Heart Rate and Palpitations with Anxiety

[DougSchmidt1979]

I have bad anxiety. On mother's day I wasn't feeling well after eating and went home. When I got home I decided to check my heart rate. Granted I use Samsung health on my smartphone to check it. When I checked it I noticed a 1 sec pause in my heartbeat and got freaked out. I went back over to where my wife was and by the time I got there my heart rate was up to 140 bpm. Once I sat down and relaxed just a little my heart rate started to drop back down. But ever since this incident I notice heart palpitations and my heart rate always seems to be increased compared to what it was before my episode on mother's day. I have talked to a doctor online and she thinks it's more than likely my anxiety. But now I have been feeling palpitations after I eat and being as I hate the feeling I have barely eaten anything in a week. Maybe 3 meals worth of food. Will anxiety really do this to me? Has anyone else ever experienced this stuff and if so how did you get over it for a lack of better terms?

[IanMK]

Hi Doug What do YOU mean by 'anxiety'? Is it your palpitation sensations. Is it a result of seeing the one second pause and the high heart rate? Are you certain that your smartphone app is telling the truth? You don't say whether you are on any medication. If you are, could your perceived anxiety be related to that?

I believe that what you are experiencing is quite common. You should try to keep calm and not stress yourself over this. I find it helps to control the palpitations by holding my breath for a few seconds. What your doctor said is probably true, but if you have the opportunity - and for extra peace of mind - I suggest that you get an EKG to see what your heart is really doing. I am not medically trained, but I understand that occasional extra beats and missing beats are quite common and nothing to worry about.