Hearts skipping making me scared to skate

[lukeluke]

About one year ago I had over-dosed on Oxycotton and exstacy together with alcohol. I had also had a panick attack along with it. The overdose wasnt life-threating, but my heart rate got to 160 bmp when they put me in the ambulence and i was not exercising. I then quit drugs and benged drank for about 4 months. I moved to my grandma's where i quit drinking and stayed sobber. About month to month and a half i started getting pulpatations where my heart would skip a beat and i felt the wierd feeling in my chest. I went to the ER one night (they did blood work and an EKG) and they said it was cause of too much coffee and my anxiety. That was in May when i went to the hospital. Since then I have quit smoking cigarettes, caffiene drinks, and drinking. They went away for a little while. I have been working out and skating alot and starting to get pulpataions. Tonight was the worst. I felt the beats skip about 7-10 times in a 20 minute period. I will admit i am pretty tired on only 5-6 hours of sleep. But i felt when i felt for my pulse and in my chest. Its scarring me. Im only 24 and do not take any medication.

[Barbie Doll]

:welcome: Hi Lukeluke,
I'm new here too, and already find the people very friendly and helpful. What you're describing sounds like ectopic heartbeats which lots of people on this site suffer from, it's what brought me here. I've suffered from these episodes all my life but much worse recently. The frustrating thing with these is that they come and go whether triggers like caffeine or stress are there or not.
It's good that you had it checked out, which should give you some reassurance, but I totally understand how scary these things can be, and then set up anxiety cycle which definitely makes them worse.
There's a whole area of this forum devoted to ectopic heartbeat and you will find lots of help and reassurance there from lots of lovely people.
Try and keep stress levels low, good luck, and welcome to NMP.

[pedropanic]

Hi Luke,

I too had a nasty episode after ecstasy where my resting heart rate was around 160 and I went into an odd heart rhythm which I must say scared the b******s off me, laying in the ER strapped to all those machines! I've struggled with fear about my heart ever since and find that alcohol makes it worse because it tends to elevate my heart rate and give me palpitations, which of course makes my anxiety worse! Give yourself a huge pat on the back for changing you life the way you have.

I exercise a fair bit and become so anxious about my heart rate sometimes during a workout I feel like running out of the gym (in fact I HAVE done, I ran straight to the ER again, and there was nothing wrong).

Remember it's normal for your heart to race when you're exercising, and if you're anxiously scruitinising your heart rate for 20 minutes OF COURSE you will notice some irregular beats during that time, it's a pretty common symptom of anxiety!

Also remember that if you are taking deep breaths trying to relax, on the exhalation your heart rate will drop which can sometimes feel like a skipped beat, but it will always kick back into rhythm.

If you're worried, go back to your doctor, but you sound a bit like me and after your scary experience with your heart you scrutinise your heart rate and thereby feed your anxiety with the fear it craves. Try and break the anxiety cycle by getting some sound medical advice, and try to stop monitoring your heart rate and rhythm.


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[pele33]

i too had a nasty experiece of drugs i took viagra ectasy and rush not good the following day i was admitted to hospital and my corony arteris where in spasm. i was in hospital for 8 days but was released sying i had done n damage. i quit drugs but notalchohol and when i now have alchhol the follwing day my anxiety is through the roof and my heart rae elavates