Heart worries!

[hamster lady]

I think I have developed a health anxiety about my heart and it's driving me crazy! It all started last August when I woke up one night from a nightmare with my heart racing out of control it was terrifying! It set off a panic attack and I was so terrified that a felt sick and had an upset stomach and couldn't get back to sleep. Unfortunately it happened again another night, I had eaten a takeaway curry that night so maybe that had something to do with it. I also woke up very hot and was sweating. After the second episode I developed not only panic attacks during the day but a terrible sleep problem with nightmares nearly every night. Eventually I went to my doctor and described my symptoms and she said she thought it was caused by anxiety. She listened to my heart and said that it was fine and I also had blood tests to check for thyroid and I had an ECG. When I went back to the doctor for the results I was very relieved to find out that all the tests were normal. But it wasn't long before I started thinking that the doctor had missed something!

Unfortunately I now seem to have a real phobia about there being something wrong with my heart even though I have been told it is anxiety. I dread going to bed because I'm terrified I'm going to wake up with my heart racing again. I am waking up a lot with anxiety and nightmares and my heart races because of the scary dream when I wake up but I have terrible trouble getting back to sleep and I just lie in bed feeling my heart and pulse absolutely terrified I'm about to have a heart attack. I absolutely hate the feeling of my heart pounding due to my anxiety and I feel anxious for most of the day and dread my husband going out to work, I also keep thinking I'm going to die suddenly, it is just so awful. It also doesn't help that I think I have begun to get hot flushes even though I'm only 39. My heart pounds when it happens and I have to fight of a panic attack!

I am so exhausted from being stressed about this day and night, I wish I could believe there is nothing wrong with my heart but I can't! I am also really worried that I have damaged my heart from all my stress and from it racing and pounding so much from anxiety, it is supposed to last a life time, I'm sure I'm destroying it! I keep homing in on it and when it feels weird I really panic! The doctor did prescribe my propanolol but I'm too scared to take it in case it does something horrible to my heart. I

Have any of you guys got similar worries to me, was there anything that helped you get over it? Any help or advice would be most appreciated, I just want to feel like myself again.:weep: Many thanks in advance, hamster lady

[Ella_Jayne]

I was exactly like this when my anxiety/panic first started. I was terrified that my heart would just stop. A panic attack kicked all of my heart worries off and it never stopped.

I was constantly in the hospital and seeing my GP. I had test after test until my cardiologist wouldn't do any more. I had a fast heart rate, palps, lightheadedness, headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath and all of this was due to anxiety. I now know that.

Thankfully I've come far in the last few months and no longer fret too much about my heart. I can safely say that I'm on the way to a full recovery. How? I did CBT and that helped me see how my thoughts were contributing to my symptoms and anxiety. But CBT just gave me the tools to manage on my own. The hard part was putting them into action.

I was so afraid of dropping dead from a heart attack/heart condition that I wouldn't stay in the house on my own or go anywhere alone. Now I can, and that's mainly down to acceptance. I accepted that anxiety was causing me all of these horrible symptoms and illness's that I feared (sudden death syndrome being the main one) was really rare and usually genetic and would most definitely be seen on an ECG. When I believed this (It took quite a while) I started to manage my anxiety.

I'm not fully better yet, I get days that I feel like I'm back to the start but I just try and block the anxious thoughts out and continue on. I remind myself everyday that life is short and to make the most of it as I don't want to live my life in fear. If something happens to me, then what can i do? But I know that I don't want to waste time worrying about something that might never happen and if it does then I can't stop it so why bother wasting time worrying?

I've woken up with a racing heart before, a few times actually and it is bloody scary. Worse than if it happened in the day for some reason.

Are you taking any meds for anxiety or talked to your GP about how you feel?

[gordie1]

Hi there I know exactly how you feel Ive had this for a while. But I really do find that propanalol helps a lot. It slows your heart down, not really slow or anything but just nice and steady and it takes away a lot of the physical symptoms of anxiety. I find it works really well.

