Anxiety and high heart rate Please help

[heartfears]

Hello, some of the basics I suppose.. 6ft tall 175 lbs medical history in my family of anxiety disorders  , depression (in women) and Cancer. In march of 07 I was arguing over something stupid with my father , I started feeling really hot then my heart started pounding it was reaching like 180 bpm.. I took about 4 hours for things to get back down to normal. (with .5mg of xanax not much I know) Then after that episode similar ones followed in the weeks after - I went to my Doctor. Now I had just been in for my Check up January 9th. and I had AN ekg taken and you know all the usual stuff you get at your checked up I had them mail me a copy of the EKG from then you can see it here. http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/6663/ekgmikego4.jpg - Please give me your opinion on that and if it has any relevant meaning.  The rates im having last 2-4 hours and are 140-180 bpm. they happen with panic attacks. Once I take the beta blocker it brings the rate down in about 40/60 minutes.
But I told her everything to my knowledge. I know I said "heart rate 180" My Anxiety is especially bad at Dr Appointments ( she has known about my anxiety since I was 18/19 )She had the nurse use a pulse machine to take my pulse which was 101bpm then my bp which was like 145/97 it has been higher - at home its normal. She then proceeded to listen to my heart from of the chest and back for about 4 minutes - Then she asked if I had any questions on medications and I asked about a battery of things to be honest ) And we decided to try a Beta blocker - I started metoprolol 25mg April 1st along with a xanax increase to 4mg a day as needed.. after 3 days she dropped it to 12.5 a day and ive stayed there ever since (the beta b locker is breaking the 25 mg pill in half and taking it once a day) But I still have periods maybe they are panic attacks where my heart rate shoots way up.. and I cant really trust myself enough to take it when im panicking but its fast. And I fear these attacks or episodes or whatever they are so much that i dread them each day, and I feel like my heart is weaker each day.. (granted I dont exercise out of fear)

[jasveer]

Hi heartfears

Your panic attacks are very similar to the problem I have been facing for some time now. But nothing helps like exercise does. Start very slowly and then make it intense if you feel comfortable with it. No matter how much someone tells you not to worry, it wont be of any use because it is not in your own control to great extent. But yes, there are indirect techniques like yoga, exercise and proper sleep that will help you. These things take very long time to heal and sometimes you just have to learn to live with them.

These problems manytimes originate from unhealhty life sytles and dissatisfaction from life in general. May be you should observe yourself and see is there anything related to your job or personal relationships that could be causing it. Though these attacks occur only when you are excited or worried but still roots are somewhere else.

Best of Luck ...and Yes, Dont fear exercise .It is your best chance.

[Jikan]

Namaste,

Anxiety breeds more anxiety.  It appears to me as if you are concentrating too much on the negative and not even attempting to find anything positive in your life or alternative ways of controlling your symptoms.

Medication can only help so much. For example, even though you say you fear it, exercise is an important facet to controlling anxiety and panic attacks. Diet, sleep, meditation and a regular routine are also important. Adjunct therapies such as yoga and accupunture also help some individuals.

From what I can tell from your EKG(and I'm no expert), I don't see anything abnormal as your doctor probably told you.

It's easy for me to sit here and tell you not to worry about what is currently going on in your life because I know how scared I've been in certain situations, but work with your doctor, be patient, use whatever support mechanisms are available to you and I'm sure you'll find an adequate solution to your problem.

Let us know how you are doing and take care of yourself!!

Michael