Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: Justjules on April 22, 2016, 07:17:03 AM
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Well sitting here sobbing this morning, getting myself in a right state. Got home from work last night and was literally 'dragged' out for a walk with the dog by hubby as it was such a nice night. Really have a phobia of walking with having heart HA but went. Was really pleased with myself as I walked most of the way round the park....but.....hubby veered off the flat path and up a very slight incline to some rough ground and I walked up there and bam...heart rate went through the roof and I went all hot and then panicked thinking omg, why the heck did it do that as it wasn't just like walking up stairs and your heart rate bumping up....so, couldn't wait to get back to the car and tried to stifle the panic and tears.
This wouldn't have happened if I was still on the BBs I'm sure. Everybody keep saying there's nothing wrong with your heart, you don't need them but I obviously do and there obviously is. I am already thinking, ablation, pacemaker, surgery!! I am absolutely terrified that I will have to go for tests if I tell the GP. I just can't live like this anymore every day. I can't see that anxiety would make your heart rate do that just by walking up a slight incline....I know I am unfit and don't do any exercise but I keep getting encouraged to walk and then this happens. I won't go again now and am already wanting to cancel my holiday in June with hubby. What sort of mental loonie thinks like this all the time....there are people out there with cancer for goodness sake.... :'(
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My first thought was anxiety so I wouldn't dismiss it. I had a lot of heart related symptoms and it was really scary, I also didn't quite believe the tests and was convinced they'd missed a problem. It's only looking back I can see that I was actually having panic attacks on noticing my heart rate rise which gave me the exact symptoms you describe. It did improve after a while but my anxiety is a million times better now I'm on HRT. Talk to your GP and have the tests. Hope this helps.
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Jj, I've had this. Even just walking across a flat marketplace. And when I think about it, it's because I've been waiting for it to happen. A little what if thought pops in. , like " what if my heart gets faster, what if I get a stabbing pain then that will prove I've heart disease" or there might be the " I hope it doesn't happen now " thought. And boom. I get a twinge, or a funny feeling or am just aware of my heart. I remember walking round the flat at Fountains Abbey with chest aching, jaw rigid and convinced I was on verge of heart attack and having to sit down every few minutes. The only way back to the car was up a steep bank and winding path and I was sure I'd need to be airlifted to hospital but I walked up that bank with no pain, no nothing because the fear of making a fool of myself outweighed the fear of heart problems. This week my palpitations virtually vanished because I'm now convinced the migraines are imminent stroke or a brain tumour so I've focused on them instead. Even today when I had loads when I woke up in hot sweat, I just turned over and went back to sleep because I was more worried about whether I'll get another migraine later today. What I'm saying is that it is you and your thoughts that are the problem not the racing heart or aches and pains or whatever it is that you give your attention to. It's that attention that is giving all of this the power to work you up and of course once agitated, your heart has no choice but to race and skip beats and so on. Only you can decide how best to deal with this- you say you are scared of tests, but tests would give you an answer and might put this to bed once and for all, though I suspect like me, you'd just find another worry to move on to. I know you are having some therapy for this but it maybe that you need to get your GP to refer you to someone who knows how to deal with health anxiety specifically. X
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Coldethyl, I just can't understand why it would shoot so high so quick with very little exertion. I want to go out and garden but I lifted a plant pot at the weekend and my heart went weird. I feel in some way that the betablockers protected my heart and I feel vulnerable without them and surely having these symptoms prove that I need them. The GP only suggests CBT when I've asked specifically for HA help. I am at the end of my tether, still coping with the side affects of the Citalopram even though never got them before when I used to take them but yet again, don't know whether it could be stopping the BBs and nothing to do with the Ciitalopram.
Sorry to hear about your migraines....must be awful for you. I have friends who suffer so I feel for you. You were doing so well with your coping strategies before too. It's true though, I haven't had the chest pains since these racing heart episodes started. I am just so frustrated as I am helping myself as much as I can but nothing works. x
Thanks RF, there are a lot of people with the same worries. The hospitals must be full of menopausal nutters having various tests all the time!
