How Do You Get Over A Heart Obsession? Help Please

[looking4answers]

For the last few weeks I can't seem to get my mind off my heart. Im afraid Ill be thinking about it and it will start beating fast. I monitor every little speed up or down and when I get up I get afraid it will start beating too fast and
not slow down.

Its funny a few weeks ago I would get out and do just about anything and wouuld notice sometimes it would speed up but it always came back down.

I wrote a psyciatrist online and asked if there was anything that I could do without a therapist. We live in a small town and there are no such doctors here . I would have to drive 200 miles to see one. At this point I don't think I could do that.

I take my pulse all the time many many times a day. I just want to get where i don't even think about my pulse anymore. I try to stay calm so not to get the beat faster and try not to think about it too much but it has become an obsession.

Someone on here probably has had this issue before and conquered it .
Please could you help give me some ideas how to get away from thinking about it all the time. I am on meds and have been to see the doctor not too long ago and they told me my heart was strong and I didn't have any heart issues.

Im open for ideas ? Please?

[alba]

sorry u too feel the same with me, i 've been crazy abt this heart thing since 20yrs ag, when im abt 14yrs old , my dad always have to bring me to go check up with doctor every month, because when i lie down, my heart beat so fast tht i put my palm on heart and count, theni panic,thinking heart diseasse. it wnet on until i started working go check up for job, then doc ask me to do ECG becos she said my heart is beating too too fast, that is when i knew abt ECG and my heart beating fast, and it start all thse craziness, every mth i complain to my doctor my heart beat fast and did 'ECG' every mth, becos doc say when u feel that stragiht do
ecg so until today, i keep on doing ecg abt millions time, ive been to so many cardiologist, doctors, did so many test, all came out normal and the doctor say you got strong heart, i guess he meant strong heartbeat, he keep on saying my heart is strong, nothing is wrong, but i never believe that, each time my heart beat fast i run to emergenc dept in hospitl and the last time they took blood did ECG showed very fast heartbeat keep me there for observation for 5hrs, did rhythm check for 5hrs, and in the end i am discharged and my heart beat fast, dizzinss went off. i am also crazy abt all this, in the end now i hv high blood cholesterol that is giving me maddness now, every mnute i keep on thinking i am like time bomb exploding, i am so scared abt this high cholesterol and it is also abt heart. i dont' know what to say to u becos i share the same feeling like u , so scared abt heart thing, each time i hear ppl drop dead, it drive me crazy, i go get ECG and check up. each tme my heart feel heavy tight, dizziness, i always think abt my high cholesterol is building up again, then i am scared to move. so far i am taking atenolol for fast heartbeating, even taking that don't stop my heart from beating fast.

[looking4answers]

Im sorry too that you are a fellow sufferer. At least you have kindness to answer me and let me know that im not alone. Hopefully one day we will beat this thing. Take care. Michael

[sarah jayne]

Hi there you sound just like myself. im convinced that theres something wrong with my heart. I get chest pain most days and always worry that my heart is going to stop, it causes me to have awful panic attacks. Ive been to the doctors and had an ecg bur nothing shows up. They always say that im too young to have a heart problem and dont seen to take me seriously, its awful. I constantly worry that its beating too fast or slow. I would also be grateful of any advice as i dont have a life anymore ! xx

[pedropanic]

Hi Michael,

Welcome to the club! You're part of a very large portion of anxiety sufferers who's main trouble is their cardiac symptoms. Hopefully by the end of this message you'll feel differently about them and your anxiety.

First thing to realise is that when you're anxious it is perfectly normal for your heart to beat faster; it might beat harder so you can feel it; or it might sometimes skip a beat. Your nervous system is just doing it's thing; the fast, hard or uneven beats aren't important and don't harm your heart.

Next, remember that once you're afraid of something you're hardwired to be on the lookout for it! Sometimes this gets to the point that you feel like it has overtaken and become an obsession. It hasn't and those thoughts too are not important, let the repetitive, worrisome thoughts come if they want to but don't pay them too much attention; again it's just your nervous system doing it's thing.

If you take your pulse all the time not only are you training your nervous system to be on the look out for ANY change in your cardiac function, you also keep it active in your mind which keep the anxious thoughts coming.

If you can, each time you feel the urge to take your pulse stop, relax, and see the urge for what it is: nothing more than an unimportant mistake your nervous system is making. That's all. Be kind, your nervous system is just working with the information it's got.

As we grow we learn to compare everything to an 'ideal', what's called a 'set point',that's how we know if we need to adjust something. Your nervous system also does this to regulate you temperature, hunger and other functions you probably don't think about. If you must take your pulse relax and let go of your attachment to it being within a certain range, your cardiac "set point". If it is 90bpm that's OK. If it's 120bpm, that not important. If you're I was and you can get so wound up it gets up to 150bpm when you're lying flat in bed, believe it or not your heart is designed for that too. It's not ideal, but your heart can cope while you go about the enjoyable task or relaxing.

The last thing to do is remember that this is completely normal. You're not going insane, you're not being cursed, it's not some mystery illness or divine punishment. You're in a cycle of fear>symptom>fear. IF you can face this for what it is (a common, unimportant and temporary mistak eof the nervous system), accept that the symptoms may be here for a while but they're not important, relax and watch the symptoms and worrisome thoughts come and go AND patiently let some time pass so your nervous system can relax YOU WILL BEAT THIS.

There is one wonderful book I would recommend, "Complete Self Help For Your Nerves", by Dr Claire Weekes. She walks you through the symptoms and some of the things I've tried to describe above. It saved me from checking my pulse over 60 times a day, waking up terrified of my heart palpitations, monitoring every beat and scrutinizing its significance.

If you need to take medication for a while, so be it. If you need to read a helpful book every night before you go to bed, so be it. If you need to see a psychologist for some Cognitive Behavioural therapy, so be it. Don't take it lying down and never allow an apathetic doctor, a dismissive friend or an unsympathetic coworker stand in your way. The day will come when you realise you have gone an entire months without checking your pulse and it doesn't matter, and you will have done it all by yourself.