All sorts of heart palpitations - PVC,? PAC? A-fib? Flutter?

[SDC74]

Hi everyone. I'm brand new to the forum here and just seeking a bit of advice, and to see if anybody else has ever experienced similar symptoms!

I'm 32 y/o, male, 14 stone, 6' 2"

I have an extensive history of anxiety and OCD, going back pretty much in to early childhood. My main ongoing worry is with my heart. I am constantly on edge, waiting for the next palpitation to happen, it's absolutely exhausting, I'm tired ALL the time and feel like even the slightest amount of mild exercise is too much. I'm terrified to do any exercise, as I firmly believe my heart is weak and about to give in!!

I had a 24hr Holter monitor 4 years ago after experiencing a similar upswing in the same fear. It came back with ZERO abnormal beats or episodes, even though I logged plenty of events during the 24hr period. The doctor noted she had never in her career seen a completely clean 24hr Holter... As you can imagine, this got me worrying even more, as I think they are missing something. I have been taking 100mg Sertraline and 80mg slow-release Propranolol for anxiety ever since.

My heart palpitations seem to feel different every time. Sometimes its just one pause and thump, that doesn't come with any other symptoms. Other times, it feels like my heart quivers or 'bubbles' for a second or two and it takes my breath away and makes me want to cough. These ones really panic me and leave me feeling momentarily faint and nauseous. They seem to happen most when I have just gone from walking to sitting or lying down, and then again when I go from lying or sitting to getting up. They also seem to happen most when I take a deep breath in, so the flutter comes right at the point I've filled my lungs and about to breathe out, if that makes sense? And also just as I am waking up in the morning. Does this happen to anyone else?

Thanks for reading :)

[DaisyFay]

Hi,

I’m afraid I don’t have any advice to give but I do experience all of these things.

My palpitations also vary in how they feel and sometimes they feel absolutely awful. I get thumps, shakes, flutters and sudden racing.

My doctors have never found anything of concern and a senior doctor recently very firmly said to me that although he cannot rule out everything unless it was actually caught on tape, he would put money on my heart still beating in 50 years. So I guess people do experience these type of things without it being a worry.

I can relate to the tiredness and exercise being too much. There’s an interesting part in the book Self Help For Your Nerves where she makes the point that anxiety is exhausting for the body and then psychical excursion on top of that can just be far too much. I believe this is what I have done to myself in the past when trying to work out. Everything is already in overdrive and then I try cardio... I now try to exercise in ways that calms my nervous system. I do yoga and go for walks.
My husband finds it hard to get out of bed when he’s stressed and is slower in nature, cardio is amazing for him. For me it feels better to exercise in a way to slow things down. Every part of my body is working so hard all the time anyway!

A few things that have helped my palpitations- magnesium taurate has been a god send. Things to calm the nervous system and also yoga and meditation. If you haven’t tried already, maybe see if any of those help you out.

Take care of yourself

[SDC74]

Hi DaisyFay

Thanks so much for your reply. I take two Doctor's Best magnesium tablets every morning, as they have helped me in the past. It's funny, I don't feel so bad when I'm out walking with the dog, but if I get up off the couch to walk upstairs I feel like I've run a marathon! And that's when my palpitations seem to be worst. I've actually forgotten what it feels like to not be on-edge all the time. Constantly on the look out for every little unusual feeling in my chest. I must try meditation, maybe that will help a bit.

Many thanks.

[DaisyFay]

Stairs and uphill is definitely a trigger for me, as are bending over and a lot of position changes. So you are definitely not alone.

I tend to go back to my GP if ever my palpitations change in pattern and try to keep stress down. I know what you mean about being on edge and thinking about it all of the time. I often wonder what other people think about all day and how life feels to just go do something and not worry about what my heart will do.

I definitely know I get more when I’m on edge though. It probably sounds really basic but when I’m really on edge I have a little 30 day program I’ve made myself and I always feel totally different by the end of it. For the 30 days I will do little self care things like for every negative thought I will think of three positives, I have a worry hour in the evening and every worry I think of is wrote down to think about in my worry hour and no more during the day, an hour before bed I do sensory things to calm the nervous system such as relaxing bath with candle light then body lotion while listening to calming music and get really engrossed in every aspect of it so that’s where your mind is. I then do a short bedtime yoga session on YouTube and 10 minute anxiety talk down meditation. Meditation has been shown to provide the nervous system rest that is 5 times deeper than sleep. It may not sound like much but I find it gets me back off the edge I’m strict with myself to do it and don’t allow myself into spirals of worry about my heart. Once the Adrenalin and cortisol are down, my nerves are calmed and everything feels more under control, the palpitations definitely get less frequent.

I’m sure you probably have your own things that you know works for you. Just make sure you take the time for that self care and keep the hope that one day you will notice that you haven’t had a palpitation in a long time.