Irregular and fast heart rate waking me up at night.

Hi there .I am being woken up in the middle of the night with my heart racing .It dosent happen every night maybe every second night. It usually happens while im falling asleep i firstly get this strange sensation in my chest as im drifting off and then i get a really irregular rythm then my heart starts racing up to 160 beats per minute.Sometimes this happens also while i think im in a deep sleep i am suddenly awake and realise my heart is so fast then i cant breathe properly .I have called a ambulance before and my heart rate was 166 p/m.It happened last night again i was drifting to sleep this time and felt this weird feeling in my chest then my heart started racing and having missed beats in between which just adds to the fear. But also noticing while it racing it also gives out what seems like extra beats it feels very irregular which is utterly terrifying. After it happens i started burping terribly but im not sure if that was all the air i sucked in while in a panic or it was wind i had sitting in my stomach that caused the palps ive had 4 ecgs in the last 5 month.Funny thing is these attacks started happening more often last year when i had helicobacter bug in my stomach that is negative now but it has left me with a terrible burping and acid reflux problem though .I have had loads of ecgs over the years the doctors say anxiety.I have been like this with panic anxiety and agrophobia since i was 21 thats over 20 years and still the heart fears ruin my life .It all started with missed beats and caused me to stop going out but over the years ive had a good few years when the anxiety wasnt too bad but then it creeps back again Its always the fear about my heart .How can i get over that when my heart beat never behaves.I hate ruining my life over this i am so anxious when im out i feel i cant enjoy anything.This happening at night has been going on for too long but docs says anxiety but its the only time i am relaxed why would my heart start racing .Just hate it all xx

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your issue.

This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.

Please also read this post:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=213239

Hi Molly,

What’s happening to you sounds very similar to what I went through a couple of years ago, even down to the excessive burping seemingly bought on by irregular beats.

It actually started off a horrible bout of health anxiety for me, as one night I was drifting off to sleep when I was suddenly jerked awake by my racing heart.

I ended up in hospital for a few days and while I was in there they caught my heart rate spiking around 170bpm when trying to drift off to sleep.

Anyway, cutting a long story short, the diagnosis was anxiety/stress. I wasted around 18 months of my life worrying about it. It all went away gradually as I stopped worrying so much.

My point is, as your situation sounds incredibly similar and, like me, you’re an anxiety sufferer, I would wager a hefty bit of cash on your problem being the same as mine. The problem being in your mind.

I spent too much time worrying about it and trying to find reasons for it. There is no physical reason, we’re anxious people and our bodies act weirdly sometimes, even when we don’t think we’re particularly stressed or anxious. Accept this and you’ll be much better off for it :)

Take care,

Al

Thank you for your reply. I am hoping it is all just down to anxiety as this is getting so bad . I went through this years ago too and eventually it calmed down but it has reared its ugly head again.
Thanks again for your reply x

It is anxiety. It will calm down again because that’s how it works. I hope you’re feeling better soon x

Thank you

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Originally Posted by molly15

Hi there .I am being woken up in the middle of the night with my heart racing .It dosent happen every night maybe every second night. It usually happens while im falling asleep i firstly get this strange sensation in my chest as im drifting off and then i get a really irregular rythm then my heart starts racing up to 160 beats per minute.

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Stop checking your pulse. It's unhelpful and will only make your heart race even faster!

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Sometimes this happens also while i think im in a deep sleep i am suddenly awake and realise my heart is so fast then i cant breathe properly .I have called a ambulance before and my heart rate was 166 p/m.It happened last night again i was drifting to sleep this time and felt this weird feeling in my chest then my heart started racing and having missed beats in between which just adds to the fear. But also noticing while it racing it also gives out what seems like extra beats it feels very irregular which is utterly terrifying.

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This has been happening to me for years. I have nocturnal panic attacks - and this is what you are experiencing here. It's anxiety. It won't harm you.

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ive had 4 ecgs in the last 5 month.

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What were the results?

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This happening at night has been going on for too long but docs says anxiety but its the only time i am relaxed why would my heart start racing .Just hate it all xx

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I gained control of my attacks by not fearing them. I still have them occasionally, but they wake me up, I recognise what's happening and I do my deep breathing. Doing this switches off the fight or flight. When we are hyper-sensitised - literally anything can trigger a nocturnal panic attack. It can be the closing of a car door, or a voice outside, or a dream. This is because fight or flight is never completely off. It's always on stand-by because we are very anxious. Do you understand? Once you have calmed your heart rate down - then you need to decide whether you feel calm enough to go back to sleep. Sometimes, I am just too 'wired'. My body is buzzing still with the stress hormones which have been released, so I know it's futile to try and get back to sleep, so I get up, go downstairs and either pace up and down or do some light cleaning. Once my body feels calmer - I go back to bed.

Bottom line Molly - your heart is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing in responding to the stress response. Your whole body will be primed to stay and fight or run away - either way - several things have to take place inside your body and an increased heart rate is one of them.

I've been having these attacks for 9 years now, and I'm still here and my heart is still fine.

Just consider this as your heart getting a little workout. It just feels weird because you're not running or moving about, but it's not going to hurt you.

Thanks Nora for your reply.

I dont check my pulse i know its rate because I've been told my hospital and paramedics. I suffer svt attacks so its always hard to know whether this is panic or svt . Although I do believe the svt is caused by stress for sure. I like you have suffered for many years with this, but had a good run when it wasn't happening as much, so now that its back its very unsettling. My anxiety has been very bad since May I had a breakdown and im still clawing my way back from that . Hopefully I will get there eventually xx