In a certain situation where my heart starts racing, how stop it?

[Oblivion656]

I have a problem in a certain situation where my heart starts racing. I go to this place to donate plasma. Everything usually goes okay. They just check temperature and blood pressure and stuff. Until this one time, where I had a temperature that was too low. So I had to leave. It wasn't that big of a deal. But then the next time I went there 2 days later. I think worried about it so much*. My heart started racing and I failed the blood pressure thing(tempature was good though). But now, it keeps happening (My heart races over and over), I get so worried that I keep failing the stupid test over and over. I even have trouble sleeping the night before because I worry about it. Now if I didn't worry about it, I'm sure this wouldn't happen.

Otherwise I have done this numerous times before and I never got nervous about it. I was always calm about it. But now everything is screwed up since that one time. And I think there has to be a simple solution. I tried breathing in and out before doing this thing. But it only seems like it gets worse. Because by breathing in and out, that only proves that I'm worrying about it. So I think it maybe anxiety or something. Anyone have a simple solution?

Also note* In my opinion, it's a not big deal to worry about something, but that doesn't mean my heart should start racing and freaking out. In fact it surprised me when it first started happening. And I knew right away that it would keep happening. And it does. I'm just confused about this.

[hava]

This pranayam will get extra oxygen into your blood and heart and calm you down.Do it with concentration. Your feedback on your progress will help others.
Build up your timing gradually.If you feel tired or dizzy, stop and resume after one minute.
Anulom Vilom –
Close your right nostril with thumb and deep breath-in through left nostril  
then – close left nostril with two middle fingers and breath-out through right nostril  
then -keeping the left nostril closed  deep breath-in through right nostril
then - close your right nostril with thumb and breath-out through left nostril.
This is one cycle of anulom vilom.
Repeat this cycle for 15 to 30  minutes twice a day.
Children under 15 years – do 5 to 10 minutes twice a day.
You can do this before breakfast/lunch/dinner or before bedtime or in bed. Remember to take deep long breaths into the lungs.You can do this while sitting on floor or chair or lying in bed.
While doing anulom vilom, keep your eyes closed, concentrate on the third eye (point in between the eyebows).
When you have built up your timing to more than 15 minutes, you will notice that after 20 minutes, you will be in your own world and would not be distracted by anything happening around you.So the 30 minute session will calm you down.You will start to feel the difference after a few days.

[MrGreen]

There is a forum here on MedHelp dedicated to herbal and alternative remedies. Maybe you should take a look at that forum and ask them for suggestions. They know their stuff. They would be able to guide you towards the correct alternative route to take. Just view the list of forums. You should see them listed.

[Oblivion656]

Can herbal remedies kick in fast too? Or does it take too long to kick in?

Because I was looking into them. And this one named Panicyl, it said to actually eliminate worry. "Stops Anxiety & Panic Attacks Before They Start" and "promotes feelings of calmness and control"

I also read there is "Anxiety Homeopathy" It's where you take a two tablets and put it under your tongue.

"Argentum nitricum "This remedy is indicated when anxiety develops before a big event"

I'm not sure what to go with here. Also I read on the amazon review for Panicyl, if I take two tablets I would be more disconnected with whats going on. And that's a good thing. Then I wouldn't worry, and it would work right?

[MrGreen]

My understanding of a sleeping aid is to aid you in going to sleep. There are anxiety meds that can be taken as needed. A nervous moment, people take one of these meds. A doctor who is med happy may give you one of them. The ones that kick in quickly. But that would between you and your doctor. But they do exist. You only ever take them when anxious. Form of benzos. Various types. But a few are fast acting.

[Oblivion656]

Does a sleep aid really knock you out? Doesn't it just calm you down for the purpose if you are trying to go to sleep, it stops you from have racing thoughts and worries so you can fall asleep if you are trying. And it's just temporary and not for the purpose of all around anxiety but just for a certain point of time. That's why it is called a sleep aid not a sleeping pill. But I'm not sure on this myself. See if I'm not trying to go to sleep and I'm fully awake, then there is no way a sleeping aid could make you me go to sleep. That is my theory.

