im sure this is NOT anxiety!

[cassi23]

yesterday i had felt fine all day, around 4pm i started to feel mildly agitated, eating my dinner i felt it a bit more, i went upstairs to get ready for work and bam, there you have it, seriously fast heart rate and huge agitated feeling.

took my pulse and it was 130 at that time, put on a brave face evenen though i was s******g myself and went to work, when i got there i dont know whether it was getting worse because i was working myself up, but i had to take a tablet - 2nd time in a month, usually i take them once every 4 months!

felt better and calmed down after that, but i didnt feel anxious or panicky when the heart racing started, and it was not a panick attack! I am going to docs today as i refuse to believe that this is just panic and anxiety.

i feel so depressed and disappointed in myself now, these feelings are really getting me down, i just want to be normal!

Sorry for the rant and im sure people have stopped listening to me cos i go in about this all the time but i just cant seem to get past it

cassi

[Wicker Man]

Hi Cassi,
I hope this helps to re-assure you a bit (i am a former para-medic).
The chances are it probably is anxiety but even if it isn`t, runs of fast heartbeat (tachycardia) are very common and a rate of 130 is nothing to worry about, I have seen pulses of 250+. I is a good idea to go to the Dr`s mainly to get some proper re-assurance, and do not worry if he does a ECG (heart rythmn printout). Can you avoid caffine and nicotine ? That will help.
I promise you, you have nothing to worry about. Chris.:)

[cassi23]

thanks chris,

that heart rate was soon after it started, im not sure what it got up to, i was in too much of a flop to count!

i already avoid caffeine/nicotine, so it couldnt be that, im worried because although i felt sggitated first, i felt ok all day and it started so suddenly!

Im going docs this am, so will see what they say, thanks for your post,the reassurance helps.

even if they do an ecg, am i right in thinking in wouldnt pick up anything like v-tach now thats its not happening??? Otherwise, how can they know what i experience?

Cassi xxx

[Marginalia]

Let us know how it goes.

As Wicker Man says, 130 bpm is nothing to worry about. My resting heart rate is 90-100 and when I went to get a fitness schedule at the gym they said I needed to aim for about 150 bpm to get any benefit. So obviously 150 bpm is not unhealthy ;)

I have had attacks of tachycardia (the worst one lasted half an hour and I was at 200bpm). 200bpm feels so icky it's hard to concentrate on anything else, and the world is sort of seen through a grey haze. Nevertheless I found it useful to have something to do, which was to take my pulse (I found it calming just to concentrate on being very clinical - record pulse, remember all the feelings as if one is writing them down for a doc - one of my panic books recommended this. It takes you outside yourself a bit). I was at a railway station at the time and the first aid person wanted to call an ambulance, but I was actually trying to calm them down, telling them it was just a panic attck. As I said I was at 200bpm constantly for half an hour and then suddenly for no reason it stopped (just as it had started for no reason - I'd bent down to pick up a penny I'd dropped). My heartbeat went straight back from 200bpm to normal.

Nowadays I get palpitations, which the doc did pick up on the ECG machine. He'd obviously seen them before and was very calm and casual about it, which was good. He gave me beta-blockers which really helped (though coming off them gave me massive palpitations so be careful to do it slowly (the doc didn't tell me about that) - but at least one knows why).

[Wicker Man]

Hi Cassie,
You are right in thinking that an ecg would not pick up V-tach or SVT if you were not in a run at the time.(They might ask you to wear a recorder to monitor for a day or two). I had a couple of runs of SVT at work about 4 years ago and was in the fortunate position to be able to conect myself to my own machine and print off a rythmn strip !! Result was a low dose of beta-blockers for a couple of months. I still have the odd run and runs of ectopics, its nothing to worry about. With you saying you felt agitated, I would still bet on anxiety. Are you on any meds for your HA. My meds give me allsorts or side effects. Chris.

[Marginalia]

Hi Cassie,
You are right in thinking that an ecg would not pick up V-tach or SVT if you were not in a run at the time.(They might ask you to wear a recorder to monitor for a day or two).

I've only ever had a resting ECG taken (on a few different occasions), but I guess because I am an anxious person it was so evident to the doctor that the heart problems were due to anxiety, and there wasn't anything to worry about on the resting ECG, that he didn't judge it worth any further investigation. And sure enough, I have not keeled over with a heart attack ;)

I only say this because it might not be usual to have more than a resting ECG taken and Wicker Man's post might make you worry you were missing out on something and start worrying about your doctor's competence. When I found out that some people got monitors to take home and stuff, my initial reaction was "panic: I must have one of those problems which can't be detected on resting ECG". However I turned this into "my doc knows best - I'm panicking but he is calm. And by the way, it means I always have an excuse to go back again if I really need one, whereas if he'd done all the possible tests I would be at the end of the road". I haven't so far (in 15 years) felt the need to go back for more tests.

[Emira7]

Hey

I have just come out of hospital after an accident, and suffered some nasty bouts of panic in there.

My heart got up to 160-180 BPM, I could see it and was terrified. However the doctors did not flutter an eyelid. I had 3 ECGS all normal, just a fast heartbeat, so that tells us something hey. It certainly stopped me worrying about my heart.

Try and focus, drinking real cold water, deep breaths (this helped me) breathing into a paper bag etc...

Hope you feel better soon
xx

[cassi23]

hey guys,

thanks so much for all your replies, it helps to know im not alone!

Just back from docs, i told her everything and burst into tears, she said anxiety straight away which i think i knew she would, i suppose im just going to have to accept it.

Iv got beta blockers for when i have an episode (like last night) but i dont take them everyday, just as and when.

She has referred me to see a counsellor to help make my reaction better when i ralise my heart is racing instead of panicking and making it worse - i can see now that thats what i did last night. And im still here. Iv just got to get into the right frame of mind agian - there is nothing wrong with my heart!
hopefully the counselling will help me do this. I was so sure it was different last night though.

cassi xxxxx

[Marginalia]

hey guys,

thanks so much for all your replies, it helps to know im not alone!

Just back from docs, i told her everything and burst into tears, she said anxiety straight away which i think i knew she would, i suppose im just going to have to accept it.

Iv got beta blockers for when i have an episode (like last night) but i dont take them everyday, just as and when.

She has referred me to see a counsellor to help make my reaction better when i ralise my heart is racing instead of panicking and making it worse - i can see now that thats what i did last night. And im still here. Iv just got to get into the right frame of mind agian - there is nothing wrong with my heart!
hopefully the counselling will help me do this. I was so sure it was different last night though.

cassi xxxxx

Awwww! *hugs*

That's excellent news cassi. Your doctor sounds very sensible and I'm glad she's looking out for you - and that you're looking out for yourself too.:) It's not easy dealing with these fears, but if you get panicky again, keep posting in here. We know what it's like.

(I didn't know one could take just the occasional beta-blocker pill - thanks for the info cassi - nice to know - if my tachycardia returns I think I'll ask the doc if I could use that strategy :) )