UGH! When will it stop?!

Well, I've been up since about 5:30 AM now, got woken by heart palps and the wonderful internal shakes. And then of course, here comes the panic, which then makes the palps worse! I don't know why I do this to myself. I tend to get myself all freaked out when my heart goes over 100 beats a minute, like there's something terribly wrong, and then it just becomes worse. Take for instance last night, my heart usually stays between 84-100 at rest because of my anxiety/panic disorders. Well I got totally freaked because my heart rate was actually 78-80, but my blood pressure was 135/90. Now mind you, i've been waiting for what seems like forever for my heart rate to get to at least 80, and then I freak out when it does! I don't understand myself, my emotions are all over the place. I kept trying to tell myself that it was probably because I had 2 Benadryl yesterday, one at 6:30 AM and one around 6:30 PM, and I hardly ever take them but my allergies seem to have gotten worse with peri too. I took my Zoloft at 9 and then a .5 xanax at around 10:30 before I went to bed like I always do, but the thought of my heart beating slower and my blood pressure being higher was playing on my mind. I felt anxious but my heart wasn't racing like it usually does, and for some reason this really bothered me. Then I wake up to palpitations and internal jitters, that eventually also became external jitters, and this made me go into full panic. UGH! I can't stand this craziness! It seems as though since starting peri, I have increased health anxiety. I was diagnosed at 14 with GAD and Panic Disorder, so for 25 years i've been dealing with that, and now peri is making it ten times worse! On top of GAD and PD, I also suffer from Fibromyalgia, GERD, Hiatal Hernia, and PMDD. Sorry for the rant guys, I just had to get it off my chest! I just want a break from it all! Men really have no idea how lucky they are!!! I'm going to try and have a good day, and I wish the same all of you. Take care, Fox

Thanks Cat, for the encouraging words. It really means alot sometimes to just have someone else tell you everything's fine. I just got through a panic attack, it wasn't too bad, but it was still there. It tends to happen to me at certain times of the month, like now, I should be ovulating, and it also gets me right before my period. I get the palps, and I try and remind myself that it's just my hormones raging out of control, but sometimes it just gets the best of me, and then comes the panic. It's just awful! I'm nice and calm now, due to my friend xanax. :) I'm going to try and lay down and watch some HGTV before sleep. I've been feeling pretty crappy for the better part of the day, no energy, but I guess that's due to me being up so early and it's 11:00 PM here now. Hopefully i'll be able to get a good nights sleep tonight. I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow myself. Hope you are doing well, Fox

Ok, So i'm up bright and early again. 5:40 this morning I woke up with the same thing. Palps and all. I took a xanax right away so I wouldn't throw myself into a PA again. It's getting frustrating, this happens to me twice a month lately. I know the reason, but still, it's very annoying to be woke up to your heart racing, along with hot flashes and shakes. I'm thinking that it may be due to the fact that I tried to decrease my xanax also, and I don't think my body is quite ready for that yet. A friend of mine was here last night and she suggested a beta blocker. Does anyone have experience with these and do they help? I'm willing to try anything to get rid of this. She said it will help prevent the palpitations and lower my blood pressure. (she currently takes them) This sounds like something I should talk to my doc about. Maybe tomorrow i'll call and see if I can get in to see him. Somethings gotta give here. I thought my GAD and Panic Disorder was bad before, but it's NOTHING compared to having it with perimenopause. I have to admit, I was wrong when thinking the docs were nuts when they told me it was going to get about 10 times worse now that i've officially started meno, they were VERY right. This has been horrible, from not taking ANY type of meds for 3 years, to all of the sudden having to take Zoloft AND Xanax. Which, by the way, i've NEVER been on more than one med for my disorders my whole life.

Beagle, what type of med/meds are you taking?