struggling today heart worries

[kinnygirl1]

Feeling low and anxious today. woke up at 2 am with heart feeling like it was beating in an irregular rythem. Lay awake for 2 hours worrying then somehow must have gone back to sleep. Woke again this morn feeling jittery and shaky and very aware of heartbeat.

Feeling disappointed because had been doing much better lately and today I am just obsessed with my heart again. Daughter wants me to take her on a bike ride but I am afraid in case the exertion pushes heart over the edge or something.

Please reassure me that this is just my aniexty. I feel so scared right now. How can you be woken from sleep with a heart issue if it is just anxiety? I am 4 weeks into my fluoxetine treatment. Surely these episodes should have stopped by now????

thanks for listening

KG x

[nomorepanic]

Have you had any tests done on your heart like an ECG at all?

Fluoxetine won't stop things like your heart beating irregularly.

[kinnygirl1]

Hi there

Yes. I have had an ECG at the docs and some blood tests. ECG was fine. Was found to be slightly iron deficient in blood tests but on iron now and that is heading back to normal.

DO you think this is something more than anxiety? I know the fluox won't stablise heart but thought that if this was due to aniexty it would have solved that by now???

thanks

KG

[diddler]

Hiya skinny. I've had all sorts of heart worries and tests. I've read before that a lot of people get woken up due to anxiety with there heart racing or jumping. Its scary I know cus I've been there to point I was scared to eat chocolate invade it sent my heart funny. I know tabs are suppose to help but I think its your own mind aswell. I've always refused tabs and just stuck with counselling. So can't really advise how long they wud take to work. I had a monitor on for a week once the one you send down the phone. I went private I was that scared xx

[diddler]

Sorry ment to say kinny not skinny its this predictive text xx

[kinnygirl1]

Thanks for that Diddler. Scary how it can happen even when you are not aware of being anxious.. My GP says if I carry on like this he can refer me for 24hour ECG but am also thinking of seeing private cardiologist just to try and get some peace even though I know it will be expensive. Trouble is can't help thinking when will I be happy with the answer I get. Today I feel like even if I lived on the cardiac ward I wouldn't feel reassured.... know what I mean?

PS. did just take daughter on bike ride and no change in how heart feels. IS that a good sign?

Kinnygirl1 x

[nomorepanic]

Prozac may not even help with the anxiety though. It never did mine.

Exercise is the best thing you can do to be honest.

[kinnygirl1]

Thanks Nicola.. sorry if I seem irrational. Have been doing so much better lately. I know the fluoxetine may not work alone but think I have has more good days than bad whilst on it so am sticking with it for now.

Been on a bike ride and now off to see to my horse which involves quite a bit of excercise so hopefully will feel better after that if I can control my anxiety on the drive to the stables.

KG x

[nomorepanic]

I think it will do you the world of good to get out and well done with that.

[diddler]

Yeah of course it's a good sign. Have a 24 hour ecg it will make you feel better. Do all the things that your scared of doing in case it makes your heart go funny. Write it down on the paper and wen you get your results and they say your fine which you will be you know the next time you do those things that scare you and your heart goes funny it's nothing to worry about. Your not irrational I still get scared now wen my heart jumps. Wen your asleep your body doesn't totally shut down like we wud want. Wen you have a fear it's still there wen your asleep. At min I have got a fear my floater and even though your not suppose to see them in the dark I have wen I think I'm asleep. Your dear controls you. I am wearing shades constantly at min. You will be fine I promise I have been scared like you xx

[ronski]

Kinnygirl
Anxiety can cause issues with your heart as you describe as it can dysrupt the finely balanced autonomic nervous system and also the digestive system. The digestive system particularly can through aberrant nervous discharge through the vagus nerve give you palpitations so giving you a feeling of an irregular rhythm. Your ECG at the docs was fine so no worrying arrhythimias such as atrial fibrillation.
What heart patients and cardiologists always say is that if you had a major heart issue you would know there would be no doubt. My advice is do what you have to do and don't worry about your heart, it won't let you down. What could be your major problem is that the constant fear of heart issues is increasing the sensitivity of your nervous system. Over time this will certainly cause you problems with your autonomic nervous system which comprises the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. If either of these systems get out of balance you will get more symptoms and sensations possibly heart ones. In themselves they are not dangerous but are unpleasant so please do not constantly dwell on your heart issues. I did and I ended up with major nervous system disruption and I would not wish it on my worst enemy.
Your stress comes from within and you can fix it but you must believe your doctors, if they were concerned you would already have been at the cardiologist clinic. If these thoughts about your heart pervade your thinking in those dark hours try stop stop stop, breath in and relax, then distract by thinking about something nice or just get a book and read. By doing this your heart will calm and eventually the worries will be a distant thought.

