Health anxiety and skipped heart beats

[Leolady23]

Over the past 6 months I’ve been having bouts of heart palpitations presenting as skipped beats. In the last week or so the palpitations have gotten much worse, but I feel like the more I concentrate on them the worst they get, sometimes with 5-6 skipped beats a minute. I have had ecgs, holter monitor and echo test in the last 6 months all showing no major issues. In the last week though it tends to come in waves with intense anxiety as well, sometimes what feels like a panic attack without really feeling ‘anxious’ at the time it comes on… has anyone else experienced the same and what (if any) are some techniques to overcome? 

[Ggrand]

Hello Dear Leolady23,

A very warm and caring welcome to our forums…

I’m so sorry your struggling with anxiety and skipped heat beats, I also struggle with them and you’re correct in saying that the more you concentrate on them the worse they seem to get..

When my heart start into ectopic beats (skipped beat) I distract my mind from listening and feeling them by doing something that needs my full concentration, like listening to an audio book, or singing along with a song I like, doing puzzles…one thing our brain cannot do is….think of 2 things at one time…so if you can find something to help ground* you…if you feel to…search in our search bar for “Grounding  yourself what is it and how do we”..you’ll find lots of different grounding techniques that hopefully will help you….if you check the thread out..please feel free to join in the conversation or ask questions if you want to…

Her if you want to talk some more…

Sending you my care and kind thoughts Dear Leolady23.

Grandy..

[Leolady23]

Thank you for your reply Grandy, I definitely think there is value in grounding! I actually tried one of your suggestions for smells when I woke in the middle of the night and found it did help me stay calm and get back to sleep easier. Really appreciate you taking the time to respond, anxiety is a bit of a tricky one to navigate sometimes. It seems like it’s under control and then all of a sudden creeps up and tackles you unaware.

[therising]

Hi Leolady23

I feel for you so much as you try to navigate your way forward with what at times feels so concerning, anxiety and palpitations. Not sure if it will be of any help at all but thought I'd just throw out the following in case it makes some difference...

I'm a gal who used to experience 'silent migraines' (migraines without headaches). As the symptoms began to become more complex over time, I ended up taking myself off to the GP for investigation. As it happened, I presented at the appointment with what appeared as a panic attack. The GP insisted I start a course of anti anxiety meds but I refused while telling him 'This is not anxiety because I don't feel at all anxious in any way. You need to find out what's wrong with me'. His advice was to book another appointment to discuss the meds. Long story short, I saw a different GP who ordered a brain MRI and I was granted a miracle, I had a migraine while I was in the MRI machine. Turned out the migraines were triggering my nervous system to behave in a certain way. Where a migraine happens (in the brain) will determine what part of the body it affects.

My mum, after having a stack of heart tests (amongst other tests), based on sudden bouts of anxiety and heart palpitations, ended up seeing a neurologist who diagnosed the possibility of brain glitches that were defined as mini seizures. Completely harmless. With the neural pathways in the brain and the energy that runs through them, sometimes there's simply a glitch in the electrics, nothing sinister. It happens. For her, personally, the neurologist put her on an extremely low dose of seizure medication which stopped the heart palpitations and nervous system charge ups. The reason for all the initial extensive tests for my mum was based on her already having heart issues yet the tests showed up nothing concerning or new that needed to be managed. Of course, so important to check out any serious possibilities so they can be crossed of the list of suspects. Btw, my mum used to get silent migraines also.

These days my mum and I are inclined to talk to our brain, nervous system, lungs etc. Yes, sounds a bit weird. If there does happen to be the occasional glitch we can feel, it's a matter of 'Okay brain, what the heck are you doing?' or 'Okay nervous system, calm down, it's just a glitch. Nothing to worry about'. 'Lungs, just calm down and breathe. Slow breathes, in and out. We'll be fine'. As I say, sounds weird but it works.

[Mozaik]

Hello there. I think I know what you mean. I got anxiety at work a few weeks ago, so bad, I was literally sitting there ALL DAY, with my anxiety though the roof, that by 12pm, I was just sitting down, and I felt my heart just start racing, blood rushing to my head, then I felt like a pop or pressure in my brain or something. It's a weird feeling. I started to feel lightheaded, like low blood pressure or something. It lasted for a decent time, but I don't know how long. I remember thinking at the time, 'is this a heart attack? Is this a brain hemorrhage or something? Maybe a minor stroke? Is that what's happening? I then imagined, and kinda hoped that it was something so serious, and I'd just collapse and hopefully die.

That's how bad my struggles have gotten.thats how bad my daily reality has progressed. I have constant intense struggles.

