What the heck is going on?????

[Blessed]

I'm laying in bed last night......asleep.... No worries that I can think of, woke up out of sound sleep with my heart pounding and heart rate well over 100 it felt like........why??????? Still feel shaky and anxious this morning and my throat is having spasms like its closing up... what gives I'm ready to cry my eyes out please help!!!!!

[raggamuffin]

It can take many months for your body to recover from anxiety. So even at times when you feel mentlaly fine your body isstill recovering and can give out typical anxiety symptoms such as the ones you experienced.

Ed

[Blessed]

But wouldn't this be medically alarming for my heart rate to do this for no apparent reason????? I'm really tore up right now. And I turned my ECG monitor in Friday so what if this is something they needed to see???

[raggamuffin]

Nope, anxiety raises heart rate. One of the most common symptoms. Excess adrenlaine due to fight or fligth and your heart rate speed sup. It's not dangerous at all. It's your perception of danger (allbeit nonexistant danger) that causes the fight or flight response. Wehn you're anxious this system is going haywire. Too much adrenlaine and you start getting anxiety symptoms.

Ed

[anxiousashley]

Anxiety can show up for no reason and with no cause. That's probably what happened with you here, especially if you are already prone to anxiety. I have many days where I just feel keyed up and physical symptoms knowing full well that nothing is happening at the moment for me to feel that way. It's just a "blessing" of the disorder. The rapid heart is very normal, one of the key signs really. All you can do for that is remind yourself its anxiety and work on your deep breathing to slow down your heart rate. Progressive muscle relaxation will help you too greatly (there are YouTube videos for this if you aren't familiar). When you are right in the middle of the muscle relaxation you should be focusing on that and won't think about the anxiety symptoms. It takes a bit of practice, but I have been doing it now for a few months and it really does help.

[Blessed]

I'm sure this is the case with me however reading online (big no no no no) it talks about tachacardia and vt and afib and all these other conditions that people need meds more..... Is this me!?????

[anxiousashley]

I'm sure this is the case with me however reading online (big no no no no) it talks about tachacardia and vt and afib and all these other conditions that people need meds more..... Is this me!?????

Oh Blessed!!! All I can say is PLEASE PLEASE do not read stuff online! I promise you that does nothing but make things worse! Trust me I know! When I first got this disorder in 2007 I spent two years on WebMD and various having everything from a brain tumor to epilepsy. And I can tell you that will just aggravate the anxiety and also cause you to feel symptoms that don't even exist. We have really powerful minds! There really are hundreds of reason we get a rapid heart rate, some as simple as being excited about something. But I can say, I am not a doctor. It may help you to go see a doctor if you can and at least get a physical. That's what I finally did. They did a heart test, breathing test, and blood draw and there was absolutely nothing wrong with me. They determined I had anxiety and I was put on meds for it and I greatly improved. In the mean time just seriously stay off those websites! We think it helps us, but it's the exact opposite!

[str8trippin]

Oh Blessed!!! All I can say is PLEASE PLEASE do not read stuff online! I promise you that does nothing but make things worse! Trust me I know! When I first got this disorder in 2007 I spent two years on WebMD and various having everything from a brain tumor to epilepsy. And I can tell you that will just aggravate the anxiety and also cause you to feel symptoms that don't even exist. We have really powerful minds! There really are hundreds of reason we get a rapid heart rate, some as simple as being excited about something. But I can say, I am not a doctor. It may help you to go see a doctor if you can and at least get a physical. That's what I finally did. They did a heart test, breathing test, and blood draw and there was absolutely nothing wrong with me. They determined I had anxiety and I was put on meds for it and I greatly improved. In the mean time just seriously stay off those websites! We think it helps us, but it's the exact opposite!

I'm the WORST about this...looking things up online is a BAD idea! If you find yourself starting to Google, make a conscious decision to do something else...come to this forum, look up motivational quotes, pictures of cute animals...ANYTHING but Googling your symptoms! A lot of my anxiety now is health anxiety...and because a lot of the symptoms you experience when dealing with anxiety are SO physical, it's natural to want to know why you are experiencing them. When I was at the height of my anxiety a couple of weeks ago I did a sort of self-exposure experiment where I was feeling pretty good and I decided to go look up some of the symptoms I had been experiencing because I was suspicious that constantly looking them up and reading about the possibilities was causing me additional anxiety. Sure enough, no sooner than I started to do it I could feel all the same physical symptoms creeping up...the nervous feeling in my stomach, heart rate increasing, etc. etc. etc. It just confirmed that going online for "answers" was not something I needed to be doing. The other thing I had to make myself stop doing was checking my pulse every two minutes! My fingers were practically glued to my neck all day there for a while and I realized how detrimental it was to me because I was so hyper-aware of my pulse all the time. Like anxiousashley said, stay off the websites! And if you haven't been to a doctor, go...it's way more productive that Google. Overcoming my fear of doctors (and of having blood drawn) gave me GREAT relief because after a full blood panel and an EKG, I was able to rule out scary possibilities!

