Does anyone else have constant heartbeat awareness?

[Whattodo?]

My anxiety is centered around my heart, so over time I have developed a constant awareness of my heartbeat without having to feel my pulse. It's everywhere, my head, my feet, my hands, etc. It only bothers me when i'm anxious b/c I can feel how fast my heart is going. Does anyone else have this problem? Has anyone beaten anxiety and this problem subsided?

[swaneejuggalo]

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[col73]

I know what you mean, It may sound weird but I could feel my heart beat inside my skull, it was beating that strong, thing is to remember there is nothing wrong with your heart, everyone heart beats fast ie during excercise/sex etc, problem is because we suffer from anxiety/panic disorders we become more focused on it.

[Bessy Bumblebee]

I have this too - but not to as great an extent as I know others do!

I notice it mostly in the tips of my fingers and my eyeballs!! Also I used to wear a necklace that was quite long and when it sat on my chest I was able to watch it vibrate due to the strenght of the pulse beneath it - I had to stop wearing it because I became obbsessed watching it and worrying about my heart rate!

I love water and enjoy swimming but in the water I am very aware of my heartrate! I know the swimming is very good for anxiety - but I also worry about the faster heartrate at that moment!

A few times I have thought for a second that I was having a heart attack! The last time was just a few weeks ago. I walked to my friends house to ring for a taxi and just minutes from the house I took awful spasms. She lives opposite a police station and I was so sure I was having a heart attack that I thought - "at least the police cameras will see and come and get me an ambulance!". I rested on a railing for a while and then finally made it but when my friend opened the door I scared the life out of her! Apparently I was as white as a ghost! I went to the doctor that even when I finally got home and he said my heartrate was normal again! It felt normal again at the time too - but later that night it went off again!

I am not scared of heartattacks though! Its not something I worry about or that leads to more problems with anxiety - its just I am sensitive to my heartbeat and am alert to chest pain and make special efforts to relax or calm myself down when I feel them come on! They are almost like my body sending a signal to my mind that its gone too far sometimes!

[SirBA]

I'm very conscious of my heart beat of late, mainly because one day I was just sat down watching some TV and I had a bit of a rapid palpitation, this was a few weeks ago now, and for about a week afterwards I was constantly checking to see if my bpm was in the desired range (Normally between 70-80 for me)

Recently i've managed to get past this, but when I hit a bad day or feel a slight tightness or fluttering in my chest it makes me more wary of it again for a couple of days, but after that i'm ok again, just mind over matter for me now.

Also because theres a slight history of heart attacks on my dad's side (He's fine, just takes aspirin to keep the blood thin) it does tend to play on my mind a little, but when I distract myself the thoughts soon goto the back of my head.

Its all about breaking these cycles we get stuck in at times, i'm learning how to break them quicker slowly thank god.

[Mark]

I noticed the heart pounding for the first time last night. I was just sitting watching TV when I began to feel anxious. About a minute later, I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. It didn't seem to be beating fast, just hard enough that I could feel it.
When I was able to convince myself that there was nothing to worry about and that it was just my GAD acting a-holeish, the heart pounding began to subside and I haven't felt it since.
I could see where it would scare people. I had a relatively good night with my anxiety and the heart pounding was very noticable. I hate to feel it when I am having a bad night.

[lindsay]

Oh my gosh! I am very focused on my heart as well. I get worried when it goes too fast, too slow, and when I feel it skip beats. I dont feel it anywhere though besides where it I should be feeling it. I couldnt imagine feeling it in my eyeballs! I didnt even know that was possible :) Does anyone else feel skipped beats? It makes me lightheaded and even more anixous until I get my mind off of it onto something else.


Lindsay

[conciliary]

When my anxiety hits, it is completely revolved around my heart beat and blood pressure.

I am constantly aware of my heart rate and I always feel like it is either too slow or too fast. I am so aware of it that when there is a period that I cannot feel it, I think my heart has stopped beating and I quickly check my pulse to make sure I am not about to pass out, now how crazy is that. I have high blood pressure and I have been recently taking additional meds to control it. The meds slow your heart rate down, and I am sure that is why I am paranoid.

