Cardiophobia

[dolphin8808]

Anyone else find they have developed cardiophobia from the skips? Or even become OCD with the heart? My EP calls it extreme cardiac awareness. I sure seem to have it. One bad skips days, I am bad for a few days after with it. Then I mellow out then another bad day will bring it around again.

Have you noticed it can make your skips worse?It doesn't seem to effect mine as I don't seem to have triggers, mine just come and go as they please.

[JamesAA]

TOTALLY!  I've become a full blown hypo since I developed PVCs, even tho Dr's convince me that they are not dangerous.  I already have panic disorder and phobias so PVCs for someone like me is NOT a good mix LOL.  What you're experiencing is very normal IMO.  Hard not to feel that way.  I think in time, you will learn to "live with them."  You will see that you keep waking up and that they aren't killing you.  You'll be fine.  

Very sorry to hear about your father.  :(   Nothing like our papas.  R.I.P  

[smc246]

It always make me feel somewhat better knowing that I am not suffering alone.  Everyday I am convinced that I am going to die from these....I have had numerous work ups and have herd many many times that my heart is normal...but as soon as I feel the pvc/pac/nsvt it is all down hill...have now developed a panic disorder related to this and take medication...

[dolphin8808]

Very true, distraction is very helplful! And congrats on your Ablation!!!

[hesterbox]

I am more afraid of the dizziness, breathlessness and faintness that I had with WPW-the worst episodes  felt like imminent sudden death to me. Once it was over I would be relieved and mostly forget about it.
I certainly don't like feeling arhythmmias and racing heart, but for me they nearly always stopped of there own accord so I just expected that they would.
I thought of them more as a nuisance than scary.
Howver my last experience was fast atrial fibrilation which went on for four hours, most of that time in the Hospital Emergency Department. I was very scared, but I could still have a laugh with the staff and my husband.
( My heart went back into normal rhythm after an hour of intavenous Flecanaide)
After this experience I was much more scared of the possibilityof racing heartbeats but I was on flecanaide and metoprolol for 3 weeks and then had my ablation.
During the waiting time on the drugs I was mostly frustrated with how exhausted and yuck I felt from the metoprolol. My heart felt like a heavy trapped bird in my chest and I didn't much like that feeling.
Now that it is getting better I am noticing it less and less and getting on with my life more.
I have found that it is important to do things that take my mind off me and my problems and that make me happy. Feeling useful makes a difference for me too.

[dolphin8808]

PVC Man ~ I had anxiety long before my PVCs /PACs came into the picture and I often focuse don health issues prior too any of this. So with me, yes it is a form of OCD / hypochondria. Just like Mom2four85 has had montiors catching thousands and thousands per day and yet her fears lie somewhere else. I have met many people with skips who either are not afraid of them or just do not care about them. Maybe some of us are just more jarred by them and it makes us question our own mortality? Either way, they freak me out and I am 100% cardiophobic.

Mom2four85, You are such a fighter! My family history of cancer scares me too.

[Mom2four85]

I'm like Ireneo; they've been such a part of my life that I got used to them just like fainting

I could be the poster child for Arrhythmia's..36 years and counting...I've had just about every arrhthmia there is caught on some test or other except AFib and yes my heart has stopped and guess what? it keeps on going...

you know what bothers me more than feeling pvc's, pac's svt vt etc? not being able to walk; going out & the fear of tripping or falling on something or my family history of cancer... ugh that scares the heck out of me...weird huh?