Constant Heart Pounding - Panic Attacks

[paul_14]

Firstly, let me say how wonderful this site is. I discovered it when seeing 'Dr. Google' over the past few days, and it has been the only relief I have found. Many thanks to those who keep the site running and to all that use this site.

Basically, my main problem is that I have a hard, strong pounding heartbeat, especially at night; it seems to pound out of my upper sternum and the area below my adam's apple. My heart rate is around 75-80bpm (not that fit, but started taking regular exercise over the past couple of months). I'm 20, and I'm overweight (about 110 kgs). The pounding heart is worse at night when I lie there trying to sleep, and basically I haven't had a good night's sleep in about a week. I do have it during the day, but only when I start listening out for it. This morning I had a panic attack, of which I've only had one before; dizziness, rapid heart beat, palpitations, etc. It subsided after a few minutes, but the underlying pounding heart still remains no matter what. Over the past few days I've developed a sensation in my throat that there's a small lump there that's not sore and doesn't stop me swallowing, which I guess is from stress, too.

I've had perceived heart problems for a few months now, and I went to the ER back in April when I thought I was having a heart attack. Back then I was suffering the same heart pounding I do now, but they seem to have disappeared sometime in May and June, but have now came back. When being evaluated, they could find nothing wrong with me, my several ECGs were completely normal, blood tests were fine, no problems with my thyroid. Before this I had seen my doctor after suffering the palpitations, where I had an ECG which was normal, and blood tests which were normal too.

I did have one abnormal test, and this was a 24-hr urine test for cortisol. This came back as a high abnormal result (but thanks to Dr. Google, I have no other symptoms of cushing's syndrome, and I've been extremely worried about my health over the past few months.)

I have a fear of doctors and hospitals, and I've always had a strong heartbeat for as long as I can remember, but suddenly it's started to bother me. As I mentioned I have taken up regular exercise, and I manage to do strenuous exercise on the exercise bike, and I climb the odd mountain!

My apologies for the long post, but I'm getting really fed up about everything. Do people think that this is anxiety? I've had a few problems with my girlfriend recently, and coming in to my last year of university. Could there be anything wrong with my heart? And finally, is there anything I can do to help alleviate the symptoms? I'd rather use homeopathic or natual means rather than take drugs if possible.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post, any answers will mean more to me than you may imagine.

Paul.

[karmakitten]

hi Paul,

sounds silly, but have you tried sleeping or laying in a different position? this may alleviate the sensation you feel of it hammering......

if all of your tests are negative then i would suggest that the recent stress is adding to your worry and that you are concentrating on your heart rate and other symptoms to forget the other stresses?

deep slow breaths will always bring down your heart rate......and ice cubes lower blood pressure....magnesium tablets are very good for calming yourself down naturally.....

at the end of the day, as a fellow anxiety sufferer, i know its very hard not to worry, remember that none of your worries are silly, they just need to be given some logic

take care

Fran x

[valleybear]

Hi Paul and glad that you have found this site as you will find lots of help and support here. The people are great. Since you have had many tests which appear normal the symptoms you describe are typical of anxiety. You heart is strong and you have become aware of its beating which has caused some anxiety. It is difficult to block it out when you are in a high state of tension. The feeling of a lump in the throat is very common in anxiety and nothing to worry about. Easily said, I know, but check some posts on here and you will find many with this symptom. Rescue Remedy is a good place to start and may calm you enough to let you ignore the beating. If you can do strenuous exercise and climbing you are pretty fit. Relaxation techniques are good too. All the best.X

[tim73]

Had similar a year ago. Sudden occurrence of very strong pounding heart. Not especially fast, but just pounding, and chest pains. Wouldn't go away at all and ended up in A&E in such a panic. Tests done, no problems of course.

Got to the GP and was given Propranolol (beta blocker), which sorted it out fine at the time. Pretty much safe drug and prescribed for anxiety. Often given to students to cope with exams too.

[And1404]

Hi There.

I get this too, my heart jumps as well though. Do you consume a lot of caffeine, I find this adds to my problem. I too take propranalol, 2 10mg tabs 3 times a day for anxiety and I find this helps. Perhaps you should consult yr GP as like one of the above posts says propranalol is also good for anxiety with out the side effects of SSRI's.

