I've been getting palpatations for years and last year ended up in a and e with afib for a few hours. It scared me alot I'm not going to lie but the problem is over the years I'm becoming more and more anxious every time I get a small palpatation or somtimes I get a wee pain that lasts a split second. It's starting to ruin my life because everyday I'm stressing about my heart and when I get the sensations and such it sends me over the edge and I spiral in an anxious panic.
I don't have half the issues some of you poor folks have and it makes me feel rotten asking your advice when if some of you was In my position you would probably be much happier. I get palpatations almost daily now used to be weeks apart and I might only get a few a day but it's enough to make me not want to do stuff and get on with my life. The cardiology guy says their is nothing wrong with my heart but has put me on beta blockers and flecainide. I just can't seems to get myself out the miserable place I've spent years digging myself into with fear and anxiety.
Sorry to trouble you good people with it, I know I have it easy compared with others but I feel I'm walking around with a dark cloud above my head always waiting for the next palpatations or the onset of an afib episode. I've only had one bad afib that lasted a few hours and saw me go to a and e with hr jumping between 160 and 230, all other afib feelings only last seconds. I just don't know who else to talk to about it as the doctors seem like they couldn't be less interested if they tried. Thanks for reading sorry if I dribbled on.
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Pepsicoke
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So Sorry for you, I can relate! Please look into finding a Functional Medical doc/practitioner. They look for the root causes and don't just put bandaids on by handing you a pill just to manage symptoms. Most are also quite compassionate. It IS like a dark cloud hanging over our heads, I agree. And with the AF causing lower energy levels after the episode, that fatigue can also lead to a mild depression. Pray and when you feel bad, accept that God has your back. He sometimes tests our faith and strength thru sickness. Fear is natural but can be overcome. The stress from it can cause cortisol dumps that can exasperate the palps, take long deep breaths, count to four on inhale, hold for 4 counts, and exhale as slowly as possible. This always helped my episodes to stop. 💗
Of course, you feel a sense of anxiousness - we all do. It's part and parcel of having AFib. I've been there and got the tee shirt.
Now you wrote:
It's starting to ruin my life
I'm sorry you feel this way. However, there's little point in sugarcoating my reply to this! I'm going to be blunt - you need to stop this feeling like this and prevent AFib from taking over your life. Get into a different mindset Pepsi.
Your Cardio has told you there's nothing wrong with your heart (apart from AFib of course). I assume by this he means its structures are strong.
Tick👍
You have palpations and maybe just a few a day. Most of us do - they won't kill you.
Tick👍
You have only been to A&E once due to a high rate. I'll bet my bottom dollar they soon put that right and would do so again if it happened.
Tick👍
I suggest having a look on YouTube at Breathing Technics/Meditation using Visualisation to help keep yourself calm. It works.
As soon as fear creeps in - GET RID. You are in control of Afib. It's not in control of you.
So sorry to hear how this is upsetting you. Its hardly surprising, it isnt your little finger, its your heart you are fearful for. Having said that I recognise how stressful these situations are and how the whole issue spirals. Have you thought about asking for support from your GP to be referred to someone who deals in managing health anxiety and working with a specific health issue causing distress. They can teach you to assess your emotions, rationalise your thoughts and find a way to handle ongoing fears and stress and bring your mind back to a safer place.
Anxiety comes alongside heart issues and our nervous system kicks in big style. Thats a normal physiological response so its not unreasonable to feel on edge.
My heart is having lots of ectopics right now and I am having chest pain from a gastric condition. Am I stressed and upset about it, you bet I am. Will it settle as the pain settles, it usually does. Dont feel its strange to react in this way, it isnt. What is important is finding some strategies to help lessen the fear and gain a clear perspective. We all deal with things differently and no one is right or wrong its all about knowing yourself and which pathways work for you. Dont beat yourself up. There are lots of coping strategies to try, you will find the right ones for you. Wishing you all the very best.
Have you thought about asking for support from your GP to be referred to someone who deals in managing health anxiety and working with a specific health issue causing distress. They can teach you to assess your emotions, rationalise your thoughts and find a way to handle ongoing fears and stress and bring your mind back to a safer place
When you say palpitations, is it just AF or other things? Flecainide is often very successful in stopping or reducing them. But for others it may make them worse.
I have a structurally normal heart. I have no blockages, no enlargement, and only mild-moderate leaking valves which is pretty common. But I have a heart that doesn’t always beat in a normal rhythm.
