My anxiety has been terrible since peri menopause started about 8 years ago.I am 46 now and the heart palpitations and increased blood pressure is getting to me. I had blood work,had a holiter monitor test for 48 hours and the results were normal.My anxiety is horrible which in turn makes everything else go up, can this really be normal?
View 4 Replieshave been suffering from palpitations every now and then for the past few years but they have been getting a lot worse recently to the point where if I walk up one set of stairs my heart goes berserk and I have to catch my breath once I get to the top. And sometimes just randomly it will feel like it's pounding so hard and fast and nothing I can do to calm it down just wait. I suffer high blood pressure and take medicine. I'm 22 years old. Healthy I'm not overweight. My doctor recently said for me to get a 24 hour heart monitor which I did yesterday and no waiting on the results. Has anyone else had similar symptoms to mine? Or does anyone know what it could be besides anxiety cause I know what anxiety feels like and this is different. It's like my heart just goes crazy sometimes! I'm anxious about the results! If anything was bad they would contact me within a couple of days of receiving the heart monitor right? They say wait up to a week but if urgent will be sooner.
View 1 RepliesHas anyone taken nortriptyline a period of time and decided to stop taking it due to it's side effects with success? The side effects I'm experiencing are increased heart rate, high blood pressure, hair thinning/loss and muscle twitchings/spasms.
Brief story about me: I was never a headache person or a migraineur. I only got these headaches after a lumbar puncture 7 months ago. Needless to say, it has changed my life as I am having headaches 50-100 times a day. I'm currently taking 10-20 mg nortriptyline to keep the intensity down, but the side effects is giving me a lot of problems (increased heart rate and hair thinning/loss are my biggest problems). I'd like to hear from anyone who has a similar story to mine.
This has been the worst 3 weeks of my life with these perimenopause symptoms. I'm soon to be 49. I thought my symptoms were getting better. Then on March 8th started having bad stomach cramps and low back pain which lasted 2 1/2 weeks. Then the terrible indigestion started with heart palpitations and then of course major anxiety. My period which has been about every 18 days since December is now late. I live each day in fear and terror of heart palpitations and anxiety. I seriously feel like I might die everyday. This is absolutely no way to live. I feel bad for my poor husband and daughter. I am no wife and mother at this time. My daughter is 21 but I still feel horrible about the state I'm in. Sorry for the vent. Feeling hopeless like this journey will never ever end.
View 63 Replies26 yr old female. Blood pressure is 120/80 exactly with a heart rate of 73. But I suffer daily with chest pains all over the place and back and neck pain. Everyday...panic related? Over exaggerated? Are my readings normal? Should I worry about the pains in my chest with this kind of reading? Also...as you can tell my mind races. Feeling so exhausted and very alone.
View 3 RepliesHas anyone experienced heart palpitations throughout the day and a fast heart beat that wakes you up in the morning. I'm going to the doc to make sure its nothing serious but i have suffered with panic attacks and hypochondria for years this is just new symptoms.
View 4 Replieshi for about 8 weeks now i have been having what feels like heart palpitations,i have visited my gp and 2 said they thought i was having panic attacks and 1 thought a stomach ulcer i have ended up in hospital twice due to me going light headed feeling sick and having numbness down both arms and racing heart both times i was watching tv when it happened! its driving me insane i have had 3 ECG's all came back normal i sometimes have pain in my left shoulder or in my upper back around shoulder blades or in my upper stomach both sides, i have sat and taken my pulse when it happens but my heart rate doesn't seem to change, i have another appointment with the doctor on monday but feel like im being laughed at and not listened to!
View 2 Replieshaving heart palpitations and heavy feeling in chest when at rest. thought it could be anxiety related since i lost both my parents suddenly and my job of 17 years in less than one year. i see a shrink and am prescribed ativan and klonopin. when discomfort happens, i have taken anywhere from 2 to 6 mg. of ativan and 1mg. of klonopin and discomfort does not subside. i have not mentioned this to my doctor right now because during routine physical 9 months ago protein and blood are showing up in my urine. i have no physical symptoms-no pain and blood is not visible. have had a kidney ultrasound and CT scan and they are clear. also was checked for diabetes and results were negative. seems like if there is a problem the doctor can see, i would feel something. have an appointment with a urologist but this also happened about 10 years ago, had a cystoscopy and things were fine. i should also add that i am a smoker for 35 years-have decided to try to quit.