The herbal remedies. I'll look into that.

[MrGreen]

A sleeping aid? You want to knock yourself out? The thing with medication, anxiety wise, is that is given for all round anxiety. Your anxiety seems to stem from just the one thing. Giving blood. If you went to a doctor and told him that he would have a simple enough answer. Stop giving blood. I doubt if he would see any other reasons in your life to hand out anxiety medication. Because other than this you see to be fine. Now you could ask at your local chemist for hebal remedies and the likes. Something they could sell you over the counter. They do help a lot of people out. Doctor wise is your own shout. You could go to him. Explain your situation and see what he says. He might give you something. Suppose ot depends on what type of doctor he is. Some hand out medication for fun. Others are not so fast to hand it out. You would only need it once every so often would you not? Wouldn't be a daily thing. See a doctor if you think it may help you. He might have more of an answer than I have. You never know.

[Oblivion656]

Well, at most I can hold my breath is probably 40 seconds. I exercised last night to get my heart beat elevated. And I just don't know if holding my breath works. I can hold it a lot less when I was exercising. I don't know if it was slowing my heart beat down.

Plus, I'm sitting down. Not walking towards anything. The problem is I don't want it to come to having to sit there and breath and be nervous in the first place. I don't even know if I'm allowed to hold my breath when doing this test. This is a really an embarrassing situation for me. But if it does work, it's worth a try.

I probably need to make sure it works. Problem is I can practice this at home when I'm calm. And even if it works really well at home. That doesn't mean it's going to work if I'm not calm. See your situation is different, you are talking about sports, you are already calm, in fact you are having fun.

By the way,  isn't there also anything else I can do to improve the situation? Like taking a sleeping aid to help calm me down? Or get my mind in a temporary state of I don't give a crap what is happening around me?

[MrGreen]

With playing football ( soccer ) we would run and run and run and the heart would be thumping away. As you would expect. In training we learned to hold the breath and walk. Not saying for ages. Just for a minute or two. By doing so the heart stopped its thumping. It was a way of slowing things down. In training the trainer used to have us hold the breath and walk towards him. But as we walked towards him he walked away from us. It was a nice little exercise that always done the job. Got the breathing back under control again. I will say that some things work for some people and don't work for other people. Holding the breath may seem stupid to some people. Whatever works for you. That's all that counts.

[Oblivion656]

Yes, if I can get it right just one time. I would not worry about it. And yes, I actually did get a mp3 player to distract me. But it didn't work actually. I had it playing as it was going. And my heart still started racing. I guess it made me feel awkward doing that. Because it was out of the ordinary I felt weird about it.

I wonder if I hold my breath as long as I can when the blood pressure thing is going? Will that actually draw my focus away from worrying about it? And would my heart rate go back to normal?

[MrGreen]

Once something happens such as what happened to you and you failed the test to give blood, your mind, on a subconscious level probably began to wonder why. Was there a reason you failed the test and couldn't give blood that day. We know the answer is no. It was just a one off event. But we can link such things to certain other things. Now as you go to give blood your heart begins to race. You have linked one to the other. It is a common thing to do. Call it a trigger for the quick heart rate now. It depends on how you view it as a whole now. It seems you are letting it take over your mind as you go to give blood. The power of the mind for you. One event can turn into many. I never go for the breathing in and out lark at all. I more prefer to hold my breath. For a couple of seconds. Used to always do it when I played football. Hold the breath and walk a few yards. And it calmed things down loads. Some go for the deep breathing exercises. I just find that throws me. Makes my breathing worse. Find yourself a form of distraction as well. MP3 player maybe with you. You get it right once and you will be back to your old normal self again. That one time just threw you big time.