hi all i have just joined this site today last year i started getting really bad heart palpitations i have had all the tests done and all have come back fine i know suffer with panic attacks from it but now my concern is my heart feels like it is slowing down and i fear it is going to stop is this just down to the panic attacks i get chest pain and feel really faint i have been to hospital a few times but they say all is clear dose any one else suffer with this look faward to replys

sara

Hello Sara,

my apologies for not responding sooner, but I'm old and move a little slower these days.

I would encourage you to read my postings on the general portion of this site entitled HEART PALPITATIONS 101. It will help orient you to the nature of these events and tell you why they're harmless in nature. The emotional, rather than physical, concerns are what cause the most dicomfort for most patients I see.

The parasympathetic nervous system is largely responsible for the disturbances you are experiencing and it's always wise to make direct comparisons to the same sort of physical changes that occur when you become very frightened. The same system is at work in those cases as well and I'm sure you've heard of someone who fainted as a consequence of suddenly being startled or frightened. Many people have said that something scared them so badly that their "heart skipped a beat," or that they "became weak in the knees," or that they "couldn't scream or speak momentarily." Why do you think so many people experience the same symptoms?

Well, it's because the "fight or flight" mechanism inherent in each of us has been put into action and prepares the body to either confront the danger or prepare for escape, hence the name. Well the body must undergo physiological changes in order to do so and in the presence of true danger, it is not detected or focused upon due to the circumstances. But when anxiety is present, it can actually induce the fight or flight mechanism to engage because a person "believes" that there is a fear, regardless of whether it's real or not. Fear is a concept of the mind and the body has no way of discerning whether it's real or not, but simply invokes the fight or flight process. So in cases where your focus is not upon an environmental and imminent fear, you suddenly begin to notice changes in your heart rate, breathing, palpitations, strange tingling sensations, feelings of impending doom, etc. and all of these things can invoke further fear because it's wrongly interpreted to be something wrong physically, such as disease. Not the case at all.

You'll be just fine. Stick around and talk with folks on the support site. They're a great group of people and can help offer their own experiences and support.

We'll talk more.

Best regards and Good Health

Sara - it sounds like you are exactly where I was three years ago when I was first diagnosed with ectopic heartbeats. I too was stricken with panic attacks, terrified I was about to drop dead, afraid to go to sleep because I though I would die in the night - paralysed with anxiety is how I would describe it. I took the kids to school and then spent the rest of the day on the settee afraid to move. If I went to the loo, I took my mobile in case I had to call my husband (or an ambulance, I suppose).

It has taken a while but gradually I got better. It is very hard to accept what we are told by doctors sometimes, because the idea that we are 'ill' is very deep-seated. If you have had all the tests and your doctors say you are okay, then you have to remember that:

• palpitations/missed beats/ectopics/pvc's are harmless if your heart is structurally normal (the tests would show this)
  
  statistically, people with the above are not at any higher risk of sudden death or heart attack than anyone else.
  
  in a big research programme, 80% of the people checked randomly had pvc's during a 24 hour period - it was just that most of them didn't feel them.
  
  many people have thousands of these pvc's, ectopics, missed beats a day (I get hundreds when I get them) and have been like this for years without ill-effect.

I think you need to start looking at ways to deal with the anxiety (which may well be adding to the palpitations). I found Claire Weekes "Self Help for Your Nerves" book very helpful - carried it everywhere. I printed off RLR's responses that I found useful and would re-read them when necessary. I printed off these anxiety coping statements to read when necessary:

http://www.anxietynetwork.com/helpcope.html#helpcop1

I read David Burn's "Feeling Good - the New Mood Therapy", which I found useful.

I gave up caffeine  - no cola, just decaff tea and coffee now. Definitely avoid energy drinks. Many people find their palpitations are affected by eating - follow RLR's advice and have smaller, lighter meals, don't eat heavily near bedtime. I found being hungry and tired made me more anxious, so avoid getting like that - hard when you can't sleep at night, I know.

It's difficult I know, but things will get better. Best wishes.