I am 20 years old male suffered from anxiety for 8 months and palpitations all the day literally and scared and shortness of breath. I did 4 ecg and echo test and CBC and TSH every thing is great . Went to 3 cardiologist and they said am totally fine but my real problem is that when I eat i feel more palpitations and uncomfortable at all . Second thing is when I tighten my stomach to relax I feel very irregular heartbeat for seconds and I hear a voice in my ears like there is a pressure in them only when I tighten my stomach. Also when I run I feel scared and I hear a voice in my breathing . What’s the problem please help me I am so scared that I have something wrong
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R2edma
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Welcome to the forumR2edma. First let me say that I believe all that you have said and that the things you mention are really happening to you.
Your echo test was good, so that's a relief that there is nothing structurally wrong with your heart, bloods tests and thyroid fine as well so good news again. ECG's well they just take a few seconds snapshot of your heart and for those few seconds your heart could be fine, so we can't totally trust those.
When you have your palpitations how long do they last for? Is there any chance you could get to your GP's surgery for an ECG when you are actually having them? By the way let me mention now that even people with absolutely nothing at all wrong with their hearts can get very slight feelings of what could be called palpitations.
I can't understand why you tighten your stomach before relaxing, so please stop doing that, unless of course I'm not quite understanding what you're saying.
Have you spoken to your GP about the noises you are experiencing in your ears. Don't use the word voices to describe this, say noise instead. Is it a whooshing or pounding sound, perhaps it's both?
Now your anxiety, that is a cause for concern because it can generate all sorts of problems including being the cause of your palpitations. Honestly, our minds have so much power over us and can actually make us quite ill. I'm 68 and it's taken me most of those years to realise that. When my heart was particularly bad with AF, if I was given a monitor to check what it was doing, well I could guarantee that for the days I wore it I wouldn't have any problems with my heart and would feel that I could climb mountains. so many other members on this forum have said exactly the same thing. Now what does that tell us?
The eating and having palpitations afterwards, well just about all of us understand that feeling and the secret to stopping that is to eat smaller portions and not have any foods containing artificial additives. Also we find that we need to sit for an hour or so afterwards to let our body digest the food before calling on it to do anything strenuous. This used to happen to me so much if I ate out at lunch time. Now, if I know if I need to do any serious walking after lunch all I will eat is a banana, honestly it works.
I believe some of us just have more sensitive hearts, that respond quickly to the effects of anxiety, stressful situations, eating, etc.
Lets see if we can get to the bottom of what's happening to you and what others suggest.
What are your thoughts about what I've written here for you?
I am so sorry these anxious feelings seem overwhelming at present. When you are anxious adrenaline kicks in and all the symptoms you are experiencing may be due to this. Blood supply is reduced to the gut when you are anxious giving all sorts of abdominal symptoms. I had very debilitating anxiety at one time and this sounds so familiar. It is reassuring that your doctor has taken your issues seriously . The first thing you can do to take back control is to use breathing exercises. Box breathing can help in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4 hold for 4. Did something happen 8 months ago to start this cycle?
I would ask your doctor if there is access to talking therapies in your area ( there may be a wait). Also have a look on youTube for relaxation videos I like Mark Williams and Andrew Johnson. I suspect that trawling through this forum may not help that much. I do understand how scary this is but 8 months on you are still here - had this been life threatening you would have been in hospital before now. Be kind to yourself and breathe. Good luck
HI - Anxiety is such a difficult thing to cope with as although it is physical sensations and can have very many manifestations, it could also be a symptom of an underlying condition so you did well to get checked out.
Anxiety or chronic stress should never be ignored so the first thing to ask is what are you doing about the anxiety? If you are in chronic Fight/Fight mode it can lead to disease longer term so it is imperative you take action now - you need to be the agent for your own recovery to relieve the anxiety and that usually means getting to the heart of the matter. Nutrition, or lack of, can be a cause so look first to your eating plan. Lifestyle will be a big factor - are you getting enough sleep? Are you getting enough exercise? Are you a worrier, if so look at your worry thoughts and get some help to challenge them.
My suggestion would be to seek out a Doctor trained in Lifestyle Medicine (Functional Medicine in the US) who will treat you wholistically - and not just as series of symptoms. I have posted a few links which you may want to check out.
