Why did I do it?

[Natalie x]

I know I shouldn't have, but I googled my feelings of my heart stopping and now I'm getting myself into a panic... AGAIN! You will see my post further down about all day yesterday I was feeling as though it was stopping and I've been beside myself with worry. Can anyone please re-assure me that my heart has not stopped? I'm so scared that it has stopped on many occassions and I don't know what else to do. I'm so scared right now and again thinking the worst. I'm only 18. Will my heart have stopped for a second? x

[margaret jones]

Natalie hi hun Dr Google naughty naughty :) i know it is easy to say keep away but sometimes we all do it .
I am sure your heart did not stop was it a palpatation extra beat that you felt ?? have not read your other post was that about your heart ??

will look at it later

Please try and stop worrying you are fine and stop getting sucked into Dr Google

Take care Maggie have a :hugs: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[dodo]

Natalie, do you have anyone at home who knows what you're going through? I can't remember if I read that or not.

Please seek help. I really do not want you to be here in 10 years time still worrying that your heart is going to stop, you're only 18 and should be out having fun with your friends, shopping, meeting boys. I wish I were 18 again I can tell you!

[randomworry]

i ask myself that all the time WHY DID I DO IT? i constantly check my neck its a flaming addiction!!

[Natalie x]

Thanks for your replies guys. I just wish the thougths would go away. It's kindda weird becuase I've just noticed that for about half and hour no thoughts have popped into my head or feelings. I just get myself so worked up with this weird feeling and automatically think the worst. I've told my Mum & my boyfriend about it before, but I just feel silly by asking them for re-assurance or talking about it.

Earlier when I had the feeling, I had been rushing around in work adn walkign back to my desk, and then I sat down ad turned round quickly to talk to soemone and I'm not sure if that was what caused the feeling? Any thoughts?

x

[randomworry]

and you heart has not stopped at all you are just worried it has.

[Natalie x]

Thanks randomworry. Do you have anxiety over your heart as well and do you experience the heart stopping feeling? x

[randomworry]

by the way natalie how did this heart worry start?
like are you thinking its stopped because of family history, drugs i took, just has etc like what makes you think it would stop anyway?

[Natalie x]

I hope you are all right. I keep thinking to yself ''Does your heart really work like that?'' and hoepfully it didn't stop. I'm so scared x

[Natalie x]

No it all started one night when I was watching tv and I had like a feeling of somethign running through me and then I started worrying it had stopped. A while after that I kept getting the weird feelings in my chest and convinced myself my heart had stopped on many occasions. Now it's back again :weep: x

[anthrokid]

Heya Natalie,

I was only 19 when my anxiety all started badly and I was petrified of my heart stopping because it felt so slow. Remember, skipped beats and palpitations are normal in ANY heart. Even the healthiest heart will suffer from occasional palpitations and skipped beats. You are only 18 so keep in mind that your heart is still very young and very strong. Hearts are very very very super durable muscles. Check in with your doctor and let them know how scared you are about it and they can give you proper medical advice about it to reassure you :)

[Natalie x]

Thanks Amiee. I've ahd 2 ECG's about 2 months ago and that totally put my mind at ease, but it takes like one thing to set me off again. It may have been like a missed beat or soemthing or I'm just assuming the feeling was it stopping. x

[blueangel]

Our hearts are constantly changing in response to what we are doing - whether we are lying, standing, running for a bus etc., and also in response to whether we feel that we are under stress or not. Sometimes we're really aware of those changes - if we've just had to exert ourselves, then we'll be aware of the blood pumping very fast, but it adjusts itself back to "normal" again (unless we focus on it, in which case it doesn't slow down as we're feeding it with anxiety).

When we're stressed, our bodies are pumping out hormones called adrenaline and noradrenaline. They're really primitive substances which made us able to cope with attack or threat - they're sometimes called the "fight or flight" hormones. We still produce them, but in response to all sorts of other stressors as well as the primitive ones.

