Anxiety

[Kingchris]

Hey my name is Chris im 21 years old and I've been dealing with health anxiety for a few years now I've had almost every test known to man I've had multiple EKGs blood test chest x-rays and my doctor has even listen to my heart and said that it sounds beautiful but he sent me for an echo which was normal too. I know I've been posting along bit one thing that I just cantcc seem to shake are these random erratic heart beats like flutters and I can check my pulse and it litterly pauses! Could this be from my anixety and lack of sleep.. I've had these skipped heart beats before but they used to be more of like one big thud now they are flutters!

[Ukbusybee]

Hi Chris. You have my sympathy, I too suffer health anxiety (caused by having some real health problems over the last few years). I also used to think I had heart problems and had a variety of tests that all came back normal. Anxiety can most definitely cause you to feel 'butterflies' in your chest. Lack of sleep also has a big impact. I have found that downloading a couple of apps and listening to anxiety relaxation/ meditation recordings really helped me calm myself down. The doctor reminded me that there's a lot going on inside your chest and it isn't always heart related. In fact, I've recently found out I have a number of food allergies and intolerances and these are what cause my cardiovascular responses. So take a step back, try to calm yourself through meditation and breathing exercises. Maybe make a note of your symptoms and how you feel generally and think about why you're stressing out and whether it could be anything else. Does it happen after you eat? After uou exercise? After a conflict or fight with someone? After you've been dwelling on something?

[Kingchris in reply to Ukbusybee]

If I haven't been getting much rest it would randomly just happen like I could just could be washing dishes and then flutter flutter flutter I can take my pulse and definitely feel my pulse pause in my neck

[Kingchris in reply to Ukbusybee]

It scares me so so much

[miasouth4]

what you're describing could be heart palpitations, and this is known as one of the most common symptoms for someone with anxiety. Try not to freak out too much, you've gone to see professionals in which they have told you you are fine, believe them. The more you freak yourself out the worse it will get.

Someone with 40 years of experience one told me, although we can't switch the worry and fear off like a tap we have to find away to stop frightening ourselves half to death every five minutes. Because by constantly bombarding our over sensitised nervous system with fear a dozen times a day we're providing it with the fuel that maintains that sensitivity. Symptoms bring fear which brings more symptoms which brings more fear which brings...you get the idea, we're in a vicious circle and until we break it our over sensitised nerves will never recover and neither will we.

[Kingchris in reply to miasouth4]

So the pauses in my heart beats are just my stress and anxiety?

[miasouth4 in reply to Kingchris]

yes they can be. it’s called heart palpitations as i said, they can be bothersome or frightening. They usually aren't serious or harmful, though, and often go away on their own. Most of the time, they're caused by stress and anxiety, or because you've had too much caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol.

[Kingchris in reply to miasouth4]

Yes they are scary and I don't get them all the time they are really random

[miasouth4 in reply to Kingchris]

yes they are random, just like others with anxiety experience other random symptoms like myself!

[Kingchris]

I've worn 30 day event monitor also and was normal

[Ukbusybee in reply to Kingchris]

If you've worn a monitor for 30 days it's highly unlikely you have a real heart problem. Fearing the worst puts your body into 'fight or flight' mode, which causes the heart to pump more blood round the body. You're then stressing yourself out about the heart working overtime and causing yourself to repeatedly go round in circles. I used to agonize over this so much so I do empathise with you, it's hard to get yourself out of this cycle. But you CAN do it, if you try to rationalise it when it happens next time. When I get palpitations now I consciously remind myself it's probably stress catching up with me and I try to calm myself down, because my body is telling me I'm overdoing it. When I feel like that I try listening to meditation music or anxiety relaxation sessions. I've also downloaded a little book on mindfulness called 'Journey into Mindfulness' by Dr Patrizia Collard, which is thought provoking. I also find that monitoring my overall health with my Fitbit has also been quite therapeutic because I can see trends if I've not been sleeping well, not getting much exercise etc. I know it's easy for us to give advice and it's hard for us to take advice, but I did use to find just talking about my fears with someone used to strangely put my mind at rest as well, because saying it out loud used to make me realise that maybe it was an irrational fear after all. Anyway, take heart that you're not alone, many of us fight the same demons! Good luck Chris. 👍🏼

[Kingchris in reply to Ukbusybee]

Thank you so so much for the advice and so you've felt these pauses in heart beats before also!? I'm glad that I'm not alone