My problem is purely electrical. You cannot visualise the electrics of the heart so it isn’t as easy for doctors to pinpoint exactly what the issue is. Because of this it takes a while to find the right meds and mix of meds to support the heart.
It sounds like you might need more information from your doctors to help you understand what is happening. You might need another opinion.
My diagnoses is Progressive Cardiac Conduction Disease, Sinoatrial Disease, and Vasospastic Angina.
hi there, dont beat yourself up. I’m just the same had palpations for ages and kept getting told everything was normal and lots of people get them and they are harmless. Then one doctor got me fitted with a monitor and low and behold. Atrial fibrillation. I stress everytime I have an episode . It is horrible. I’m on beta blockers anyway but today I start on blood thinners ( that’s scares me too). I am assured all will be fine and we can live normal lives with this . I’m sure this is so and we will soon get used to these feelings.
I admit I do suffer with anxiety but I do know how you feel, but you are not alone . Take care
Anxiety is normal with heart issues, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything about it. I was terrified when I first had AF and felt very alone with it until I found this forum. It scared me to read about heart stuff so I did it gradually- one bit of info a day until I had enough knowledge to have a sensible and informed conversation with an electrophysiologist who specialises in arrhythmias. Someone on the forum told me to get on with my life which was so blunt it made me laugh - but nevertheless I made that my aim and am now good at it! And I downloaded the Balance app for relaxation and meditation- it’s great for both beginners and experienced meditators and doesn’t blast you with New Age gloop. I’m still addicted to it. Panic attacks, palpitations, anxiety - I had them from my early twenties so know how desperate you feel. Take things day at a time. Don’t push yourself. And do find some support if necessary- there’s lots out there.
I think nearly all of us, and certainly those who get very symptomatic with Af know exactly how you are feeling right now. I had to ask my GP for valium at one stage but managed to de -stress through mindfulness, and changing my attitude to the beast. Your stress will be making things worse. It is difficult to get out of this sort of mindset but if you can, your symptoms could well improve. and you would feel much better. If you need to talk please post again or message me. You can learn to live with this.
I’ve been getting better but trouble is I have a good day and even better a good night, then bang palpations start up again and I get anxious. I will overcome this . I have to say the support on here is wonderful. It’s good to know and so good to put the words how you feel down to people who understand
im excactly the same I have ectopics beats and had an AFiB attack once- I believe the ectopics triggered the AFiB. Who knows I’ve not got a diagnosis of Poroxysmol AF. I too am awful anxious 🙈
Did you know that arrythmia can be a side effect of SSRI s? Also they are not really anxyiolytics and can actually make anxiety worse for some people. Have you tried a magnesium supplement? These can help calm down ectopics and also reduce anxiety. I used to have panic attacks for no reason . Since supplementing with magnesium they have gone . I am also far less anxious during afib attacks and am able to regard my afib as just a pesky nuisance.
You need more solid reassurance that all is well as, only then, will your nerves calm down. It seems you have cardiac anxiety beyond the normal that many with AF have.
Palpitations are not going to cause long erm harm to you - you will have been told that. You seem to have very irregular AF, but are taking daily flecainide for that. Do you feel that the symptoms from your AF are from the heart proper or from the anxiety that you so clearly feel?
Can you afford to pay for tests? I am guessing you've already had an echo ultrasound, so the next step would be the gold standard, cardiac stress MRI. Privately, with consultation, you'd be looking at £2k for this, maybe a few hundred either side depending where you'd be willing to travel. That will help, maybe once and for all, to lay out the facts of your heart and whether your fears are grounded in anything. The chances are very high it will show all is well, of course - which is what you want. And need!
I have PAF but very few episodes. However, I do suffer with ectopic beats daily; sometimes a few, other days into the 000s with bigeminy or trigeminy lasting hours.
It does of course make me anxious at times but I just remind myself that my Cardiologisyisnt overly concerned as I have a structurally normal heart. When I get particularly concerned, I do the deep breathing exercise others have mentioned. Also go onto YouTube and look at York cardiology/Dr Sanjay Gupta videos.
The palpitations can get me down sometimes but I generally do the exercises and once they subside, get on with something else to distract me.
when anxiety kicks you it’s hard to rationalise and even though you know what you’re heads doing you can’t get it back into perspective.
Everyone will have their own ways of dealing with things and ideas but it’s trying to find what works for you. So I can only tell you what helps me.