We also have small, random changes in heart rhythm, which are sometimes felt as skipped or ectopic beats. These are extra beats which we can actually have lots of every day, but we often don't notice them at all. They're very common and many, many people have them, whether or not they're anxious. But anxious people tend to notice them more.

As human beings, we seem to be exceptionally good at frightening ourselves to death, as we notice all sorts of things about our bodies, and then we can't seem to think about anything else.

Try to wean yourself off checking your heart; ration yourself to only doing it a certain number of times a day, and then reduce it day by day. Or stop at once and think of something to distract yourself every time you think about it.

[BritTutor]

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[Natalie x]

Thanks Blueangel. I get myself into such a panic most of the time and I give myself a fright and then I can't seem to stop thinking about it. I just need to tell myself that I'v ehad these feelings before and I can get through it again. It may sound silly, but my anxiety levels are always higher at the end of the week. Now tmorrow or tonight I know that I'll be worrying and I won't want to go out anywhere or leave the house x

[Natalie x]

I know, I'm sorry. I don't know. I did convice myself and take word of your re-assurance yesterday but I feel like I'm back to square one today again as I'm worried about the feeling I had earlier. I don't even know what I can do to put my own mind at ease. I'm just trying to convince myself that you are all right. The ECG's convinced me at the time. I just need to know that I'm not alone and others have experienced this too. Sorry to ramble x

[BritTutor]

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[randomworry]

i get skipped beats and palpitations when im anxious but for someone reason i dont worry about it. Maybe you have to try and overcome your fear of death for this one.

i dont know why but im not scared of death but im scared of cancer!

[Natalie x]

Do you think this is more likely what it was? A missed beat? It wouldn't stop for like a second would it? I feel bad that I'm rambling here. Sorry if I'm boring you all :blush: x

[randomworry]

i think the best way to deal with this fear is to realise if your heart stopped you would not question it, it would be like damn my heart has stopped and you would wake up in an ambulance or hospital bed. there would be NO mistaking it.

[Natalie x]

But what if it stopped for a few seconds? I'll be okay though won't I? x

[BritTutor]

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[Natalie x]

I really hope you're right. I just go the same feeling a second ago, but this time I'm trying to tell myself it was nothing. It could have just been the way I turned adn that's how I got the feeling.

The thing thats annoying me is that immediately when I get any weird sensation then I automatically think that it is my heart and that it has stopped. I'm bloody 18! I can't stand this. It just feels like an empty feeling inside x

[randomworry]

your 18 so are you going uni in september? try and distract yourself by reading up on the uni subject you will be studying soon or what society's you may be able to join once there.

if that is the case...lol

[Natalie x]

Well I work full time at the moment, but I'm going to college at the end of the month to do a HNC in Admin & IT :)

I just get myslef so worked up when I have a thought in my head. I'm petrified of my heart stopping x

[randomworry]

you really need some distraction because it will help you eventually realise that you are fine im sure of it. have you told any of your friends about your worries because since your a woman its easier to do that kind of thing.

girls/women are normally really sympathetic

as a man i kind of feel bit scared to ring up my mate and say yo i keep thinking i have cancer!

[Natalie x]

I know what you mean! Yeah I've told one of my friends but she has got a lot of her own problems going on at the moment. I feel like I can talk to my boyfriend about it so I'll have a chat with him x

[dodo]

But the thing is Natalie, does it really matter what it was? You're still here so it wasn't anything fatal.

I had an echo last week and a treadmill test and I told myself that after that was through and the results were in I would reassess how I felt. My results came back that my heart was healthy with no signs of disease and beating strong. So now if I feel any of the twinges I tell myself exactly that, and you know what? I haven't noticed half the things I would normally.

It's because you're body is so tuned into every change that you get yourself so worked up.

There is nothing wrong with you, you've had two ECGs and so you should take comfort in that. Like pp said, normal healthy hearts can have a skiped beat as often as once every ten minutes! And that is totally normal.