NWR: Anyone have experience with palpitations?

Well.. I have a heart murmur and palpitations are part of having a murmur.. Murmur's can range from absolutely nothing to having to have surgery. My dr has me taking ibuprofen everyday to reduce the palpitations and it honestly has helped.. i'd say it reduced them 75%.. I get them really bad as in like out of nowhere the blood rushes to my head and i get really dizzy and it feels like your heart stops. I dont know that i've ever heard of palpitations from anxiety though.. those are irregular heartbeats, so.. the sooner you see a cardiologist the better.

It can be anxiety. It doesn't have to be from something you are currently experiencing. At the risk of sharing a bit more than most people want to know- my anxiety issues are PTSD based.

If you have experienced some sort of trauma or seriously stressful situtation in your past, those issues could be arising in your subconcious and affecting you physically.

Also, the plapitations could be a sign of physical injury (inflamation) of the sternum and where it connects to the ribs. When your heart pumps a bit harder than normal, it can be very painful.

I'd recommend seeing a cardiologist, and possibly a counselor. The cardiologist can ensure there is nothing medically wrong, and the counselor can rule out any emotional issues and give you relaxation techniques that help you cope with symptoms when they occur.

I've actually had very similar symptoms--which was extra freaky because I've also had a pulmonary embolism, and being short of breath REALLY freaked me out, which then made me MORE short of breath, and so on. I know I don't have a heart murmur or anything because I've had EKGs and heart ultrasounds and whatnot, and my pulse tends to shoot up at the doc's office.

As Meghan & Lauren say, you should see someone ASAP to rule out non-anxiety issues.

Thanks ladies... a little more info:

I do have a benign murmur and back when I was a teenager, I had chest pain and occasional palpitations. I carried around a little bottle of nitroglycerin my first year of college - never used it, I was terrified of it. I haven't felt anything like this in years, though.... like 20 years (boy, is THAT showing my age). And all of that was eventually ruled as totally benign - after EKG, echo studies, and lots of other tests.

Since that time, I have had treatment for anxiety - I do carry the diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder around with me (and also a Major Depression of Moderate and Recurring Nature). My anxiety tends, most often, to take the form of ruminating, preparing for the worst case scenario, etc. - I'd say that I've probably only had a full blown panic attack twice in my life. Now, of course, I'm WORRIED that I'm taking on panic disorder symptoms. Great! More worry!

I'm not seeing a therapist presently (I haven't seen one since before I moved here) and I'm not taking medication, either. I had been using running as a coping mechanism (except that I've suddenly developed hip pain, right after the wedding, when I hadn't been running) and my DH usually helps me process anxiety by sitting down with me, helping put together a list of worries, and then we go through them and decide on courses of action - and he takes some things off my plate, helping me to symbolically let them go.

I have noticed something else lately... noise sets me off like crazy. Going to a restaurant with a lot of people, being around a lot of kids or just being in a confined space with mine when they're riled up - I end up with my head in my hands, sensory overload.

I'm also... most often... having the palpitations while I'm sitting still at work. That could be really telling, right there.

Just relax!!! all youre going to do is make that heart work harder by stressing it out.. i'd def see the cardiologist asap because that murmur could be rearing her ugly head back out..

I'm good at this- I worry myself into having symptoms. You have had heart issues in the past, and you had something minor- so now you're freaking out. That alone could be causing your anxiety.

I'd stand by my recommendation even more now- rule out anything medical (just that peace of mind will go far) and see a counselor.

Digi - thats when i have palpitations the most too.. It sounds like your anxiety is making you stress causing more stress on your heart.. that or when i stand up too quickly..

I scheduled the earliest appointment that I could with the cardio. Fitting a therapist in around our work 4 kids' schedules is going to be tricky, but I'll do what I gotta do once we rule out heart, thyroid, whatever.

Really, it does sound like it's anxiety and something is triggering my autonomic system, since I'm not really aware of anything on the surface.

How's your blood pressure? I just had my first EKG. Normal.

But also I just started low dosage med twice a day for my high blood pressure--mostly genetics.

This all happened in the year after my wedding. I think anxiety, depression just caught up to me physically.

Listen to your doctor and to your own body, intuition of course.

Try to relax and take good care of yourself. Hugs.

Lauren, I notice it when I stand up quickly, too.