I went for counselling. Finding the right counsellor for you is important and it was definitely working. But when I saw the electrophysiologist to keep the burden on my heart from getting worse ( he wanted to avoid antiarrythmics as I’ve got a scar on my heart), we decided to try sertraline to reduce the aggravation anxiety puts on what you already have. I’m on the lowest treatment dose and even though I still have anxiety between sertraline and what I learnt in counselling I at present am keeping it in a manageable place.
The EP who prescribed Flecainide for me after he had introduced me to having a smartphone and a Kardia ( and the app) and I had sent him a reading of my heart in AF, told me to rest when it occurred after taking 100mg of the Flecainide as a PIP and adding 1.25 mg of Bisoprolol if my heart rate exceeded 140 twenty minutes later which it hardly ever did. As episodes increased I was prescribed to take it regularly and it has virtually put an end to episodes for me. I have reduced the first dose of the day to 50mg, retaining 100mg in the evening to ensure uninterrupted sleep. I even remained AF free when I ran out of them for a few days! Important to keep calm and not to panic. Gentle breathing, meditation or mindfulness might help too.
I had ectopics like you for years. It took a year of different tests before they could even see them to tell where they were coming from, I was told they were normal , harmless and many many people get them. Once I stopped worrying about them they gradually went away. They are caused by stress and made far worse by anxiety. I haven't had more than a couple ow in about 10 years. I think of as a bout of heart hiccups. I could stop mine by getting my husband to rub hard in my back right next to my left shoulder blade about half way down it. Have you tried hypnotherapy for your anxiety? CBT may help too to shift your worry away and think of the hiccups in a different way because the more you worry, the worse they will get. They really are harmless.
I have noticed the more I dwell on them, the more I get them. My GP years ago said to ignore them when they occur. Afib itself will not kill you! It simply increases your chance of having a stroke, over those who dont have it.
I have been where you are and can exactly relate. It’s not easy having AF and nobody can deny that. As others have said, AF won’t kill you and my cardiologist kept reminding me of that, it’s just not very nice when it happens.
I have had sessions of CBT for my anxiety which have really helped and I know others have also pointed you into that direction. You can refer yourself on line through the NHS and you don’t need a referral from your GP either. Search in google ‘therapy for you NHS’ and hopefully links will come up as all different trusts have different ways to apply. Depending in the severity you should get an appointment fairly quickly.
There are future treatments such as ablation, if you want to go down that route too, as I’m sure you are aware.
Anxiety makes ectopics and palpitations worse, they really do. You may be feeling more of your ectopics this past few weeks because of that. Try abd take slow deep breaths of you feel them coming in, as this may help. It does with me, but we are all different, so don’t worry if it doesn’t. Just try and relax when they happen and try and focus on something else to try and take your mind off them.
Hello Pepsicoke,I feel you, I'm the same way. I also have Afib and suffer from palpitations. My cardiologist also doesn't seem to care less. I'm taking metoprolol 25mg daily, but the ER doc increased it to 1/2 tab in the am and 1 tab in the evening. That seems to have helped me. If I feel them really bad in the morning I take my 1/2 tablet then bite off a little bit of another half, and that works for me. You should talk with your Doc and insist to maybe increasing your medication. I am also afraid to feel them too, because if they are too frequent, I know I'll have an Afib attack. I wasn't going anywhere just staying home.
I was so tired of living like this, then I said to myself "this Afib and palpitations are not going to take over my life, nothing is going to happen to me, my heart is strong and normal" I still get palpitations, but not too frequent and I'm going out now. Stay strong, but start with your Dr and if he doesn't listen, change doctors.
I absolutely understand what you are going through. After suffering off and on with palpitations for the past 20 years...been suffering since my early 40's. ....I had my first Afib incident a week before this past Christmas. Scared me to death because I didn't know what was happening. Anyway, I ended up in the ER. My anxiety was caused by being put on a medication that I was extremely afraid of, feeling palpitations almost constantly because I became hyper-aware of my heart beats and just having this sense of not having control over what my heart was going to do next! I was always worrying about whether or not I was going to have another Afib episode! To top it off, the medication made me feel horrible until they adjusted the dose.
I had to do something about the anxiety because it was making my palpitations worse and it was beginning to affect my daily activities. This extreme anxiety lasted for 2 months. I'm a praying person, so I managed to get a grip on my anxiety through prayer, meditation and Journaling. If you’re not into prayer, no biggie. The Journaling and meditation were extremely helpful! So whenever you feel the anxiety coming on, start Journaling. Write down how you are feeling and why. The Journaling helped me discover ways to overcome some of my fears regarding the Afib. I hope this advice is helpful and hope you start to feel better.🙂
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