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JJ
You were Brave to go for a walk feeling as you are however your husband is right to encourage you out walking. You are much more likely to develop heart disease as the result of a sedentary lifestyle. Anxiety speeds up the heart and as you were already uncomfortable going for a walk the fact that your husband chose a different and more energetic route will have put you on high alert.
Go back to the GP and tell him you need help NOW 😀
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Hope I can help. I have two benign heart conditions and have had one since my early 20's and at menopause developed another much worse one! I have had missed beats ( ectopics) for over 30 years at their worst every 3rd beat was a missed beat. Its totally harmless but not nice to put up with.
I have the worlds worst white coat syndrome and just walking into my Drs surgery puts my heartbeat up to 120bpm. I have never ever had any medical or test done all my life without them going on and on about my heartrate, it can get up to 140bpm. this is totally and utterly due to anxiety and the adrenalin rush.
At meno I developed super ventricular tachycardia which again is harmless but I get attacks where my heart will increase by 100bpm for a few seconds usually less than a minute so it can be 71bpm then in a flash its 178bpm for 10 seconds and this makes me go very faint.
All of this feels awful but in reality is no danger to me.
If you have recently come off betablockers then your heart has to adjust to this. Your heart has on betablockers been artificially kept low, this is not actually always a good thing in someone with a healthy heart so please don't feel that your heart health depends on betablockers. Your heart will be much healthier without these type of drugs.
I was told it is not harmful for your heart to beat at 150bpm for days on end, one Dr told me that she had a very fast heartrate all the time, it was around 120bpm at rest and she had had this all her life and was still alive and kicking in her 50's with a healthy heart.
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sorry to butt in on your thread JJ but I want to thank countrybumpkin.
Countrybumpkin thank you so very much for your reply post to JJ. I am a bit neurotic about my heart rate because my father had a heart attack when he was 58 and had to take beta blockers for Angina afterwards. I am now 59 and have been on BBs for anxiety for 18 months. I am now taking Escitalopram and no longer need the BBs as much but since reducing them my heart rate has increased and I was worried, but since reading your post I am feeling much calmer.
JJ I think if you are avoiding exercise because you are worried about putting a strain on your heart, it would probably increase when you walked up an incline as it is not used to it. Exercise is the best thing for your heart health as the heart is a muscle and needs to be worked.
After my father had his first heart attack he was advised by his doctor to walk every day but he wouldn't because he was afraid, as you are, so he made himself a semi invalid and sat in his chair with his feet on a hot water bottle most of the time. It is a credit to my mother that she kept him going for the next 10 years but she didn't have much quality of life with him. Eventually his heart gave out and he died when he was 68. If only he could have heeded the doctor's advice and helped himself by moderate exercise rather than sitting in a chair I think he could have done much better.
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Jules, we have spoken before and have similar HA problems. I stopped exercising as used to panic when my heartrate increased and I can hear my heart racing. Last week we were on holiday and I did a lot of walking and felt fine, but we were in a hilly area and when my husband and kids wanted to go up one area with a hill I said 'I'm not walking up that hill, I'll stay here' but then my daughter came back to tell me it was picturesque and encouraged me to go so I did and I was fine. I then managed even more steep hills when I always try to avoid them if I can because it's when my heart starts beating fast or I feel out of breath I panic. I told my daughter who also has anxiety that it's my heart beating fast I panic about and she said 'but it's only because you're exercising'! I knew she was right and I was pleased with myself I managed some big hills and felt OK.
After enjoying the walking on holiday I decided I needed to exercise more so went out yesterday and was doing OK. Normally I try to avoid inclines or hills but decided I would tackle one yesterday but while walking up it, I got pain in my inner elbow and was saying to myself 'what's that all about', then I started to hear my heart pound! It was only a small incline so I know, it was the panic about the pain in my elbow that made me anxious and increased my heart rate. I know you say you can't understand it was only a small incline but the fact your husband took a different direction and you saw an incline would have had you panicking so no wonder your heart rate increased.