Andrea

[Sallysdream]

I can say that Aconite 200C (Aconitum napellus 200c pills) help me cope with it. Its Homeopathic but also good for palpitations etc. 1 to 2 a day to suck for 5 days and see if it helps, then got down to a 6c (lower dose) u can take 3 a day here. You can also just start with 6c and just take more throughou the day. 1 every 3 hrs for 2 days and then lower the dose. With these you can't do anything wrong.

[tim73]

It was caffine that was claimed to be the cause of my problem last year. I was drinking a fair amount so I suppose it could have been. I pretty much cut it out now (note if you drink a lot you should ease it down rather than just stop else you'll feel rubbish).

[paul_14]

thank you to all who replied, it really comforts me knowing people read and give their thoughts on my post.

well, i'll give an update, i now think i have congestive heart failure. I have developed a cough that doesn't produce any mucous, and I only cough because my chest feels tight and uncomfortable, and feels like i can't get a full deep breath. The lump in my throat sensation has continued, and feel a little light-headed and out of breath when doing any real strenuous exercise. The symptoms happen at rest as well as when active, but they do not disturb me from my sleep. The pounding of my heart has kinda stopped, or at least I have started to notice it less and less. I would add that I have asthma but it never bothers me and taking my inhalers do not alleviate my tight chest.

Mainly, I still don't feel myself. I've never taken drugs, I don't drink or smoke. I've started taking magnesium citrate and that has helped with the anxiety and I've not had another panic attack. I'm back to worrying, though, that I have CHF. I was able to do a good 30-40 mins vigorous exercise this time last week on my ex. bike, surely this is a cold/chest infection? I know I'm being completely pathetic, I should either get myself checked out again or stop worrying, I just can't bring myself to do either. :(

[Vanilla Sky]

Paul, I doubt very much you have CHF, and I doubt you have a cough either, your saying you feel you have to cough, I have to do this when i get palpitations but i do not have a cough , i make myself cough.The lump in the throat is a classic anxiety symptom and the reason your feeling lightheaded is probably caused by the way you are breathing. If you had a chest infection it would be productive , so since you dont have any mucous i doubt it's that. It all sounds like anxiety , theres nothing wrong with a trip to your GP just to put your mind at rest Love Paige

[paul_14]

thanks paige, the only reason why i cough is because when i try to breathe in i feel a bit wheezy and tight, and when i cough it clears it and i can take deep breaths again for a short while

[SocialTool]

Like a couple of people said, try laying in a different position. There are times at night laying in bed when I feel my heartbeat and it is disconcerting. Do you eat right before bed? Digesting food increases the intensity of the heartrate. I kinda "rock" myself to sleep when my heart is noticable. I move my feet/legs so my body moves and I can't feel the pounding in my heart. Pretty soon I am asleep. :)

[tim73]

The symptoms are certainly like those of anxiety.

Definitely go check it out with the GP. Anxiety is just as important as any other illness or condition, and whilst not life threatening it can (as I've discovered) be incredibly debilitating and frightening. If it is anxiety it's important to try and nip it in the bud as soon as possible.

Your GP should be able to do some medical checks to put your mind at ease of anything critical. If need be get an ECG and bloods done which should generally rule out heart issues (though it's very unlikely anyway).

You might initially get given some propranalol / beta blockers to sort out the heart pounding and relieve the anxiety symptoms, although if you have asthma there may be caution there as I think propranolol at least warns against use if you have asthma.

[paul_14]

Hi guys, just thought I'd give you an update.

Seen the doctor yesterday and he listened to my chest, and said it sounds fine and my heart rate was normal too. He immediately wondered if it was anxiety or stress, but also said it could be a little viral infection making my chest tight. In the end, all I was prescribed was a repeat prescription for my asthma inhalers.

I must admit, since I've been worrying about my chest, I have barely noticed my heart pounding. But unfortunately I've started to realise that my hands and feet are getting numb too easily when I'm sitting down or lying down. Basically, if I sit with my legs crossed, my feet only take a minute or two to go numb and get pins and needles. Also, when I wake up, I'm waking up with a hand that is numb cos I've been lying on it - whereas the same position never caused me to get the numbness.

[rjb2214]

I tell you what I've noticed, that since i've developed this anxiety problem my heart appears to pound thump, and you know why - because one of the main fears of an anxiety sufferer is your heart! So concentrating on every detail of it will no doubt put you into some sort of panic, I even ended up checking my pulse all the time, and when it was racing, i'd panic.

