Am I dying or what?

[ChrisR7320]

I am a 28 y/o male within normal weight limits and have been in excellent health. I have history of heart and lung disease in my distant family in members that are obese, smoke, and drink heavily. I have recently quit smoking (two weeks). This will make my 15th or so attempt at quiting and so far it is going well. I do drink, but only wine and beer about one to two glasses a day. I eat a very diverse and well-balanced diet consisting mostly of whole and organic foods. I am former military so I was extremly active until about two years ago when I left the service. I do not excercise much anymore but I have an active job and I ride a bike a few miles a week. I do have a history of heavy Ephedrine use from about 16y/o to 20y/o. For about a year, I was consuming roughly one bottle or about 75 pills every 10 days or so. I have not taken them since. Last year, I had what the ER physician called an anxiety attack and have been dealing with residual episodes of that ever since. I am prescribed Lorazepam, but I rarely ever take it. I have had the same bottle for 8 months now.

My question is: For as long as I can remeber, I have had sporadic palpitations. It will begin as an odd feeling or that impeding doom feeling. Then, I will feel my heart take a few very rapid beats, stop for a period of 2-4 full seconds beat once or twice in normal fashion, then repeat. This lasts only a minute or so and then returns to normal. I think my anxiety attack began with this, and everytime I have one of these episode, I begin to feel heavy anxiety that lasts for some time. This has gotten more and more frequent over the year. It is what prompted me to first visit and ER and I was refered to a Cardiologist. The Cardiologist had me where a Halter monitor for 48 hrs and determined that all was well. I hope he is right, but this has become a real obstacle in my life. I have a medical background, and to me, all signs point to anxiety and stress and that I should have no real worry about possible cardiac event. Still, I find my sleep bothered by this, and general life disrupted. I have noticed, that this rarely happens, (if ever) at work, in public, or when I am not thinking about stress of anxiety.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[whatayear]

stress is really an amazing thing! and the effects on the body are crazy! i was blown off for years with oh its anxiety and stress which alot of it is I have had depression and anxiety since a young age it runs in my family but after an infection I develped IST which you dont sound like you have but they kept telling me it was anxiety until I had an SVT attack I am 26. but yes I always wondered why I could have anxiety and then be doing something and not have it until I thought about it that just shows how powerful the mind is! You need to learn stress managment this is easier said then done and also quitting smoking will cause high levels of anxiety and high heart rate!!!! its a big withdrawl symptom!!!! so if its worse for a while thats normal! also try cutting out caffiene or anything with caffiene for a while and see if that helps I havnt had caffiene since I was 16! but do try some life changing skills before poping pills I mean I take klonopin when needed probably once a month or so but since you have palps as do I a low dose beta blocker works really well for palps and anxiety!! but you have to get to the root of the problem which sounds like worry you just adding fuel to your anxiety fire! docs want to hand out all these pills here take a pill you will feel better in 2 weeks! whatever I have taken 12 different drugs side effects all worse then the anxiety! ask for somethng like 25 mg of atenolol you might be a little tierd in the begining but it will keep your heart rate low and help with the palps and in about a week or two you will notice a huge difference! They actually give beta blockers to people who have stage freight becuase it helps with that flight or fright feeling! ask your doc about this or toprol is a good one aswell low dose and you should feel alot better but try these befreo like cymbalta or effexor or paxil...those come with alot of side effects! good luck!

[Momto3]

Congratulations on quitting smoking!  I know how difficult that is; it sounds like you've got the right attitude about it and are well on your way to being smoke-free.  Keep up the great work!!

Anxiety and/or panic attacks can trigger all sorts of symptoms, including those you describe.  But, I understand your concern about wanting to be sure (unfortunately, for us anxious patients, we have a real need to be "sure").  When you wore the holter monitor, do you recall if you had any palpitations and/or episodes that would have caught your attention? If you did not feel the same sensations that you described above, maybe your doctor would consider an event monitor.  You could wear it for 30 days and "record" any episodes as the occur.  If the monitor captures an EKG at the time of the episode and your doctor still says it is nothing to worry about, then you will need to concentrate on ways to get past the anxiety.  

