I wanted to post this from an earlier post I made. I think the worst thing about our fear is the symptoms it gives. Especially those palpitations, they suck:
I've been poking around on the No More Panic forum and I found this:
Well I saw my lovely Doc today - didn't mention Wednesdays experience! (Although I think the Practice Manager may have put notes on my file to explain why I was re-visiting docs so soon after prev appointment appointment). Anyway Doc used to be a heart surgeon and he explained so thoroughly why I get ectopics - adreneline release stimulates the heart. (I already knew this but the way he said it was so definite)
He also said when he completed a heart transplant he was always amazed at how keen the heart was to start up again after being stopped for up to an hour. He said the heart wants to beat. Even if it seems to pause and quicken it just wants to beat and I have the proof that it will always self regulate. He was really reassuring. He said that a 24 hour trace would show up my ectopics and excited heart but that is all it would show as ECGs and bloods have proved that even though I have had them for 7 years there is no heart damage. I felt totally reassured after speaking to him and he ended by saying - Remember you have a tried and tested safety net of Cipralex - let's keep it as a last resort - but you know you can always go back on them if necessary.
Interesting stuff if you ask me. Here is another thread I found with some more reassurance ( for me too. I'm trying to pound it into my head)
Cardiologist 1:
- Ectopic beats are a normal phenomena, almost all us have a couple each day, and the tendency will usually become more frequent when we go though psychological stress, exertion, anxiety or fear. Try to mobilize on a psychological level to overcome them, by beeing aware of the fact that ectopic beats do not represent heart sickness. Thinking to much of them, or worrying about the next one, will almost always increase their freqency.
Cardiologist 2:
- All of us have several extrasystoles during the day (and night). Some of us have only a few and can be aware of everyone, while others may have thousands without ever noticing them. Ectopic beats are as good as always benign by nature, especially in people with otherwise healthy hearts. Certain things can increase their tendency, as mental stress, coffe, smoking and irregular sleep patterns. Many athletes experience them after traing, while their levels of adrenaline are still high. The most important thing to do if you worry and are bundled into the vicious cycle of pv's-anxiety-more pvc's-more anxiety, is getting back the recognition of having a normal heart.
If you have a functionally normal heart, ectopic beats are a normal phenomena you don't have to worry about at all. They do not represent heart problems, and they do not represent any tear or wear your heart. They will not make your heart stop, nor will they bring on a heart attack. Anxiety is one of the most common triggers, as anxious people , especially in stressed periods, have excess amounts of adrenaline-like substances in their blood, interacting with parts of your heart capable of triggering an extrasystole.
Beeing to much aware of them will leave your body in a more or less constant state of fight-or flight, and this will only aggravate the pvc's.
General practitioner:
Dear patient, what you describe sounds most likely to be ectopic beats, a phenomenon that is not at all dangerous, and which can appear in singles, or as a "run", in series for a brief time. You should first of all get your doctor to perform a resting ecg, a prosedure that will rule out a number of possible disorders (most of them totally bening) and blood samples. If your resting ecg is fine, and your symptoms don't appear alongside with extreme dizziness, shortness of breath, chest pain or fainting, - and your blood tests are ok you most likely have absolutely nothing to worry about.
Cardiologist 3:
Those "missing" beats are actually premature ones and almost everyone has them at some time or another. Some people have them almost constantly. They are a very common source of anxiety and worry, but they also can be caused by anxiety and worry, so it's a difficult cycle to break.
The premature beats are rarely, if ever, diagnostic of anything, but they can cause an awful lot of concern for the person having them. A conscious effort to ignore them only helps to focus attention on them, so it is an ironic problem. The best thing is to allow yourself to become absorbed in something else and with luck you won't notice them as much. Oddly, some people have hundreds per day but don't feel them, while other people only have a very few, but feel every one.
It is so very frustrating living with these. I have tried accepting and ignoring. But really, ignoring and accepting only serves to keep my mind wondering when the next one will occur. You see what I mean? We've come to know what these feel like, we fear them, so we wonder when the next one will rear its ugly head. Samething works for trying to get our mind off of them, it only serves to let our mind wander and wonder.
I hope this helps someone, including me :)
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Topic: Heart worriers/Cardiophobic Roll Call (Read 15297 times)
February 17, 2012, 07:57:59 AM