It's all in the head and it's your anxiety making you experience those feelings. As said, if you have some other symptom to panic about, you forget about the current one. I do that a lot. Then, I sat on a bench for a while and a lot of joggers were running past me and I could hear their breathing which was laboured and then I thought to myself 'yes, that's what exercising does'! It's all in my head and I know it so I'm determined to keep walking like I used to years ago. Years ago I walked everywhere and felt very fit. I know that the heart rate increase is basically because I am very, very unfit!
I have never taken anything for my HA. I've never tried AD's or whatever as if I read the side effects, I would make myself experience them.
It really is all mind over matter. I think because you are not in a good place at the moment, your anxiety is hightened. Please do go on holiday and try to relax and enjoy yourself. You are letting the HA win and that's what it wants. You need to see it as your enemy and not let it win.
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Halfpint has spoken a lot of sense, I hope it helps JJ. It would be so sad for you to miss your holiday. I am seriously working towards our holiday in September as one thing guaranteed to give me a meltdown is being stuck in traffic. It happened today so I know I still have a way to go.
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Hello Justjules.
I also have heart palpitations though mine are more of a jittering/shaking in my chest these days. They are very unnerving and they make me feel panicky but whether they cause the panic or are a reaction to it I couldn't say.
I do know that I have never experienced anything like them until the menopause.
In my view it is your changing hormones that are responsible for your anxiety. I know that situations that I used to be fine with now bring on a panic because I am in much more of an anxious state since the menopause. My trusty book confirms this by saying that ' situations that you could cope with easily now leave you in total disarray‘.
I hope you feel better soon and please don't blame yourself for your problems. We are all at the mercy of our hormones!
Take care.
K.
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Thanks ladies. I've wasted my day off and I'm cross with myself. Got pounding heart this afternoon so put on a meditation from You Tube but was concentrating on the pounding too much to relax. My therapist said it is a 'mindset' that just makes me different from anyone else going through the same thing but I get upset because I can't get into the right mindset no matter how hard I try. I feel that it is false to try to pretend that it's just all going to go away once I start to accept it for what it is, yet that's what it seems I have to do otherwise I will just get worse.
Kathleen, yes, could still be hormonal even though I am post meno now for 7 years. Apparently, these blessed hormones can mess with us for years. I think that being on the Citalopram for the last 15 years or so has masked my menopause and when I came off them last year, it hit me.
Halfpint, my son tells me the same thing i.e. it's because I am so unfit and anxious. I just need to know that it will pass off and not harm me or that I will collapse!
CB and BJ, I think the BBs helped the anxiety without me realising and yes, my therapist said that my heart needed time to adjust to not being subdued by the BB. I just don't like the faster heartbeat as that was why I was given the BBs in the first place 20 years ago! I hope they haven't damaged my heart....especially after all the stories about taking Citalopram and BBs together all those years.
Having a stressful situation at work at the moment isn't helping either. It's all too much some days.
Thanks for all your reassurances and for not thinking I am a prolific moaner!
Xx
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Jules, years ago I was in A&E with my husband who had an injury and I was sat near a young girl and got talking to her and she had come in with chest pains and racing heart again. She told me that she is always ringing an Ambulance and that she has an ECG and everything is fine but she panics and rings the ambulance and her family are fed up of her. The hospital had told her repeatedly there was nothing wrong with her heart and that it was anxiety.
I know it's hard to convince yourself you are fine but try going for a walk each day and build up your stamina a bit. I mean they do say walk fast to increase your heart rate but I asked my daughter if she can hear her heart when she's exercising and she said no. I think I'm just too aware of mine but yesterday when I was a bit more relaxed, I walked up a bit of a hill and realised when I got to the top that I couldn't hear my heart beating so I know it's all in my head.
A few weeks ago I went to the local Walk In Centre with a problem with my ears but when she looked she said they were fine. I told her I had anxiety and I told her that I was getting this awful shooting pain in my ears and she said 'it's because you are aware of it'. Then funnily enough, after she told me there was nothing wrong with my ears, the pain went. Her words of 'it's because you are aware of it' were obviously because I told her I had anxiety. I think it's so true that the brain makes you experience symptoms. A lot of pains etc are psychosomatic. I have had many symptoms over the years but if I ever dare go to the Dr (I avoid Dr's!) and I'm told everyting is OK then the symptom suddenly disappears.