At any rate, I had the exact same thing happening to me for a few nights...I'd be falling asleep and all of a sudden would startle awake with my heart pounding and feeling like I couldn't breath...and then of course have an awful time trying to relax enough again to fall asleep. I definitely think it comes with the anxiety. Not only that, but I hadn't really slept in days at that point so I think the exhaustion was taking its toll on me as well at that point. The main thing that helped and helps me is to just talk myself through it...out loud if I have to...but to just acknowledge that it is anxiety and tell myself I'll be all right...and that if it doesn't go away and I'm really scared I can go to the doctor and who cares what they think about it!

[anxiousashley]

I'm the WORST about this...looking things up online is a BAD idea! If you find yourself starting to Google, make a conscious decision to do something else...come to this forum, look up motivational quotes, pictures of cute animals...ANYTHING but Googling your symptoms! A lot of my anxiety now is health anxiety...and because a lot of the symptoms you experience when dealing with anxiety are SO physical, it's natural to want to know why you are experiencing them. When I was at the height of my anxiety a couple of weeks ago I did a sort of self-exposure experiment where I was feeling pretty good and I decided to go look up some of the symptoms I had been experiencing because I was suspicious that constantly looking them up and reading about the possibilities was causing me additional anxiety. Sure enough, no sooner than I started to do it I could feel all the same physical symptoms creeping up...the nervous feeling in my stomach, heart rate increasing, etc. etc. etc. It just confirmed that going online for "answers" was not something I needed to be doing. The other thing I had to make myself stop doing was checking my pulse every two minutes! My fingers were practically glued to my neck all day there for a while and I realized how detrimental it was to me because I was so hyper-aware of my pulse all the time. Like anxiousashley said, stay off the websites! And if you haven't been to a doctor, go...it's way more productive that Google. Overcoming my fear of doctors (and of having blood drawn) gave me GREAT relief because after a full blood panel and an EKG, I was able to rule out scary possibilities!

At any rate, I had the exact same thing happening to me for a few nights...I'd be falling asleep and all of a sudden would startle awake with my heart pounding and feeling like I couldn't breath...and then of course have an awful time trying to relax enough again to fall asleep. I definitely think it comes with the anxiety. Not only that, but I hadn't really slept in days at that point so I think the exhaustion was taking its toll on me as well at that point. The main thing that helped and helps me is to just talk myself through it...out loud if I have to...but to just acknowledge that it is anxiety and tell myself I'll be all right...and that if it doesn't go away and I'm really scared I can go to the doctor and who cares what they think about it!

Oh I so agree with you and identify with you on the pulse checking! I was convinced I had a brain tumor for a LONG time. I finally told a doctor and he made me stand up with my eyes closed and stick my arms out right in front of me. If I was stable on my feet then I had no brain tumor. It helped at the moment, but then I spent months and months daily doing this over and over whenever I felt off or dizzy (that's how my anxiety always manifests itself). Looking back now I realize how silly that was! (and no you guys don't start doing this either!!!! :)) I don't do it anymore! Same with Googling. That really does give you anxiety when you had none to start off with. And I know it's a hard habit to break too! Sometimes you really just need to shut the computer down and walk away. Or I have a few silly games I like to play on Facebook and I will do that instead to keep my mind busy with anything but my "symptoms." It's a battle at first but it works!

[raggamuffin]

If you're going to Google put in a symptom then "anxiety". You'll soon see how anxiety symptoms are very varied.

Ed

[str8trippin]

If you're going to Google put in a symptom then "anxiety". You'll soon see how anxiety symptoms are very varied.

Ed

I found a really comprehensive anxiety symptom checklist which was an eye opener for me when I realized I was experiencing nearly everything on the 6 or 7 page list of things, both mental and physical, that people experience when dealing with anxiety!

[Blessed]

I'm laying in bed last night......asleep.... No worries that I can think of, woke up out of sound sleep with my heart pounding and heart rate well over 100 it felt like........why??????? Still feel shaky and anxious this morning and my throat is having spasms like its closing up... what gives I'm ready to cry my eyes out please help!!!!!

Someone please assure me u have experienced this before and that this Is not atrial fib????? I'm at the docs right now and my hr is 101 even after taking two Ativan earlier today

[str8trippin]

60-100 is a normal heart rate, so 101 doesn't seem like it's sky high or anything.

