Question about heart palpitations

[Steph]

Hello everyone

I have heart palpitations 24/7 and always, always, always have a ball of anxiety in my stomach (if that makes any sense). What I wanted to know is, is it normal (for an anxiety sufferer) to constantly have heart palpitations? I am trying to avoid caffeine and anything sugary as these seem to exacerbate the anxiety, but even without either of these it seems to be a constant thing.

Can anyone tell me if a) you experience the same thing and/or b) what you can do to stop the heart palpitations.

Many thanks in advance

Steph

[blondguy]

Hi Steph. Just popping in and seeing how you are going. I hope you are okay. You seem to have generated a lot interest in heart palpitations.

It would be great if you feel like posting back 🙂

Jessme...great post! Adrenaline flow as a result of ongoing events/stress can trigger heart palpitations. Paulx

[Jessme]

Saving a new thread here.... Do any of you guys suffering health anxiety have any dysmorphic characteristics in the form of what illness you fear. I am starting to see clinical features of my current obsession with premature aging syndromes. I am seeing thin ankle skin that no one else can see. My brain tricking me with sensations wasn't enough, now I'm starting to actually see symptoms too. My sister and husband have assured me my skin looks normal but I just can't believe them.

[Jessme]

I meant to Say also Steph, that I too work in a health care setting and I believe this is not great for health anxiety sufferers because you see people at their sickest.

[pipsy]

Hi Jessme. When you say you obsess with premature aging signs I presume you're talking about wrinkles as well as thin ankle skin. People who suffer this sort of obsessive thinking usually 'see' things that are simply not there. How you perceive what your reflection tells you is simply your eyes sending you wrong mixed messages. Karen Carpenter saw her reflection as obese and unattractive. This happened because of a cruel insensitive comment made at her expense. It didn't make any difference when people told her she was beautiful, had a good figure etc, she simply 'saw' what her eyes perceived. Our skin is made up of several layers. The only way your ankle skin would be excessively thin would be if you were born that way. It might help if you were to ask your Dr exactly how many layers of skin we are actually made up with. Skin grafts are usually skin which has been transferred from one area to another. If our skin was too thin, skin grafts would not be possible. Even our ankle skin is several layers thick. They could actually take skin from the ankles without causing any problem.

Lynda

[caitie0]

Hi jessme,

I too work in health care and yes I don't think it helps at all, I work in aged card and all these people are at the end of there lives ( some which aren't that old ) and it just freaks me out, I feel like i have too do as much as I can while I can, but then I semi procrastinate everything. Great circle I have got going on here 🙂

[Jessme]

I have to remind myself though, that we are only seeing the worst case scenarios, not the majority of people who are living away from health care settings and are well. It is easy to get sucked into depression and anxiety when you see others suffering and see all the possible disease out there. Seeing people with incurable diseases definetly fuels health anxiety. I haven't yet found away to overcome this problem.

[pipsy]

Hi Jessme. Until a week ago I was working with elderly and physically handicapped people. I too originally felt a lot of pain for these people, but I learnt that these same people have become accustomed to their various complaints. That's not to say they're happy, a lot of them feel they would be better off if they were to pass. But if you can bring a little happiness and cheer into their lives, then you are contributing to their well being. By shifting their focus on their life before these illnesses and physical disabilities came into their lives, that helps them and you. The people I used to help would talk to me about their lives and the stories they told educated me on how much they had lived. Ask them about their life stories, instead of focussing on now. I have a client in her late 90's, she would talk for hours about her life with her hubby and through this, she found happiness. For the time being, I've had to take sick leave, but I do intend returning to the job as the clients enjoy my company and I talk to them about their life rather than their illnesses.

Lynda

[Sarbai]

What a fantastic resource this is. I have been having dreadful problems with palpitations over the last few weeks with 3 days in hospital and test including CT Coronary Angio and Stress Echo. All came back normal. I am also a type 1 diabetic and I also work in health care so I find this theme of working with the sick making us sick interesting. Sometimes I feel so bad and so acutely aware of my cardiac rhythm being all over the place it's hard for me not to call an ambulance. I find meditation does help, and I have been doing this for some years. The flood of chemicals though do not subside in an hour though and even with a strong committed meditation I can still feel horrid for hours afterwards. Most of this week I have been pretty good so this evening I had dinner and decided to take the dogs out for a walk. By the time I got home I was feeling shaky, sweaty, nauseous, dissociated, short of breath and ready to go to work (a hospital where I can feel safe). I hate it, but I am glad to have found this resource and others struggling so bad, feeling alone in this is not a goo thing either. I will see my cardiologist next week and talk about going from Calcium Channel to Beta Blockers as although the Beta Blockers are not so recommended with Diabetes, perhaps they will help with the panic attacks and arrhythmias. I had to stop taking my St Johns Wort a few weeks ago when I started the Verapamil so maybe that's why the anxiety is so bad again. It's such a dreadful cycle. Stay strong everyone.

[caitie0]

ho w is everyone going, mine have been good for the past week and a half, but then yesterday and today having been having palpitations again, bit annoying! I am so over them.

[GuyIncognito]

Hi Steph,

I get them too. The old fear/adrenaline/fear cycle, the more you worry the worse it gets. I've had all the heart tests and it's as good as gold. It's just how my anxiety manifests itself physically. All I can recommend is to tell yourself that if everything else has checked out, they are annoying but harmless. Try not to feed the beast so to speak, easier said than done I know but it can be done. I find exercise and meditation beneficial. I hope this helps in some small way. Happy to talk anytime.

Cheers,

Guy.