Tachycardia in the morning...this is getting OLD!

[Autumnx1003]

I am so sick of either waking up with a fast heart rate or getting a bout of tachycardia sometime during the morning.  I mean, this is supposed to be the most relaxed portion of the day, yet my heart is so "irritable" in the morning.  This morning I thought I was ok, then I started getting the "old feeling" in my chest and when I checked it was 91, then 93, then I got all worked up and it shot as high as 146.  I got it back down, like I always do, but...ugh...I'm just so tired of even dealing with the whole problem.  No doctors can help me because they say that my heart is normal, it is just anxiety that makes it fast.  Whatever....I'm really sick of this (can you tell? hehe)  

So...who's with me?  Who has a fast heart rate in the morning and who is sick of it? It always helps to know that I'mnot alone, at the very least...(sigh)...

[fleetfox88]

I take xanax at night and always wake up with a fast heart rate and anxiety. I've had anxiety my whole life and have been on and off meds over the years, and sometimes it worries me that a heart condition could spring up, and i would just think it's anxiety. So it's a problem when you dont have the money to get tested and are feeling things like this. You might try anti-anxiety meds or beta blockers.

[dancingheart]

Wow, I can just about say ditto to everything.  I don't know what to say... thank you for this post, because I know I am not alone.  I struggle with  Generalized anxiety and panic attacks so bad, I take meds. for it, therapy/group sessions, and heart meds for the mess it has made with my heart rhythms.  Yes, I too want my old life back!  Thanks for posting everyone... we all need to know that we can make it through this together...it isn't life threatening, but can be quite debilitating, if I/you let it.

[Autumnx1003]

Wow---I'm really surprised that there are so many of you who share my problem with this!  At least I feel better knowing that I'm not alone.  

Hey----does anyone also get a fast heart rate after they eat sometimes?  I can't trace it to a specific food.  

[kl42]

i had this also.. i was told your heart naturally goes from sleeping state to a jump up in rate when you wake up.  try to ignore it. or get up out of bed make yourself busy. if you been tested your ok.

[laydeechaz]

I get this as soon as i wake up! I'm 19.
I think mine is because i have a fear of dying (in my sleep especially) so i when i wake up i'm just naturally anxious =/ But as soon as i stop thinking about it the palpitations stop.
I never used to get it before my anxiety came, i have had an ECG and that came back fine.
But i get really anxious very easily anyway, so i get palpitations alot during the day. I get really hot, sweaty, feel dizzy/lightheaded when i'm anxious and so the palpitations just come with it, it's horrible!
I've never heard of that Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome so i might ask my doctor about it when i go see her next week, but my palpitations come as i'm lying down as soon as i wake up most of the time, not really when i get up.
I suppose my body now react's to stress even if it's only a little bit very easily, arghh i hate having anxiety.
x

[Debscared]

Well here I am with all the same symptoms. History of depression but never really had anxiety issues until I developed Pulmonary Sarc & Fibromayalgia and since then the whole body is curtailing. One Dr. tells me I am pre-diabetic, one says no. One says my EKG is abnormal, another says its OK. The last 4 years I have visited the ER with heart attack symptoms to find "I'm ok" just anxiety. They put me on Cymbalta for the chronic pain of fibro and now my average pulse is 100-150 and Blood pressure 140/93 and that is with taking meds. I have gone through all the tests, last year dr. told me I had a "minimal mitral valve" and this year, no mitral valve, 4 small leaky valves.... which is not a medical problem? I agree I always feel terrible, heart racing, dizzy, nausea etc... no change in lifestyle the last 4 years just more medical stuff. Tomorrow go back to see what they want to do with me? Sometimes I just want to stop all the meds and just let what needs to happen happen! tired of being tired, tired of heart pain, palpatations, dizziness and nothing seems to help.

[Autumnx1003]

Hi there,

I have been looking into the possibility of a dysautonomic disorder, except that my problem is not that the rate increase is so bothersome when I'm standing, but more when I am sitting or laying.  In the mornings when this happens to me, I am typically still laying in the bed, having not stood up for 7 or more hours.  It's like I just woke up from a terrible nightmare, but I didn't (I often remember my dream).  I do wonder about this being related to my autonomic nervous system though, because the way it feels is like I get a super-shot of adrenaline after being asleep for a long time.  My blood pressure at home runs rather low too...oftentimes barely 100/60 (more often 90-something over 50-something).  I have wondered if maybe my blood pressure drops a whole bunch while I am asleep and then my body overcompensates by giving me a shot of adrenaline to bring it back up.  I dunno...just a little theory I have considered.  However, I also get these bouts during random other times of the day, too...like after I eat sometimes...but they are never as intense as the morning tachycardia.  

Thanks for  your response, and I appreciate your input.  

[Gina2Westies]

Wanted to add - that a Tilt Table Test if the only method of diagnosing POTS.  The definition of POTS is a heart rate increase of 30bpm from a supine to upright position after at least 5 minutes of standing. (Typically anyone would have an elevated heart rate immediately after standing - so it has to be at a certain point after like a 5 minute mark).