The bottom line is that a well known anxiety symptom is a pounding heart, or at least the feeling that your heart is pounding, and because anxiety is nothing more than a mind game, you concentrate and worry more about it. It's a horrid vicious cycle which needs to be broken. I've learnt that checking my pulse all the time was making me worse so I have bitten the bullet and stopped. It's easy to sit here and write "don't think about it" because I still can hear my heart beating on my pillow when I sleep, or lay down to rest, but it's just a case of getting over it and not worrying about it.

[paul_14]

Hi guys, another update.

Been back to the docs about my chest and he gave me some antibiotics for a chest infection, and told me to come back in a couple of weeks if it doesn't get any better. He seems to think it's an infection that is irritating my asthma, but this would be the first time in a long while that I've had trouble with my breathing.

My chest gets tight when I do any physical activity, and it's fine when I wake up on a morning. Also, the numbness of my hands and feet has continued. On a morning, I wake up with either one hand or both hands numb, which return to normal within 10 seconds. Also, my feet are cold when I wake up, and feel almost 'buzzing'.

Could it be a heart problem I have? The doctor doesn't seem too bothered about my chest, and he knows about my awareness of my heartbeat (which doesn't bother me anymore weirdly), but I forgot to tell him about the numbness, and he's on holiday for two weeks now. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

[marge simpson]

hi paul,

sounds like u could be over breathing. I get that and wen im excercising but also sometimes when im just sitting watching telly. It feels like you cant get enough air in your lungs and it makes your heart feel like its pounding. Also it makes you feel the need to cough or yawn becausethis enables u to breathe more deeply for a few minutes. in reality the more you try and breathe deeply, the worse you will make it. Try breathing in while counting to 7 and breathing out while counting to 11. Its common advice for people with anxiety and i find it helps when i feel paniky and hyperventilate.

you will be fine, anxiety can cause loads of physical symptoms, ive had most of them and im still here to tell the tale. I still freak out a lot thow. xx

[tim73]

My chest gets tight when I do any physical activity, and it's fine when I wake up on a morning. Also, the numbness of my hands and feet has continued. On a morning, I wake up with either one hand or both hands numb, which return to normal within 10 seconds. Also, my feet are cold when I wake up, and feel almost 'buzzing'.

Could it be a heart problem I have? The doctor doesn't seem too bothered about my chest, and he knows about my awareness of my heartbeat (which doesn't bother me anymore weirdly), but I forgot to tell him about the numbness, and he's on holiday for two weeks now. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?
A lot of what you've reported are classic anxiety symptoms.

The only thing is maybe to ask the doctor about the chest tightness when exercising. Is this during exercise or after? If after it's not likely to be a heart problem (note that I'm no doctor though). I get tension and light headedness after exercise sometimes but I think that's down to the anxiety I have been getting plus a lack of water before and during exercise.

If it's during exercise, maybe it's worth pushing for a stress ECG and similar. However, as said it could be a breathing issue. Apparently a lot of people don't breath right during exercise.

Anyway, the numbness. Yep, I've had all that. This time around it was tingling and numbness that set me off as it wouldn't go away. So long as you're not turning blue at the same time, it's likely anxiety symptoms.

[paul_14]

okay this is just getting ridiculous - every night i wake up with a numb foot, leg or hand...i'm definitely not sleeping on them and it's driving me up the wall! what is wrong with me to be causing this? i don't have any pain, just numbness and tingling :(

[LeaderKrios]

I have had the same problem since last night. After I had gotten out of the shower my heart started pounding and I thought it was nothing, just the heat of the steam from the shower, but then it continued and I started having a Panic Attack. I let is subside, since it wasn't as bad as some I've had in the past, and then went to bed.

I woke up at 1:00am with my heart pounding again and an even worse panic attack. I didn't even know what was causing me to panic, I just felt like I was about to have a heart attack. I am 17 years old in high school and have been diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder since I was 15 and do take prescribed medicine for it. I had forgotten to take it for two days but i've forgotten it plenty of times and been fine.

Throughout the day I've had pounding heart on and off again, and I've never had this happen to me before. I would go to the doctor but I don't want to disturb my Dad at work to have him carry me over there (I don't have my license yet) over something that may or may not be just me worrying over nothing. At the worst He'll probably just accuse me of being dramatic for attention because I'm a teenage girl. I don't know what to do and whether or not I should go to the doctor. Does anyone know what's going on? Is it just a long Panic Attack or am I having heart troubles? This is starting to really freak me out.