Common enough question

[mmmxiii]

I am a five year anxiety attack sufferer, and I'm mostly convinced that these events are anxiety-based. I'm want to make sure that treating these symptoms as anxiety is the correct thing to do. I am a 29 year old male, being treated for high blood pressure with atenolol, lisonipryl, and HCTZ. I weigh 225 lbs, which is not overweight on my body frame/muscle mass.

I've been having recurring episodes where I wake in the middle of the night to an elevated pulse, not terribly high, about 90-100. My resting pulse is usually in the mid-50's. Upon waking, I feel anxiety. Last night (this has happened quite a few times) I got up and of course my heart responds to that by increasing my pulse. I went to the bathroom and went to sit down in the living room and read until I could fall back asleep.

My heart then begins beating more and more rapidly, and plateaus somewhere in the 180-200 range. My chest feels tight, but I have no chest pain. I feel a quite noticeable increase in blood pressure. These episodes typically last 2 to 5 minutes. I got up and took 50mg atenolol (it was almost normal time to take it anyway) and within moments my pulse slowed. I'm assuming that there's no way atenolol acts that quickly and it would take 1/2 minimum to enter the bloodstream, so I'm guessing that was psychological.

I've had all EKG's and ECG's come back fine and it's been two years since my last one. My doctor always reminds me that it's anxiety. I'm confident that it is. I just want to make sure that there isn't something that I should be getting a second opinion about. I'm content to just talk myself through it, I'm done with trying to find new things to scare myself over.  

Any input would be appreciated. Like I said, I know that us anxiety people are constantly looking for non-existent heart problems, I just want to cover my bases before I move on.

Thanks for reading!

[mmmxiii]

Thanks for the input. I'm actually up to speed with your suggestions already. I've seen a cardiologist and I haven't had caffeine in years (though I OCCASIONALLY smoke and drink).

I went for a long time without attacks, and my daily anxiety level was fairly low. I'm only asking here instead the anxiety forum (which I participate in) because I want to make sure I'm not overlooking something. I'm aware that already having a second doctor say it's anxiety means it is in all likelihood entirely anxiety related. The only thing striking me as odd is that I'm not waking from nightmares to anxiety, I'm just waking up and my heart is racing for no discernible reason.

[StephieK82]

I completely know how your feeling, though my symptoms are more "fluttering" or skipped beats and occasional lightheadedness. I have had a stress test, 2 EKGS, an echo (which I'm waiting on results) and right now am wearing a 2 week holter monitor. I find that there are days when I have very few symptoms and days when everything just goes wacky. the more stressed I am the more I seem to have symptoms. I am hoping that this is all anxiety/stress related as that would be a lot easier to deal with than something actually being wrong. If you have had EKG's or any testing done and your doctor feels that it is anxiety then I would take his advice and deal with the anxiety symptoms and try not to worry. I did tons of research when I first started having my symptoms and almost all anxiety checklists list blood pressure/heart palpitations/etc as the top symptoms. you can get them even if you aren't feeling anxious. I decided to go through with all the testing mainly because I'm a hard person to convince and the only way I'll be able to truly believe it's anxiety is if I have physical proof that my heart is alright. If your like me, then maybe it wouldnt' hurt to get a second opinion. Set up an appointment with a cardiologist, tell him/her your worries and see if they'll run all the tests on you and maybe it will be a lot easier to sum it all up to anxiety and start living your life.
also, caffeine is at the top of the list for causing heart/chest symptoms and even adds to anxiety. I stopped all forms of caffeine and I did notice a significant difference. Switch to water or caffeine free coffee/soda. It will make a huge difference trust me!!!

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!!

[mmmxiii]

I exercise for a half hour minimum 4-5 times a week, by the way. Pulse responds accordingly, but no tightness in chest while exercising.