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Heart Palpitations Forum >> Symptoms and other concerns >> Worried about heart again
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Message started by beadbabe on Apr 2nd, 2008, 2:11am

Title: Worried about heart again
Post by beadbabe on Apr 2nd, 2008, 2:11am

Hi there
My ectopics have increased to horrible levels again (averaging six - seven per minute) - and I am worried because a new thing is happening with them. There seems to be quite a few random flutterings and thumps, then a strange buzzy sensation in my heart. This is when I am just sitting up in bed - totally relaxed. Does this sound familiar  to anyone?

also I am getting worried again because latest research is showing that ectopics are a bad symptom if you get them during recovery after exercise. Is this only a problem if you have blocked arteries or other heart defects? The articles don't really say. I get ectopics before during and after exercise.

HELP!! AAARGGHHH! This condition does nothing for my sanity.

bead xx

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by saab on Apr 2nd, 2008, 2:31pm

Sorry to hear that things are bad again - I go through spells when I am the same. One started today actually, worrying over a stomach pain which I am pretty sure is just scar tissue/settling down after my hysterectomy 2 and a half years ago - but it just sets you off worrying doesn't it? I haven't heard the thing about ectopics during recovery from exercise being a bad sign -  did it mean if you only get them then? When mine were bad, I got them constantly, and i would think if you get them all the time there would be no added significance to the ones you get after exercise. Maybe RLR can help.

I had to get my cognitive therapy books out today and go through some exercises again. I haven't looked at them for months, but I felt really anxious about my stomach pain and my heart (had quite a few ectopic spells in the last week or so) and it did help a bit.

It felt like I was back where I started 3 years ago when my missed beats first started. Isn't it frustrating when you feel you have come so far in coping witn the anxiety that these things bring, then you have a setback and feel back to the beginning again? However, I am feeling better tonight and can see that how I am at the moment is just a temporary thing - as yours is, I am sure.

I hope you feel better soon. I haven't been posting much recently, been doing up the house and putting it on the market, but I have still been reading the new threads. I will make try to make an effort to post more as I am always grateful for the support I have received from RLR and the regulars when I have needed a bit of reassurance.

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by RLR on Apr 2nd, 2008, 3:52pm

Okay, changes in frequency and intensity of benign palpitations does not suggest the onset or presence of pathology. Additionally, your interpretation of the literature you describe is incorrect.

We have found that some individuals experience a momentary and rather paradoxical rise in heart rate following cessation of exertion. It is the time period during which this increase and subsequent return to baseline that suggests higher risk of heart disease. An increase with longer returns to baseline equates with higher risk. There is also the circumstance where true arrhythmias appear because the heart begins failing under exertion, but that is strictly in the presence of actual heart disease and not your situation.

By contrast, there is no association to heart disease or risk and the presence of benign palpitations. The increase in benign palpitations can occur because of changes in vagal tone in the presence of exertion. This is not associated in any way with heart disease.

Remember that the most likely underlying mechanism for changes in frequency or intensity of benign palpitations is GI related issues. If stress creates changes in the GI tract, then it's highly likely that an corresponding increase in benign palpitations will be experienced.

You'll be fine. I realize that any change from what is normally experienced can induce anxiety and fear, but you must learn to apply logical boundaries to the extent of what possible consequences can actually arise, none of which are harmful and certainly not life-threatening.

Best regards and Good Health  

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by beadbabe on Apr 4th, 2008, 4:10am

Hi Rlr
thanks - I will try to console myself with what you say!
Many thanks, as ever

Bead x

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by seffie on Apr 9th, 2008, 12:31pm