[Gina2Westies]

I was diagnosed with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome).  Mornings are typically worse because you have been laying down for such a long period. POTS is often an undiagnosed condition that may be worth looking into.  It has MANY symptoms that overlap with anxiety. It is not life threatenig but can be very scary.  Have you had an EKG to rule out any problems?  www.dinet.org is a great resource to learn about POTS.  It's a form of Dysautonomia (diregulation of the autonomic nervous system).  There is a great on here too for Dysautonomia.  Good luck.

[collin29]

Autumn,

Hang in there.  I'm going through the same thing right now.  I've had Generalized Anxiety Disorder for a few years, but I just had my first episode of "panic" about a month ago.

They gave me an EKG, ran some bloodwork and told me I was fine.  I've been back twice since.  Once because a friend was worried when I told him what was going on, and he urged me to get it checked out again, and the second time because, after I went for a run, it got really bad.

I feel like I'm living of Xanax right now.  I never feel comfortable, even on the Xanax.  Always on edge.  Always thinking that it's Arrhythmia or something else that they've missed.  Thinking that they're just dismissing me as panic without really checking.

I don't know what to do either.  I'm going to go this week for a full cardio work up.  Something tells me that if I get a stress test or a Holter and things come out okay, I will be doing much better.  The most important part for me is being sure that it IS, WITHOUT A DOUBT, a panic attack.  Once I know that, I think I'll be able to make it through.

It feels good to type to others with the same problem.  I get really scared, and, despite my girlfriend and family trying their best to console me, It can be a lonely feeling.  I would give anything to just be normal again.  Anything.

I'm a student with no income, and don't have insurance so I can't see doctors too often, which compounds my problems.  I hope you learn to manage, I hope we all do.

Collin

[jacdup]

I WISH MY HEART WAS 146 WHEN I GET EPISODES. I WOKE UP LAST NIGHT AFTER FALLING ASLEEP, WITH A HEART RATE OF 220. LASTED 15 MINUTES. I CANT EVEN GET MY HEART UP TO 200 WHILE SPRINTING. I DONT EVEN GO TO THE E.R. ANYMORE BECAUSE  BY THE TIME I GET THERE, MY H.R. IS DOWN TO 140 OR SO AND THEY JUST SEND ME HOME. NOW  THEY TREAT ME LIKE IM SO IDIOT WHEN IM THERE. I AM SUPER HEALTHY, IN SHAPE, NO DRUGS, NO CAFFEINE.  BEEN TO NUMEROUS DOCTORS. ALL TEST SHOW NORMAL EVERYTHING. IM NOT HAVING PANIC ATTACKS. IM HAVING HEART PROBLEMS AND NOT A GOD DAMN DOCTOR CAN FIGURE OUT WHATS WRONG. ANYWAY, I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL WITH THE RACING HEART THING.

[cj29]

In my experience, with anxiety, even when you don't realize you are anxious, you are anxious....kind of contradicting myself here, but a cycle can really develop that can be hard to get out of.  For me, when I complained about it, the doc's did all sorts of testing and said that I was good to go.  I would find it racing at different points in the day, but Iooking back I notice how once you start to worry it can perpetuate further worrying which really makes it race.  It still races in the morning, but I also drink a lot of coffee, so I realize that some things I do mentally and physically will affect it.  The good thin, is they said you have a normal heart...throughout all of this, I assume you have seen a specialist throughout all of this.

I know it can be very challanging to say the least, and it can sometimes be a long road, but you will get there...please keep us posted!

[kazak]

hello,

i have been getting this almost every morning for the past 2 months since I had my first panic attack, sometimes it is really quick, other times my heartbeat is normal but for some reason I can hear it REALLY loudly in my ears, it is normal followed by lots of skipped beats which drive me insane, my doctor says it maybe down to anxiety caused by years of built up stress as it never happened before the panic attack. sometimes exercise can lessen the effect but not eliminate it, are you on any medication(anxiety, anti-depressants) and , if so, do they help the tachycardia? i know how you feel and sympathize with you, i always think of my life in  terms of before this happened and after it happened... i know this sounds mad as there are people out there with terminal illnesses and sicknesses which are much worse but I  just want my old life back when i felt ambitious and could do what i wanted without my heart acting up all the time and before i felt anxious over nothing.  

[Autumnx1003]

I see that some of you responded that this problem also happens to you frequently.  Would you care to elaborate?  What are some of the reasons you have been told about why this happens?  How do you handle it when it does happen?  I really want to know.  I had another bad bout of it this morning, and I'm still pretty shaken :(

[Autumnx1003]

Thanks cj29 for your response.  Yes, I have been talking to therapist for a long time now, however, even though they help with my anxiety, nothing seems to be able to get rid of this fast heart rate problem I have.  This is why sometimes I wonder if it is actually anxiety at all...

[cj29]

Anxiety can definitley cause your heartrate to go up in my opinion.  This is the body's natural reaction to stress.  You did the right thing by getting checked out; now it is time to believe the results of your tests.  Anxiety can also affect us at any time of day and some people dread mornings while others dread nights.

Have you ever talked this over with a therapist?  If you have access to one, I find them to be very helpful in learning about the anxiety/panic cycle...long term knowledge of why you think the way do and really go a long way in thriving with this...keep us posted!