[anxiousashley]

Someone please assure me u have experienced this before and that this Is not atrial fib????? I'm at the docs right now and my hr is 101 even after taking two Ativan earlier today

Blessed this does happen I promise you! My mother gets this more times a week than she cares to admit. (my whole family suffers anxiety in one form or another) She will wake up out of no where most nights with the same thing you are describing. It seems to just be a culmination of little things. And you must know too, if you are prone to having anxiety you will become anxious for absolutely no reason sometimes. It's merely a chemical imbalance in our brains.

[bax]

Blessed this does happen I promise you! My mother gets this more times a week than she cares to admit. (my whole family suffers anxiety in one form or another) She will wake up out of no where most nights with the same thing you are describing. It seems to just be a culmination of little things. And you must know too, if you are prone to having anxiety you will become anxious for absolutely no reason sometimes. It's merely a chemical imbalance in our brains.

hi is your mother on any meds to help with this symptoms?

[anxiousashley]

hi is your mother on any meds to help with this symptoms?

No she's not. She was on Celexa in the past but now she is without insurance so has nothing. Instead she uses distraction and breathing to help cope when those symptoms occur. She's struggled with her issues for many many years and really does handle them better than most (definitely better than me). She was a therapist that used to lead anxiety support groups so she knows what methods to use to treat it without medication. Definitely wish I was more like her sometimes!

[Stephj526]

But wouldn't this be medically alarming for my heart rate to do this for no apparent reason????? I'm really tore up right now. And I turned my ECG monitor in Friday so what if this is something they needed to see???

I had these same fears right after I turned mine in. Like what if what was happening should have been on the monitor and now its not. But that's just our anxiety speaking. If nothing was found in a month chances are nothing changed within just a few days. What did the doc say when you saw her/him today?

[Shepard]

A fib wouldn't have you at only 1 pulse above "normal", this was simply a panic attack..just happened while you were asleep. Used to happen to me when this was beginning, stopped worrying about my heart rate and it stopped happening. My HR shot up to 160 3 times during one of these attacks, and I was fine every time.

[str8trippin]

Oh I so agree with you and identify with you on the pulse checking! I was convinced I had a brain tumor for a LONG time. I finally told a doctor and he made me stand up with my eyes closed and stick my arms out right in front of me. If I was stable on my feet then I had no brain tumor. It helped at the moment, but then I spent months and months daily doing this over and over whenever I felt off or dizzy (that's how my anxiety always manifests itself). Looking back now I realize how silly that was! (and no you guys don't start doing this either!!!! :)) I don't do it anymore! Same with Googling. That really does give you anxiety when you had none to start off with. And I know it's a hard habit to break too! Sometimes you really just need to shut the computer down and walk away. Or I have a few silly games I like to play on Facebook and I will do that instead to keep my mind busy with anything but my "symptoms." It's a battle at first but it works!

Not that I want anyone else to be going through any of this, but I'm really glad I'm not the only one who has done the pulse checking thing! Any time my heart rate would go up even a little bit it would start to make me nervous and I'd be checking it even more. I do a lot of performing and I was in a show, which I didn't think I was even going to make it through, but it was a very active show where I had to do a lot of stage combat and I'd finish a scene and be in complete panic mode because my heart would be pounding. Um...DUH, you were just running around all over the place! I think somewhere along the line I finally realized how silly it was to be constantly checking my pulse, considering the fact that your pulse changing is completely normal, obviously. I still have the urge to do it once in a while, but it isn't something I'm doing constantly now which is a relief.

[Blessed]

I had these same fears right after I turned mine in. Like what if what was happening should have been on the monitor and now its not. But that's just our anxiety speaking. If nothing was found in a month chances are nothing changed within just a few days. What did the doc say when you saw her/him today?

I actually go to cardiologist on Friday so pray all is well. I'm ready to get on with my life

[mykids12]

Oh I so agree with you and identify with you on the pulse checking! I was convinced I had a brain tumor for a LONG time. I finally told a doctor and he made me stand up with my eyes closed and stick my arms out right in front of me. If I was stable on my feet then I had no brain tumor. It helped at the moment, but then I spent months and months daily doing this over and over whenever I felt off or dizzy (that's how my anxiety always manifests itself). Looking back now I realize how silly that was! (and no you guys don't start doing this either!!!! :)) I don't do it anymore! Same with Googling. That really does give you anxiety when you had none to start off with. And I know it's a hard habit to break too! Sometimes you really just need to shut the computer down and walk away. Or I have a few silly games I like to play on Facebook and I will do that instead to keep my mind busy with anything but my "symptoms." It's a battle at first but it works!

Lmao!! I just did the eyes closed, arms in front of me thing before I read that you had said for us not to do it. I've diagnosed myself with all kinds of diseases since march. First it was lung cancer then leukemia then MS now I'm at the brain tumor point, that's why I did your little test lol. Anxiety sucks!!