View 2 RepliesSo I just got back from a ER a few hours ago. Why? Well I'll tell you. About 3 days ago or so I started getting heart palpitations while laying down after I took my Seroquel to get ready to sleep. They would last about a half hour to a hour and 15 or 20 so palpitations I would eventually fall asleep. I thought nothing of it but then it happened again the next night and the next ect. I started developing panic attacks cause I was concerned that I had a heart problem or something was wrong. I couldn't tell if my anxiety was causing the palpitations or the palpitations developing the anxiety ugh. So tonight I started getting them and they just wouldn't stop and then I went into full panic mode. I thought oh god im gonna have a heart attack I know it. So I begged my dad to take me to the ER and they assessed me and my vitals were about 60-70 BPM when I got there and then they took some blood and I got a EEG or EKG? Not sure I've never had one before but it was the one with the cords they put on your chest, legs, sides and it literally takes 10 seconds and it came out perfect and so did the blood work. The doctor said because of the propanol that I take which calms the heart down during a panic attack that I'm having "extra beats" because of the calm when I take my propanol. I asked him why this came on all of a sudden and he doesn't know it just happens. He said they're usually benign but to make a appointment with my GP to get a heart monitor to wear for a week just as a safety precaution. I asked him what causes this and he said caffeine, sugar, smoking ect. I asked him what about not eating and drinking enough because I haven't been doing much due to my IBS being pretty bad recently. He said that could be it as well but to still follow up with my doctor. I'm still scared cause im still having them (well I had 1 since I got home) i keep constantly checking my pulse and worrying when the next one will come that it's making my anxiety sky rocket. Has anyone else encountered this problem? I'm still afraid even though I was told it was ok. My anxiety brain is saying that the tests were wrong and they missed something ect. Ugh I hate anxiety. It seems like it's one thing after another. Id love to hear what you guys think of this. Thanks.
View 3 Repliesduring normal annual physical doctor found protein in urine. ran tests for diabetes-tests were negative. he re-checked 3 months later and protein was not present, but blood was. about 10 years ago another doctor found blood in my urine and i went to see a urologist and had a cystoscopy which came out normal. he told me that rarely there are people with traces of blood in urine for no reason. since then i have had regular physicals and no mention of abnormal urine test results have come up. now, out of the blue not only is blood coming and going(not visible to naked eye)but protein shows up and the numbers that show my kidney function are a little bit out of average range. doc sent me for kidney ultrasound and CT scan which came out clear. i have an appointment with a urologist, but am still curious about this problem. also, in reading stories on this website, i found an odd similarity in stories about having urinary problems and heart palpitations(which i have not mentioned to my doc). the palpitations started about 6 mos. ago. i thought they were related to anxiety since i have lost both my parents suddenly(they did not pass away together) and my job of 17 years in less than one year. i see a shrink on a regular basis for depression and he prescribes lorazepam and klonopin to me. when these palpitations escalated to having pressure in the center of my chest i tried taking anywhere from 2 mg. to 6 mg. of lorazepam and 1 mg. of klonopin to ease the pain and attributing symptoms to anxiety, but the meds did not help. i have not had any other heart related symptoms like pain in arm, jaw, or shoulder. could these two sets of symptoms be related? like i mentioned before, just reading other stories where both things were mentioned struck me as so odd!! perhaps someone could shed some light on this situation for me.
View 1 RepliesI have a heart rate most of the time from 42 to 50 BPM , my blood pressure is usually 145 to 160 over 75 to 80. My cardiologist has me taking 75 mg, of Lopressor, 360 mg, of verapamil, .4 mg nitroglycerin patch. And now he wants to add 10 mg of Ramipril ( Altace ) a day, my recent cardiograms have have shown sinus bradycardia. That's before starting the Ramipril , I'm just very leary about starting the Ramipril in first of all the highest dose there is, and second of all it could further lower my heart rate and send my heart into an AV Block that could lead to many things not good !
