Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
Hello all. This is my first post. I am posting because in November of 2019, I was having a conversation with a friend at the gym who I had a crush on. During that conversatio, my heart started racing and I felt anxious, which pretty much lasted all night. The next day I was still feeling some anxiety and so during the next few days. To rewind a little, I had experienced a few health issues last year too that freaked me out. But because of them, I developed a routine and automatic scanning and hyper awareness of body sensations. So when the heart racing and palpitations started, I became more focused on them, which made me more anxious. Over the next few weeks, I did see doctor and ended up getting referred to a cardiologist who did a stress exam/echo and had me wear a heart monitor for 2 days. He said all those exams came back normal (and he been joked why I he even sought services if my heart was in great condition). It's now the end of March (going on 5 months with heart palpitations and hyper awareness of heart rate). My palpitations have gotten better during the day and now I mostly developed an OCD thing at night where as soon as I lay down, I feel them and I struggle to fall asleep. Any help or support would be greatly appreciated
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Here is my new brother, copper :) He's so tiny! Moo and Tuck were ok with him on first meeting. Rocket due to his severe aggression will never meet Cooper.
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https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTDeA9Wxg/
It's great that you had everything checked out by doctors. I hope that brings you some comfort... that there is nothing wrong with you physically.
That being said, anxiety can definitely cause heart palpitations. It's concerning when we have these, but they will not harm you. Again, I would suggest deep breathing exercises. Also, writing things out, such as you did here, will also help you.
Doctor Arfie thinks you went to see the wrong specialist. I've scanned your post several times and see no reference to a second convo with the source of those heart palpitations.
What happened to that crush who got your heart racing to begin with? Sounds to this grizzled ol' nutjob like you need to talk to Doctor Love. That is a far more obscure field of Medical Science.
So or no, welcome to DS.
Hmm.
Anxiety heart ... could be love sweet love ... as anxiety is neither negative nor positive, it's natural.
Stay hydrated. Keep a journal. Practice calming routine in the evening to help your brain move into relaxing.
Best wishes.
But the worst part was I was having anxiety over my symptoms. Health anxiety. Every time my heart races...I thought I was having a heart attack. When I laid down on the left or right side...I was certain that my heart wasn't pumping right....I was afraid of driving b/c I would get dizzy or pass out.
It basically put a big RED DANGER SIGN...before everything I did...and it was debilitating in itself...probably worst than the actual problems causing it...lol.
Here is a few of my recommendations and things that helped me
1) When your anxiety kicks in...ask yourself...what is the worst thing that can happen if this is what I think? Most likely be...end up in hospital. Is that so bad?
2) You said it's been 5 months now...with the heart palps. Think of all the times you thought it was your heart during those 5 months. Did you die? Did something bad happen? So now you have to rationalize with yourself...by agreeing that...all those times I thought I was having heart issues, I survived and was ok...maybe it's just my anxiety. I will let it go. You have to challenge your thinking, and convince yourself of things.
3) Mantra - I trust myself. I trust myself. You can repeat this as often as you like...but at this point you don't trust your body...saying this often helped me alot.
4) You have to stop asking yourself how do I feel? You have to stop scanning and checking yourself. Like...oh...I feel tired...maybe my heart isn't working. Just leave it as...I'm feeling tired...ok. Next thought. With enough practice, you can tone down the response.
5) I used supplements that boosted my serotonin and dopamine levels. L-tryptophan and L-tyrosine. This helped me alot with the rumination. I would consult with your doctor first.
6) Triggers - there will be periods where you are just fine...and feeling good that you have your anxiety in check...and then something happens...you hear about a relatives heart condition...so now you go back into that loop. You have to catch it, and implement the tools you've learned to tame it.
7) When I had my first anxiety attack...I felt like I was having a heart attack...and right afterwards when I went to the gym and got my heart rate up...I would think that I'm having another one...and this went on for months. I couldn't shake it. The easy thing was to not go anymore...but I knew to get over it...I had to challenge myself and my anxiety. I kept going until my body realized it was safe and an ok sensation again.
8) Learn to meditate...youtube Soft Belly breathing mediation....he teaches you to take deep breathes...getting more oxygen in as well as calming our vagus nerve. I think alot of us with anxiety tend to breathe shallow...and that can cause alot of symptoms.
I hope this helps you...and if you have any other questions you can private message me or post on here.
You will get better and better every day!
Sending you light and love!
I started eating healthier and making sure I was getting 3 meals a day and they completely went away! I am becoming a firm believer that food is your best medicine!
I also wanted to mention that I have lung nodules (which are small scar tissue) in my lungs. I believe that they developed from a bad pneumonia I had when I was a child. Anyhow, last summer I brought up blood from my mouth and I went to the emergency room and then a few days after I got a CT Scan of my lungs, which showed the nodules. This was the third time the blood happened (twice in 2016). Anyhow, my pulmonologist thinks my lungs are fine and that I’m healthy. However, I sometimes wonder if the heart palpitations are related to a lung issue, but who knows?
I hope that you’re all doing well and managing the anxiety. Sending you all hugs during this rough global situation