Help RE: Heart Palps and heart issues .........

At 25 I never expected to be in the sad shape I'm in now. I'm going to save the events leading up to my panic disorder, however, I saw your age and felt I needed to speak up. When my first panic attack hit me I was at work and subsequently thought I was having a heart attack! My fingers got numb, my wrists hurt and my heart dropped within my chest. I had one of my girls call an ambulance and during that time my heart went what felt like a rollercoaster of beats. First it skipped...I think... then it just started racing. It only took the paramedics 5 mins to get there, but it felt like an eternity. My heart rate was 170bpm!!! I excercise at 150bpm, so it was a bit much to handle, I just kept thinking that "this was it", "I'm dead". But of course it wasn't and I'm still alive. From the forums here I noticed that people tend to worry about death alot as part of panic. Unfortunately, panic is so closely relates to heart palpitatons. I have them regularly, but less since I started Lexapro. Are you on any meds? If not, you need to talk to your doctor. What happens is a viscious cycle of you worring about your heart, just randomly, which can lead to a palpitation, and you start yourself on a panic, the panic makes your heart race, so you worry about your heart...sound right? Do you drink coffee? Smoke? Eat poorly? Part of my problem was that I managed a coffee shop which made it hard to eat right, and I'm a smoker. My doctor said that those are the three worst things you can do as a panic-er. After a few more panic attacks (at least I knew I wasn't dying) I went to the doctor and we discussed meds and diet. I went on Lexapro, and played with the dosage a little, after a few weeks the panic lessened. I also strickly ate healthy, no fast food at all. No coffee or anything else with caffine, I gave up every junk food invented. Sad sad sad... But 6mos later and 45lbs shed I felt great. I also would pose to you the question of your body, are you in shape? It helps alot if you know your taking care of yourself, you feel as if you're staving off disease, which makes you feel healthier and worry less about possible heart problems. After all this I put some of the weight back on and started eating crap again, I feel miserable and notice the heart pains coming back. But I'm dieting again. I left the meds due to lack of insurance for the time being, but I definately have chest pains and palps again...So take care of yourself and body, it makes all the difference. Oh yeah meds do too! Considering you describe what so many others do, don't waste time taking tests you know don't give you answers. Focus yourself on making your body happy again.

My Holter monitor showed "sinus tachycardia"(normal fast heart rythm) and some PVC's and some PAC's. My doctor said there were times were I had a skipped beat but I didn record it and times that I recorded it and there was nothing to record, there were also times I did accurately record a skipped beat. All in all she sat me down with a cardio. and he reassured me I was fine offered a beta-blocker which I declined and thats where I'm at here 2 years later.

I agree with Maree. You also said that when you took Klonopin the palps go away. Seems to me if it were heart related that would not happen. It is really hard to get out of the vicious thought circle. I couldnt have done it without the psycologist I wound up going to. If therapy alone doesnt work, there are meds (SSRIs) that will help.

There is no need to be embarassed about A/P (I can say that now after 11 years!). Seriously though, its much more common than you'd think. It is not a weakness (I struggled with that thought for quite a while). There's been discussions here and the consensus seemed to be that its caused by behavioral patterns and/or chemical levels. I totally agree. I'm a worryer and a perfectionist - had things under control after a few months of therapy. Then after my second child was born (I was 31), I had post=partum depression really bad and my A/P came back with a vengence. (I think chemical changes after that birth had alot to do with it). I needed meds then; now I am on what I call a low "maintenance" dose that gives me that little bit extra I need to keep a handle on it.

You can get control back (and I'm sure you will!). Just be patient and plug away at it.

Best of luck,
Karen

Therapy

Hi,

I don't know if this helps any, but I read somewhere that there was a study of people with high blood pressure. Something about people would try to save on medication costs and only take the pills when they thought their BP was high. But the study showed the people couldn't accurately guess whether their BP was in a high or normal range.

I think of that, because sometimes I think my heart is doing something weird, but how would I really know that?

I started taking Lexapro because the chest pain I was having literally hurt and I was just sick of it. It wasn't even that I was worrying about it. (Though I was worrying a lot about my job security and related issues.)  It just hurt and made me want to curl up in bed. I figured since I jog and never have had a heart attack while jogging, that it must not be real heart disease. (And I have had all the tests that show my heart is fine.)

I think there are a lot of good forms of aerobic exercise out there that will get your heart pumping in a good way -- and when you get it working like that, maybe you will have more faith in your physical health. Try exercise classes or bike riding or whatever... just a thought.

--MK