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Hearing/feeling my heartbeat and breathing issue keeping me up for weeks.
Hello, I am new to this forum, but I was wondering if there is anything I can do for the following:
I am 24 years old and in seemingly good health. But, for about a month now, I have been all too aware of my breathing and heart beat. I have suffered from sporadic anxiety all my life, where I will have months of being fine followed by a month of so of insomnia where I will sleep only an average of 4-5 hours a night. I don't always know what triggers this, but it always goes away in time.
However, recently I have been feeling like my heart is beating too strongly. Not too fast, my heart rate is around 64 beats per minute, but it feel like it is booming. I had the blood pressure taken a few weeks ago, it was fine. But the heart pounding feeling is keeping me up at night.
To add to this, I also have been feeling breathing issues where I feel like my lungs don't deflate entirely sometimes. Kind of like if you filled a paper bag 100% with air, then deflate it 30% and keep inflating/deflating it to the same size. Now, this issue doesn't happen all day, only at random points for a few hours... so while I do smoke (1/2 a pack a day usually at most. I will quit too, don't need to die from the damn things), I am believing it is anxiety/stress showing itself in a new way, not something more serious. I also had an X-ray done of my chest that showed nothing abnormal.
My main question is: Is there anything I can do to get back to feeling normal? I have seen my doctor and am currently on Abilify (it helped before with my anxiety) and Ambien CR, which works wonders in making me forget about my heartbeat and breathing at night. But I don't want to be taken Ambien too long. And I don't know what to do when I feel this "too much air in lungs" feeling during the day... anyone know how to get me back to sleep naturally? Or if there is any medication that helps with over-breathing (what I think it is) during the daytime hours?
Thanks.
I am 24 years old and in seemingly good health. But, for about a month now, I have been all too aware of my breathing and heart beat. I have suffered from sporadic anxiety all my life, where I will have months of being fine followed by a month of so of insomnia where I will sleep only an average of 4-5 hours a night. I don't always know what triggers this, but it always goes away in time.
However, recently I have been feeling like my heart is beating too strongly. Not too fast, my heart rate is around 64 beats per minute, but it feel like it is booming. I had the blood pressure taken a few weeks ago, it was fine. But the heart pounding feeling is keeping me up at night.
To add to this, I also have been feeling breathing issues where I feel like my lungs don't deflate entirely sometimes. Kind of like if you filled a paper bag 100% with air, then deflate it 30% and keep inflating/deflating it to the same size. Now, this issue doesn't happen all day, only at random points for a few hours... so while I do smoke (1/2 a pack a day usually at most. I will quit too, don't need to die from the damn things), I am believing it is anxiety/stress showing itself in a new way, not something more serious. I also had an X-ray done of my chest that showed nothing abnormal.
My main question is: Is there anything I can do to get back to feeling normal? I have seen my doctor and am currently on Abilify (it helped before with my anxiety) and Ambien CR, which works wonders in making me forget about my heartbeat and breathing at night. But I don't want to be taken Ambien too long. And I don't know what to do when I feel this "too much air in lungs" feeling during the day... anyone know how to get me back to sleep naturally? Or if there is any medication that helps with over-breathing (what I think it is) during the daytime hours?
Thanks.
Hey, just a quick update, I saw my doctor and was prescribed Xanax .25mgs to be taken once in the morning and twice a day more as needed. It has helped a lot when I need to be in social settings with getting me able to focus and relax, as well as helped quite my pounding heartbeat. The amount is low enough that I don't feel too tired, but if I have time and feel like it, I am finally able to nap for a bit.
However, the Xanax doesn't last all day, and I don't want to keep taking it all the time, so I started doing breathing exercises that also have helped a ton. When I am feeling I am overbreathing, I exhale, and wait about 15-20 seconds in a relaxed sitting position, until my body makes me feel I need breath, then I relax and let my body naturally inhale through the nose. I repeat this as necessary (sometimes you have to do it on and off for a few minutes) , and my breathing goes back to being fairly normal, and I relax. Hope this helps if anyone has similar symptoms, since it very easy to do even in situations where you don't want people to know your having a problem. Looks better than breathing into a paper bag too I'm sure.
However, the Xanax doesn't last all day, and I don't want to keep taking it all the time, so I started doing breathing exercises that also have helped a ton. When I am feeling I am overbreathing, I exhale, and wait about 15-20 seconds in a relaxed sitting position, until my body makes me feel I need breath, then I relax and let my body naturally inhale through the nose. I repeat this as necessary (sometimes you have to do it on and off for a few minutes) , and my breathing goes back to being fairly normal, and I relax. Hope this helps if anyone has similar symptoms, since it very easy to do even in situations where you don't want people to know your having a problem. Looks better than breathing into a paper bag too I'm sure.
Hey. You asked the million dollar question. How so I get back to feeling normal? I wish I knew the answer to that one
I have been experiencing the same thing in the last couple of month. I can feel my heartbeat and my pulse while I am lying down trying to sleep. It drives me insane. Seems like it moves my whole body. I believe that it is largely do to stress and not sleeping well. I notice that if I get better sleep the night before it's not as noticeable.
I have been experiencing the same thing in the last couple of month. I can feel my heartbeat and my pulse while I am lying down trying to sleep. It drives me insane. Seems like it moves my whole body. I believe that it is largely do to stress and not sleeping well. I notice that if I get better sleep the night before it's not as noticeable.
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