Question about anxiety and heartbeat.

[dJerunee]

Hello people, I'm new here.

I'm Jeroen, 20 years old, and I'm from Holland! (thats the reason my English isnt that good, excuse me)

And I have a question about anxiety and heartbeats, but first I tell my story.

As i said, I'm 20 years old, and a year ago i lost my dad .. He died after he got an heart attack, I found him in his bedroom, and tryed to help him, but I failed, I was to late .. He was allready dead when I found him.

So a few weeks later I tryed to pick up my normal live, and I was doing well .. But a month after, I was watching tv, and I saw my stomach moving, so i was checking it, and noticed it was moving on every heartbeat .. So I got scared, and my first panic attack was born! I went to the docter and he told me it was normal for people who just lost someone they love .. So I went back home, but my stomach was still moving on my heartbeat .. So I checked it every day .. And every day I saw my stomach moving on my heartbeat .. So i googled on "moving stomach heartbeat" .. And found something about the aorta .. And got scared again! My second panic attack was born! So i went to the docter again, and he said, your fine, but to calm you down we make an ultra sound .. So I did .. And like he said, everything was fine! Nothing wrong with my aorta ..

So I went back home again, but my stomach was still moving .. But I tryed to accept it .. And i felt good, still a bit scared, but not as much as before .. So 2 months later, I was checking it again, and I still had a moving stomach, so I went to the docter again, and he told me I had anxiety .. So again I tryed to accept it, and i was fine for like 2 months, but i still had a weird thing .. My heart is always pounding (don't know if it is the correct word) but its beating really hard in my chest! I can even see it move in my chest .. Very weird as I'm not really thin.

So my question is .. Is it possible (if u have anxiety) to have a pounding (strong/powerfull) heartbeat 24/7 ..? Even if you don't have a panic attack or something like that?

After i played some football, my heartbeat isn't pounding that hard anymore .. But I can still see it!

Like i said, I'm 20 years old, I dont smoke, I drink in the weekends .. Oh yes, after i had alcohol it gets worse .. Its beating even more powerfull (not on the day itself, but the day after)

Again, sorry for my bad English.

Can anyone help me? Thanks!

Jeroen.

[northstar]

hi jeroen! welcome to the boards :) i'm sorry you lost your dad in such a tragic way, that must have been really difficult for you. i'm glad to see that you still seem strong and positive about getting better and moving on with your life.

your heartbeat troubles are very normal to have with anxiety, you may be glad to hear that it's not unusual. i've been there and i know what it feels like, my heart beating hard in my chest would send me into a panic attack. it sounds to me like you've been really stressed out lately, and i'm not surprised. it seems like the stress has taken you into a cycle of anxiety. fortunately for you there are lots of things that you can do to help yourself out if you're willing to work at it :)

the fact that you say your heartbeat is harder the day after drinking gives me a very big clue as to why it's acting that way. to me it sounds like a low blood sugar problem called hypoglycemia, which is exactly the problem i had and fortunately it is easy to treat. stress and diet are the two main factors in becoming hypoglycemic, and it seems to me that with all the stress you've been under it's not unusual that you're suffering this way.

basically hypoglycemia happens when your blood sugars get really low and your body becomes under pressure. it can result in all kinds of symptoms like palpitations (your heart beating really hard or irregularly), headaches, sweating, insomnia, anxiety, panic, phobias and lots of others! it's pretty easy to treat though, by avoiding irritant foods and eating to keep your blood sugars balanced. things like sugar, alcohol, soda, refined carbohydrates, junk food and caffeine will all make it worse, so it's best to avoid them.

i've actually written another big post that gives some links to information on this and also with lots of other things that will help you feel better, you can take a look at it here: http://www.anxietyforum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4087 i hope that it helps you out, if you have any questions don't hesitate to post and do let us know how you're getting on :D

[dJerunee]

Thanks!

I'm gonna read it!

But I have another question aswell!

When I'm anxiety free .. I can start eating/drinking these things again? Or i should "ban" them for ever?

Anyway! Thanks for your post, it really helps me.

Sorry for the bad English by the way, i try my best .. But English isnt my strongest point as you see, haha!

[northstar]

actually your english is great! i don't see any problems with it, i can understand everything you write :)

when you're anxiety free you certainly can eat these things, but just not very much of them! if you've balanced out your diet then returning to a bad one will just make you feel bad again, so it makes sense to limit foods that upset your body. i eat things like sugar and caffeine again, but only in small amounts, otherwise i loose sleep or feel anxious again. it's all about moderation and knowning your limits.

when you start to notice how certain foods (or lack of food) affects you then the things like palpitations wont be as scary anymore because you know whats happening in your body, it's just a reaction to the food you're eating. it makes things much easier just having this knowledge :)

[dJerunee]

actually your english is great! i don't see any problems with it, i can understand everything you write :)

when you're anxiety free you certainly can eat these things, but just not very much of them! if you've balanced out your diet then returning to a bad one will just make you feel bad again, so it makes sense to limit foods that upset your body. i eat things like sugar and caffeine again, but only in small amounts, otherwise i loose sleep or feel anxious again. it's all about moderation and knowning your limits.

when you start to notice how certain foods (or lack of food) affects you then the things like palpitations wont be as scary anymore because you know whats happening in your body, it's just a reaction to the food you're eating. it makes things much easier just having this knowledge :)

Thanks for the reactions!

I went to the docter, and he did a test, but everything was fine .. Thats what he said.

He said, it was just anxiety.

But now my question is .. When i read on the internet, it always says, u get a rapid heartbeat, or a strong beating heart, because your body makes adrenalin .. Why does my heartbeat pounds 24/7 then? For almost 6/7 months .. Even after ive been relaxing .. Can anxiety cause that?