I know you have said you have had tests on your heart (ECG?) and they said everything was OK so I think it really is your anxiety and you just need to keep yourself stress free and keep busy so you're not thinking so much about it. Did you talk to your husband while you were walking the dog? I find if I walk along with someone else and am talking, then I'm less aware of my heart beat.
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Great post Halfpint. It is so hard to make ourselves believe things are ok and I know that not even 16 ECGs have entirely convinced me!!!
Currently I have a very bunged ear and feel off balance and I'm convinced I've a brain tumour. Mr Ethyl has the same thing and says he has same symptoms but he just thinks it's his ear. So you can see it is the " stories" that we tell ourselves that add to our anxieties. I do think some sort of in depth therapy would help you see why this is your default setting as something is obviously fuelling your anxiety that goes beyond whether you have a bad heart or not. I remember getting quite cross with the duty GP who told me that I had to know there was nothing wrong with my heart whilst simultaneously saying that anyone could drop down dead at anytime of a heart attack but I am coming to see that she had a point. Nothing will guarantee that something bad won't happen and we have to die sometime. That is the only certainty - it would be a terrible shame to have never lived before we die.
I think it will take time to adjust to no BBs if you have been taking them for years. They do lower your heart rate a bit even at low doses- sometimes I find it equally as freaky that mine is so slow as that makes me feel like it's about to stop , do you can't win. Try and do just a bit of gentle exercise every day and you'll soon not even notice that you are going uphill. As Mr E tells me, our hearts are meant to get a workout. X
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coldethyl,
I am terrible for googling and i try my hardest not to but my husband had a very bad sinus infection last year and ended up with a permanently blocked left nostril and kept getting headaches. I had a friend on Facebook who kept liking this fella's cancer battle until one day I saw he had sadly died and I clicked on it to read of this rare cancer he had that you guessed it...started with a blocked left nostril, so i was then convinced that's what my husband had and when I told him (naughty me!) he just ignored me! I do think the worst of every health problem. When my kids are ill, I'm always panicking it's something worse than it is.
I have read your post about the bunged ear, I think I commented on it. Don't worry, I had one for months after a bad virus. I did go to the Dr and he just gave me nasal spray but he was interested when I told him my mum is deaf in same ear and asked me lots of questions about how old she was when she went deaf (*when I read my post back, I had written 'death' instead of 'deaf'!) and if anyone else in the family had deafness and I said 'why, is it hereditary' and he said yes. Now strangely, not that I want to be deaf but that reassured me more than if I had some tumour or something and gradually, I noticed my ear become better. I do get problems with my ears, but I suffer with my sinuses so always put it down to allergies or my sinuses. It's also common to feel unbalanced with an ear problem.
I never used to worry about my heart even knowing my Mum had a silent heart attack but it was when my Dad died after an operation of a heart attack that my heart anxiety started and although I have had operations, I know that if I was told now I had to have one I would have huge anxiety that I was going to die afterwards from a heart attack.
It's a very viscious circle but I must say the fact so many on here have the same does ease my anxiety slightly.
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The rational part of me says I've had all this before when my hormones were out of kilter and I'm fine when I wake up during night until I start the " do I have a headache still? Today I recognised it as a combination of having a bunged ear, hangover of a migraine , sore neck and anxiety and I was fine until I started the what ifs this evening. I was fine about my heart for years despite anxiety symptoms but it was just too much to handle when it started up again at start of peri as my dad had had a heart attack by then. I just wish I had mr Ethyl's attitude as nothing seems to phase him and he certainly doesn't worry about every twinge. He has permanent sinus problems and headaches but apart from getting a nasal spray off Dr, he wouldn't dream of googling rare cancers!!! X
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Halfpint, yes, was talking to hubby while walking. I told him what happened when we got in the car and he said he noticed I was 'holding onto my neck' (I was actually tapping my collarbone, which I do if I am anxious) but he said he just ignored me and that I hadn't 'died' so what was the problem??!
