How can I move on from skipped beat episode? Very traumatized from this

[Leather1992]

I recently experienced a “skipped beat” about 3 weeks ago. I made a Cardiologist appointment that same day, I finally got all of my results a couple days ago, my Echocardiogram and ALL tests came back COMPLETELY NORMAL. My heart structure is fine, the Holter monitor was fine, I did find out that I have Premature Ventricular Contractions but they’re at a 1% and apparently 20 % would be concerning so I cleared that too. I also don’t have A-Fib (that was 0%). These PVC’s which don’t happen often either btw are considered benign and I was told to come back in one year and that was just for precaution.

I had to get these obvious facts out of the way because I know all of this, and I believe my doctor and I believe I’m probably gonna be okay but I can’t stop focusing on my heartbeat at times and I check it sometimes and when I do I suppose I get anxious and that in turn makes me believe that I’m in danger of a heart disease that self-perpetuating cycle of me getting worked up and causing my heart to race out of anxiety.

Sorry if this is long and I’ll repeat  my question because I had to get the details out of the way so you’d understand: How do I relax? How do I stop focusing on my heartbeat?

It’s as if my hyper awareness is my new second nature unconscious response now and I can’t get back to my normal life it seems at least not entirely, the 2 days after I found out I was okay I didn’t notice any PVC’s at all, and I wasn’t focused on them I was out with friends for one of those days getting lost in conversations and completely forgetting that I even had this issue to begin with therefore I didn’t notice anything “dangerous”.

But today I noticed one but that could have been due to coffee that my doctor told me to cut out (old habits die hard) and then it made me nervous and sad the rest of the day.

I just want my life back I can’t go back to how it was before this happened, even though I’m fine I’m still scarred from the whole situation. I’ve never had any heart issues before I thought I had heart disease I thought I messed my whole life up, I recently gave up alcohol for good that’s how much this scared the crap out of me and my cardiologist confirmed I did no lasting damage to my heart from that thank god.

I’m crying as I type this I’m a 29 year old male and I know people fight in wars and have car accidents and actual trauma that messes them up so it’s mean of me to say this but this was my equivalent of that.

I’m not a depressed person I see a therapist regularly and I have an amazing girlfriend who supports me and I want to focus on my engagement but this is tearing me apart. This was a real traumatic experience for me and even if you guys don’t have an answer to my question I just want you to know that it’s already helped me to get this off of my chest. Just to get this out in the open is good.

It made me realize that you have to take care of your body and your health and especially your heart and that life is too damn short and too precious. This thing inside of us can just stop beating at any moment and I’m not getting any younger. This health scare has left some lasting damage to me mentally and I’m usually an optimistic person I just wanna get back to my usual self I know I will eventually but this constant focus on my heart and worry and just vividly remembering how terrified I was thinking I had a shortened my life and a bad heart.

If you can relate or you have any insight I’d appreciate it I’ve never been this scared in my entire life before I found out I was okay and it seems I’m still picking up the pieces from this harrowing experience, yes it matured me but it also scarred me, thank you in advance for any help and suggestions and for helping me to get this out of my system at the very least.

[Fernrain]

I know your post is old, but I'm there with you.  I tend to get fixated on things. I had an eye issue a couple years ago.  Now I notice every tiny thing about my vision.  I can even see both my blind spots now (everyone has a blind spot in each eye).  
I've also been experiencing skipped beats.  I've been super stressed the last few months, and they've gotten worse.  I also have ankle swelling now.
I hope you are feeling better and have been able to move past this.  Let me know how you did it!  :)

[auntiejessi]

I'm sure this was scary for you, but maybe you can change the way you look at it.

Change it from "harrowing" to enlightening - you are now aware that you need to take better care of yourself.

Instead of "lasting damage to me mentally", you are now more empathetic to others going through trauma. And it's not "lasting" - it's been 3 weeks.

Rather than "constant focus on my heart and just vividly remembering how terrified I was thinking I had a shortened my life and a bad heart", know that you now have had a complete work up, and you can go into your new life with your fiance with the knowledge that your heart is healthy.

Yes, it was scary. I have PVCs and some other heart issues - it can all be scary and sometimes just annoying. But you did everything right - you saw a cardiologist right away, got all the testing done promptly, are making healthy changes, and you're good. Change the narrative of it all.

Best to you. :)

[Leather1992]

Absolutely! The narrative is huge when it comes to this, a lot of growth and change did happen during this time, I started drinking because I lost both of my parents at a young age and the habit persisted up until recently, my last binge was over 3 weeks ago and I now want to keep my heart in the best condition so this crucial decision is definitely another positive that happened  out of this, I’m grateful I wasn’t too late and stopped before I caused any serious harm to my heart. It’s also living with the PVC’s adjusting to when they happen and knowing that they’re not dangerous when they do, it’s just even though they’re benign and don’t occur often  they frighten the living hell out of me, and my head wasn’t in a good place to begin with after going through this ordeal. We also
Place such importance on our hearts rightfully so because we know we need them to live so that’s part of the fear I always feel like I need to do something about it. All I really wanna do is kick back and live in the moment again, I appreciate the response I got a lot out of airing this in the open. It is the scariest experience of my entire life and getting it off my chest was helpful and I’ll try to be more positive about it going forward.