My blood pressure is the other. I always feel that if my heart rate gets too high, then my BP is skyrocketing and I will have a stroke or something right then and there.

Its amazing because I know how it sounds when I talk about it, but I get in a “habit” of focusing on these two things so much, that it is hard to get out of it. On those rare occasions that I feel really relaxed, which should be a good thing, I get panicked, because I cannot feel my heart beating through my chest and in my head the way I normally do

[maverick77]

It's comforting to hear I am not the only one who is aware of their heartbeat. About two years ago I noticed my first skipped or double beat and I brushed it off. They were infrequent until about 6 months ago and became more frequent. I went to my doctor who did an EKG and thought my EKG was alright. He had me wear a Holter monitor and also asked me to keep a journal of my symptoms. I have noticed that my heartbeat "skips" when I am under some stress. I go back to the doctor next week to find out what the Holter monitor has to say. But so far, I believe it may be anxiety. Not that it's impossible for me to have something wrong with my heart, but I am 30 and in what I would say is pretty good shape. Also, it was about 2 1/2 years ago that my wife and I bought our first house, and now we are trying to have children. I did go through an episode of anxiety in college where I took Prozac for about a year. I guess maybe it is back. Anyone else had anxiety symptoms go away for 10 + years and return in a different form? I had not heart irregularrities before.

[Job_314]

Yes, I've recently overcome my anxiety, and my constant awareness of my heart just kind of stuck with me! hehe.

During a period over 6 months, I was taking medications for my anxiety, and the only thing that really helped me was walking around everywhere with my hand on my chest, feeling my heart beat. I was deathly afraid of any increase in my heart-rate, so I basically just kept my hand on my chest or my neck most of the time. Eventually, I started staying still, and feeling for my heart, and I could feel the beats, and it "bumping". I wanted to do that because it was a little embarrassing walking around looking as though I was expecting a heart-attack any moment.

Since then, I'm very conscious of it, I don't use it for that purpose anymore... I just can almost "sense" or feel it in my chest.

Edit: and yes, I used to feel as though my heart was skipping beats all the time, which would escalate my anxiety, I'd had other people feel my heartbeat and they said they didn't feel a thing.

[jdurant2]

Conciliary, I feel exactly the same way. I have almost an OCD thing going on with Checking my Heart rate. During these worry periods, I almost immediately get palpitations and I can feel my heart rate in my head. When I catch myself not thinking about my heart rate, then I have anxiety because I can't feel my heart rate. This is an infinite loop of negative thoughts that I never can break out of. I have tried changing my thoughts when the symptoms hit me but unfortunately no luck.

[Vickyindelhi]

I'm very conscious of my heart beat of late, mainly because one day I was just sat down watching some TV and I had a bit of a rapid palpitation, this was a few weeks ago now, and for about a week afterwards I was constantly checking to see if my bpm was in the desired range (Normally between 70-80 for me)

Recently i've managed to get past this, but when I hit a bad day or feel a slight tightness or fluttering in my chest it makes me more wary of it again for a couple of days, but after that i'm ok again, just mind over matter for me now.

Also because theres a slight history of heart attacks on my dad's side (He's fine, just takes aspirin to keep the blood thin) it does tend to play on my mind a little, but when I distract myself the thoughts soon goto the back of my head.

Its all about breaking these cycles we get stuck in at times, i'm learning how to break them quicker slowly thank god.

Please advise how are you managing to come out of such cycles, I have same issues and losing my sleep over these

[aml0017]

This happens to me to when I am anxious, I become hyper aware of my heart beat and my breathing. For a good while, several years ago, I'd become very aware of it right when I'd lay in bed to sleep. But I couldn't sleep because I felt my heart would stop if I did. I didn't fall asleep until I was absolutely exhausted. Once I realized that through all that stress my heart was still beating and I never stopped breathing, the fear just sort of went away.

Whenever I get any physical anxiety symptoms like that I find the best thing is to distract myself. I do anything that will occupy my mind and in no time I find my mind has forgotten to be aware of the symptoms at all. They just disappear, which tells me it is just my anxiety, and the fear dissipates.

I know if you have been fixated on this a while it may not be that easy but as long as you keep thinking about your heart rate you will continue to have anxiety over it.