Feeling Nervous - Replies Needed

[Mark1886]

Hi, i am 20 years old and have been having panic attacks and stress for the last 2 months. I am able to control the panic attacks pretty much as i know what they are and the signs of them starting. I cannot control my feeling nervous/anxious some of the time. I get this wierd jittery feeling and i sort of feel myself getting more and more worked up. Even though i am on beta blockers to stop palpitations, but i become far more aware of my heart beat and worry that it is abnormal or very strong. My heart rate is 72 beats per minute which is normal. I just worry about it all the time and worry that when i sweat even a little that it is me going clammy and gray before my heart attack that i am convinced i am having. I also religiously take my pulse up to thirty times a day. I have to look in a mirror, then i worry that my colouring isn't as good as other people's, my cheeks aren't red or anything. basically i look like i always do but i convince myself i am having a heart attack and then i just go into overdrive on it. Has anyone else ever felt like this or done the same things as i am doing?

[jitters]

Pretty Much everyone here will have had somthing similar at one time or another. The thing is to realise that these are symptoms of anxiety and not a heart attack. Challenge yourself when you start to feel like this keep telling yourself its not real. I hope you feel better soon any questions or if you just need to vent we are here.

Welcome to the Board

[juliana]

Mark, you have a healthy, normal resting heartrate. You're young and healthy. Just keep reminding yourself of that. Your anxiety is coming from your mind and making you feel some pretty uncomfortable physical symptoms too. It feels like crap, but it's not going to kill you.

I have a very high resting heartrate -- near 100bpm and it gets much, much higher when I'm working out or having a panic attack. It used to worry me, but doctors have told me it's fine. It's just at the very high end of normal. The only time my heartrate goes lower is if I'm on heavy-duty anti-anxiety meds like Ativan. I did have a mild heart attack last summer, but it wasn't from a rapid heartbeat; it was just a small blood clot -- and I'm fine now. I wasn't even hospitalized for it.

It's mind over matter. It's hard to do, but you need to keep reminding yourself that you're not having a heart attack; you're experiencing anxiety. Feeling like your heart is beating right out of your chest is a very normal anxiety reaction. Recognizing that and putting it in perspective can help to calm you down. Best of luck and I'm sending positive energy your way!

[Mark1886]

Hi, thanks for the replies.

I know that i am young and healthy. The problem is that i know that i am also overweight and i smoke. I don't want to do exercise incase i bring on a heart attack. My smoking is purely because i always think i am having a heart attack so don't see the point in stopping if i am dying anyway - highly irrational i know.
Thanks for the replies.

[juliana]

Mark. We all do irrational things. I'm a smoker too -- and I know how bad it is for me. My anxiety causes a lot of nausea so I tend to avoid food a lot, so I don't eat much or often. I don't have a balanced diet at all. I know that's bad for me too and I'm trying to work on it. We all struggle with this stuff, so don't beat yourself up about it. Just take it one day at a time and try to find ways to do things that are good for your body. Your brain is part of your body, so being good to your body helps with anxiety too.

Keep reminding yourself that you're NOT dying. Challenge that thought whenever it pops into your head. You have many wonderful years ahead of you -- even though you may not be feeling that great right now. I know I'm a fine one to preach since I smoke too. I'm trying to quit, though. I want to be healthy and I don't want to continue doing something that could kill me eventually.

As for exercise, since you have a terrible fear of raising your heartrate too high, have you considered yoga? You know that the heartrate issue is irrational, but it's causing you a lot of anxiety right now, so I can understand why it would be scary for you to go for a run or take part in high-intensity cardio. Yoga is a wonderful, relaxing way to get your body more fit, though. It doesn't make your heart race, but it burns calories and does wonders for alleviating stress. Anyone can do it -- regardless of fitness level. Get yourself a beginner's vid or DVD and give it a try. It will make you feel like you're doing something good for your body and you'll almost certainly notice a huge difference in the amount of anxiety you're feeling...

... and put down those cigs!!! ;) I'm going to try to put mine down too!

[Mark1886]

Thanks for that post Juliana, i know what you mean about avoiding foods. I have been doing that as well, although i have kind of managed to overcome that. I only have trouble with very fatty foods now.

As for smoking, i have decided the time has come for that. I notice that my breathing gets tight when i am smoking, which in turn panics me - as such, monday morning a patch is going on and i am going to be a non smoker.

I shall take your advice and do some yoga. I used to be a gymnast and am very bendy so i will hopefully be able to cope with it. Leotards at the ready!

Mark :D

[juliana]

Congrats on deciding to quit smoking Mark! Hooray! The patch worked very well for me. I found it quite easy to quit with the patch. I stay off the cigs for 2 years. Don't ask me why I started smoking again. Ugh. :roll:

Have fun with the yoga too. I'm so glad I started doing it. I had BPPV which caused severe balance and dizziness in addition to the agoraphobia and yoga helped me a lot with both conditions.

[myra]

Hi, i am 20 years old and have been having panic attacks and stress for the last 2 months. I am able to control the panic attacks pretty much as i know what they are and the signs of them starting. I cannot control my feeling nervous/anxious some of the time. I get this wierd jittery feeling and i sort of feel myself getting more and more worked up. Even though i am on beta blockers to stop palpitations, but i become far more aware of my heart beat and worry that it is abnormal or very strong. My heart rate is 72 beats per minute which is normal. I just worry about it all the time and worry that when i sweat even a little that it is me going clammy and gray before my heart attack that i am convinced i am having. I also religiously take my pulse up to thirty times a day. I have to look in a mirror, then i worry that my colouring isn't as good as other people's, my cheeks aren't red or anything. basically i look like i always do but i convince myself i am having a heart attack and then i just go into overdrive on it. Has anyone else ever felt like this or done the same things as i am doing?


You really nailed it on the head for me! I'm doing some of the exact same things! You really just made me feel better knowing that I'm not alone. :)

My thing is that there is nothing wrong with me. I've had blood tests and chest xrays since I was a child (I had asthma and grew out of it). My blood pressure and heart rate and excellent and my Dr. tells me that everytime I go in, even for just a cold. Excercise is good! It has actually brought my heart rate down if I'm feeling anxious. Excercise is something good you can do for your body and if you do happen to have heart disease when your older, it helps with managing it. Do something light like yoga or even just taking a stoll outside. Once you realize you're not going to have a heart attack doing that, then you can increase the intensity.

[allinthemind]

Mark, Im going through the exact same thing as you, I used to constantly check my heartrate like 4000 times a day, fearing I was having a heart attack, or convinced i wasnt in good enough health to excercise... I joined a gym 3 weeks ago and ive been going strong the whole time. Although this winter has been HELL for me with my anxiety, I cant pinpoint where its coming from, as it started well over 3 years ago. I am a smoker as well.


My point is, that you are healthy, believe me, I feel the same way as you, however I've been doing intense cardio as well as body weights and its working great, no palpitations nothing... It hasnt done much for my stress level or anxiety yet, but im going to wait it out...

Dont worry my friend, you're not alone at all.

take care.