I have suffered from health anxiety/general anxiety for 8 years, but recently it's been VERY tough.. I've had premature ventricular contractions as long as I can remember, and this is what (I think) triggered my health anxiety at an early age, but recently I've been feeling all sorts of new/different arrhythmias, such as short periods where my heart kind of flutters really fast. My resting heart rate is also very high all the time (around 90). So I'm constantly worried about my heart.
I have done too many ECG's to count, 24-h holter monitoring two times and they checked my heart with ultrasound. The doctor says my heart is healthy and that there is nothing to worry about. But I can't stop thinking that they must have missed something since these new arrhythmias that I'm feeling didn't get recorded.
Now to the point. A couple of weeks ago I started waking up in the morning with my heart beating very fast and hard. It starts as soon as I open my eyes, but sometimes I even get awaken by this. It has happened every day since "day one", and it seems to always happen around the same time. This is the first time ever Im experiencing something like this, so I'm very worried about it and don't know what to do!! I even force myself to stay awake at nights so I won't have to experience it..
Can this be caused by my health anxiety and/or worrying about my heart 24/7?? or is there actually something physically wrong with my heart?
Thank you for reading this long post.
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Mellisfavorite
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Being overly aware of your heart can for sure cause the symptoms you are experiencing. The more aware and scared you are the more it feeds the symptoms, leaving you in this constant state of fear feeding fear. You need to believe the doctors and your test results. Lastly, you need to trust your heart. It knows what to do and how to do it. I know it is so hard but you can stop obsessing over your heart. It will take some time and not every day will be easy, but you can! Hang in there. *hugs*
Thank you so much for your reply! It is very hard indeed. I used to be able to find comfort in the positive test results at first, but not anymore. The heart obsession and health anxiety just keeps getting worse. My current therapist isn't working out for me either, so I really don't know what I should do, and it scares me. But now I know I'm not alone in feeling this, and that is comforting.
Hey Mellisfavorite, hang in there friend everything is going to be alright. I have been experiencing the same thing lately, I have found that listening to guided meditation videos on youtube as I fall asleep helps me stay a bit more calm in the morning if I am not going through a particuarly stressful period in my life. I have also had an s3 heart gallop that went away a week later, the more you think about your heart the more you make yourself think something is wrong with it when in reality it is perfectly fine and you are imagining it. I suggest deep breathing, then tensing every muscle you can as hard as you can for 10 seconds then release.
Hi Poland1590. Thank you for the reply! I recently started to do guided meditations in the morning and evenings. I feel very relaxed and calm right afterwards but the anxiety returns pretty fast. It hasn't helped me with my racing heart during the night/morning, but I suppose you can't expect amazing results just after a couple of days, so I will definitely continue with the meditations and see where it leads. I will also try the techniques you suggested!
Yes, the anxiety will come back that is something that will happen from time to time but you have to remember the videos and just keep to it, you will begin to feel better after doing it for a while,
Hi Minnie! Just read your post and now I know what you mean. Just like you I don't feel any chest paint or shortness of breath, just a racing heart/cold sweats every night/morning. Even though it has happened every day for about a month now, it still feels just as uncomfortable and scary as the first time. Its truly horrible. Just as you I also experience very vivid dreams every night (mostly in the early morning), and sometimes I can even "feel" my PVC's/palpatations during the dream, and wake sweaty and in extreme panic. I don't know if my heart actually acts like this when I dream, or if it's just in fact, a dream, and not actually happening. I'm also afraid that my heart races during the entire night, and is getting damaged.
Since you have been experiencing this for so long I'm assuming you have tried different techniques/therapy to ease the anxiety. Has anything helped? 6 years is waaay to long to be feeling something as awful as this.. I truly hope that you feel better soon, and remember, you're not alone!
Yeah I looked at your page and it indeed seems like we are experiencing VERY similar things. Although I'm not getting the lightheadedness, everything else is pretty much the same.
