Tired of worrying

[EricaM.]

I wrote once before.  I was having a fast heartrate that was waking me up in the middle of the night/early morning hours.  It scared me because my father was diagnosed with an arrhythmia and hypertension at 50 (though he was overweight, a smoker, and an alcoholic).  I am 26 and in fairly good shape.  My blood pressure is normal (or it was a few months ago)- slightly high at the doctor 130-138/70.  The Holter was normal with a few extra "skipped beats" and a couple PVCs which I don't get very often.  Echo was normal.  I had an event monitor and everything I recorded was "fast, but normal- not SVT".  I know that I have anxiety about this now, and I have been having a few panic attacks.  But, if I don't "freak out" when it is going on this is what happens- I wake up and my heart is beating fast (probably 90bpm) then when I move it jumps up faster for a few seconds- then it pounds for a few seconds- with a noticable sinus arrhythmia, then it settles back to normal, but not as slow as my normal resting rate.  My resting heartrate is normally about 53bpm.  If I do panic it beats fast for 10 minutes or so.  I have noticed that the night before it happens- I feel "reved up"- but not in a good way.  It feels like there is electricity going through the pit of my stomach.  I have a theory that it might be sugar related- could this be true?  Maybe hormones?  I have had migraines all my life.  I used to be a ballet dancer, but I haven't been as active as I used to be in a long time.  I do exersize, but not as much as I used to.  I am tired of worrying.  What do you suggest?

[CCF-M.D.-RCJ]

EricaM,

Thanks for the post.

Many things could be casuing this.  The things that need attention are hyperthyroidism or hypoglycemia, both of which are unlikely.

The most likely explanation is exercise-related increased venous blood volume.  This causes increased venous pooling of blood, which is fine if you have a proportionally increased stroke volume.  Now that you don't exercise as much, you don't have as high of a stroke volume, and so your heart beats a little faster than it used to.  Exercising on a regular basis, keeping hydrated, and consideration of support stockings for 4-8 weeks might help.

Good luck.

[mtkitchn]

Wow, it's great to find this forum!
Erica, you are describing what I used to go through exactly!  I think my worrying was increasing the intensity of the skipping heart.  I actually found that listening to subliminal soothing music before bedtime helped me with the night wakeups, and I haven't had nighttime PVCs in a few years.  I also cut down on my alcohol intake and believe that helped as well.  Damn, I used to get scared, thinking I was going to die when I woke up like that!   I still get episodes (during the day...if they happen at night I must be sleeping through them) every week or so that last from a few minutes to a few days, and it's interesting to read everyone's stories and how they mirror mine.  Makes me feel less alone!  It's scary to get episodes and feel like you're going to pass out or die.  I hate the lightheaded feelings and the problems it has with my concentration and the panic it causes.  I find that I get PVCs when I don't get enough sleep, when I'm at high (10,000') elevations, when I'm stressed, or up to a day or two after drinking alcohol.  And I think the monthly horomone swings have something to do with them as well.  Very upsetting to be in your 30s and feel like ****!
I did the holter thing about 6 years ago and the doctor said there was no problem, but it sure is a scary feeling when that heart starts skipping and you can't catch your breath!  But it seems like it's a vicious cycle....PVCs startle you, you get scared and stressed and it causes more PVCs!

[EricaM.]

Does this mean that I have nothing to worry about?

mtkitch- it is nice to know that you are not alone, isn't it?  I found this forum an while ago and it does help with the anxiety (which I seem to have a lot of right now).

[CCF-M.D.-RCJ]

Erica,

"Does this mean that I have nothing to worry about?"

Besides Hurricane Isabel, the War in Iraq, and the California Governor's race  ... no, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Remember though, I've never actually seen you.  Important things that you may have inadvertently omitted can have an impact on your health.

Have a nice weekend.

[LUKE22]

Erica, I had the same symptoms as you and the doctor put me on Xanax 25mg for the anxiety and Corguard 40mg for the rapid heartbeats and PVC's. I havent had the rapid heartbeats in years but the PVC's come and go. I stopped using caffene and watch for foods with MSG in them. I dont drink very much alcohol but the alcohol never seemed to bother me. I think that stress and anxiety aggravate my symptoms more than anything else. As you can see by this board there are a lot of us around that have to deal with this so your not alone. Try not to worry and try to find a way to have a more relaxing life! Hang in there! Luke

[EricaM.]

Thanks everyone!

[VALERIA]

Erica,
Please read my post on the bottom of the page, under heading  funny beats.
My arrythmias started when I was 32.
Now  I'm 42, still have it all, daily basis too, but it is much better now since I have been taking Toprol 150mg. daily, since september, 1999.
My arrythmias ALWAYS get much worse around the time when menses should start.
In fact I was on my menses when I started the medication, because it was really bothering me.
It was beating so fast, extra beats or skipped beats, fluttering feelings.
I know it can be a whole laundry list of things, that can cause these darn things, but definately I feel hormones play a huge part.
Valerie.

