skipped heart beat, please help me

[candicemarie88]

Hello there

I'm new here and have literally just come accross this site whilst researching on google.

I'm Candice, I'm 22 and from the UK. I have sufered from anxiety for as long as I can remember, although my symptoms have significantly increased over the last six months..

I suffer from hypochondria and have a very frustrating case of health anxiety. If I so much as sneeze I'm reserching my symptoms on google.. then the next day visiting my GP to establish what's wrong with me and suggest all the symptoms I have come accross online/forums etc. However, I am never satisfied when the dr turns me away stating that all is fine and I appear healthy etc. I might be calm for a few days afterwards, but then I seek reassurance again because another pain occurs and it's basically a never ending circle.!!

I have experienced intense panic attacks because of my constant anxiety/fear and I also have social phobia.

I am a student and currently in my first year of uni, however, I have missed the majority of my lectures this semester due to my ongoing problems and am therefore miles behind with work and will most likely fail my modules this term... which is consequently adding to my stress!

Anyway, I have taken to consuming fairly large amounts of alcohol as a way of coping, but i realise that this is not a long-term cure, nor do i wish to continue drinking because the day(s) after the heavy drinking I feel much much worse and then my anxiety becomes even worse and harder to manage.

My most recent problem/worry started this evening... I'm forever checking my pulse and am vary aware of my heartbeat and how it is supposed to feel... and tonight i began my usual routine of checking it and i realised that it suddenly stopped, for 2 seconds and then began beating at a normal rythem... i thought maybe it was in my head and tried to forget about it, however, that's eaier said than done. So I have been checking it on and off all night and it keeps happening, it stops and a great sense of fear/doom washes over me, then my heart thuds and is back to normal. It only happens now and again, and i find it is when I am most aware of my heart beat and when I am anxious. I am so so scared of having a heart attack!! I'm young and shouldnt worry about such things, but i am aware that on rare occasions younger people have experienced a heart attack, therefore I am aware that I'm not 100% protected against that happening.

Sorry, Im rambling now and not speaking sense, but I am extremely scared and i worry about death and having a heart attack on a daily basis.

I still act and behave like a child, I am always asking my parents for reassurance, and they are somewhat lost with me. They try to calm me down, but the thought and image of dying is so ingrained in my mind i don't know how to overcome it :(

I'm so scared right now about my heart and worried it's going to stop all together and dont know what to do... ive been to my local a&e many times and it's always a very embarrasing situation because they can't find a problem, but i keep thinking 'but this time might be different, i might actually be dying'.

I was wodering if other people have ths problem and if this is anxiety? also are there any 24 hour help lines in the uk?

Thanks,
Candice x

[Anxious_gal]

(its hard to type off my ipod)

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=48

Your funny heart might be caused by the drinking , dont over do tea or coffee either , the missed beat is ok , it wont harm you , it just feels awful . If you have any more tell your doctor , he might do the usual tests like an ecg . Honestly you will ok :-)

[katielou80]

hi babe. please dont be scared...i have had them CONSTANTLY like....beat beat beat pause, for 2 months, i have been to the drs 4 times!! and he says that they are so so so so common, no tests etc, just live with them, he says he also gets them. (plus he gets chest pains, tingling and an achy arm!! and hes not even worried) I have had them before but never lasting this long, he says that they have NOTHING to do with heart attacks or any other catsatrophe!! i just couldnt accept this either, so yesterday when my son went to a different dr, i asked him, he said if he was me he would just ignore them. Also if you are as nuts as me i have spent like everyday googling them, and all you find is they are harmless!!!!! they are certinately driving me nuts, but the best thing to do is just ignore them. please believe me. im only 30 with 2 wonderful kids and a great partner, why does all this worrying happen to me!!??????? i cant answer that, but i have now been referred for cbt. so fingers crossed. xx also the dr said if i had a heart prob id have severe chest pain, fainting and thats like HIGLY unlikely, at the end of the day why would the dr lie to us????? they wouldnt...they see hundreds of people a week, like us, thats why they are NOT worried!! they know what they are looking for. Life your life babe, i know its hard.......but WE can do it!! xxx

[looking4answers]

If it makes you feel any better.My heart has been skipping beats a lot since I can remember and im 56 now. In recent years I have noticed many times that my heart does exactly what you talked about. It stops ,just stops and then starts again with a force that scares you.It also goes on a rampage every once in awhile of beating two beats stopping and then beating two beats stopping and then beating two beats and stopping.

