Racing heart, but normal blood pressure?

[NoPoet]

Hi all, does anyone else find that their heart and chest seem to be pounding as if their heart is racing, but when they take a blood pressure test it comes back as perfectly normal?

I take it this is just a symptom of anxiety - maybe adrenaline hitting my system?

[NoPoet]

I called NHS Direct to get it checked out as it has been going on for a while and is doing my head in. I also get tightness of the chest and occasionally shortness of breath, and that strange "collapsing chest" feeling. I have been suffering near-constant tension headaches over the last 2 weeks as well.

I do think anxiety and tiredness play a major part. I just need someone to tell me what is going on. I don't feel I can talk to my doctor as he has been very dismissive the last couple of times I spoke to him about stuff like this.

NHS Direct said it sounds like it could be anxiety-related but due to having chest and breathing weirdness I need to get checked out by a doctor. They advised me to go through all my physical symptoms with the CBT specialist as well.

So I am slightly relieved but I am still not satisfied!

[suzy-sue]

If you do not breathe deeply enough the heart has to work harder,thats why you get the fast heart rate.This happens with an anxiety /panic attack.Deep breathing techniques will correct this,try to do them throughout the day.When we are tense we do not breathe deep enough. Go to the Dr and get checked out any way,it will put your mind at rest.Thats what hes there for. Suex

[NoPoet]

Hi Suzy, I don't know how to say this without sounding strange so I will just say it: last night I "explored" myself with my mind and my hands, as in I actually traced the "curves" and painful areas of my head to locate the pain and tried to locate it with my mind.

I found that the headaches and pains follow the lines of my jawbone EXACTLY and the headaches occur exactly in the centre of my temples. Ergo, these are definitely tension-related headaches, I can physically work out where the pain is coming from and I can feel which parts of my head are being affected.

As for the breathing, well I am finding that I am getting little shooting pains in the centre of my chest - I have been thinking for a week or two that I am developing a chest infection - but now the pain has spread to the small of my back which suggests either pleurisy, acid reflux or, more likely, indigestion!

To summarise I am 99.9% sure that I am suffering from nothing more than tension and indigestion... suddenly my stress levels have dropped back down...

[Panikki]

Hi,
I get racing heart alot having bad spell at moment especially in mornings today my pulse was 120 but it can be 130bpm had this prob on and off for about 6yrs ...ecg show no major abnormalities ! Hope this helps jodiex

[NoPoet]

Thanks Jodie :)

EDIT: I'm going to my doctor's drop-in surgery tomorrow just to get checked out.

[NoPoet]

Well I went to see that prematurely balding, four-eyed slaphead who calls himself my doctor, and he couldn't have been more unprofessional if he'd dropped his trousers and made his bum talk by moving his cheeks.

He jabbed something in my ear that really hurt and told me it showed I didn't have a fever. He listened to my breathing and said there is no sign of anything wrong. When I told him I was having some kind of muscle pain and hammering in my chest he said there is nothing to examine and I either have a minor virus or I am just anxious. Then he made it clear that we were done.

Thanks for understanding my health anxiety Doctor Forehead.

[suzy-sue]

OH MY GOD !:roflmao: Poet I havnt laughed so much in ages ,Ive got tears streaming down me face here ,and ive pulled a muscle in me stomache. What a plonker he is ! Well worth the effort to get there.. ,Tell him from me he gave me a good laugh anyway. Sue xx:hugs: :roflmao:

[loudspeaker]

As I have my own blood pressure monitor I am able to do my own tests, and this morning not long after getting up I did 4 tests with the following results, and wondered if you thought they were normal.

Systolic Diastolic Pulse
127 86 71
113 84 71
120 84 72
108 82 72
117 82 72
The last 2 in bold were taken around 45 mins later, the last one in bold was taken 4 mins after the penultimate test.