Heart Anxiety?

[xstalkrx]

22 year old male. 170 pounds. Lots of muscle tone and appearing to be in good shape. Running 4 miles daily. However...

1 and 1/2 months ago I was out drinking moderately and also used some cocaine. Got up the next morning, ate some food, and my heart rocketed to 120 beats per minute and stayed there for about 6 hours. FREAKED ME OUT This has never happened again.

I went to the ER...and to the cardiologist. Everything checked out fine. Cardiologist did an echocardiogram and said everything looked normal and that I hadn't done any damage.

For weeks I could feel my heart beating in my chest at a NORMAL PULSE RATE...but I could FEEL the beat of my heart. Very annoying..especially while trying to relax...sleep....or just enjoy myself. I would go into panic attacks...get a numbness in my face...pulse would go to 100 or 120 for a minute or so...then return to normal.  I have had NO panic attacks for over a month now.

Over the past week it seems that I can only feel my heart beat in the evening hours. When I wake up in the morning I cant feel anything unless I really concentrate on it. Even when I run in the mornings and rest after running I cant feel my heart beating.

It seems to be getting slightly better but still..there are times when I can feel my heart beat at night and it bothers me. I still have lingering anxiety during the day too....even if I cant feel my heart beating I will just have this mild anxious feeling that comes and goes. I get generally negative about everything and my appetite goes down.

What is really going on here? Will there ever be a day again in my life when I dont feel my heart beating? I am 22 and I feel that this is wasting my life away.

[Tara56]

Hi, I am 5' 2" and 114lbs, and I have a resting heart rate ranging from 100-160 on a regular basis, usually around 120. I also have been diagnosed with anxiety, but have never had a doctor make a connection between the two. My doctor put me on a heart monitor, and my doctor said the results were normal. In a biology lab a week later, my TA told me I should def go see a doctor because I had a pulse of 170 (it was a lab on the heart.... we all had to take a resting pulse).

So hopefully that at least tells you you arent alone? and when I had a heart monitor, the doctor said I was fine.... so maybe it is ok?

[xstalkrx]

do you mind if ihave your email address?

mine is brandontf AT aol DOT com

you have to write it like that so that this webiste doesnt filter out your typing

[paniced_08]

hi, i had pretty much same situation with me over the past 6 wks ,to me ur alcohol drinking and cocaine using caused ur heart to race considerably the da after, ( just what happened to me) i went to the ER three times in five day, in no doubt  i was having a cardiac episode, heart racing, pumping beating so fast, sweating chest pains etc, got blood tests, x rays, ecg etc,  and the first time i left the ER they told me i was severly dehydrated from a night of moderate drinking, however i still had the same symptoms over the next few days even with being put on a drip for hours to replenish my fluids, so i went back in to ER twice and it was only on the tired time, that i started to believe physically i was ok, from my dr, xanax was a great short term med to help me relax as i could not do it my myself, there are some great medications out there now! when i was at my worst every move i made eg. turning sides in bed caused palpitations, it seems like it was a snow ball effect and i swore i had hear problems only until i got it into my stupid head and the help of anxiety pills i got over, a horrible few weeks i now am still a sufferer but much better than before, just thought id tell my story, dunno if it helps anyone!!?

[cdaniels]

I have a prescription for ativan, but that's for something totally irrelevant. I rarely ever take it.

My doctor told me (and I've researched it and it's obviously true) that nervousness, stress, and worry causes/triggers heartburn. The gasses build up and that can cause chest pains or palpitations. Certain things like milk, fast food, high sodium, and spices can do the exact same thing. They build up gas and the cycle continues. Both of those situations together can make for a bad day, know what I mean?

I hope that helps.

[xstalkrx]

LOL at me if this is anxiety.

[AmorDeJay]

I have been having heart palpitations for like a week straight and flipping out about it.  I went to the cardiologist the other day and they did an EKG and listened to my heart and said everything is fine but I still feel it and I'm still scared. If people don't have anxiety, they don't know how things like effect us.  

[xstalkrx]

did you ever go on medications at all to help you get over the problem?  why is it that eating is associated with our problems?

[cdaniels]

I was going through the same thing. I was eating, heartrate when up, and it stayed like that for a day or two. It totally freaked me out and it began my heart anxiety. That was over a year ago.

I've been to three or four doctors and they've all told me my heart is fine. I had an EKG about two weeks ago and the doctor told me to stop worrying. I've stopped worrying because there's nothing I can do.

I can feel the beating inside still, but only when I get nervous or if I eat something spicy, which causes heartburn.

We're dealing with anxiety here and it'll never go away until we can take out minds off of this and move on with our lives. I used to get chest pains whenever I thought about my heart and guess what? They're gone. Ever since the doctor told me I was fine and I finally believed her, I've been so much better. Sometimes this stuff is in our head.

Go see another doctor if it'll help. Just remember that you are okay and life will get better. You just have to work on it.