[anxiousashley]

Lmao!! I just did the eyes closed, arms in front of me thing before I read that you had said for us not to do it. I've diagnosed myself with all kinds of diseases since march. First it was lung cancer then leukemia then MS now I'm at the brain tumor point, that's why I did your little test lol. Anxiety sucks!!

It really does suck! But it also helps that we can laugh at ourselves from time to time! Makes it that much easier! I admit all this time I later I still do that little test when I feel too freaked out! LMAO!

[Stephj526]

Ha, all the doctors did that test on me when I swore I was having a stroke. I think I did that test myself for the next few weeks just to be safe. Of course, it was always normal. Dang anxiety making us do silly things. Glad I'm not the only one!

[mykids12]

Ha, all the doctors did that test on me when I swore I was having a stroke. I think I did that test myself for the next few weeks just to be safe. Of course, it was always normal. Dang anxiety making us do silly things. Glad I'm not the only one!

So how does this test prove that you don't have a brain tumor or that you're having a stroke?

[Stephj526]

When people have strokes, the test they do on them is say a full sentence, stick your tongue out straight, raise your eyebrows, smile, and hold both arms out for 30 seconds with your eyes closed. Looking for differences in one side and not the other. But there are other tests as well. And brain rumors it's usually a MRI, but honestly TONS of people with anxiety feel like they are having strokes or brain tumors. It's one of the most common thoughts, so if you have that worry, just remember you're not alone. Trust the doctors when they tell you that you're ok.

[mykids12]

When people have strokes, the test they do on them is say a full sentence, stick your tongue out straight, raise your eyebrows, smile, and hold both arms out for 30 seconds with your eyes closed. Looking for differences in one side and not the other. But there are other tests as well. And brain rumors it's usually a MRI, but honestly TONS of people with anxiety feel like they are having strokes or brain tumors. It's one of the most common thoughts, so if you have that worry, just remember you're not alone. Trust the doctors when they tell you that you're ok.

Oh lord I've had a worry almost every month if different ailments. This brain tumor one is because of my vision now. It almost feels too sharp and I can't focus or fuzzy if that makes sense. I've gone through the thought that its my new glasses but then I think it's a tumor or TMJ then sometimes I think it's my anxiety. I honestly have no clue what to think anymore lol

[mykids12]

Oh and also I seem to have this problem when looking into the mirror and seeing reflections. It's weird. So the I strain my eyes trying to focus properly and end up with a massive headache.

[Stephj526]

I had the same thing at one point. My vision seemed fuzzy and to go in and out at times. I swore it was a tumor. Saw the eye doc, changed my contacts, saw the neuro doc. Apparently it was just my anxiety. I even saw an MS specialist. I swore they were all missing something. Now I know better, but it took me a while of reading everyone else's stories on here to believe all these symptoms could really be anxiety. It's amazing what anxiety can pretend to be.

[mykids12]

That's how I feel and I'm always getting one symptom or another and the symptoms seem to hang around for around a month then disappear. Maybe when I've finally given up thinking something is wrong. Then I get a totally new symptom lol. This illness is wicked lol!! I was gettin ready to schedule all kinds of appts with dentists, neuros and even go back to see if my glasses were wrong. It really makes me feel like I'm nuts! I can feel my jaw and muscles tense up all over my face though so I know this is more than likely anxiety!

[Stephj526]

That's how I feel and I'm always getting one symptom or another and the symptoms seem to hang around for around a month then disappear. Maybe when I've finally given up thinking something is wrong. Then I get a totally new symptom lol. This illness is wicked lol!! I was gettin ready to schedule all kinds of appts with dentists, neuros and even go back to see if my glasses were wrong. It really makes me feel like I'm nuts! I can feel my jaw and muscles tense up all over my face though so I know this is more than likely anxiety!

The jaw pain is when I always know my anxiety is higher than it normally is. Apparently I tense up a lot and clench my jaw. Sorry to hear you are going to see all the doctors. But, if it helps put your anxiety at ease then so be it. Hope you feel better!!

[mykids12]

Nope I'm not going to. I'd rather wait and make sure there's was a reason to worry more before I went to see all of them.

[mid]

I keep a journal to help me to keep track of the symptoms so that the worst symptom is the one I treat. I come from a family with the anxiety connection. When son went to ER for seizures, watched him suffer through a severe panic attack, and then after being diagnosed with anxiety that evening, he had another anxiety attack and they checked for seizures, and after a few weeks of learning from the huge support system that what was happening was usual for being diagnosed with anxiety, he's starting to find his way to recovering a sense of balance.
I agree with googling the symptom with anxiety attached. You'd be surprised. I have written down what I thought a symptom felt like, then approached it like collecting evidence. I can do this, etc, and after a few of these, I was able to turn the thought pattern to feeling through the symptom.

Best wishes. You are not alone in this.