Yes, had a couple ecgs over the last two years, all clear.
Coldethyl, the GP said I was on such a low dose of BB that it was more of a placebo dose? I think some of us are more sensitive to meds. If ever I woke with a bit of a fast heart rate I knew I had missed taking my tablet the night before but she said it wouldn't make that difference and that it was just psychological.
I had a badly blocked ear for over a year with tinnitus but didn't go to Dr as had convinced myself that it would be a tumour or such but weirdly, it totally went when I went to see a homeopath about anxiety and she gave me some medicine for the anxiety and HA worries.
I wish I could find some deeper sort of therapy but wouldn't know what to look for. I seem to have exhausted the alternative field and I doubt a psychiatrist would be able to deal with anxiety stuff as they normally only deal more with severe mental illnesses so it would just be a psychologist and they aren't much different to the therapist I pay to see. I don't want to waste my life being like this, I really don't. I will try to walk a bit each day, even if it is at lunchtime. I usually just stay safe in the office.
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Ha! I used to feel sinusey (headache) almost daily. Last week I suddenly realised I hadn't had a sinus headache for a while then you guessed it, the next day and for the last few days I have had sinus headaches. Well I call them sinus headaches, I'm starting to wonder if they are a type of migraine.
I wish I could be like a lot of my friends who never worry about health problems and don't panic over the slightest thing. I woke up with tingling in my finger which I have been getting on and off in various fingers, the palm of my hand and in my other hand (but more my right) and I know I've had this on and off for ages but because this morning it was my middle finger instead of the usual fingers, I started panicking but once I got to work and it took my mind off it, the tingling went. Obviously, it's some trapped nerve and I do sleep with my elbows bent and quite often wake with pins and needles.
I'm sure most people I know would just wake up with a tingling finger and either not even notice or just think 'oh, I must have slept funny'!
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Yes, Coldethyl, my hubby is the same....just says 'if you die, you die' and thinks I should just 'think oooh, that was a funny little heart thing' and just carry on but that's because he doesn't have bloody HA!!! X
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Jules, I don't tell many of my friends I have anxiety but one friend who knows can always tell when I'm panicking as I fidget and can't sit still and she does point out things I am doing that I'm not even aware of. She normally just ignores me. Because my daughter has it, I do find it a help to have her to offload to. We really support each other. I'm so calm when she is in anxious mode and visa versa. Funny how we can rationalise when each other has some HA but can't calm ourselves!
When we were on holiday last week, I am less anxious if I have people around me. I'm much worse when I'm on my own and with my own thoughts and I did only have a couple of attacks and as I say was walking a lot, so I definitely think the exercise helps. I'm trying to stick to it now the weather is improving. I think it would be good for you to go for a walk in your lunch hour as I know work is stressing you. Give it a try and see if it helps a bit.
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We all sound so similar. I had to laugh( not unkindly) at your remark HP, about not having had a sinus headache and then getting one as that is exactly what I am like. Was just thinking this time last week how glad I was my aching legs and weird heads had gone and then it was back. Likewise part of me has for ages being saying that nothing that I have had so far has been quite as bad as the 6 months of migraines I had when junior was little or when I was pregnant and that I couldn't cope if that happened again and lo and behold I've had the sick head feeling all week and today have sat trying not to shake because I could feel the anxiety ramping up. It is always the what ifs and it is those that people without HA don't seem to get. It's almost like they have no imagination when it comes to being ill as my hubby never gets beyond first base in what it might be. A sore neck isn't meningitis , a bad hip isn't the start of polymyalgia rheumatica or bone cancer and so on. X
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i do wonder why it's so prevalent these days, probably good old Google is the culprit!
I always get a hot flush when I start reading the forum! I think my poor nervous system is just shot! The forum I go on for Woman and Home magazine have a 'Forum Fest' every year where members meet somewhere for a weekend get together. Can you imagine if we all did that!? Half of us wouldn't make it for having a panic attack trying to get there!! You gotta laugh ;D
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i do wonder why it's so prevalent these days, probably good old Google is the culprit!
