RLR
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Okay, welcome to the forum. I've read your postings and complaint.
It's important to realize that you are so fearful because you are misinterpreting what is actually taking place. Many people who experience the very same symptoms interpret them to be signs of disease, in particular heart disease. In actuality, the palpitations are actually the mere inappropriate stimulation of the heart by the vagus nerve. It's the equivalent of a muscle twitch elsewhere in the body except in this instances, it's producing a twitch of sorts in the heart muscle. The events are entirely harmless and do not have the capacity to cause any type of sudden cardiac event and are certainly incapable of being life-threatening.
The characterization of the palpitations is based upon when the signal reaches the heart during the cardiac cycle. They can manifest as light fluttering, intense thumps and even what appears to be the absence of a heart beat altogether. Regardless, the events are entirely harmless in nature.
It's also very important to distinguish between the effects of mere situational anxiety and anxiety with somatoform. Many people exclaim "How can it be due to anxiety? I don't feel anxious!" What patients are saying here is that they recognize situational anxiety but that what is happening to them is entirely unfamiliar and feels more like a symptom that something is wrong with them. This is because anxiety with somatoform actually produces physiological changes that are misconstrued by the patient. So anxiety has several forms, not merely situational anxiety.
The sudden awakenings are known as hypnogogic events and are entirely harmless. They result from responding to stimulus by the brain during the brief period between wakefulness and sleep and are most common in persons who are either experiencing sleep difficulty or are exhausted.
The sound in your ears is known as pulsatile tinnitus and is very common in persons with anxiety. It is merely due to tension in the neck that causes tendons and muscle to tighten in the proximity of the auditory nerve, creating a situation much like the surface of a drum.
When blood moves through the internal carotid, it can be detected by the auditory nerve under these conditions and you hear it as a whooshing sound. It does not have anything to do with your blood pressure and does not constitute a symptom that anything is wrong.
You're going to be just fine and there's nothing actually wrong with you other than anxiety with somatoform features.
The change in frequency of palpitations can often be linked to changes in a person's life such as college, loss of a loved one, loss of a job or a new job and other major life events. Regardless, you're not going to suffer heart attack and there is no underlying disease causing the problem.
Best regards,
Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)
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