[scaredstiff695]

i seen this post and i flit my worries and they vary but i am very worried about my heart too. like you ella jayne i worry about just dropping dead and yes it is very rare. i have started to way up the odds of it happening to me. all though igdt annoyed cos my doctors have never suggest a test to check. i just get told that I'm not describing any thing wrojg with my heart.
and that 26 non smoker non drinker yo on family history it is unlikely lol
guess its like you said acceptance just got to deal with it except its anxiety and trytm move on with our lives x x

[*clare*]

I can really relate to you. I've thought there's been something wrong with my heart fro a few years ever since i had a panic attack out of the blue. Obviously at the time know one knew it was a panic attack but all tests where normal but i was still not feeling right, so i thought they may have missed something. I have recently started suffering from panic attack at about 5am, sometimes earlier, and sometimes everytime im desturbed in my sleep, i wake with an already fast heart beat. Its so scary. I also suffer with ventricular ectopics, which i found hard to deal with. I've had like 3 heart scans and loads of tests and they say my heart is normal and the palpitations are benign and made worse through anxiety. I use to terrify myself into thinking they must have missed something, forever going back to the dr, but i think over time i've come to terms with things, even the way my heart beats so so fast during a panic attack, scarey as it feels at the time.
I guess, if you've had tests that have come back normal, you need to try and tell yourself, the heart is a muscle, its good for the heart to beat fast at times. If you where to exercise loads it would beat just as fast, but when its for no reason,it panics us.
I know how hard it is to kill those thoughts, i still struggle at times but lets hope we all get there, your deffinately not alone in this x

[hamster lady]

Thanks so much everyone for your replies, it certainly seems like I am not alone in feeling like this! The doctor did tell me to go back if my anxiety didn't go off but it is really hard for me to get to the doctors at the moment because my youngest son is really poorly with chronic fatigue syndrome. The doctor did mention medication but she thought that it would be best if I could cope without it because of it being addictive. I still have my propanolol, she said I should take it as a last resort if I can't calm myself down. It doesn't help that I have a lot of stress at the moment due to financial worries and caring for my son.

I think I will have to try and get a sense of perspective about things and to keep remembering that I have had an ECG and had my heart listened to and nothing abnormal was found. I also keep trying to remember that your heart beat fasts when you are exercising. I just hope that this fear wears off in time and that soon I will look back on it and wonder why I wasted so much time worrying about nothing!:unsure:

[ian414]

Oh my god, ive posted alot on here over my fear of my heart, i wake every morning with my heart raceing and it wont slow down, i come down stairs and have to lay down on the sofa for it to slow down, last night i hade to call 999 as i was so worried again its not the first time ive called 999, they came out Done and ECG the ECG was fine just fast heart rate 120 the thing is my BP was up 150/101 i asked about this they said anxitey can give you high BP but it did come down, my heart will race on and off all day why the hell does it do this all day? The tests ive had would of shown somthing but they always come back ok, yes i feel like im going to die, i even go off balance when im walsking about or even stand still, i hate that feeling, but im still here and this has been going on now for well over 1 year and the thought of my heart giving up well thats all day thinking its going to go bang and stop because of the speed of my heart, i washed my car the other day and my heart was beating at 200 beats a min well you know what im never going to wash the car again lol. Ian

[**AmandaJane**]

hi I was prescribed propranadol on new years eve after seeing 4 doctors the last prescribed me with this as my heart was racing, my arm was like a dead weight. As soon as i popped the first one in my mounth i calmed down and my dead arm vanished. 2 months later and i am a lot calmer with the odd symptom daily which keep changing. Hopeing to reduce the dosage next week but doc says plenty of people are on a lot higher doseages for bad hearts, migranes etc so it isnt really bad to be on. Hopefully i can stay calm as i try ween off. xx