Difference between Arrhythmia and Anxiety?

Is there a way to identify the difference between an arrhythmia vs anxiety based on symptoms?

I've had all the heart tests, echo-cardiogram, stress test, heart calcium score, etc. I saw a cardiologist whom said my heart was healthy and there was nothing to worry about but to be thorough he wanted me to repeat the 30 day event monitor, same one I had done in April of this year. Since starting to wear the device I feel like my anxiety has become much worse!

I'm at a point now where I'm wondering do I have an arrhythmia? If I do does the arrhythmia cause the anxiety or does the anxiety cause the arrhythmia? Last night eCardio called me at 4am and asked what I was doing because the device detected an irregular rhythm. Now I am freaking out! The last time I had the study done it rarely detected anything on its own, never got called during the night.

Thanks for the reply Scaredy Cat, you've provided great advice and support on all my posts!

I guess I really just need to convince myself anxiety is the real issue and causing all my physical aliments. Logically I tell myself I'm fine, and logically I am fine. I agree I do need to focus on keeping the anxiety thoughts from taking control. It is fairly ridiculous to think I'm going to drop over dead at 26 with a structurally normal heart, normal heart function, no family history of heart issues, and no signs of coronary artery disease. I think I made the mistake of googling arrhythmias which lead me to sudden cardiac death.

I have a friend who suffers from anxiety that recommended a physiologists. I am going to setup an appointment, at least one, to get his take and opinion.

No problem TooMuchAnxiety. They are supposed to call me back to schedule so I'm hoping to get in next week, or this week if possible. I'll let you know what opinion he comes to.

Yea its weird for me because in my mind I know my fears are irrational, but I can seem to get rid of them! Sometimes I just feel anxious sometimes I feel like I've completely lost control. I get different symptoms, not always consistent.

Question for you, have you modified your behavior to try to avoid attacks? In the last 6 months I feel like I'm doing and not doing things I would normal/or not normally do out of fear something will happen.

Hey Greyfox,

Just saw your response! Yes, please do let me know what the phys says! Thanks thanks and thanks! I did modify my behavior in the beginning. I am about 9 months in at this point, and have resumed a lot of my normal activity. It's really normal to draw back a bit while you're trying to figure what on earth is going on. It's like a turtle who gets scared back into it's shell. He eventually comes back out again.

I tried modifying everything under the sun I could think of, just to get the symptoms to stop. None of which really worked. I tried eating no carbs (fresh fruits and vegs only), I tried not drinking public water (purchased purified water only), I tried staying in the house only (thinking it was an outdoor allergen), I tried purifying every room in the house with an air purifier (thinking it was an indoor allergen), I tried drinking soymilk only (thinking it was a hormone in the cow's milk), I tried not eating anything with wheat (thinking it was a wheat allergy), I won't mention all of my tries, lol, because a lot of them are just plain silly!

But I will say this, while some modifications do help keep the symptoms at bay, another thing that greatly improved my quality of life through this is: Keeping my mind in a good/happy/positive place. Easier said than done. But for me, it's watching a good, silly show or going to the zoo with my kids. It seems like when I am happy, my symptoms are less troublesome.

So much to say, but I really got to jet! Lots of household chores today.

Hi SAMMY1989,

That does indeed sound very similar to what I'm facing. At first I was convinced I was going to have a heart attack at 26, now I think I'm going to drop over dead from a heart arrhythmia. It doesn't make logical sense even but its hard to get past it and tell myself your heart is fine.

The real difficult part for me has been trying to figure out what is going on. I'm a scientific type of guy so I have to know what is happening and why. So many things have overlapping symptoms which makes it hard to even figure it out. Its interesting you mentioned Thyroid though because I've wondered if its not my heart, and not an arrhythmia. could it be either thyroid, or low/high blood sugar? If you don't mind me asking, did everything with your thyroid come back normal?

I feel like I want through something similar when I first went to the ER back in February, had a bunch of tests done, was cleared, felt better, and now back in the same boat.