometimes like twice within an hour. The last few weeks though that's stopped and I've been sleeping a little better recently, normal urination etc but I still occasionally awake in the morning with that feeling but I don't need to pee anymore. Infact the moment I actually get up the sensation disappears and I'm mostly fine. However this strange sort of gut mild discomfort remains. I've never had pain or burning or straining when peeing and there's no pain whatsoever anywhere else. It's almost like there's something there, I just can't put my finger on it. Even then, it's not consistent. I'll have 3 or 4 days where I'll feel totally fine and myself and then suddenly I'll feel this strange sensation. Crucially though I am still experiencing it at night even for a moment, however about half the time I'll fall back to sleep straight away.

I've had urianalysis samples done 4 times, all normal, tested my blood glucose level several times using home testing kits before/after meals and that's normal too. I thought about prostate issues but doctor said it's highly unlikely at my age. I'm not sure because there have been some days when I've felt absolutely fine with normal urination etc.

I started on mirtazapine 15mg around mid October and initially I only had some drowsiness in the morning as a side effect. A few weeks later I had about strange dreams/nightmares along with some hallucinations, mainly hearing things that weren't there but that didn't last. Doctor said if I wanted to end it I can so about 9 days ago I stopped it.

I realise none of you can diagnose on here but from what you're reading does this all sound like anxiety related?

[worriedwithfear]

Still getting this slight sensation of awareness with a slight urge to pee and this disturbs my sleep as now I'm waking up as a result of it. It's more like an awareness of my body. Ill wake up to this around 3/4 am, sometimes 1am, so only an hour after falling asleep. Other times though, I have just gone back to sleep instantly and it's been fine.

Sometimes it makes me want to pee but most of the time I don't need to go so I don't, so it's not really that severe and that's the thing, it's never been a strong sensation, more of an awareness of these parts of the body and this "slight sensation" of wanting to pee. The times I have been I'll void an average amount (250ml maybe), nothing major but then that sensation or whatever it is I just can't put my finger on lingers for a bit and still can't really get back to sleep for a while. So maybe this isn't related to the peeing but rather to something that is waking me up at these odd times of the night.

Like for example, last night I woke up at like 1am feeling this sensation. I did not drink much before bed which was around 12midnight (did have cup of tea 500ml around 9pm). The only other noticeable symptom is this slightly strange, taste in my mouth upon waking. Again not sure what that's about. This is really frustrating as I've gone from someone who had zero issues with sleep to disturbed/middle of the night insomnia type sleeping patterns.

Anyone else get these symptoms? Possible anxiety related cause? It's just strange I have never had any pain at all or anything like that the entire time.

[worriedwithfear]

Think you might remember me from my previous postings/threads in which I was having some issues with urination.
I'm still having these and and off strange urinary patterns with disturbed sleeping patterns too where I'd wake up at like 1am and then sometimes at 5am. I've had urianalysis samples done 4 times, all normal, tested my blood glucose level several times using home testing kits before/after meals and that's normal too.

Then last week I had a DRE and the doctor said my prostate was slightly enlarged however it was very smooth and normal in that regard. He wasn't overly concerned about it and said it's not abnormal and this can happen. Anyway I got a PSA test done and waiting for the results from that.

He thinks that my symptoms are more likely due to a slight over-active bladder than anything else and more concerned with my anxiety levels. This is what I'm concerned about though - my urination patterns which seem odd. I have been keeping a diary of the patterns.

Yesterday for example I drank around 3.5l but then voided a total of almost 4.5 litres! But then today I've voided around 900ml and drunk around 2l. Most other days it's been an average of around 1.6 - 2.5 litres which is fairly normal. However on occasions I'll sometimes have an urge to pee twice in 2 hours DESPITE NOT HAVING DRUNK in between. In other words, say I drank 1.5l, about an hour later, I'll get the urge to go and void 700ml and then another hour later I'll get another urge and void the same amount. Why is this? My bladder filled up despite not having drink anything in between. I wonder if this is simply the extra urine that was waiting to be emptied from my kidneys into my bladder or what? Obviously because my bladder can only hold so much urine but does it work this way? Also these liquids I’ve drunk are not just water, but tea and coffee as well.
My flow rate is fine and again no straining, burning, no pain etc.
That's why I'm confused as to whether it's my prostate or something else.

Another big thing is that I occasionally feel a little off after I peed, like “on edge” almost rather anxious and not quite myself. Can’t quite describe it. Then other times where I feel totally normal. Comes and goes. This is the same kind of sensation I've felt waking up in the middle of night.

[Elen]

Please read the below post from Admin.
Can posters, especially those who are posting a lot about a variety of fears please confine their posts to one thread.

This helps others to build up a clear picture of what is happening and makes it easier to offer suitable advice.

You may not see the pattern but usually it is there, especially if you are posting frequently about different things.

Due to technical problems it is proving difficult to merge posts so for the moment any posts that we feel should be on a previous thread will be closed, allowing you the opportunity to re-post on your existing thread.

Your co-operation with this would be greatly appreciated.

Elen

[worriedwithfear]

For the past 6-7 months, my sleeping patterns have been erratic. I thought I was back to normal sleeping patterns recently as the last couple of months have been better but now the last 8 nights I wake up between 2 and 3am after just a couple of hours. I notice the first emotion/feeling I have is one of slight panic as I check the time to figure "oh not again." Then I would worry why this is happening and stress about the long term implications if this continues, worry about how long this will continue etc. It's now more than an hour since I've been up, trying my best to go back to sleep and it's just not happening as I do not feel sleepy/tired at all.