I always get a hot flush when I start reading the forum! I think my poor nervous system is just shot! The forum I go on for Woman and Home magazine have a 'Forum Fest' every year where members meet somewhere for a weekend get together. Can you imagine if we all did that!? Half of us wouldn't make it for having a panic attack trying to get there!! You gotta laugh ;D
That made me laugh. Apparently we are evolutionary wonders as in the past hyper-vigilance would have ensured our survival and that of our tribe. Sadly today we so attuned to fighting sabre tooth tigers even when there are none that every twinge becomes a threat of equal magnitude. I'm sure we'd get there, and that we'd have a laugh because in my experience , people with anxiety tend to go that extra mile and are always interesting company x
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I'm terrible for reading symptoms of something and then experiencing it! I'm also terrible for trying to diagnose what other people have and suggesting lots of different health problems when they aren't even worrying about what's wrong with them. I must stop doing this though as I can tell it irritates people and I get a lot of sarcastic comments calling me Dr Halfpint!
I must admit I have googled less since reading all the anxiety posts on here, so it's helping me being around fellow sufferers. We can be our own counsellors!
Ha ha Jules!! We probably would. As time has gone on, I do really panic about meeting up with people (although once I get there I relax) but that's because I spent a lot of time not working and got used to being home all day feeling 'safe'. Anything that took me out of my comfort zone would send my anxiety soaring but I am forcing myself now to fight this bloody thing and not let it beat me.
I think you're right, it's more prevalent thanks to Google. Damn that bloody Google!
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Coldethyl, it's because people with anxiety tend to be 'people pleasers'. I live with a sabre toothed tiger sometimes ;D but he has to put up with me too.
HP, I too am less inclined to socialise. My circle of friends who understand and are supportive have got less but it means I don't have to go out as much but like you, relax when I do.
Well we will just have to encourage each other to get on top of this as I am not going to be beaten by it (she says whilst heart is behaving...) ;) x
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Jj thats interesting what you say about people with anxiety being people pleasers as I fit both perfectly ::)
On the mindset theme, I have found over the years with my ectopic heartbeats that when they frighten me they get worse and worse but then suddenly i will think " oh xxx you, you can just get lost" in my head to them and they always improve tremendously. Sadly I don't have control of when I will suddenly think xxx off in my head ;D ;D
My 35 yr old son has just told me that he has been told he is probably also experiencing ectopic heartbeats as well, so he can blame me for that one then!
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CB, I am with you on that one. When I just say sod off , the funny heart things fade. Obviously by worrying we just feed them more adrenaline and hearts do daft things with too much of that stuff!! Sorry to hear that son has joined the ranks , but at least he will have someone to talk any fears through with. X
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thanks for the idea, next time I have an anxiety spike I will try telling it to sod off :)
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Yep, done that many times....need to ramp up the language to them I think as they are not listening! ;D
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Yep, done that many times....need to ramp up the language to them I think as they are not listening! ;D
Or else I say I'm going to get on with what I have to do and if you're there so be it...
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Oh i could have written this post myself. I too am now scared to walk up hills or do anything which increases my heart rate. I have suffered also with ectopic beats for a number of years and can have numerous throughout the day also flutters from time to time. I have had all the checks done by cardiologist, ecg, echocardiogram and monitors for 24hrs and 2 weeks, all showed nothing but i am still convinced they have missed something and now have another cardiologist appointment in July. We are going on holiday next week and i am not looking forward to it just in case something goes wrong with my heart. I also get a bit light headed with headaches and also worry it could be something sinister. I am on BB and HRT but i still get bad health anxiety. I try to tell myself this is nothing to worry about but my thoughts are more overpowering and i over think things.
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Logic goes out the window sadly. My phobia took over my Life for years :'(. 24/7, no relief at all. Until my GP gave me Betablockas.
However - if there was something wrong with your heart you would have other symptoms! Go and enjoy your break, don't look further ahead than half a day and you will be fine!