I have caught it doings this more than I would like to. I feel for you on the situation you are experiencing. I have dealt with this most of my life .Sometimes I can put it out of my mind but less than more times I have been that lucky..I don't know what to tell you other than my doctor says my heart is in good condition and it seems yours says the same. I hope you get to feeling better soon.. I guess the heart thing is something we all have to work on.. Take care.. Michael

[paula lynne]

Hi Candice, welcome to a great supportive site. I get skipped beats everyday too, youre not alone x

[Ducky85]

Hi,
Ive been getting them for about 3 months now, really bad, so far today i have felt at least 20+ and thats when im NOT trying to find them lol. But through the people and info in this site it becomes a lot easier to understand and deal with. There are some on here who have lived with them everyday for 40+ years.... They are annoying and scary, but cutting down or stopping the alcohol should help.
Best wishes and hope you can feel a bit more ease, remember, there are loads of us getting them, you are not alone.
Ducky

[candicemarie88]

Thanks for your replies I'm glad I'm not alone, it just freaks me out because i've only just started experiencing them.

I went to my dr today and told him about my increased anxiety and mentioned the skipped beats, and he didn't even check my heart beat... which has made me even more scared... however, if he thought it was something serious surly he would have checked my heart out!

I have been prescribed diazepam and ecitalopram which hopefully will help to calm me down. I just feel so breathless and out of control right now and couldnt sleep at all last night because i was so scared my heart would stop alltogether.

I called out paramedics a few months ago when i have a severe panic attack and they wired me up and checked my heart rate, which was fine.. this was in august and i had it checked by my gp again in early sept. I just seek resurance, which helps me to relax for a short while, but then i get myself worked up again.

lol. i know im stupid and yes, everytime i look up any of my symptoms, they all seem to relate to anxiety and are harmless... but i just keep thinking 'what if this, what if that' arghh, it's driving me mad!

Hopefully my medication will kick in soon.. I'll let you kow

Tak care x

[dodo]

Your thinking pattern is typical of most of us. And most of us a few years on will notice the patterns and habits you are forming for yourself. Is so sad to see someone else go down that path. Mine started at the same age as you but back then I was just anxious. I hope the meds work fir you and that you manage up get back on the right track. Good luck x

[Calm Brereze]

Candice, hi and welcome to the forum. I appreciate yopur problem, I have had thew same problem since I was in my teens, and I'm now 65.

My biggest problem was that being a man, I foolishly thjought I could deal with it myself, and also I didn't like to tell others about my medical problems, not even family or friends, so I turned to drinking to help me. It did for many, many years, although I almost turned into an alcoholic and nearly lost my wife and kids because of it.

Now I don't drink or smoke, and about 2 months ago I was told I needed a heart pacemaker fitted as every now and again I would have irregular heartbeats, which sometimes caused me to feel faint. Anyway, what I'm getting to, is that because of that, my first really serious health incident in my whole life, the anxiety came back with a vengeance, and I was suffering everything that you mentioned and more!

I too called out paramedics, ended up in A&E 3 times, only to be told that physically everything was fine, and that it was anxiety. I then bit the bullet and went to see my Doctor, and told him of my anxiety, and he persribed Fluoxetine for me and advised me to have CBT, which I start next month.

So basically, out of this wall of text, all I'm saying is you've done the right thing, you are now on meds and have visited this forum for support, keep going with the meds and I'm sure that soon you will feel some benefits. Oh and STOP using Google to look up every symptom you get, I used to do that and it frightened me to death.

You'll be fine, every time I get a little anxious, I come here and read up on the wonderful advice available on this forum. Good luck Candice, you're not alone. xx