[sonsonly]

Hi Erica, I was diagnosed with PVC's and PAC's 10 years ago and an inappropriate sinus tachycardia. I still have lots of anxiety when I get them. I had an episode almost a year ago of over 2500 PAC's daily for 2 weeks. I thought I was going to lose my mind, but I didn't! :) My cardiologist could not figure out what caused it. He switched me from Inderal to Toprol XL. He also ordered Xanax .25mg as needed. I will take one occasionally when the skipped beats get really bad. It doesn't make the skipped beats less, but it helps me to remain calm. Xanax can be very easily addictive, so I am very careful not to rely on it very often. Also, when it gets bad I come to this web site to quell my fear. They have been really acting up lately. You will get through it, and like everybody else said it only makes it worse to worry. (Although, I am guilty at times). Good luck!!

[fastsilicon]

Did the chicken come before the egg? There are two possible scenarios here. The first; having panic attacks and anxiety caused a higher heart rate to set in. The second; having a fast heart rate induced the anxiety and or panic disorder.

Because you are only 26 years of age, I think hypertension would be very far fetched. Because of your normal echocardiogram and somewhat normal Holter/Event monitor I would be satisfied that there is nothing serious going on here.

Anxiety has been know to cause skipped beats. A heart rate of 90 bpm is still within the normal range for a young adult. I’ve personally had my HR go as high as 180 bpm. I would get a heart monitor (at your local drug store) so you can see how fast your heart is really beating during these “attacks”.


For further reading,

http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/panic.html

http://heartdisease.about.com/library/weekly/aa050701a.htm

[pandora9049]

thats the $64,000 question.  does anxiety cause the palpitations or does the palpitations cause the anxiety??  i'm really worried about my heart to the point where im constantly thinking of it or checking my pulse.  im 29/f and ive been having almost daily episodes of racing heartbeat w/ occasional missed beat.
i've had an echo, ekgs, event monitor and blood work and they were okay, but i'm still not convinced.  i sometimes feel flushed when i get the racing heartbeat (120 bpm while doing nothing) and was wondering, does anybody else experience this flushing sensation?  because since i mentioned the flushing to my cardiologist, he wants me to do a 24 hour urine study to check to see if my body makes too much serotonin, and some other stuff.  im kind of worried cause i checked what these tests were for on the internet and they're to check for something called carcinoid symdrome??  any help would be appreciated:)

[di1957]

I UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, I AM 46 YEARS OLD AND HAD MY FIRST PANIC ATTACK 22 YEARS AGO AND WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ARRHYTHMIA 15 YEARS AGO, THE PANIC ATTACKS ARE MUCH BETTER, BUT AFTER ALL THESE YEARS I CAN'T HELP BUT WORRY THAT I WILL HAVE A HEART ATTACK, ESPECIALLY SINCE I AM GETTING OLDER. EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NONE OF THE RISK FACTORS AND I AM IN GENERAL GOOD HEALTH.  ANY TIPS WOULD BE APPRECIATED

[jimmyb]

Hi, Everybody! Occasionally I will wake up with a fast heartbeat. These are very infrequent, although they usually happen wehn I am stressed, or maybe after a high-carb meal. They used to be a lot more common, but have decreased since I quit drinking alcohol. They are very scary since they happen in the middle of the night, but I have learned to just calm down and try to do some deep, slow breathing to slow myself down. I wish you the best in coping with your anxiety. It really can affect your life!

[iambubby]

Hi, Erica.
I'm a newbie to this forum so let me first say what a help you've all been to me during my late night panic-riddled readings. I feel like I know most of you, and have decided to jump in and share. I'm a 39-year old married father of 3 from Cincinnati.
For years I've jerked awake in the middle of the night with my heart racing. Even had the exact same "shivers" you desribe. And I, like you, think the anxiety is a result of the symptoms and not the other way around. But, I took an anti-anxiety pill for the first time last night (Xanax) and I can tell you this; whether my crazy PVC's happen or not, I felt better psychologically -- and that's the biggest part of the battle for me. I've been on Atenolol for years. Rarely any PVC's at all. Then one morning about two weeks ago, I had several. Then a bunch more that evening. It freaked me out and I went to the ER. Same story -- you're okay, they're normal, see ya. My Holter was fine. My EKG was fine. My stress test went fine. But, I'm still WORRIED. Frightened. Scared. (I've got just enough hypochondria to convince myself I'm dying, by the way ;-) It's just really hard for me to accept that they just showed up -- in full force, no less -- after so long. Now they suspect sleep apnea. I had a sleep study and should get results tomorrow. (Anyone else have sleep apnea related PVC's or arrythmias?)
Anyway...
My support, compassion, or encouragement you want or need is yours or anyone else's whenever you want it. In the words I long to hear from family, friends, and physician/s... "I understand."