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OMG I could have written some of these posts. My HA is crippling me at the moment. I posted last night in the New Members section and had such lovely replies. I've been a bit calmer today but been frightened by wobbly shakes in my legs. The trouble is, I've put my body through so much over the last couple of weeks I'm not surprised it's rebelling. And the Sertraline is making my body adjust as well.
The trouble is you get into such a circle that you just can't seem to get off it. My husband, on the other hand, is like most blokes, full of aches and pains that he doesn't worry about! However, just to give you an idea of what my HA is like, he couldn't tell me a few years ago when he had a lump in his testicle. Thankfully it just turned out to be a blocked duct after he'd had the snip, but he had to go to the doctor and subsequently to the hospital on his own, because he knew that I would automatically think the worse. I felt so sad.
My friend in work understands. She sent me a text yesterday saying "just relax and don't overthink things" - easier said that done I know, but it's so comforting anyway. It is such a help to know that you are not alone.
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How does the HA affect you exactly? How do you feel when it takes over?
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It's the same old thing CLKD. Any pain that doesn't go in a nanosecond is serious, sinister or terminal. There is no logic or rational thinking - I go straight to nuclear. It is destructive and debilitating to me and Paul (OH). Obsessive reassurance seeking, continual "do you think I'm ok" questions until I'm blue in the face.
I can't think straight, and worry continuously. Funnily enough, before this current bout, I was never one to be in and out of the doctors, even whilst in the grip of it, but this has been something else. Like tonight, we ordered Chinese and I only had a main (we'd normally have ribs, and then a main each). I couldn't even eat all my main and I usually have a really healthy appetite. Of course that was cause for immediate panic "that's it, feeling fuller quicker, I've got a serious disease all through my body, or in my stomach stopping me eating". Rational thought - it's probably the anxiety, coupled with my body adjusting to the Sertraline - the doctor said that I may have some digestive problems with it. Of course rational thought isn't quite so interesting is it?
Went up the road this morning to the hairdressers and immediately wanted to be home again, curled up safe with Paul. I was talking to my hairdresser and 'fessed up what had been happening. She was warm and sympathetic and 'fessed up that she suffered with the same, and was extremely worried about her mum who is losing a lot of weight and not eating properly. She gave me a big hug when I was paying and told me to take care and that I wasn't on my own.
I am trying to get my head together, and hopefully the physical "symptoms" will abate once I feel calmer.
It's funny, but there was a trailer for Game of Thrones a couple of weeks ago. One of the characters was talking about "breaking the wheel" and that's what I feel like, I need to break this anxiety/panic wheel.
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Oh God, just read on another thread that someone's legs felt strange and that it was probably her MS.
Mine have felt strange all day - wobbly and odd. Rational thought - that does not mean mine are the same as the poster.
See, that's how my HA works - terrifying and irrational
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Just wanted to add something in. You may also be getting a tachycardia from oestrogen surges which isn't caused by anxiety, it's simply a raised resting heart rate. When you then exert yourself you will feel breathless and lacking in stamina as your heart is being pushed more to the level of doing higher intensity exercise just from a brisk walk.
I find the lack of stamina very frustrating as used to love walking everywhere but I have to keep resting now in between. It used to go to 120bpm resting but now it's more around late 90s from being on the pill.
So when you're rationalising your HA thoughts, remember to add this fact into the mix. It's not ALL in your head and BB can be taken as and when if you know you need to do something requiring physical exertion. They just dampen down the adrenaline so that you can push your heart higher.
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I was interested too in whether it's thought patterns or physicality, when I'm anxious I feel immediately sick then my thighs go weak then I feel light headed :-\ B4 my thought patterns go 'oh no, not again!' …… then the fear that the anxiety will take over again sets in :'(. A panic attack can leave me exhausted for a couple of days but I never think that it's serious enough to kill me.
The phobia however can settle in my gut for weeks :'( and I get so I can't put anything through my lips, I can't go into the kitchen and worry about never eating again.