View 2 RepliesI'm 21 year old female college student and have to get my feelings out there. Since someone very close to me was diagnosed with cancer almost 3 years ago I have developed severe undiagnosed health anxiety, and every time I bring up the fact that I have bad anxiety to my Dr. we kinda just laugh it off/it isn't taken seriously. I have had physical symptoms (constipation, headaches, heart palpitations, indigestion, difficulty focusing my eyes, neck pain, TMJ, fatigue, overall anxiety about everything, and i feel lightheaded when standing up too fast) and I'm here to ask if you think these symptoms are caused by my anxiety or an actual health issue. I always feel every little pain or "off" feeling in my body, and immediately attribute it to some sort of cancer or disease. I think seeing all of these stories on social media of sick people etc. hasn't helped. i've had blood work, a CAT scan of my digestive tract, a holter monitor twice, and an ECHO since these things have happened, and they've all said things were normal. I would really appreciate any input as this is causing real stress.
View 1 RepliesMy 40 year-old wife in recent months has undergone a number of tests following some weight loss. It transpires that she is suffering from hypertension with her 24hr ambulatory readings averaging at 170/110. Further diagnostic tests (ECG, echo and cardiac MRI) were undertaken and her cardiologist told her that her heart is enlarged (moderate) with impaired function (I believe ejection fraction in the region of 45%) but has not been able to identify the root cause of the hypertension. She is asymptomatic and does not have any issues in terms of fatigue, breathlessness, swelling, etc.
She has been prescribed 5mg Amlodipine, 5mg Ramipril and 2.5mg Bisoprolol. The Cardiologist has told her she will be on medication for longevity and that improving the condition will take a long time. Her blood pressure has already come down to 132/84 which the cardiologist was very pleased with. She will be seeing him again in 8/9 weeks with a follow up echo in 4/5 months.
In terms of the diagnosis, the cardiologist has referred only to hypertension but having read and aligned the symptoms of the enlarged heart and impaired function, is it not heart failure.....? Also, what is the prognosis for an enlarged heart caused by hypertension, especially in someone of 40 years of age.....can the enlarged heart and function return to normal over time with the medication?
I've had some really strange physical symptoms. I feel a lot of pressure around my heart. I feel pain in my heart area and fear that it will stop beating. I've had my heart checked out and they found nothing. I constantly fear they missed something. Also feel like my heart twitches at times. But I think it's my chest muscles that twitch. It's really hard to explain. Anyone else feel this?
View 14 RepliesI would be interested in your views on whether you believe that there is a relationship between heart rate (at rest) and blood pressure? My bp monitor always gives me my heart rate, which I guess is standard? But I got to thinking (my wife says this is dangerous for me!) why do bp monitors register heart rate unless there was a link to bp? I have "googled" it and can't find anything that is definitive. My resting heart rate hovers around 60 BPM which is quite good apparently. How much attention do you all take of the heart rate readings on your monitors?
View 4 RepliesLately I've been experiencing some concerning symptoms with blood pressure and heart rate. When I get up from either a lying or sitting position, after standing (or walking) for about ten to twenty seconds, I feel very lightheaded and on the verge of fainting. So I grabbed my blood pressure cuff today when this happened to see where I was registering. My BP was 77/57 and my heart rate was 127. And this was just from simply standing up. So I laid back down... And immediately took my BP in the lying position. It went to 149/87 with a heart rate of 75. It changed that much in 30 seconds.
I am currently trying to wean down from Carvedilol.. Was taking 3.125 mg four times daily. After complaining to my cardiologist about nasty side effects (including this drop in BP) he said to cut it in half.
I didn't take the larger dose very long.. Only about a week.
I just wonder if the larger dose could be the culprit.
I have never tolerated the beta blockers well at all. Metoprolol and Atenolol were disasters too.
I'd like to get off BP meds completely, but each time I tried to wean off, my BP would skyrocket.
One thing that is going on right now as well is some serious abdominal pain. Don't know if that's a side effect of Carvedilol or not.
I've had extensive blood work, endoscopy, colonoscopy, abdominal CT, chest xray, many EKGs, and wore a 30 day event monitor.
Virtually all tests were normal.
Here's what did show up though:
Found a small lesion on a parathyroid gland.
Free thyroxine was "slightly" elevated.
Mitral Valve Prolapse with mild regurgitation.
2 very small nodules in lungs (benign according to lung dr)
Some pleural thickening (probably scar tissue from old infection)
Event monitor caught some VT and SVT.
The doctors are telling me these things are insignificant and need no attention.
Family and friends think stress and anxiety are to blame.
But I feel like crap every day. Blood pressure spikes (highest was 210/110)
Heart rate escalates with minimal activity. Night sweats, horrible headaches, severe abdominal pain. Weight loss of 20 pounds in past 6 months. Brain fog and concentration problems.