[meg11]

Hi,
I just woke up flushed with a thready pulse (really couldn't feel it until I got up). Then my pulse was about 120 beats a minute. I have had skipped beats for years. My ankles are slightly swollen. Any advice?

[whitenoise]

This forum has been a breath of fresh air.  I can't say enough about how good it is to know there are others out there experiencing the same thing.  I have been an athlete all my life.  High School running back, 14 marathons, numerous triathlons, weight training, ultra hikes like the Appalachian Trail.  For the first 35 years of my life my body was a finely honed tool.  However, at 36 I started having rapid heart rates while asleep that would wake me up and scare the daylights out of me. Then I started having PVC's during the day, which would be followed by heart rates of 146 bpm while at rest.  Echo and EKG were normal, holter monitor showed heart rate of 146 bpm while at rest but otherwise normal.  These episodes happened daily and it was almost laughable as I would be carrying on conversations at work with people while my heart was pounding in my chest at 140 bpm's, trying my damndest to not let anyone no something was wrong.  My cardilogist offered to put me on Toprol XL 25 mg's twice a day, and against all the advice of my friends and aquaintences who told me that a beta blocker would slow me down too much, I finally had had enough and went on the meds.  My sweet God it has been a miracle.  All the episodes absolutely stopped!  Everyone told me I wouldn't be able to run on the beta blocker, but I haven't found this to be the case.  I still run 10 miles a day and now my heart doesn't beat like crazy!  The only side effect I notice is I can no longer handle altitudes above 6,000 feet.  Last summer I hiked up to 10,000 feet and really ran into some mountain sickness problems and had to get down from that altitude most pronto.  Has anyone else noticed problems at high altitude on the beta blocker?  My doctor doesn't seem to deal a lot with patients who get around as much as I do and he said he doesn't have a lot of experience with the question in his practice.  GOD BLESS TOPROL XL!!!!!  It has made my life beautiful again!!!!!!!!!

[Sirans]

I have been having skipped haert beats quite often in the last few days.  I ahve had them on and off throughout my life for as long as I can remember.  I am a 28 yr old female in good health.  Weigh 125 lbs, low BP, Low cholesterol.  I do suffer from anxiety at times, but I don't feel that I became anxious this time until after the skipped heartbeats set in.  @ yrs ago at age 56 my father developed Ventricular Tachycard (Right Outflow) and it was successfully ablated,  THe doctors said he had no CAD and he was given a clean bill of health.  I worry that my skips will develop into V-Tach.  I have had a holter recently that showed 196 pac's with runs up to 7 in a row.  I know that they are different from PVC's.  I also get PVC's.  I did a stress test which the cardiologist said I had a n excellent rating.  He said it show some PVC's , but mostly pac's.
My echo showed mitral valve with mild regurgitation.  The cardiologist put me on cardoizem 30mg prn for the skips.  I am very worried about these when they happen and am starting to lose sleep and awaken during the night with the fluttery feeling in my chest. CAn any give me some advice?  I have been given xanax in the past and wonder if I should take it now to see if it help or will it interact with the cardizem?

[Sirans]

iha ve skps

[Jayshree]

I am a new entrant into this world of SVT and rapid heartbeats at night.I am a chronic worrier and am never really relaxed. Its a scary feeling and I usually feel like I am not going to see day break or be able to hold my children. Why does this happen at 'rest'?
I am taking Calaptin40 3 times/day and the doc asks me to take a sedative, abt .25mg if I get too panicky. But isnt sedation 'addictive'?

Reading abt all your experiences makes me feel like I can go through another night. Will this stop with medication or is it a lifelong condition? Are there any calming foods that one can take before bedtime?

Jayshree

[onedge888]

I've had all the same symptoms you all share. I have pvc's in a normal heart. Sometimes thier small some times they are big. I too have ocationaly awoke during the night with a fast heart rate(110-120bpm) wich subside after a few minutes and also while awakening in the mornig. I used to take ativan when needed but found that it didn't help much with the pvc/palipatations. then the doctor started me on BB Bisoprolol a low dose 2.5 once a day in the evening....wow! what a big difference even on that small amount. I seldom have an unesasary fast heart rate and even if I did it would come down to normal fast. I hardly get any pvc's at all now.
For anybody suffering mentaly as well all do the benifits of a BB out wiegh the side effects.