[diddler]

Yeah it's a really good sign. Have the 24 hour ecg then while you have it on do all the things your scared of doing and write them down when you think your heart goes funny and when the doc looks at it and tells you it's fine then you will cope better next time knowing it's nothing bad. Your not irrational at the min I have loads of floaters in my eyes and of course I Googleed and made myself really scared. And even though your not suppose to see floaters when your in the dark or asleep I have woke up seeing them. So I don't think your brain totally shuts off when your anxious. It's horrible I have been there in hospital nearly 4 times a week about my heart ringing nhs direct ringing ambulance. Was scared to go out in public in case something bad happened to my heart. You will be fine promise. My doc once said of your heart can stand going threw labour then we can safely say its a healthy heart xx

[diddler]

Sorry it's cus I'm doing it on my phone and said it ant posted. These up to date phones arnt much cop ha ha xx

[kinnygirl1]

THank you again Diddler, great advice re the 24 hour ECG.

Thanks also Ronski for your advice - you are right I am sure if it was something as serious as a heart attack I would be in massive pain and unable to function normally.

Just been to stables done my horsey jobs and ridden. No change to how heart is feeling apart from could feel it beating harder when I was riding but that will be due to physical excertion, right? It has gone back to just feeling a bit uneven and jittery now as it has been all day.

Am going to try and have a nice evening meal now and then try to chill out and watch some telly and try not to to focus on this jittery uncomfy feeling.

Thanks to all the posters - you have really supported me today. I may be back for more advice....

[kinnygirl1]

Diddler- just re read what you said about our hearts going through labour - I am going to try and think about that when I feel scared to even run up the stairs in case it "pushes my heart too far!"

[diddler]

It's a good think if your heart goes fast upstairs it's suppose to it's to help oxygen circulate your body so really it's to help you if it lumps after it's because it's going back to normal getting it's normal pace back. Obviously wen it does it when your panicking it scares you but that's adrenaline to help ya even though it dunt make you feel that way. I get more skipped beats when I have been really anxious they seen to come when my heart is calm and i've relaxed more which of course sets off another panic. My doctor once had a skipped heartbeat in front of me and he was just sitting wi no nerves and it dint
bother him at all. The nurse at hospital told me same she said I get it but I ignore it. But I bet ecg does help. xx

[diddler]

Really sorry bout my spelling xx

[diddler]

And have a nice meal enjoy xx

[kinnygirl1]

Thanks Diddler... you have been amazing today and really helped me. Heart still feels the same but I have managed to have a meal and bath and now sat watching telly trying not to be anxious. Just dreading going to bed this eve incase it happens again and starts the whole cycle off again for tomorrow......

[diddler]

I know it's crap int it. I use to sleep in my clothes in case I needed to go to hospital. I don't know if you can but in bed I use to watch a film that reminded me of being a kid like goonies or flight of the navigator don't know why but it wud help and I wud fall asleep to it. If it does happen again just remember it went away last night and it will again. Think sometimes you need to get nice thoughts in your head before you go to sleep. I've been bad since I was 15 wi one thing or another and anxiety is tiring and draining. Only just slightly coming out of my Agraphobia. Wen you have 24 hour ecg you will want it to happen to show doc. Let me know how you go on tonight xx

[diddler]

And you don't have to thank me. But I am glad i've helped. Fear is scary and wen people don't know what your going threw then they can't really help. You feel alone when it's happening like nobody can help but they can it might take a while for you to get reassured but you will. It took me numerous visits until I had the ecg you can have on for a while. Because I knew all the feelings I was scared of with my heart were recorded on there. And your not irrational i've been to 3 opticians and docs 3 times and I'm still scared. Your brain is a powerful thing and can make things happen in your body you wouldn't imagine. It tries to protect us but tries too hard sometimes xx

[kinnygirl1]

Just wanted to say to all those who really supported me through yesterday that I am feeling a bit better today. Did not have the best night sleep but wasn't overcome with worry about my strange heart thing(although it is still there) so that's a step in the right direction at least! Determined to have a better, more positive day today.