In terms of apps, I use one of those white noise apps, that helps you sleep. It's meant to put you into a state of meditation, as the white noise is constant, and gently crackling, then helps me to process my thoughts, then let them go. It takes practice, but if you can do it, it really does help.

Good Luck, and God Bless you.

[Leolady23]

Thanks for the heads up! I also get the occasional visual migraine, no pain just visual sensations followed by some strange feeling which usually passes within an hour or so. I’ll definitely keep this in mind and speak to my dr about it. I appreciate you taking the time to respond 🙂

[Leolady23]

Thanks Mozaik, these feelings can be quite debilitating at times. Over the last week or so I’ve been reading more and trying to be mindful, the less I focus on the heart palpitations the less they seem to occur (or I’m not noticing and then fixating on them). I’ve got a mindful meditation app I’ve been trialing which hasn’t been too bad either, but occasionally I’ll also get a nocturnal panic attack so it’s been a bit hit and miss with what works. Staying positive that I’ll find something that will work, but staying positive sometimes also requires a whole lot of work! Thanks for taking the time to respond 🙂 

[Eagle Ray]

Dear Leolady23,

 I also get skipped heart beats which occur most frequently during migraines, so it’s interesting others seem to have found a link with migraines. I get classic migraines with pain on one side. The feeling of skipped heartbeats is like my heart has stopped beating for a bit and then rushes to catch up with itself. In 2021 a heart ultrasound showed I had some mitral valve regurgitation. This suggested mitral valve prolapse which is a common condition.

I’d already read about this condition being linked with chronic overactivity in the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight response). I have a complex trauma history so this makes a lot of sense. Now I know logically why it’s there it doesn’t bother me too much and I’ve learned not to react to it. When the fight-or-flight response is too continuously activated there is a lack of heart rate variability. This means the heart is not getting the slight variations that are normal and healthy for it. It is actually beating too fast and evenly for too long. So this seems to actually be what skips it up, so to speak, like the body is trying to re-regulate somehow.

Realising this I just let it happen now when it happens. When migraines are happening they involve overactivity in the fight-or-flight response. This overactivity can show as anxiety, but can also show in high levels of intensity that can come from working long hours, concentrating really hard for a long time, basically anything that puts stress on the body and keeps it from going into the parasympathetic rest-and-digest mode.

As my nervous system has been learning to calm down and know it’s safe through therapy, I’m not getting the skipped heart beats now except during very severe migraines, which are also occurring much less frequently now. So I think anything that calms the autonomic nervous system can help. I’m finding just practising letting go of tension in the body, and repetitive, ruminative thoughts in the head that are often linked with those bodily responses, seems to really help. I do less striving now, so not trying so hard with everything I do and putting myself under pressure like I always did in the past.

So for me I would say learning to be kind and gentle with myself has been a key to my autonomic nervous system (which controls the heart beat) beginning to calm and be less reactive. This leads to greater stability in all the automated systems within the body. If I do get a bit of the skipped beats during a migraine I just accept it’s there and it’s what my body is doing as it tries to find equilibrium again. I can’t control it during a migraine which is like a runaway train at this point, so I even just be curious about it and think, that’s interesting, rather than worrying about it. The more I let go and don’t worry, the more that seems to help my body eventually ease and release from the hyper-intense pattern.

 I hope that helps a bit. Basically being curious about it and understanding why it’s there has helped, along with learning to really just let go and trust that my body will re-regulate itself if I don’t brace against it and just let it do its thing.

[Leolady23]

Thanks Eagle Ray for taking the time to explain. I actually can see some similarities and think that my skipped beats are probably a large contributing factor to my anxiety but also vice versa, they get much worse in moments I’m stressed. 

can I ask, how long it took for you to get to a point where you could notice the mindfulness helped the symptoms subside?

[Eagle Ray]

Hi LeoLady23,

 I think I started to understand what my body was doing better about 7 years ago when I began researching how trauma affects the autonomic nervous system. But that understanding has really fast tracked in the past year because I’ve been working with a really good psychologist during that time who has really helped me attune with my bodily responses. I have learned to co-regulate with her where my nervous system learns to calm down and feel safe. So I would say the biggest difference has been in the past year, but in the few years before that I was gradually developing awareness through my own research. So I think it started helping even several years ago but I’ve made the biggest steps in the past year. But I have a lot of complex trauma issues so someone else may progress quicker than me. My body has had to learn how to feel safe. But it is really working now. I still can get fear at times but even when that happens I don’t notice any heart issues. I only feel the skipped heart beats now if I have a very severe migraine but even then I don’t worry about it, which feels like it helps. I find it’s very much a process of letting go and knowing my body is trying to rebalance itself. I hope that makes sense.