Hi Bead,
sorry late replying to this post but I was away last week.
Just wanted to say that my palpitations seem to change as well. In fact I rarely get the classic ectopic anymore of beat-pause-thud, I seem to get more little flutters, thumps, brief irregular beats & other weird beats that I couldn't really describe. I find them very disturbing too but am trying really hard to just accept them as variations on the same theme.
When my ectpoics were really bad & I was also having as many as 6 or 7 a minute they really scared me but after a while I realised that I just had to get on with doing stuff while I was having them (which I know you do too) & eventually accepting them really seems to have made them so much better for months now.
However, as RLR says, when you get something that feels different it makes you worry again.
Maybe it's abit like anxiety symptoms in that when you first get a symptom it scares you, then you find out what's causing it, the fear goes & then the symptom goes but then another new & scary symptom replaces it.
I think I have also had that buzzy sensation.
Anyway, I'm rambling, but just wanted to say I know how you feel, as I'm getting lots of palps that feel different too.
Just hope it's all part of the same cause as I know these are worse with adrenaline & with movement, like getting up & walking around etc.
Hope you're feeling better!
love Seffie xx

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by beadbabe on Apr 10th, 2008, 3:50am

Thanks for your reply Seffie!
They have got a little better again, but now I have a horrible cold, and am expecting the inevitable backlash of ectopics. Every time I get a virus I seem to end up with terrible palpitations after I get better. Wonder if it will happen again this time?

x

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by Beanie on Apr 10th, 2008, 4:44am

Hi everyone.  It has been awhile since i have had a visit here, but have come back for some reassurance.  Mine too have changed from a flip flop in the throat then thud to a quivering in the lower throat then the thud.  Sounds similar to what you describe.  Over the past year, since I have posted I have been doing pretty well, still daily but not the 1500 a day when it started, but will have periods where they flare up and are all day long.  I recently had 5 days where I had absolutely none that I could feel.  First time in 2 years! Was like heaven, but then they crept back.  I know they are nothing to worry about but I fear that my heart will go into a complete state of continuious crazy beats.

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by saab on Apr 10th, 2008, 2:19pm

Well, we all seem to be having a tough time at the moment. I had been doing pretty well, but this Tuesday - crikey, missed beats, several a minute, feeling every one, from around 8am to around 2pm. Very alarming, and back to feeling I am about to drop dead! Okay yesterday and today. Any change in my symptoms makes me super-anxious, even though I know it is probably not significant. I guess this is just how it is going to be.

It does make you want to rush back to the GP for more tests though, which I am trying hard not to do. I think I will be digging out the Claire Weekes books this weekend, folks, to practise 'accepting, not fighting' my anxiety! (if I can find it - got so cocky about feeling better, I think I packed it away!)

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by seffie on Apr 11th, 2008, 12:30am

Hi Saab,
yes I think it's hard when they come back after a good spell. Sometimes when you go through a long spell of having them you are forced to just accept them & get on with it but when they start up again it can feel awful & of course you start trying to work out why!

Mine seem to change all the time, just as I accept & stop fearing one type of palp a new one starts up & I find that hard to deal with. The other day I even said to my husband that I would prefer ectopics to weird flutters as at least I understand what's going on with them!
I seem to be getting more just when I start walking somewhere or when I'm standing talking & laughing with people-horrible!

You're right though Saab you just need to accept them & try to lose the fear & I'm sure they'll go away again!
Hope you're having a better day today.
love Seffie xx

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by beadbabe on Apr 11th, 2008, 2:14am

I do think the hard thing is when the sensations change and then it makes you feel as if it is something different wrong with your heart.

I have a lovely GP at the moment and he is really understanding and says he feels sure the ectopics are linked to the anxiety and that the anxiety has hung around longer because of the palpitations. Eventually they may go away. I agree with you all though - it is a total state of bliss when you can't feel them or be bothered by them.

I have also sold many of my anxiety books on amazon (some I didn't find so helpful so got rid, and I have kept only a couple.) Sometimes just looking at the books on the floor or on a shelf made me feel fed up as they were just a reminder of what was wrong with me so I have now put them out of view and sold the rest. That is one of my latest tactics to try to forget what is wrong.