Can't help but wonder if it's my job, since I notice it the most when I'm here. (Though this is also where I'm sitting still the most, so it might just be noticeable because I'm quiet at the time.)

I was also freaked out recently when I had travel on planes with several connections each way to two different countries and was traveling for 20 plus hours one way by myself. I had palpitations and had to get up and walk around and calm down by talking to flight attendants. My seat partners were a little alarmed. But I just tried to take care of myself, calm down, and walk around. It scared me though because my heart has never pumped as loud and I was never so light headed while flying.

JJ, my blood pressure at the doctor's office was actually fantastic - 118/76. And, of course, the EKG was normal but it was only run for 30 seconds when I wasn't having palpitations. So I guess we'll see what the holter monitor shows, and maybe the cardio will order an echo, too.

You have a good point... all of the anxiety from planning, now that that part of life has slowed down, may be catching up to me. On top of 4 kids back in school (one is a senior), a German Exchange student coming to live with us in 2 weeks, DH getting a promotion and having longer work hours, not being able to run because of the sore hip, and job pressure. I need to breathe and rely on my coping mechanisms... and maybe kick DH's butt to get over to the HOA's office to show them our lease renewal so I can use the gym again. If I can't run, I can always bike!

Thanks for the hugs. =D

I used to get palpitations occasionally and it really freaked me out! To the point where, if I was driving, I would have to pull over and wait. With the shortness of breath, I did consider my heart as well, but there was never anything wrong with that.

Turned out it was my thyroid. I was hyper-thyroid just enough to cause symptoms, but was never tested. Once that puppy was nuked and I was put on hormones, I've never experienced the palpitations again. Good luck finding the source! It might be something very simple and easy to take care of!

Dig - your BP drops when you stand up, therefore, your heart pumps faster. I have crazy palpitations, have had them for years. the last 5 years they got so bad that I had several ER visits, worst time was when it got to over 200 bpm and they were ready to give me the shot that slows your heart rate down immediately. They taught a trick, take in a breath and hold it, bear down like you are taking a poop - at first the heart will feel like it speeds up, but will then slow down. I had the EKG, the echo, the heart ablation surgery (they thought I had an electrical misfire) - they went in through my neck but couldnt' recreate the arythmia. So now I'm on toprol (lowers BP but also lowers your heart rate, btw my BP is usually 110/65, so I can get a little dizzy but at least my heart rate doesn't get into the 180/190's.).

I am now on zoloft for anxiety and low dosage of toprol. stil lget them but it never goes over 150 and the toprol seems to stop it from doing it. Cont...

They've ruled out everything else. I'm perfectly healthy Since they've been inside my heart, he said I have the heart of a 25 year old...whoop di doo, I so badly wanted the ablation to get rid of this crap. btw, dehydration makes it MUCH worse, keep hydrated and if you drink alcohol, drink water at the same time and avoid caffeine (I've been caffeine free for 3 years .

Sharon - i was on toprol but i actually am allergic to it and broke out in terrible rashes all over my body i have high bp (notoriously high when i go to the DR.. yeesh.. dr's scare me!) i'm on methlydopa which is like the generic of the generic lol.. i take it once a day at night because it knocks me out!

Oh and i've been banned from caffeine as well.. my cardiologist told me NO caffeine, but sometimes i have a coke slushie (like.. once in 6 months or longer) haha cut out the caffeine.. you'll drag like a mofo, but the palpitations will go DOWN!

Michele, they're definitely looking at my thyroid... I'm approaching the age, unfortunately, where thyroid disorders are more common. I'm also generally warm all the time and have a tougher time losing weight. I also understand that there's a link between thyroid disorders and hysterectomies - I had one done 3 years ago. Thanks for the input!

Sharon, yikes, you went through a lot with your diagnosis! I do know that I need to be better about drinking my water - I only really push it on run days. I also should start restricting my caffeine - I'm a coffee lover and I dread giving it up entirely, but I noticed today that I've had a LOT of palpitations (that's why I ended up posting) and I haven't had any coffee at all today. I'm not looking forward to meds, if the cause is anxiety, because I hate the way that I feel when I take SSRIs and my body doesn't get along with Zoloft at all (wicked headaches).

My BP is low so they will only let me take half of 25mg of toprol since they are using it to regulate my HR, not the BP. So I haven't noticed it knocking me out.

After the first month of no caffeine I was fine. Occasionally I'll have a cup of half and half, but I don't really miss it all anymore