I've read lots of things that can explain all this:
Dysautonomia
Fibromyalgia
Chronic Fatigue
POTS
Food Intolerance
And of course.. Stress.
I am a 41 year old mom of four and a foster son. I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis of the lungs about 10 years ago and soon after began experiencing numerous cardiac symptoms. I experience extra beats, which I have had occasionally since I was about 21, but have also experienced incredible pounding and pressure in my upper belly, chest, neck, and up into my ears. It is similar to feeling like someone turns up the pressure of my blood vessels like turning up a hose or something and you feel every heart beat so strong and powerful. This would happen with any slight exertion (sitting up, standing, trying to walk up a slight incline etc.) My blood pressure and heart rate would rise drastically (once documented in the hospital my bp. went from normal 114/70 to 167/100 and hr. went from 70 to 160s just from standing slowly) My husband, for a while, had to carry me up the stairs because of the pounding and pressure. I would have to do a little bit of exertion and then stop to let the pounding up my throat, neck, head etc. die down some and them take some more steps. or whenever I stood/stand up have to wait for the rush of pounding pressure to lessen and then start to walk. I have been on metoprolol for about three years now to help extra beats and also to control the surge of my bp. and hr. The docs can't figure out why its happening. The meds have helped a little so that I can walk around now but not much more then that. Thing are worse around my period and that's the only pattern I have figured out. The extra beats make me feel like I'm a slave to them . I feel like they control what I do and I don't do. I don't want to leave the house so I won't experience them when I'm away from where I feel the most safe and comfortable(home) My life has changed so much. I use to play volleyball and be active and miss it so much. I stay at home and my family goes to hike. Even when I'm having a better day and Id like to try and do some activity I'm so petrified that I'm going to do too much and something is going to happen. I'm so tired of feeling this way. I feel like I don't have a second that I'm not thinking about my heart and is it going to stop, or should I try to walk up the stairs cause I know that it makes me feel worse and leads to extra beats, pounding etc. I tend to notice that lifting, bending, sitting up from laying down tend to bring on extra beats, but sometimes its just after I sit or lay down. It makes it so hard to just relax cause I'm always wondering when the next one will come and how bad will it be and how bad will it make me feel. I tend to yawn and burp more when I having more pvc's/pac's
View 1 RepliesDoes anyone experience a rise in blood pressure and heart rate when they stand up or do slight exertion? Also, my heart pounds up into my throat, neck and ears and get extra beats in my heart. I am also very sensitive to adrenaline. Even the smallest things can get my heart pounding. Doctors can't figure it out and there solution is to keep me on a beta blocker (Metoprolol extended release) They have doubled my dose now from 25ml. once a day to 50ml. once a day. I just want to find out why it's happening. It was suggested to me that it possibly could be some form of dysautonomia. I would appreciate any advice I can get.
View 3 RepliesI'm been put on 10mg of propranolol daily for palpitations and anxiety...my pulse rate normal sits between 60-70 BPM and when I take these propranolol I feel like my heart beat is just going to stop which is making my anxiety 100% worse...my question is can't my heart just stop beating ? Can I half these tablets down to 5mg? Can't get this shaky constant panicky feeling away..
View 5 RepliesI am a 60 year old women that ran for over 45 years and I always had a low heart rate and blood pressure around 110/70. Lately my heart rate is as low as 43 and my blood pressure is either low or semi-hi. My blood pressure can be as low as 93/53 or as high as 130/90 and the heart rate can climb up to 110 only when climbing the stairs or squatting down, I normally would not worry about this but I am getting a lot of lightheadedness, (on the verge of passing out) and sometimes I have a balance problem with the lightheadedness but not all the time. I haven't ran for about 20 months due to the balance problem and lightheadedness.
View 3 RepliesI had my AM cortisol tested and it came out high. I did the blood test while fasting about 1 hour after I woke up.
My AM cortisol: 33.7 (normal range 6.2-19.4)
Could the high cortisol be the cause of my symptoms:fast heart rate (gets worse with exertion), sweating, and 15 pound weight loss, trouble sleeping?
I was researching it online and my symptoms seem to fit more with those with low cortisol than high cortisol. I've been to 5 doctors and went to the ER once because I've been feeling so terrible the past 4 months. My AM cortisol is the first thing to come out abnormal. All thyroid, liver, etc. tests come out perfectly within the normal range.