I could go on and on, this will be the medicine of the future but it does mean you need to be an active agent in your own health rather than seeking answers from others.
This forum is especially for people with Atrial Fibrillation of Atrial Flutter and although there is a small chance that you may have AF, it would be unlikely at your age unless you are an elite athelete, a binge drinker or a fast jet pilot. You can find out more about Arrythmias in general at heartrhythmalliance.org/aa/uk
Palpitations purely means feeling your heartbeat and doesn’t really mean that there is anything wrong with your heart but you are more likely to be more sensitive to feeling them if you have an arrythmia or if you very anxious. The heart is regulated by the nervous system which will tell the heart to beat faster or stronger if you are in fight&flight mode so whether or not you have an arrythmia, learning to calm yourself through self-soothing - and there are very many ways of doing that - will help you.
You might also check out the Anxiety forum on HU.
Hope some of the above has been of some help - Best wishes CD.
Hi Cdreamer , I really appreciate your reply and just to mention I am a bodybuilder and I do a lot of super sets and never had Heartbeat more than 80 in the past 8 months actually the problem started after I read some bad things about the heart on the internet
The things that will make me go crazy the noise I hear In my breathing when am extremely anxious and the unusual heartbeat when I tighten my stomach like very strong beat and irregular then go normal . This is some kind of relaxation exercises. I mean could it be also from anxiety? Because I focus so much on my heart when I do it .
The noise is called Pulsaltile Titanus which is a fancy way of saying you hear your heartbeats - period. It drives many people mad but it’s not unusual. I had this from childhood and didn’t realise it was unusual - until I had an ablation (treatment for AF). I cam around from the sedation and COULDN’T hear my heartbeats so I thought I had died! It took a good few months for me to get used to it. Use white noise - or look at this link
There are lots of reasons this happens but tensing muscles, especially abs will increase your blood pressure which is one of the reasons you may get turbulent blood flow.
I guess you are practising aggressive muscle relaxation techniques, try just missing out your abs and chest muscles. Instead use your shoulder blades by pulling them back and together and down. The problem with muscle building is you develop short, bulky muscle fibres whereas for health stretching and suppleness is more important.
We can often manifest symptoms of something we read and think, our minds are really that imaginative that we become what we think and believe at a cellular level and so be tricked into thinking that this is really happening to us.
The flip side of that is that Positive thinking really, really does also have an affect.
What if you are perfectly OK? What would it feel like to be perfectly OK and fit and well? Imagine that. See if you can practice some slow breathing relaxation techniques whilst doing some visualisations about health and being well, fit and strong. Won’t cost you anything and who knows, it might actually work.
If it doesn’t - please seek advice from someone who can work with you wholistically and refer you on if they feel it is something that requires specialist knowledge.
Hi, so sorry to hear that you're feeling like this , if your ecg is fine and your Cardiologist says all is well I would concentrate on the anxiety as palpitations and nervous feelings are main symptoms of this condition. I've suffered from anxiety in the past and know how dreadful it can make you feel, have you addressed your anxiety with a professional yet as counselling is a way forward and may take away the worry of your heart.
Sorry to hear you are having these issues particularly so young. I have found that energy drinks greatly affect palpitations and anxiety, especially if you drink "sugar free" drinks. The aspartame has been proven to affect many individuals. I had free Cokes proviide to me by my company (sugar free diet Coke) I had 2 or 4=3 a day AND an energy drink. I ended up with high heartrate one weekend that put me in the hospital. Stop talking anything that has aspartame or is "suagr free." My opinion. Try it for a month and see how you feel.
Breathing exersizes really help. Try these on for size. I find that WHEN I do them I can reduce my heart rate by an easy 10 pts with about 5m exercise. SOmetimes it's even more if one is really high. EG: HR 145 - after breathing exercise 92.
Hi ,, thanks a lot actually I didn’t have heart rate more than 80 because Am a bodybuilder and I think this something good because if there was AFIB it will go more than 100 at least for one time in the past 8 months right?
Hi, sorry you are feeling like this.
As you probably know, an ECG is a 30 second snapshot of your heart. For any real insight in to what is going on you need a 3 or preferably 7 day holter monitor.
Can you push your GP to refer you for this?
Alternatively a Kardia monitor might be of use, but again you have to have it ready to use when you feel the palpation or it is useless
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