Sending you all my good vibes for the day:)

Kinnygirl1 x

[diddler]

Good glad your feeling better. I got same as you last night so I was up. Let me know how you get on wi 24 hour monitor xx

[ronski]

Kinnygirl the evidence is there that your heart issues are anxiety driven, if you could do your stable work and then go horse riding then I would say there is not a lot wrong with you. My mother had angina which I presume is what you are worried about as it is because of ischaemic heart disease, she had major exercise intolerance and could not get her heart rate up to high as that would start off the angina attacks. The reason being that your coronary arteries only fill when your heart is in it's resting phase ( diastole) so the shorter the resting phase the less blood goes into your coronary arteries.
Try and not constantly think about your heart, remember the phrase what we resist persists. I hope this helps

[holly1986]

Hiya
the funny thing is i came on here today to post up this exact problem

ive been getting 'funny' feelings in my chest and palpitations, some minor chest pains (which usually pass when air passes) and shortness of breath when i climb stairs etc

Now first off is im overweight, and im quite unfit so that explains the breathlessness
the pain is explained by indigestion
and the palpitations etc are explained by anxiety

It sounds so simple but i still feel like theres more there, ive had blood work done before and a physical by the doctor theres nothing wrong with me they say but im so anxious that theres more there.

My family all say they have palpitations they just dont focus on it the same way as i do but i find it so hard believing them 100%

My doctor says any symptom that is accompanied by non stop anxiety is caused by anxiety but im so worried im missing something, and in less than 2 weeks im going on holiday, but im so worried ill have a heart attack on the plane!

Anyone at all, please help?

Thank You

[kinnygirl1]

Hi Holly

I had a better few days but was poorly last week with a flu type bug which seems to have set off all my worries again. I think I had a bit of a temperature which resulted in my heart going a bit faster than usual and that was enough to draw my attention to it and not been able to ignore it since. I have had palpitations and ectopic beats galore - it's so hard to ignore but when I saw GP on fri ( to update my sick note) he said his level of worry about my heart was nil and wouldn't even listen to it or take my pulse - which of course is now making me think again that something could be being missed - AAAAGH its maddening! YOu are not alone Hunny!

Ronski - not sure what disease of the heart I think I have - could be angina - mostly I am worried that there is an undetected underlying problem that will carry me off when I am in the middle of something like driving, working etc. Thanks for your advice though. It is reassuring and I will take on board!

Thanks x

[ronski]

Holly and Kinnygirl
I find doctors so frustrating, I worked with them for 30 plus years and they are so knowledgeable but forget that the general public are not about the human bodies workings especially with anxiety.
Holly Palpitations are described as premature atrial contractions or premature ventricular contractions. Now most people would believe then that the origin of the contractions comes from the heart but that is not the case. The origin of the contractions come from the vagus nerve which is the 10 th cranial nerve and runs through the body especially the cardiac, respiratory anddigestive systems. So the ectopics are aberrant firing from the vagus nerve as a result of digestive activity. Why your doctor could not have told you this I just don't know.
Also with anxiety your nervous system is sensitised so normal functioning of the body is felt as sensations which a non anxious person would not feel. The sensitisations allows impulses to pass through the nervous system that are normally blocked. Also with anxiety your autonomic nervous system is out of balance so your para sympathetic system could be dominant. The vagus nerve is part of your para sympathetic nervous system so would affect your heart and respiratory systems. If your sympathetic system is dominant then faster resting heart rates are experienced, sweating etc.
Honestly girls just accept it's just anxiety, try not to focus on your symptoms and guess what before long you will be doing things and you will get minimal symptoms.
The other thing to remember everybody gets palpitations and nobody has ever come to harm with them. What I believe that you are worrying about are the arrhythmias connected with heart disease, a completely different set of symptoms which you would have no doubt about it being a very major issue if you suffered with them

[holly1986]

Thank you for the help there, sorry ive taken ages to reply!
Im so worried about this flight ive got to go on, im worried that my symptoms are heart related and I will have a heart attack on the plane. Ive been getting palpitations, minor chest pains and I now have a sore tooth and jaw which makes me believe its heart related! Ach Someone help me! I cant get any peace from this at all!