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Anxiety confusion
Like many of you here have noted in your discussions of doctor visits, I too have been informed that my ongoing heart PVCs are "anxiety." I guess I am a bit confused about that. It would make sense if I had PVC 'attacks' that came and went and were at least slightly related to my moods, but it's so consistent. Every day they show up. Each and every day. Sure, the volume seems to vary, but I am never free of them. Admittedly I have nowhere near the amount some people have reported, but even forty or so noticeable ones are enough to leave me an emotional wreck.
I have gotten an appointment with a psychologist to discuss this, but thought I would just ask here and see what other folks had to say. My doctor is putting me on citalopram in an attempt to reduce anxiety, although from what I've seen posts indicate here it may not make a difference.
Has treating anxiety made a difference for you?
I have gotten an appointment with a psychologist to discuss this, but thought I would just ask here and see what other folks had to say. My doctor is putting me on citalopram in an attempt to reduce anxiety, although from what I've seen posts indicate here it may not make a difference.
Has treating anxiety made a difference for you?
anxitys will cause alot of heath related problems ..ive had this all my life.and i have had the anti deppreshion pills they do help you if ur not having serve anxtys..klopin and xanax are good for the calming effect..i been on them both for 16 yrs total..not both at the same time though..they will get you addicter in a matter of weeks..just get on them and take when u cant take this stress any more..its hard for docs to prescribe these anymore..but if a pdoc says that you need them than you can get them..i dont care what anyone says anxtys will make ur worst nightmares come true..of course the ones that dont have the anxitys dont no any better..live in our shoes and tell me..i hope you get the treatment you need!!!!!!!!!!!
I have wpw and had a failed ablation last March. The bad signal is to close to the main artery of my heart. I have been having horrible pvc's and pac's since the day after my ablation. I used to get them only once in a while before I was diagnosed at 39 after 8 years of back and forth doctoring. I have always had anxiety and could talk myself down and handle it but have been out of control with it since the ablation. I finally started seeing someone in January to help me with all of this. You are always on guard and I never can just sit and relax. That is when it is worse. When I'm up and about you don't notice them as much. They did recomed celexa to help but so far I am trying the talk therpy. I have been having some other health issues since february of this year so this has been hard. I do feel stress makes my skipped beats worse. I am at a stand still with weather to take the meds or not just like seritalos. I do rarely take xanax if I go into a panic attack. I think everyone has a diffrent take on meds but I did decide at my cardiologist insistance to take the beta blocker which does help with the beats. It's really hard because if I get a bad bout of skipped beats it can cause me anxiety and if I start with feeling an axiety attack it can trigger the skipped beats. I still deep down think when I get the bad rthym it makes my face flush and I get that panic going pretty quickly. Glad to hear from eveyone and what they are thinking. Once I found this site I felt pretty normal with my feelings. Thanks to all.
Well I just want to tell you that I believe being on an SSRI will help a lot. I sufffered from skipped beats, runs of v-tach and never ending anxiety about my heart for years and years. I had EP studies (two) and went to so many cardios I can't even count. I was so sure there was something seriously wrong with my heart. Well I can tell you that about 1.5 years ago my doctor said this is seriously ruining my life and put me on Prozac. I am a new person. I used to stress about my heart 24/7 and even became agrophobic because I was so scared to go out and do anything because I figured I was going to drop dead. I maybe get one or two skips a day now and they don't bother me at all. I used to let them run my whole life. I don't know whether just because I have calmed down or what but I really do believe my doctor now and know there is really nothing wrong with me other than my used to be anxiety and panic attacks. I would hightly recommend that anyone that has been to cardiologists etc. and been checked out and told their heart it fine that they get on some sort of anxiety meds. It changed my whole life.
depends, if an individual is serotonin deficient to the extent chronic anxiety results a SSRI can be helpful. Same situation as insulin is for a diabetic.
Great discussion here with excellent information! This is what makes this community so valuable.
I have WPW with PSVT, PVCs and PACs -- and I've had it for over forty years. I have it all the time and while stress may make it worse, I still have episodes even when I am not stressed. I do take time release beta-blockers (metoprolol XL) at a low dose and add short acting metoprolol when I'm having recalcitrant episodes of PSVT because it seems to help. I also use Lorazepam, (Ativan) which is a benzodiazepine, on an "as needed" basis because it helps not only with the anxiety I sometimes feel after trying to get through a day of constant episodes, but also seems to help with the PSVT itself, especially when I need to sleep and find the episodes keep waking me up. But, as Stutterheart says, you have to be careful with these. In some people they can be pro-arrhythmic and they are definitely habit forming. But, I have taken them occasionally for 30 years and find them really helpful.