I'm sceptical about the caffeine link because when I was sleeping fine just a few weeks ago, I was having my usual coffee/tea intake during the day and even a cup of tea before bed and having no issues. Now I've even cut out the green tea and just having red bush and peppermint tea (which has no caffeine) and still waking up after a couple of hours.

I'm also sceptical about the anxiety/stress cause. I do have some things on my mind that is bothering me but these are more or less the same issues that have been effecting me for a long time, like years (the erratic sleeping patterns have only been an issue for the last 6-7 months now).

So I'm confused why this would be happening now when I've had the same anxieties and worries for many years and never had an issue with my sleep until these past 6-7 months. I've got a sleep app and I've just been listening to my sleep sounds. There's quite a bit of snoring there so it indicates that I'm sleeping deeply during the 2 hours of sleep that I am getting but then something is obviously waking up for me to be wide awake and not be able to go back to sleep for a long time.

Just wondering if any of you are or have had similar issues?

[HelloPanda23]

For the past 6-7 months, my sleeping patterns have been erratic. I thought I was back to normal sleeping patterns recently as the last couple of months have been better but now the last 8 nights I wake up between 2 and 3am after just a couple of hours. I notice the first emotion/feeling I have is one of slight panic as I check the time to figure "oh not again." Then I would worry why this is happening and stress about the long term implications if this continues, worry about how long this will continue etc. It's now more than an hour since I've been up, trying my best to go back to sleep and it's just not happening as I do not feel sleepy/tired at all.

I'm sceptical about the caffeine link because when I was sleeping fine just a few weeks ago, I was having my usual coffee/tea intake during the day and even a cup of tea before bed and having no issues. Now I've even cut out the green tea and just having red bush and peppermint tea (which has no caffeine) and still waking up after a couple of hours.

I'm also sceptical about the anxiety/stress cause. I do have some things on my mind that is bothering me but these are more or less the same issues that have been effecting me for a long time, like years (the erratic sleeping patterns have only been an issue for the last 6-7 months now).

So I'm confused why this would be happening now when I've had the same anxieties and worries for many years and never had an issue with my sleep until these past 6-7 months. I've got a sleep app and I've just been listening to my sleep sounds. There's quite a bit of snoring there so it indicates that I'm sleeping deeply during the 2 hours of sleep that I am getting but then something is obviously waking up for me to be wide awake and not be able to go back to sleep for a long time.

Just wondering if any of you are or have had similar issues?

I have had a bit of similar issues, even though I sleep much longer than you. Anytime I sleep at, I'm going to always wake up at 6am. I can barely ever sleep any longer and even though it's annoying, it isn't as bad as your situation. Try bathing in epsom salt and placing the scent of lavender oil in your room. They shoulf logically help so much with your sleeping problems.

[worriedwithfear]

I’m 35 and for the last year almost now I’ve had issues with middle of the night insomnia, as it’s called. So that is, I’m fine drifting off to sleep but then would wake up at random times in the early morning, anywhere between 1:30am to 3/4am with a standard bed time of around 11:30 – 12:30 (occasionally later than this). And when I wake up, I am wide awake and just cannot go back to sleep. However sometimes I can go back to sleep and do and so I do manage to still get around 5-6-7 hours of sleep in total despite the interruption. Other days though I can get at least 6.5 – 8. So maybe I don’t have true chronic, severe insomnia but it’s still disturbing enough to bother me because also I should mention that I never feel tired despite some days where I've only had like 3 hours sleep.
So it’s been erratic. Infact I thought that this issue was over as for the last few months I’ve been sleeping a lot better and had far less moments where I’ve woken up.

Recently though, I have started to get some palpitations. I got a few bouts in July, August and last month but were very fleeting and didn’t really notice it a great deal as it was more of a fluttery feeling and the occasional loud beating heart at night time. However, the last 4 days I’ve been getting them more. Again this is intermittent but it’s sometimes accompanied by this very strange, jumpy, edgy, nervy feeling. It’s hard to describe. Sometimes I get it as I’m moving from one position, going up the stairs, it feels like a surge of nervous energy running through me. I guess you could call it a mini panic attack but I can feel this faint pulse/beating sometimes in my chest, other times elsewhere in the body but this never hurts or anything, it’s merely the sensation. I had something similar but possibly more severe when I was 17 years old after a close relative had died. I remember palpitations were at its worst here but eventually they calmed down. I had all the tests then at 17 – echo, ECG and heart monitor tape – all came back normal. So that was 17/18 years ago now.

I’ve had episodes of them since then but this is the most sustained period right now. I guess I’ve had a few things happen in the last month or so like a close friend getting married which I guess stressed me out because I’m stressed about my own singleness, having to cut ties for good with a long term friend and I suppose just worrying about this makes things even worse.

I don’t have any other real accompanying symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, headache etc. apart from of course this insomnia which has been on and off as I mentioned. Pulse rate is normal and regular – 72 at resting, 66 perhaps during night time before bed and in the morning and this is also during one of these moments where I feel I’m having slight palpitations…which doesn’t make sense as I thought palpitations are due to a racing heart but my PULSE RATE IS NORMAL…
I’m guessing that’s a good thing right? Also I have no issues when I exercise, like I’ve done a few jogs and sprints and I’m fine although yesterday when I played tennis I did feel the palpitations getting more pronounced but again no other symptoms.

Has anyone had something similar?

[Elen]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.

Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.

It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.

Elen