Anxiety feelings

[Blueberrylover]

Hello

Would someone be able to tell me what are their symptoms for anxiety please.

Thank you Jan

[Tos92]

Hi Blueberrylover

I’m sorry you’re experiencing anxiety at the moment. My anxiety is usually accompanied by heart palpitations, hot flushes, shaking, nausea, and chest tightness. Be careful however, as anxiety symptoms can mimic angina as well. If ever in doubt, contact your GP or 111 if chest pain is present.

All the best.

Tos

[Blueberrylover in reply to Tos92]

Hi Tos

Thank you for your reply, my anxiety starts with huge butterflies in the stomach and palpating, I have the stomach butterflies a lot, palpations usually start about 8 pm, I am due for a heart monitor next week and that’s making my anxiety worse.

Thank you for listening Jan

[Tos92 in reply to Blueberrylover]

It’s good to note any triggers that you may have for your anxiety. If you know what they are, you can try and avoid them. I’ve had heart monitors in the past and they really are just easy stick on devices which monitor your heart rate with minimal interference to your day to day activities so try not to worry about that. They are also a good source of information when it comes to diagnosing abnormal heart rhythm.

Good luck.

[Yumz199725]

Hi blueberrylover

Very similar to cardiac symptoms so sometimes hard to know the difference. Can cause chest tightness, shortness of breathe, dizziness and nauseated feeling when I'm so stressed and anxious honestly feel like I'm gona faint sometimes. How have you been feeling? Have you been prescribed anything for anxiety I have and it helps a lot x well some days are better then others anyway!

[Blueberrylover in reply to Yumz199725]

Thank you for replying, the doctor put me on Bisoprolol he said that should help.

Thank you

[Yumz199725]

That's good, hope your heart monitor is able to pick up what's making you feel like this x

[Blueberrylover in reply to Yumz199725]

Thank you

[BeKind28-]

Hello

My anxiety never leaves me alone I wake up having anxiety and go to bed having anxiety

My mind never shuts up I cannot relax I am tuned into every sensation and thought I have all day long

I get headaches , feeling I cannot breath , I cry , shake and make myself feel so unwell

I go dizzy sometimes it gets so bad I feel I will pass out , I can sometimes start sweating

I am sure I have missed other things out what my anxiety does to me as there are so many and unless you suffer with it you just do not realise how depilating it can be

And no we do not choose to be this way and yes we do try to work on it but sometimes it is just the way we are and those that do not suffer I always think how lucky they are x

[Blueberrylover]

Hi BeKind 28

Thank you for your reply, I forget what symptoms I have because sometimes there are so many, it is so awful I understand exactly how you feel.

Hope you get better soon.

Thanks Jan

[BeKind28- in reply to Blueberrylover]

Hello

Sorry I have just seen your reply I am not sure how I missed it !

I can relate the symptoms go on and on a new one nearly every day sometimes

How are you doing now any better ?

Again sorry for just seeing this x

[Blearyeyed]

Sorry , could you explain , are you asking about people's feelings of Anxiety about having a heart condition? Or do you want to know about people whom suffer Anxiety and have a Heart Problem and how they can tell the difference between the two different health problems?

I know that Anxiety can often feel very similar to heart conditions because the Stress involved can make us breathless , raise the heart rate and cause palpitations or dizziness. In extreme circumstances, such as a panic attack , it can also cause chest pain, pins and needles in the arms and rebound headache.

Often , this still needs checking by a health professional, but if diagnosed as Anxiety this can often be helped by relaxation breathing techniques , CBT and distraction and anti anxiety medication.

If you have Anxiety and a Heart Condition it can be hard to distinguish between the two issues. If Anxiety Relief strategies are not working then you may require a combination of those with your medication. pill in pocket, or spray , and would need to contact emergency 111 if nothing is helping and symptoms get worse.

Try not to worry about having a heart monitor check , in fact think of having it as a positive thing, Having your heart monitored doesn't necessarily mean there is something wrong with your heart. Often , the heart monitor is used to rule out the chance that your symptoms are caused by your heart or they can show a pattern of symptoms that confirm which condition you have and which medication is most suitable for you.

A lot of people suffer from Anxiety when they have a heart condition, especially when they are initially diagnosed . It's normal to worry or feel a little scared both before and after surgery . People find it hard to start doing activities again because they are anxious that this might trigger symptoms.

Often this is helped by talking to others . Being honest with your family and friends about how you are feeling is always useful for your loved ones as well as you.

If you find that hard it's good to talk or ask questions on forums like this with people whom understand how you are feeling and that can relieve the Anxiety.