On the other side of this issue, I have a very close friend who developed PSVT, PVCs and PACs while in a very stressful job situation. Unlike me, she had no underlying disease or other heart conditions. She tried everything and kept having the episodes. Finally, she quit her job, sought counseling and changed her diet and exercise routine and her episodes completely abated. She had a couple years of trouble some 20 years ago, but once the episodes stopped, she has been completely free of PSVT and has a rare PVC or PAC only a couple of times a month. She believes in her case it was all stress related, and maintains she had to do a lot of work to get away from the stress and deal with "unresolved" issues in counseling. I really don't know how common this scenario is, but it makes for an interesting piece of anecdotal evidence.
I tried the many of the same things she did and still have the arrhythmia problem, but as Ireneo noted, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be really helpful with these types of situations and while I am not "cured", I found a few months working with a specialist in CBT for medical conditions substantially improved my quality of life. In addition, I began meditating years ago and have found that a huge help to my condition and my peace of mind. A great book and CD set for this is "Full Catastrophe Living", but Jon Kabat-Zinn, but there are many others out there.
It sounds to me like you are on the right path already -- definitely stay pro-active and empowered. Find the right specialists, do your part and treat yourself with respect and compassion. Best Wishes!
I have WPW with PSVT, PVCs and PACs -- and I've had it for over forty years. I have it all the time and while stress may make it worse, I still have episodes even when I am not stressed. I do take time release beta-blockers (metoprolol XL) at a low dose and add short acting metoprolol when I'm having recalcitrant episodes of PSVT because it seems to help. I also use Lorazepam, (Ativan) which is a benzodiazepine, on an "as needed" basis because it helps not only with the anxiety I sometimes feel after trying to get through a day of constant episodes, but also seems to help with the PSVT itself, especially when I need to sleep and find the episodes keep waking me up. But, as Stutterheart says, you have to be careful with these. In some people they can be pro-arrhythmic and they are definitely habit forming. But, I have taken them occasionally for 30 years and find them really helpful.
On the other side of this issue, I have a very close friend who developed PSVT, PVCs and PACs while in a very stressful job situation. Unlike me, she had no underlying disease or other heart conditions. She tried everything and kept having the episodes. Finally, she quit her job, sought counseling and changed her diet and exercise routine and her episodes completely abated. She had a couple years of trouble some 20 years ago, but once the episodes stopped, she has been completely free of PSVT and has a rare PVC or PAC only a couple of times a month. She believes in her case it was all stress related, and maintains she had to do a lot of work to get away from the stress and deal with "unresolved" issues in counseling. I really don't know how common this scenario is, but it makes for an interesting piece of anecdotal evidence.
I tried the many of the same things she did and still have the arrhythmia problem, but as Ireneo noted, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be really helpful with these types of situations and while I am not "cured", I found a few months working with a specialist in CBT for medical conditions substantially improved my quality of life. In addition, I began meditating years ago and have found that a huge help to my condition and my peace of mind. A great book and CD set for this is "Full Catastrophe Living", but Jon Kabat-Zinn, but there are many others out there.
It sounds to me like you are on the right path already -- definitely stay pro-active and empowered. Find the right specialists, do your part and treat yourself with respect and compassion. Best Wishes!
Not a problem. I don't mind if folks disagree with me. As I said, I don't have to cope with anxiety so I don't know how it feels. I'm just not thrilled with doctors that prefer to throw a pill at someone to chemically control a problem instead of finding a less intrusive way to cope first.
When it comes to thoughts, we can manage some of them with cognitive therapy - learning how to see things differently and redirect our thoughts. In some cases, meds are needed but not always.
Intense stress we know changes our body chemistry. It doesn't sound like Seritalos is under that kind of stress, just very annoyed by the PVC's and not getting clear answers.
Just a side note here: the past 2 years have been stressful for me - my Dad slowly dying from congestive heart failure and then cancer that spread through his body, my Mom going ballistic over it all and being emotionally erratic, I needed unexpected surgery, then had a trip to ER with diverticulitis which I've never had before. Through all of this I can't really say that my heart acted any worse than before. I have good days and bad.
Seritalos: only you know how much anxiety you're feeling. If it's controlling your life or disrupting your ability to live, then yes, the meds will help. If you feel your doctor is giving you the brush-off, then try another doctor that might be more sensitive to your heart concerns. Take care.
When it comes to thoughts, we can manage some of them with cognitive therapy - learning how to see things differently and redirect our thoughts. In some cases, meds are needed but not always.
Intense stress we know changes our body chemistry. It doesn't sound like Seritalos is under that kind of stress, just very annoyed by the PVC's and not getting clear answers.
Just a side note here: the past 2 years have been stressful for me - my Dad slowly dying from congestive heart failure and then cancer that spread through his body, my Mom going ballistic over it all and being emotionally erratic, I needed unexpected surgery, then had a trip to ER with diverticulitis which I've never had before. Through all of this I can't really say that my heart acted any worse than before. I have good days and bad.