Those of you with kids off school - hope you are all coping well this fortnight!

bead x

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by Beanie on Apr 11th, 2008, 5:03am

Has anyone tried small amounts of anxiety meds and with any success?  I am not a big pill person and tried some CBT but not too much help.  I feel like I have low levels of constant anxiety- worried about kids at college, money, husbands past health issues, but nothing too horrific.  Just have become very sensitized-nerves are frazzled by overuse! :o

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by beadbabe on Apr 11th, 2008, 8:11am

hello
I have been taking citalopram for about a year now - it takes a LONG time to work but anxiety-wise I feel mostly normal now, probably only a couple of panic attacks per month, compared to two per day last year. I would say though that I couldn't tell you if it was the pills or me that has made me better.

I was desperate not to go on the medication as I have always avoided any nasty substances legal (or illegal) and only used the prescription as a last resort as I couldn't really cope at all. And I mean, not cope in the slightest. I suppose it was what some people call a nervous breakdown, but not in a depressed sense, just totally scared and ill with physical symptoms.

I would actually only recommend them as a last resort too as the initial side effects were dire.

Maybe you can get some of the support and advice here that you need. CBT is okay but you need to make it part of your life forever and constantly go back to it. Everything needs to be rationalised and put into perspective, if you are an anxious person

bead

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by saab on Apr 12th, 2008, 2:21pm

When I was super-anxious, panic-attack anxious, my GP gave me some half-inderal tablets. These are a mild beta blocker which she said would just take the edge off the anxiety. I didn't take them as I she wanted me to wait until after I'd had an ecg, by which time I felt a bit better. They can affect the heart though, slowing the heart rate, so they may not be suitable for everybody.

I know some people swear by Bach's Rescue Remedy, though I am personally fairly sceptical of claims for homeopathy etc.

Since the ectopics I have similarly become someone who worries about everything, general result being that I always expect the worse in every scenario. I expect a negative outcome to everything from health issues to going over the time limit on Tesco car-park.  I worry about things that haven't happened, are not likely to happen, and all the time jumping ahead and going through every permutation in detail in my head. CBT books have helped but you have to check yourself and say, 'Stop it, that's not helpful' when you are overwhelmed with automatic negative thoughts which is difficult when you have 'practised' having them for so long.

Strangely, after a really bad day on Tuesday, I have only felt a few missed beats since about Wednesday. When I feel like I do now, I feel I can take them in my stride, be logical, apply common sense and see I am not about to drop dead. But when they start up... logic goes out the window, I take my pulse every few minutes and expect to expire on the spot. My head is flooded with 'what if's..?'... the doctors missed something, the ectopics have changed, they mis-read the results, and a dozen other unlikely scenarios.

All I can say to those of us struggling at the moment is I am much, much better than I was three years ago. If I can overcome my anxiety to a large extent, so can everyone else. It does get better, it will get better. There will be setbacks and difficult spells, but it is possible to go back to being the person you were and enjoy your life again.

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by Beanie on Apr 12th, 2008, 2:45pm

That is something I do worry about, that an anti-anxiety pill may affect my heart in a benign way but nonetheless it will just add to the problem.  I want to stop the palps, not start another problem.  It is amazing how we can feel so good and in control when they are not so bad and then completely disinegrate when they start again.

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by beadbabe on Apr 13th, 2008, 12:02am

Hi there
I don't think beta blockers help anxiety for me - all they do is slow your heart rate - they don't do anything for anxiety symptoms other than that.

In fact for me they made my ectopics worse because the slower your heart rate the more ectopics can creep in between your normal sinus ryhthm.

As for Bach Rescue Remedy - yes, some people swear by it - but I would need a pint of it to work! Perhaps it works for people with mild anxiety in an 'if you think it's doing you good...' kind of way.

anything is worth trying though if you think it might help - you just have to find a solution that works for you. I don't think one thing is the answer - it's probably a case of trying to tackle your thoughts and generally getting happier with your situation in life. And getting happier doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong with your life (although for some people that could be the case), it may just mean your perspective on your problems.

Maybe you need more time for yourself doing what you really enjoy? I think for me this has been a big factor - the constant stress of my oldest child who just clashes with the whole family (this, and he's only 6) has led to my problems, I am sure of it. Constant stress has led to the anxiety in my case, as it has left me with a system that is constantly in fight of flight mode.