I just don't understand.. I'm feeling less anxious during the days, trying to exercise and stay active etc. But as soon as I fall asleep it's like my unconscious mind is in a constant state of panic. I wake up 4-5 times every night/early morning from my racing heart. I take a couple of deep breaths and it usually slows down a bit and I can fall asleep again (for a little while)
But I don't get it, why does this keep happening?? It can't just be anxiety, or can it? I'm starting to think that I may have sleep apnea or something else. Something physical and not psychological. I'm getting really sick of it and don't know what to do..
It feels like I'm damaging my heart every night and that it might just one day give out on me.. it's very scary
I get this after late nights and little sleep. Its awful. Has often woke me up as well. Along with the feeling that my heart stops for a second, like it skips a beat. My doctor told me it's normal with anxiety and my anxiety is mainly health related. I've struggled alot today as I didn't sleep much last night. But now I'm almost too scared to sleep. Vicious circle!!
Have taken diazepam just to help calm me down, not ideal when you lead a busy life style and running my own business is almost impossible some days.
I know I don't help myself by over thinking but it's easier said than done isn't it. Xx
I'm new here on this community and was reading thru the posts - your post interested me as I, too have had heart palpitations in the past and it concerned me a lot.
Wanted to mention my experience as no one else said anything about it and so I wanted to ask you if you have had your 'Thyroid' hormones - blood tested - recently ?
Heart palpitations are a symptom of HyperThyroid and can cause a Lot of Anxiety - it did for me when all that was happening many years ago ! (i won't go into the whole story on that) (:
If you have not had your Thyroid tested - I would ask your doctor about that ASAP - and I'd also recommend the UK Thyroid community here on HealthyUnblocked ... as they have lots of info about what exact blood tests you would need, etc. I also think it is important to read more about HyperThyroid sypmtoms if this is a health issue for you.
Take good care of your self Mellisfavorite and I hope you are feeling better with each day, r-e
Hi RealEyes ! Sorry for the late reply. It's just been pretty tough lately. I actually tested my Thyroid hormones a couple of days ago and according to my doctor everything is normal.
I recently started to exercise and I'm not feeling as anxious during the day as I used to. But my heart racing problems during the night/morning just won't go away! Yesterday I was super tired when I went to bed, but woke up just after one hour because of my heart rate. This happened again several times during the night/ morning.
I just don't get it!! This happens every day even though I'm not feeling as anxious now.. It's getting really hard to believe that this is "JUST ANXIETY" and nothing else!! Maybe it's sleep apnea? I don't think so since I never feel any breathlessness when waking up.. I'm starting to run out of theories, patience and energy..
I wish you all the best RealEyes, and thank you for your response!
just a side note Mellisfavorite - that the 'usual' blood tests for thryoid are not always correct and/or severely limited !
There are Thyroid Antibody tests that are more accurate yet more difficult to get doctors to test for that ... doctors can be rude and Very Dismissive about thyroid blood tests, etc.
Hyperthyroid has heart palpitations as a symptom and can cause damage to one's heart if not properly diagnosed.
no pressure here ... just wanted to mention that thyroid conditions are hard to diagnose due to many doctor's unwillingness to work with patients along with the not so good blood tests they usually use to 'test' the thyroid. It is a huge topic (thyroid disease) yet one I recommend to folks who are having trouble determining what is going on with their health.
Same here! I'm taking 10mg daily of propranolol but it may not be enough. I too have PVCs for 20 years..Dr also thinks it may be GERD so it might me stomach rather but
I think it's my heart. Had an endoscopy done and found a lipoma or small benign growth that was taken out. Also they found red irritation around my stomach lining which is caused my GERD. I was put on pantoprozole 20mg daily pump inhibitor seems to help. Also I think It's hereditary. My mom who is 84 has had this since I can remember. If all scans and tests come back negative for your heart, trust it, you're okay!
I experience this sometimes but my health anxiety is related to an arrhythmia that I woke up with one day in 2016, called SVT. My heart rate was going 246. I had two more episodes before having a surgery to correct it in Feb of 2018. There are days I wake up and immediately fear I am in SVT, even though I am not. I would definitely take it to heart (no pun intended) that the docs say your heart is fine after monitoring it. When my anxiety is bad, my resting heart rate can be 90-105. Definitely easier said than done to know you are okay. But you are definitely not alone xo
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