update

[Anxious37]

someone did ask me to update . Well managed to get through a very hard week feeling so crap with head cold . I think I now have costochondritis with the sneezing and coughing . The whole of my chest is sore and tender with burning sensation . I have had this many times so know what I’m dealing with . Having a few palpitations/ flutterings this evening which then sets my anxiety off . Feel like I’m permanently learning to cope with one thing then something else happens. Think I have to remember that I’ve only been suffering with this since the start of December so still need to get used to all the strange aches pains fluttering etc . So here’s to battling through another week

[Paulbounce]

Hi Anxious.

You wrote:

someone did ask me to update . Well managed to get through a very hard week

Be proud of that. You had a tough week but you got through it. Give yourself a pat on the back - you deserve it.

You'll win the battle next week too. Keep up the good work - we'll all rootin' for you.

Update us again next week. Look at this like this. Picture your anxiety as a dial in your mind. It goes from zero to 100. Zero is no anxiety and 100 is full-blown. This week, let's say the dial was on 70. Next week aim to turn it down to 50. If you can do that you have a result. No AFibber will get it down to zero but 10 or 20 is doable.

Rgds Paul

Anxious37 Dial Meter

[meadfoot]

Anxiety can breed anxiety and our bodies react to the perceived threats. Our nervous system gets triggered and one sensation leads to another resulting in a heightened sense of our bodily symptoms and vagaries. This pattern can become embedded raising constant awareness triggering our brain into thinking we are in almost perpetual danger.

This has been my pattern with anxiety so it is a ‘lived’ state for me, which I recognise in myself so well. The trick is in finding ways to handle and minimise it which isnt easy but some of the time we can find strategies to minimise or at least cope with it on a daily basis to make it manageable. The hope is if we can minimise it we can stave off being overwhelmed.

If you can get some strategies in place before anxiety, per se, gets so embedded and entrenched it becomes so hard to handle and keep these ‘anxiety storms’ in control of us rather than us being in control of them.

It can be done with various degrees of success. Praise yourself and reinforce your ability to handle the anxiety as it arises, you can get this to manageable levels and decrease feeling overwhelmed some of or increasingly much of the time. We become highly sensitised to everything we encounter and we need to handle this.

Pauls suggestion of using a metaphorical ‘anxiety dial’ is an excellent idea. We all find our own strategies. If you spoke to anyone you pass in the street I bet a big proportion are gripped with anxiety in one shape or form, it seems to be a way of life these days invading our peace of mind and ultimately our body.

My very dear friend, a clinical psychologist, suggested to me some years ago that when I become overwhelmed, imagine a large sturdy storage trunk, open it, put the anxiety into it, imagine doing so clearly, close the lid, lock it and put a big rock on top of it. Your anxiety is safe in there, it cant escape, leave it there and give yourself a break from it for say half an hour or an hour, you can give yourself a window of peace before you let it out of the trunk again, overtime it can help a little to break the anxiety down.

Find strategies and external help that suit your own style and coping mechanisms, there will be a system which works best for you if you can tap into it. You can do this and will gain control. Yes no one said it is easy but you can be in control of it with practice not controlled by it. Very best wishes.

[Paulbounce in reply to meadfoot]

Good post Mead👍

[HollieAdmin Administrator AF Association]

Hello,

Thank you for your post. I am sorry to hear that you have been feeling unwell and of your struggle with anxiety. Feeling unwell such as having a cold can cause AF symptoms to arise so it is completely understandable to be experiencing anxiety due to palpitations/fluttering.

It can also take time to adjust to a new condition and adapting to ways of management so it is important to be kind to yourself.

I would like to direct you to our Mindfulness and Healthy Living with AF booklet. It contains supportive information, particularly around ways of managing AF as well as emotions it can cause. I do hope you find it helpful: api.heartrhythmalliance.org...

Alternatively, if you would like any support, advice or further information, please do reach out to our Patient Services Team via Patient Helpline or via email, please visit: heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...

We are always here if you need us.

Kind regards,

HollieAdmin

[Ppiman]

Battling describes my life at present- but many have worse (I keep telling myself!).

Steve

[Teresa156]

I’m sorry you’re feeling like this….I have been reading back some of your posts and can’t quite see - have you been referred to Cardiology yet for your AF? Or better still, an EP? EPs specialise in arrythmia. As you are newly diagnosed, you are entitled to have this, as they investigate into it and advise on medication etc.

[Anxious37]

I am on medication but I’ve been told could be 16/20 weeks before I see cardiologist. It’s so crazy that is the earliest date

[Teresa156 in reply to Anxious37]

I know it’s expensive, but if you are able to pay privately, you could see an EP in two weeks. It’s approx £200-250. You can refer yourself by contacting their EP and after you see them, you’ll get transferred to the NHS under them.

[Anxious37 in reply to Teresa156]

Can not afford it at the moment but wish I could go private