Hope you manage to find some answers here
x

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by Beanie on Apr 13th, 2008, 4:45am

Thanks saab and beadbabe.  I guess we all look for a easy one remedy answer, but I agree that it is a combination of things.  For me I think just keeping busy and my thoughts on regular day to day activities is the most helpful. I also had a very difficult, stubborn daughter, who is now 20 and 600 miles away in college.  She also added a great deal of unneccessary tension to our family but we got through it and she is doing well, and things are much more peaceful at home!! Of course I worry that she is safe at school being in a  city and travelling to New York  City every weekend to see her boyfriend!  But I guess that stuff will never end!. Have a good day.

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by Kathryn on May 8th, 2008, 1:37pm

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to quickly add to the pill subject, each to their own and if you have to take medication i.e it's compulsary then fine, but in the case of anxiety a pill will only temporarily make you feel better, as soon as you come off it the problems that make you panic and be anxious will still be there, all you do by taking pills for anxiety is avoiding the problem.  You have to do alot of soul searching, analyse how you feel about a situation and if you realise that situation made you anxious then why has it made you anxious, recognising the negative thoughts, you do not realise you are thinking that way, you have to concentrate on your thoughts.  This is my personal opinion, No pill can tell you why you are anxious, what causes it for you and what deep routed past incidences have effected your thought process and your bodys reactions to certain situations.

Hope you are all ok

Kath x

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by beadbabe on May 9th, 2008, 12:06am

Hi all
Just want to add to that. I don't agree with kathryn re the pills for anxiety. I do take some but don't agree that they make you 'better 'and make you ignore the problem. They don't make you better at all - they only slightly improve the problem so that you ARE able to deal with it. They are definitely not a cure-all and probably best reserved for people who are unable to function at all with their anxiety.

They are definitely necessary for some people - if you only have anxiety at a mild level and are able to think straight enough to deal with your problems then avoid them if you can. But the advice that they take away your problems and make you ignore the problem is definitely not true. I have been on medication for over a year now and I still have panic attacks and still have to deal with anxiety every day by working through it, but the tablets have cut my panic attacks down from three a day to perhaps one biggie every month.

Each to their own! Each person needs to work out what is best for their level of anxiety and what and how they cope with their life.

bead x

Title: Re: Worried about heart again
Post by Kathryn on May 9th, 2008, 12:35am

Hi

Obviously if you have severe depression then fine, I have had anxiety disorder and if you'd have been on the old forum long enough you would have known how bad I was, they tried me with tablets but they made it worse and I didn't really want to take them anyway just everytime I went to the doctors they were trying to shove them at me, at one point in my anxiety I did the bare minimum and just spent the rest of the time in the armchair as I was scared to move, so it wasn't mild anxiety at all.

I didn't mean as if you are ignoring it you are just prolonging it.  I personnally didn't fancy pumping my body full of chemicals when I have managed to do what I have posted.  Like you said each to there own, but I chose not to live my life that way and to do something about it, soul searching, thinking more positively, I would never be working, Being Chair of a finance commitee on the governing board and secretary to the PTA at my childrens school, if I hadn't taken the bull by the horns and got on with it.

Don't get me wrong I still get anxious and I still get missed beats, fuzzy beats, all sorts but I get on with it now and don't sit there worrying about each and everyone of them, I would be a lier if I said sometimes they didn't bother me, but I've had to accept this is how my body is and thats that, instead of thinking I just want to be normal again why do I get these all the time, maybe this is normal and why waste my life worrying about it all the time.

Please don't think I getting at those of you who do take anti-depressants as about 6 years ago I was put on seroxat, and I felt ok for a while, but even though my doctor said they were not addictive it took me months to get off them, then my heart started missing beats more and the anxiety was still there so I just prolonged the anxiety, yes I felt ok for about 6 months, but it didn't help in the long run.

Take Care

Kath x


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