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willtheconk1998
02-01-09, 19:19
Hi Everyone,

I hope your New Year is going well.

Does anyone else ever get fast pulse 100 -130 bpm in social situations or just out of the blue when they are doing nothing due to their anxiety??

I had a party yesterday and had a few people coming to the house and was getting organised and had a few ectopic heartbeats/pvc's that i get all the time and noticed my heart rate was around 120 bpm. As the day went on my pulse was always around 100-120.
Unfortunately once I am aware my heart is beating faster I tend to keep checking pulse (I know this doesn't help and probably keps it going but it's hard to ignore)and today it is back to normal around 70 bpm.

Does anyone else get these episodes of fast heart rate.
Also who gets the ectopics( I get hundreds some days, sometimes thousands and sometimes none and have been told they are benign)
Does anyone get it just in social situations or out of the blue?? and if so how do you cope with the ectopics or slow your heart down??

I have had loads of ECG's, 24hr monitors and a stress test, a heart scan which showed 0 plaque and xrays and been told heart is fine and cardiologist said I have got a benign ectopic arrythmia and sinus tachychardia due to my anxiety over my health and general anxiety.

I accept this is the case now (It took a while tho) and I am getting there with it and am determined to beat it but when it happens it is so hard to accept.

Just wondered how many others suffer with this and how you manage.

Will.

NervousNellie
02-01-09, 21:19
This happens to me as well. I do not have social anxiety - as a matter of fact, I love to socialize! But over the past couple of months, my ectopics have been terrible. I also noticed that when I go shopping, I have terrible episodes of ectopics that seem never ending and my pulse is always around 100-120. Shopping used to be my method of relaxation and now it causes me more anxiety! When I am at home and lying on the couch watching TV, my pulse is in the low 70's or upper 60's. It seems that laying on the couch is the only way that I can truly relax!

Over the past year and a half, I've also had several ECG's, an echo and I wore a 24 hour monitor. The cardiologist told me that my heart is fine and none of my symptoms are cardiac related. However I always wonder why my symptoms seems to center around my heart?!?!? I was sent to the hospita in October with a fast heart rate of 148, yet I was diagnosed with anxiety. I guess that's what happens when you suffer from HA!

cassi23
02-01-09, 21:23
Hi Will,

I can tell you that I also get these random fast heart rate episodes, even when im not anxious, but sometimes when i become aware of it I, like you, start pulse checking...which immediately makes things worse as im then even more tuned in to every beat!

The better you become at ignoring it you will notice it less until eventually it becomes a rarity. I still get these episodes, but no where near a sfrequently as I used to.

Also with the ectopics, i get them totally out of the blue, for no reason, so you are normal there too. You have seengp's had all the tests etc, its now basically just a job of trying to accept that this is part of you and learning to live with the symptoms - it does get easier, honestly, although i am always alarmed to begin with when symptoms start up.

Take care
Cassi xxx

willtheconk1998
02-01-09, 21:56
I just hate the fact that although we know and have been told they are benign, when they happen it starts off the panic response and if you don't get control of it quickly it is easy for it to spiral out of control and the more we are aware and the more we check the faster the pulse or the more the ectopics GRRRRRR!!!!!

Eating sometimes causes an ectopic fest for me too!!!

They joys of Health Anxiety :weep:

kestral
02-01-09, 22:25
when you check your pulse can you feel the missed beats of the ectopics when there happening?

JodieT
03-01-09, 12:30
Hi Will

I also get ectopics, nearly every day and especially after I eat. Lately they have been after every evening meal and although I keep trying to reassure myself that they are nothing to worry about (so my doctor says anyway!) they still frighten me. Christmas was a blast as I was worried about going out and eating and drinking anywhere - what a party animal I was! I also get the racing heart. I woke with it in the early hours of New Year's Day and it triggered off a panic which then made it go faster. I had visions of ambulances and hospitals but once I got up and made a drink and concentrated on something else it disappeared as quickly as it came. Still left me worrying all that day about why it happened etc etc

Hope you're feeling ok. Take care.

