Heart Palpitations

[foggy]

I'm still very new to this whole Panic Attack thing, and your advice helped so much in my last post.

Could you guys share your experiences with heart palpitations?

I've felt SO off the past few weeks, since the onset of what I am now realizing are fairly severe Panic Attacks. At first I was having heart palpitations - skipped heart beats, followed by dizziness and a racing heart. Next, it was a week of general dizziness/pounding headaches and sense of tightness/anxiety. Currently, I think that I am back in the good 'ole Heart Palpitation Stage (all of a sudden feeling very faint and shaky, having a racing heart, tight throat, a sudden "dipping" feeling that makes me grab my chest or chair arms if i'm sitting, followed by dizziness and shortness of breath).

Are the above symptoms normal (sometimes I just need reassurance!)?  Has anyone else experienced this? I don't know what to do to prevent them - I'm starting to feel like a time bomb, ready to go off at any second!

Let me know, because half of the time I think that I am going crazy with all of these weirdo symptoms...and, well, misery loves company!

I have started seeing a therapist and taking small doses of Adapin (Clonazepan?) on an as-needed basis, when I feel an attack coming on. They've been helpful, but the attacks are still occuring. I'm afraid if I take too much, I'll just  be exhausted and a zombie all day. How much do you all take? Do you think a general anti-depressant could prevent this?

Thanks again!
Melissa

[apple]

Anti depressants can help altho they take up to 4 weeks to know if the right medication is right for you, this may bring down the amount of clonazepam you need to take.

I have 0.5mg tablets of clonazepam and sometime I can take 3 of them in a day and still struggle with the symptoms you are talking about.  most times it only takes one.  But I am also on Risperdal an anti-psychotic, and I was also on Nortripline(anti-depressant).

Part of controlling the feelong of losing it can be dampened with realizing and reminding yourself that these symptoms are just anxiety and panic...you will NOT lose it...you will be OK...you can get thru it...

I'm sorry you are struggling so continuously...hope it alleviates soon!! :love:

Apple

[nabyou]

foggy

I get heart palpitation, tell how often do you get them, and how long do they last?

[Queenie Violette]

Here is a list of my symptoms when I have an attack: shortness of breath, tight chest, shaking, dizziness, I sometimes feel like I've stepped out of my body (its a very wierd feeling), yes I even get heart palpitations (like my heart is about to jump out of my chest because it races so quickly), and I've even gotten nausea as well.  I'm not on meds for my attacks yet.  I've suffered with them for about 7 years now undiagnosed, and have only recently been diagnosed with Panic Disorder.  I go see a counselor every couple of weeks, but I'm beginning to think that I may need meds.  I wish so much that there was a "magic pill" that would take all of this away.

[foggy]

Those are exactally what I feel when I have my heart palpitations. They go on and off - I'm finding that some weeks are better than others (sometimes they're really disruptive and almost painful-these are less frequent, and other times i can just feel my heart beating more quickly and harder-daily).

I've just started to try and figure out meds too, Violette. Valium was a disaster. Klonipin didn't really help - made me feel very naseous/dizzy, and had me falling asleep around 9:00 every night (even taking quarter pill doses).

I've been taking 10mg of Paxil for 3 days now and am not sure what to do. Each time I took it it made me VERY nauseous, lose all appetite, and fidgity. Last night I couldnt fall asleep - even a bath and 2 hours of reading Harry Potter ( :love:) didn't help! The weight gain and withdrawl process also sound like a lot to handle.

Has anyone had similar a experience with paxil, or can recommend a less potent drug to start on? I'm starting to think that I just react very strongly to even low doses of these meds...

[apple]

Effexor worked really well for me, the best stuff I ever used.  I didn't suffer any side effects from it...well at least for 2 years,  then I had a hyserectomy and with my hormones changing so did how the effexor worked...

[Denni]

Paxil is quite a strong drug and a lot of people have problems with it. Personally, i won't ever touch an SSRI again, but this group of meds seems to help some people. Perhaps you could change to Prozac--it's in the same class of drugs but a bit milder than Paxil.

Saying all that, 3 days is early on. In the beginning, these things will make you feel weird, but this should settle down over 1-2 weeks.

[Emily]

I'm going to have to agree with Denni on this one! I took Paxil for two years for panic. I gained 55lbs, got adult acne, severe depression, blurred vision, electric brain shocks, and sexual side effects. HOWEVER.. it did stop the panic attacks for about a year. I stopped taking SSRI meds for good in October. Now I take .50mg of Lorazapam daily and am still a mess at times, but I have good days too  :)  I think there comes a point when you get so fed up with the panic, your brain will start thinking up little ways to help you cope. It seems that way for me anyway. Good Luck with everything. Keep us posted on how you are doing? My advice is watch what you eat and make sure you get a little exercise daily.. I wish I had  ;)

Emily

[mbabynz]

oh my is  arapax the same as paxil ???????? i have been on them 3 weeks 3 days now i don't know if i should be on them after reading this but i must admit panic attacks are less and i can actually sit and read a book and relax that took 2 weeks after being on arapax but i don't know if there working i haven't had any really bad effects on themhope you feel better
take care
mbabynz

[Denni]

I just replied to this on another thread. Yep, Arapax is the same as Paxil (paroxetine) and I would change meds.

[Amie]

I know this is an older thread, but I'm having trbl with the heart palps, too.  I was diagnosed with MVP about 13 years ago, but it's never been this bad.  Sometimes,(even when not having a panic attack) my heart will "flip-flop" or just seem to beat really hard.  I even get chest pains now and then.  Had 3 EKGs done over the last 6 months. Nothing.  I've been on Lexapro for about 8 months.  It worked really great for a while, but now it doesn't seem to be doing so good.  I just really dread a transition to another med!  Zoloft was the best thing I took for this, but it stopped working after 5 years.(sometimes they do that)  Some people have a hard time getting off of it, but I guess I was lucky, no real problems.  I didn't mean to go on so long. 

Foggy, I hope things are getting better for you, and all the symptoms you described are very typical of panic disorder.   :)