If you are still struggling with the way you feel it's also a good idea to contact the GP and get a referral for talking and CBT therapy , or if you are already being treated for a heart condition, your Cardiology Department to ask about a Cardiac Psychiatric assessment.

It's really helpful to use whatever strategies that you feel comfortable with to manage your Stress or Anxiety because that also helps you to live healthier and improves control of your cardiac symptoms too.

Take it slow and easy , both mentally and physically, there is no rush in improving , all tiny steps count , hugs , Bee

[Hidden in reply to Blearyeyed]

what a wonderful reply that's helped me too

[Blearyeyed in reply to Hidden]

Glad to help , hugs , Bee

[Blueberrylover]

Hi Bee

Thank you for your helpful reply. I don’t know yet if I have a heart problem I will find out next week, my anxiety has got worse thinking there is something wrong with my heart. I went to my GP with anxiety and he found that my pulse jumps from 42 to 102 then back to normal, it doesn’t do that all day just a few times a day so that is why I am having a heart monitor. I wanted to know other people’s symptoms to see if mine is anxiety or heart problems.

Thank you Jan

[Hidden in reply to Blueberrylover]

I Recently had a 5 day monitor which came in the post on a sticky patch then you sent it back via ddpd for data analysis

ive suffered anxiety for 60 yrs since childhood and had every therapy going

talking and cbt have helped me massively

if you ever need to talk pop in here

take care

[Blueberrylover in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Jessica

[Blearyeyed in reply to Blueberrylover]

It's good that your GP is being very thorough about working out what you need.It may feel funny to have the monitor on at first and if you already have Anxiety it may make you feel a bit more nervous, but believe me when I say when you've got the unit in a comfy place , either on a strap or even in a big pocket you forget about it.

Make the most of the test.

As , even if you have no heart related problem it can help you to understand how your Anxiety effects your physical feelings and what triggers it which will help you to feel less worried when it happens in the future, and, will help you understand when to relax and breath to reduce your symptoms.

You will receive a page or two as a Diary.

You fill in times on it when you are doing activities and times when you feel symptoms begin and end.

The unit usually also has a button to press when you feel symptoms too which helps the person examining the results to know what to concentrate on.

If you wake in the night it is also good to press the button even if you go back to sleep straight away.

This Diary is helpful for you too.

It's worth scanning and printing off a number of extra pages.

Note down the times when you do things and what it is you are doing , like waking up, dressing , meals , work and what it is , travelling , exercise or other activities, going to bed.

You also note down the time you feel any symptoms, either physical or mental , and what the symptoms were, not just palpitations. When symptoms start you press the unit button to mark an episode, then press again when it's ended.

Fill it out as you go rather than trying to remember it at the end of the day.

When you have symptoms it's a good idea to sit in a quiet space and rest with eyes closed and use a deep breathing technique taking moments to sip on a cool drink of water.

Either clear your mind or think of positive things , or picture a list of things that are your favourite colour, a beautiful place or rhythmic sound like the sea .

After you've finished the test it's a good idea to scan your diary pages and print off a copy so you can look through it yourself at home .

This can then help you also see if there are certain things that you are doing , or have eaten or drank, before the symptoms start which might be your " triggers".

It can also help you to see which relaxation techniques you use work best for reducing your symptoms.

It's worth continuing making a Diary for a few weeks using the same method after the monitor is taken off so that you have more chance of seeing recurrent triggers. Then you can begin to either avoid those triggers or adapt the way you do certain things, pacing the activity more slowly, to make things easier on your feelings so that they don't trigger the same physical response.

Good luck , and let us know how you get on , hugs , Bee

[Blueberrylover]

Gosh that post was very interesting, I will take on board all of what you have said.

Thank you very much Jan

[Bingo88]

You have had some fantastic Responses there Blueberrylover. All I will add to that is I went through a very difficult 2 years and I started worrying in my head about stupid things happening to me and if I woke in the night. These worries would have me sweating and with clammy skin. You just have to take your mind off into thinking about something else. It's strange you mentioned feeling like this a 8 o clock in the evening. Which is when it's starting to get dark now and that's when I used to start with my mind working overtime. I was always ok during the day with things to concentrate on. Hope you get some answers soon. Brian

[Blueberrylover]

Thank you Brian you might be right about the dark bringing on the palpitations, I thought it was so strange it happened the same time every night.

Thank you Jan

[SNA4724]

Hi Blueberrylover,Mine take form as palpitations, fidgety, upset tummy and my tinnitus gets worse.

I find meditation and listening to music helps.