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Terrified of palpatations

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Posted 2/24/2015 5:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hi i am so glad i found this site. I have suffered with general anxiety disorder for about 15 years i am now almost 39, i am female. Last week my palpatations got worse i am now back on 160mg of propranolol beta blocker and 20mg fluoxetine. i am so scared i have been signed off college for two weeks. i am scared to get out of bed, i am scared to go to the toilet. all i do is lie in bed and listen to music. i am trying to convince myself that i have nothing to be scared of but it is so hard, i am becoming detached from my husband and kids as i can only just cope if im alone. Please does any one have any tips of how they became less scared of theses awful things its cripling me and turning me into a recluse again, thanks confused cry
Posted 2/24/2015 6:08 PM (GMT 0)
Hi SL and welcome!

I am sorry to hear of your returning symptoms.:(

I am glad to hear however, that you are working with your doctor medically speaking, to find relief with your Rx changes...(this can however take several weeks to adjust to, so try to be patient with the process.)


....how about any other treatment options? What have you tried in terms of self-help and/or therapy?

There are many coping skills that can help reduce the palpitations, as well as teach techniques that aid neutralizing the fear regarding them.

Would you like me to print some links from our Resources here thay may be helpful to you?

Scaredy Cat

Posted 2/24/2015 7:41 PM (GMT 0)
Hi. I have the same fear of palpitations. I try to remember that I've had them for years and they haven't killed me yet!!! You're on medication that is used to control them. And stress and anxiety over them can only make then worse. Shutting off from others while seeming to be the right thing to do rarely helps. It just allows more time to focus on the palpitations. Or that's how it's worked for me. Give the meds time to work. You will be fine.
Posted 2/25/2015 2:37 AM (GMT 0)
Girls i have suffered with palps since i was 35 i am now 72 almost 73 they are harmless in and of themselves but they can distract us from taking care of the business of everyday life and in that since they are dangerous, now look at the years i have had them, all they ever did for me was make me think i was dying, i wasted a lot of time with that, one day i make up my mind that i would no longer rehearse the day of my death and i just started to live, nothing wild just being thankful for the "Now", that i have, i know what this is like, i can tell you a million times they wont hurt you, but you will have to get mad enough at this fear to demand your live back, I send all of you Prayers, Peace

Larry ***
Posted 2/25/2015 4:48 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Larry , that's good advice .im 27 and I wasted a year became I was terefied to die because of my panic attacks during my attacks my pulse gets pretty high 160s and Im still very scared of them but I'm praying everyday that I let go of that fear And start living this life.

I too was literally scared to go to the bathroom ( literally though) my heart rate increased so much from just standing up from sitting position , it still does , but I take a beta blocker and Zoloft the beta blocker helps so much , and I'm hoping the Zoloft will get the panic attacks under control .
what's your resting pulse , and how high does it go during panic attacks ?
Posted 2/26/2015 2:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hi thankyou everyone for your replys, i am trying some cbt approaches trying to convince myself that they wont hurt me, seems all fine till i have one then the fear is overwhelming. Yes Scardey cat i would appreciate that so much i am willing to take any help i can. I live in Scotland in the United Kingdom there is a long waiting list to see a therapist and i cant afford to go private. I just want to be able to live without being paralized i miss my family and my college life is going down the tubes i fear that if i dont go back soon i will be too far behind to catch up, ironically i am studying Psychology and mental health with the hope of becoming a clinical psychologist. Thankyou everyone i wish you all peace of mind and heart.
Posted 2/26/2015 2:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hi there,
I've had palpitations before. I got them all the time when I was on prednisone a couple years ago, and I get them sometimes now if I am very anxious/stressed out. I know they suck and are scary! Assuming you've already called your doctor to let them know, a few things helped me when I had them:
1.) Eventually I was just having them often enough and nothing bad was happening that I didn't worry too much when they happened. I knew why they were happening and that made it easier to ride it out
2.) If I couldn't rationalize them, it might sound silly but I would take my pulse and count. For some reason the counting would force me to almost calm down some, and as the beats per second became less, I felt better.
3.) Distraction. I'd try to do something to get my mind off, like play a video game or tidy up. Have you ever played the 2048 game? It's pretty addicting and helps me calm down. Here's a link to it if you want to give it a try: http://gabrielecirulli.github.io/2048/

Anyway, I hope you feel better soon!
Posted 2/26/2015 3:02 PM (GMT 0)
I dont what its like in other parts of the world but here in Scotland it strikes me that for a problem that is so huge as anxiety and there are so many of us suffering from it that very little is known about it, There is a nine month waiting list to see a psychologist on the NHS. It makes me angry that i went to my GP was given beta blockers and Fluoxetine and no counselling or cbt or any such thing was even mentioned, its like take your meds and go away. This anxiety is so hard to live with. Its about time that poor mental health was treated the same as physical illness.
I wanted to let everyone know that suffers from anxiety/panic attacks about a great app that i found for my phone through the play store its called Excell at life. Its really good has some really good audios on it including one that you can listen to when your actually experiencing an attack. I hope some people find it as useful as i do. I have also written on my mirror in my bedroom the cycle of anxiety- Unconcious/ concious negative thoughts - anxiety- physical symptoms - fight or flight - panic and back to negative thoughts and the cycle of fear of fear continues. I have written i need to break the cycle and dont be scared its not your heart. i know this sounds silly but it helps calm me i can see it in bed and i have taken a pic of it and have it as my screen saver.
Does anyone else have any tips with what has helped them.
I have managed to get out of bed today, but still cant go outside and am terrified to go in a bath. shakehead
Posted 2/26/2015 4:25 PM (GMT 0)
I'm tereffied of taking a bath too , I feel trapped there , my thoughts are , what if I get a panic attack and ill have to get out and get dressed and my heart will race I won't be able to move around too much ect. ...
It's horrible I know how you feel , hang in there , this past fall I couldn't leave my house to drive anywhere , I didn't even feel comfortable to go upstairs away from my bedroom , during attacks my heart pounds hard and races so fast it makes it hard to walk , so I like staying near my comfort zone . But it got so bad that I was having panic attacks daily in my house , then I knew I needed help from meds, I started Zoloft 4 weeks ago and it's helping a little . I still have anxiety and my heart rate increases when I'm anxious but I haven't had a panic attack in 1 month , and they were DAILY before I started zoloft.
are you taking SSRIs ?
Posted 2/26/2015 5:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hi SL,
Sounds like you have found some really good ways/coping skills for managing your anxiety...thanks for sharing those!! smile
Here are some more links for self-help from our Resources that you may want to check out!

Link to Resources:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=9&m=104206
Posted 2/27/2015 9:37 AM (GMT 0)
Thankyou so much SC. I had a bad night last night found it hard to fall asleep and then i kept waking up in a panic. i have only been back on my fluoxetine seven days today and i know that they can make anxiety worse before they help so hopefully will start to get some help from those with these negative thoughts that are fueling my anxiety. I had a palpatation this morning and managed to stay quite calm so hopefully the cbt is working. although i am quite scared now i am trying to stay strong i am so fed up with feeling like this. I sent four of my friends a text that i wrote to myself to send to me everyday its a reinforcing text that helps to keep me focused. I am still unable to leave my bed. i go to the toilet and back and that is it. I am hoping that i will get stronger each day as the meds start to work and the cbt takes a hold, i will keep posting my progress. Ps i think the reason i found it so hard to sleep last night is because i was paincking about palpatations that i had during the day yesterday and last night. i need to learn to see these are mere sensations that cant hurt me. They are only physical symptoms of a psychological problem and they will pass. speak soon x
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