If I have indigestion I do wonder if it's a heart attack, as women have different symptoms to men apparently and I lay in the bed, absolutely still. If I am still alive after 10 mins. I take 'rennies' probably several in order to ease any chest pain. It goes into my lower chin area and up into my neck sometimes …….. but never in the day-time! I tell myself that I didn't die last time from similar symptoms, nor the time B4 ………. occasionally I have to wake HImself so that he can shift the wind by rubbing my back ……..
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Oh God, just read on another thread that someone's legs felt strange and that it was probably her MS.
Mine have felt strange all day - wobbly and odd. Rational thought - that does not mean mine are the same as the poster.
See, that's how my HA works - terrifying and irrational
Hi Kazbear,
I had to smile when I read this as I had read that same post but although I suffer with HA, some illnesses don't bother me. MS is one of the ones I don't panic over but that's probably because I have a relative with it who manages fine and I know some other women with it who manage fine and still hold down a full time job. Also, MS is not life threatening. It's more the life threatening illnesses I panic over.
Don't worry about your legs, mine often feel like that. It's the anxiety and adrenaline.
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Adrenalin feels like hot water coursing through my veins :-\
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CLKD, that does sound like oestrogen surges causing over stimulation. When mine peaked (pre pill) I would also get the churning stomach and reflux into the chin and left side of chest (higher up than heart). I too couldn't eat and lost 2 stone in 2 months.
Not sure if you're on HRT? I couldn't sustain myself without the pill so had no choice (and not yet tried the weaker HRT) but either may be an option as this type of anxiety is not one you can talk down.
Although it depends how much it bothers you and you seem to be handling it well.
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Nowt to do with oestrogen, my levels disappeared yonks ago ::) to a manageable level. I've had indigestion for years, always taking the same 'route'. Not on HRT but do take BBs and ADs.
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Just wanted to add something in. You may also be getting a tachycardia from oestrogen surges
My SVT started about 6 years ago, my heart would race at 160 bpm. No one could find a reason for it, I now wonder if it is hormone related
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Well sitting here sobbing this morning, getting myself in a right state. Got home from work last night and was literally 'dragged' out for a walk with the dog by hubby as it was such a nice night. Really have a phobia of walking with having heart HA but went. Was really pleased with myself as I walked most of the way round the park....but.....hubby veered off the flat path and up a very slight incline to some rough ground and I walked up there and bam...heart rate went through the roof and I went all hot and then panicked thinking omg, why the heck did it do that as it wasn't just like walking up stairs and your heart rate bumping up....so, couldn't wait to get back to the car and tried to stifle the panic and tears.
This wouldn't have happened if I was still on the BBs I'm sure. Everybody keep saying there's nothing wrong with your heart, you don't need them but I obviously do and there obviously is. I am already thinking, ablation, pacemaker, surgery!! I am absolutely terrified that I will have to go for tests if I tell the GP. I just can't live like this anymore every day. I can't see that anxiety would make your heart rate do that just by walking up a slight incline....I know I am unfit and don't do any exercise but I keep getting encouraged to walk and then this happens. I won't go again now and am already wanting to cancel my holiday in June with hubby. What sort of mental loonie thinks like this all the time....there are people out there with cancer for goodness sake.... :'(
why arent you still on bb?
Go back asap bb are for anxiety thats were i was Saturday morning bb scripts
My heart races and i get a feeling of terror. Im not overweight by say a stone im 14
Dont call that overweight theses days butttt i know im not as physically fit as i should be
I hubbie son and grandson went out Monday it was may day ph in ozz we went to a look out i couldn't get up the / incline of the road my calves siezed my heart was pounding i felt sick took half a beta felt heaps better. As for how you feel? Are you a st no i didnt think so. Are you superwoman no i dts do you. Are you a human being with all the fears that come with being alive ? Yes. So the idea of running away into the house is 100% normal in your home your in control outside gosh anything can happen so im not going out and dont think i want to go on holiday all this is absolutely normal my advice for what its worth go 9n holidays not only will you regret it but you will also feel guilty. Then you will get anxious and the cycle will re-start. Go to the Doctors make the appointment
With a GP you like write down how you feel and questions and ask for bbs xxxx😊