pulse checking

[daisycake]

Im always checking my pulse, but panic if it feels odd , sometimes there can be like a lonf mmg gap btwn beats and that panics me? Is it something to worry about if it happens?

[daisycake]

A long gap i mean, sorry i am typing on my phone.

[PokerFace]

Yea I always check mine too. I've even aquired a stethascope and the first thing I do in the mornin is listen to my heart. I've freaked out on occasions when my heart beats been "irregular". It sometimes has a long gap inbetween beats but I don't feel anything like the chest bang that comes with ectopics, so I wouldn't notice it if I wasn't so obsessed with checking my heart. I think it happens to most people but they don't realise cuz they're not focused on their hearts like we are! xx

[anthrokid]

I used to do this all the time! I was obsessive over my temperature too. You'll find that often it feels like there's no beat when, in fact, there is. Just because you can't feel it, doesn't mean it's not working.

My psychiatrist explains it to me like this - you can't feel your liver or kidneys working, or even your brain, but we don't worry about them stopping because we've never been aware of how they feel when they do work.

Also, even if there is a long gap between beats this isn't bad because it's normal for pulse rate to change and for the heart to skip beats, it happens to even the fittest athletes!

It's just like Emma said, it happens to everyone, but we only notice it because we are so focused on any feeling it all the time. Sometimes there is no change in our pulse at all, we are just so worried about it that our body doesn't recognise that there was a beat and then we panic about it!