Palpitations and a feeling of impending doom can defnitely be attributed to panic attacks.  The fact that the episodes rarely occur at work, in public, or when you are busy also tend to suggest that the occurrences are a result of anxiety.  Not to worry, there are ways to deal with the anxiety.

Good luck and thanks for serving!

[Barbarella]

I'm sure its all anxiety.  When you were still in the military you did the PT every morning, running the 5 miles every morning, and that is a great stress reducer, and very healthy.

My husband spent 26 yrs on active duty, and when he retired no more 5 mile runs in the morning, no more PT it didn't effect him anxiety wise he doesn't worry about anything, but it effected his weight.  Slowly he gained some weight around his stomach, his BP slowly creeped up and he is now on BP meds, in the military his BP was on the low side, and his weight was 20 pounds less.

CONGRATS on quitting smoking.  My husband smoked 4 packs a day for over 40 yrs, but quit 4 yrs ago, thank god.

Don't worry about a few beers now and then it will keep you healthy.  Beer has got hops and vitamins.  Wine is healthy too.  My husband drinks beer every night and he is healthy as hell except for the BP which is under control with meds, everything else is in top shape.  Oh yes, I almost forgot except for the COPD which is a souvenir from smoking 4 packs a day for over 40 yrs.

Thanks for your service!  And have a happy Veterans Day.  If you have a "Golden Corral" restaurant in your area they give out free dinners for Veterans, on Monday 11/12.  :)

[ChrisR7320]

Thanks everyone for your swift replies.

I would like to add a few things. My resting HR is normally between 35-45 BPM when I am in my phases of being smoke free. I have had this checked before, and was told by DRs that it is just a sign of being in good cardio shape and that I shouldn't worry. I am caffiene free and have been for years. I do realize that this is most likely anxiety related. Ever since leaving the military, I cannot find a decent job or career path, my marriage has been kind of rocky at times, and other things in my personal life have caused some stress. The best medicine I have found was Marijuana. Since I am trying to find some sort of career right now andthe fact I work a very low paying job, I have had to cut it out completly. I think between that, everything else, and cessation of cigerettes, the anxiety is begining to boil over. The only mental health I have access to is the county clinic and all they do is prescribe Prozac or something else that a RX company has given them kick backs too. I was actually told they don't really offer counseling services just medication threapy. Needless to say, I do not have any faith in the US Public Health Care system and even less for the private care. SinceI am poor, without a job that offers benefits and no insurance, private care is out of the question. What I have had to do is just go to the ER before I realized this was all mental and just skip out on the bill. That makes me feel even better and add loads to my self-esteem.

Once again, thanks for the info guys and if you have anymore I could really use it. This condition is steadily taking over my life no matter how much I fight it.

[Barbarella]

Since you were in the military can't you go to a VA hospital?  Did you have an honorable discharge?My brother in law was only in the military for 3 yrs and that was over 40 yrs ago, and he is still going to the VA hospital for everything.

[Momto3]

Do you qualify for any VA benefits?  Medicaid?  Any chance you're wife has family coverage? What about contacting someone at your church (or a nearby church) to ask for some support.

Does the military offer any services to people after they leave (finding jobs, etc)?  Do you qualify for taking classes, training? I now it may not be ideal (pay-wise), but what about finding seasonal work?  With the holidays coming up, many of the retail places are looking for help.  Maybe it could turn into something full time and you could work you way up the ladder.  In the meantime, you can keep your eyes and ears open for something you really want to pursue.

[Frank77]

Chris,
I look at it this way. I was born with a terminal illness called life, and immediately went into remission. Now 77 years later it is recurring!  Joking aside I have had several experiences of no heart beat for about 4 seconds due to my pacemaker failing to capture ventricle pacing. Oddly I sat there thinking "either this thing is going to start again or in another few seconds it won't make any difference anyway.Obviously it started. ER caught the same thing on their monitor. A bit of readjustment of the pacer has solved it. The point of all this is that I wonder if I had panicked what would have happened. What meds would I be on by now to handle my anxiety with all their side effects.

One thing to keep in mind is with your slow HR from being in good physical shape, there is a long delay between heart beats and you only have to miss one to have a 4 second delay.