Jodie

valleybear
03-01-09, 21:32
I have had ectopics for the last few months every day, all the time! 6 years ago they were really bad and I had all the cardiac tests and was told they were harmless and coming from an area of the heart where they would not cause a problem. That is all fine and dandy until you have chest pain and palps too, so I know how you feel! Don't think there seems to be any cure for the ectopics but I know that exercise abolishes them for a short time.

kawasaki kid
05-01-09, 02:56
hi will.......at the moment i have many different views on ectopics......i seem to have a spate of them for exactly 8 days.....sometimes lots in a few mins, sometimes 1 or two every hour...no strict pattern to them in the eight day time duration......after the eight days i dont get any for about 6/8 weeks......this tells me one thing.....ITS ALL IN THE MIND......ive had all the tests done....bloods...the lot and im fine so they say......ectopics are a normal cardiac event....some people have more than others.....i think the connection is the mind and a stimulation of the vagus nerve......i seriously think that as soon as you become aware of them you focus on them without thinking your doin it....this in turn provokes more and then the nerves kick in and all hell breaks loose.......the other possiblities i think are maybe gastric/digestion....trapped wind..........ive read that aswell as anxiety stress and depression can also stimulate the vagus nerve which again in turn triggers the ectopics.............this nerve stems from the brain and is the biggest nerve in our bodys....so they say..............im gonna try omaprazole first for my gutt to see if that helps.........if not then try anti depressants because im at a low point at the mo.......last resort beta blockers or try and re-train my brain into totally dismissing these cardiac events..............i hate them to............................hope some of my babbleing may give you some ideas............... chris

honeybee3939
05-01-09, 03:20
Gosh Will i could have wrote that myself!
I had a party yesterday too, i invited my family to my house there was 10 of us all togeather and to be honest i felt rotten through the whole duration they where here!
I kept going dizzy while preparing the food so i took my pulse it was 115 and of course because it was so high i took it a few times hoping it would drop but it didnt! i went to bed when they left with my heart racing i could feel it in my ears! I know its anxiety/stress that causes it because today when i took my BP and pulse it was normal:) and i also know anything thats a different routine from normal sets my anxiety sky high.
i shouldnt moan about it really though because i have always put off such social events, its taken me a good few years to pluck up the courage to invite the family so i feel its a success(even though i felt awful) ........ i would imagine its a success for you too:yesyes: !so well done!
Love
Andrea
xxx
P.s. next year im hoping i get a invite else where.lol

Belinkabelle
05-01-09, 17:29
Yes!

Yesterday my heart began to race with feelings of panic setting in whilst at a touristy underground attraction in Edinburgh. It wasn't overly scary but my sympathetic nervous system reacted to it as if I were in imminent danger.

Earlier today I had a run of ectopics after feeling quite positive about my Exercise ECG next week. I'd just walked up a pretty easy slope which increased my heart rate (as it should), thinking, "maybe I'm ok after all" and straightaway the ectopics are back. The negative feelings of fear and embarrassment that I don't seem able to dismiss the sensations of ectopics could easily serve to ruin my holiday. Does make me wonder if I myself am causing the ectopics, it seems rather a coincidence that they appear after thinking about them.

They're even scarier during an episode of increased heart rate though, making me feel even more anxious.

willtheconk1998
06-01-09, 16:57
Thanks to you all for your replies.

Well on top of everything else I now have this flu virus that is doing the rounds and my ectopics got worse to the point where I was getting one every 8 or 9 beats and I freaked out a bit so I have been back to my GP.....again and again assured that my ectopics and sinus tachy are nothing to worry about and are in his and everyone elses opinion anxiety related. I had another ecg done which showed the sinus tachycardia and some ectopics and was told (again) that in a healthy heart (which mine is apparently) these things do you no harm at all and he has now said I should go and see a phsycotherapist person about my anxiety and maybe try CBT.

No matter how many times I get told these things are benign, when they get really frequent they really freak me out!!

AAAARRRRRGGGGGGG!!!!!

pedropanic
08-01-09, 08:44
Ah you poor guy you sounds just like me!

First of all let me say that being sick makes me heart palpitations so much worse, it's quite common, particularly if you are taking flu medicine or pain killer which can also cause them.

With regards to the social situations: I can be sitting having dinner with friends happily, then suddenly my heart rate goes to around 120 and pounds in my chest, which is difficult to relax about because then the "what if" thoughts begin, the heart rate increases further, sweating, dizziness, loss of appetite............you name it! Also, a large or rich meal makes them worse and elevates my heart rate for sometime two hours after.

Anxiety tends to over stimulate the nervous system, and something enjoyable can trigger an exaggerated reaction in an areay overstimulated system, which is turn triggers anxiety.

I have also been told my heart is perfectly healthy and all is fine, even though i have taken myself off the ER twice because I wasn't convinced!

It is so hard to accept the banging, skipping, racing heart with a mind full of dreadful thoughts, but the more you can relax towards the symptoms the less they become. And be patient with them, they won't disappear immediately, but they will in time.

You might like to read Complete Self Help For Your Nerves by Claire Weekes, it's a lifesaver!