Seritalos: only you know how much anxiety you're feeling. If it's controlling your life or disrupting your ability to live, then yes, the meds will help. If you feel your doctor is giving you the brush-off, then try another doctor that might be more sensitive to your heart concerns. Take care.
I respectfully disagree with ireneo when saying that pills won't change your mind set. I agree that anxiety is not the only cause but it certainly is a possible contributor/agitator in many patients.
I'm convinced that stress has had a lot to do with my arrhythmias (AVNRT, Wenchebach, ectopics, atrial flutter). I work on wall street and the hours and intensity are very similar to that of an er surgeon on call 24/7. I can remember feeling intense burning in my chest from all the adrenaline built up for months on end when I was 24 or 25. When I was 26, I developed the arrhythmias. I've read material that suggests heart tissue can be damaged due to adrenaline and/or acetylcholine overload which can cause reentry circuits (isthmae) to form or areas other than the SA node to develop dominance.
I've found that beta blockers help keep that adrenaline rush down but really impair my mental faculty. In fact, my heart rate gets down to the high 30's on only 25mg of atenolol. I have taken Zoloft from time to time which really helps. I don't like taking meds long term, as I'm still in my 20's, but I think I'm going back on them. Ironically, going on an SSRI keeps my blood pressure down (normal baseline of 160/105 when off SSRI to 120/70 when on them) which makes me think that anxiety causes an adrenal or vagal response with tertiary consequence of arrhythmia.
Also, I like to always have a few benzodiazapine around. When I get really bad episondes, I take one pill and am ready to walk a tightrope in a rainstorm. Nothing bothers you and you don't feel 'out of it'. But they are powerful drugs and you don't want to take them more than once or twice a month as they are extremely habit forming (although I've never had an urge to overuse them dispite my history of substance abuse). It can be very helpful just to know you have that parachute to pull.
Best of luck.
A
I'm convinced that stress has had a lot to do with my arrhythmias (AVNRT, Wenchebach, ectopics, atrial flutter). I work on wall street and the hours and intensity are very similar to that of an er surgeon on call 24/7. I can remember feeling intense burning in my chest from all the adrenaline built up for months on end when I was 24 or 25. When I was 26, I developed the arrhythmias. I've read material that suggests heart tissue can be damaged due to adrenaline and/or acetylcholine overload which can cause reentry circuits (isthmae) to form or areas other than the SA node to develop dominance.
I've found that beta blockers help keep that adrenaline rush down but really impair my mental faculty. In fact, my heart rate gets down to the high 30's on only 25mg of atenolol. I have taken Zoloft from time to time which really helps. I don't like taking meds long term, as I'm still in my 20's, but I think I'm going back on them. Ironically, going on an SSRI keeps my blood pressure down (normal baseline of 160/105 when off SSRI to 120/70 when on them) which makes me think that anxiety causes an adrenal or vagal response with tertiary consequence of arrhythmia.
Also, I like to always have a few benzodiazapine around. When I get really bad episondes, I take one pill and am ready to walk a tightrope in a rainstorm. Nothing bothers you and you don't feel 'out of it'. But they are powerful drugs and you don't want to take them more than once or twice a month as they are extremely habit forming (although I've never had an urge to overuse them dispite my history of substance abuse). It can be very helpful just to know you have that parachute to pull.
Best of luck.
A
I'll start by saying I don't have anxiety attacks so I'm probably not the right person to discuss this with you. I do have various types of arrhythmias (PAC's, PVC's, PSVT and perhaps some NSVT). The ectopics happen every day, all day, averaging 1-5 per minute. The tachy times just come several times a week.
So, the point is, I don't have anxiety problems but my heart still dances and skips. It's simply an electrical problem in there. Yes, if I'm tired, sick, dehydrated, drink alcohol, etc. I seem to have more trouble with my heart. But they never go away completely.
Your PVC's are not just an anxiety problem. It's not all in your head. The trick is learning how to accept these heart blips and not take them too seriously. Popping pills won't change your mind set (I admit, I'm not crazy about pills). I just hope and that the psychologist will find a way to help you accept these goofy beats. You've lived this long with PVC's; you'll probably be fine for many years to come.
So, the point is, I don't have anxiety problems but my heart still dances and skips. It's simply an electrical problem in there. Yes, if I'm tired, sick, dehydrated, drink alcohol, etc. I seem to have more trouble with my heart. But they never go away completely.
Your PVC's are not just an anxiety problem. It's not all in your head. The trick is learning how to accept these heart blips and not take them too seriously. Popping pills won't change your mind set (I admit, I'm not crazy about pills). I just hope and that the psychologist will find a way to help you accept these goofy beats. You've lived this long with PVC's; you'll probably be fine for many years to come.
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