no sleep tonight, stupid anxiety!

[anxiety_prison]

Ugh it's after 2 am, and I have a cardiologist appt in the morning. I can't sleep ! I get these sensations in my chest that are driving me nuts! I do have heart palps, PVC's to be exact, but this is different. I get pains in my left breast. I feel a random tightening of the area too. I haven't been doing well lately, real dizzy, feel like I'm being pulled into the ground, like bad gravity force. Getting large palp with the feeling of checking out real quick. Random pains all in front, from chest to stomach. It's not really bad painful, but quick pains. My anxiety is through the roof right now. Anyone know what this is? All the odd sensations?

[gypsylee]

Ugh it's after 2 am, and I have a cardiologist appt in the morning. I can't sleep ! I get these sensations in my chest that are driving me nuts! I do have heart palps, PVC's to be exact, but this is different. I get pains in my left breast. I feel a random tightening of the area too. I haven't been doing well lately, real dizzy, feel like I'm being pulled into the ground, like bad gravity force. Getting large palp with the feeling of checking out real quick. Random pains all in front, from chest to stomach. It's not really bad painful, but quick pains. My anxiety is through the roof right now. Anyone know what this is? All the odd sensations?

Hello :)

Pains/sensations like this could be anything really. But the anxiety would definitely not help. Try some deep breathing perhaps?

Lack of sleep won't kill you, I promise :) I do know how frustrating and stressful it is though when you're wanting to go to sleep. Just try and take it easy.

Bye for now,
Gypsy x

[weedcow]

I litteraly have the same right now (its 5 am).. and even though my mind would tell me other wise, i have tried this many times... Night time has always been the worst for me - Normaly i can just accept the feeling of unease or hammering from my heart.. However when my anxiety is higher, i can feel all kinds of things! - Tonight i fell asleep for an hour and woke up feeling "odd" (3am)... And oh boy, did i know it was comming. - Soon after i felt "pressure" on heart-region but without feeling the usual pounding (which made me even more anxious) - Soon after i started getting a feeling of pain and these "skipped heart beats" which makes u jump and makes u feel dizzy ...

These pretty much goes away when i stand up and walk around, where im rarely affected by anxiety, but u might be different.. To sum up, im sure ur okay! 'I have been dieing from heart failure probably a 100 times in the last year' and yet i still wonder if this times its for real... Its what makes us anxious basically.. Ive decided to be tired on x-mas this year, like Gypsylee said .. u wont die of being awake for one night - most likely ull fall asleep early in the morning.. GL! :)

[Robert Tressell]

For years I had chest tightness when anxious leading to many visits to the Doc, ECG's etc etc.

Now I realise I hyperventilate and breath badly when stressed. This is almost certainly the case with you my friend, it is very unlikely you have a heart problem. When I have the tightness I find a long brisk walk "resets" my breathing clock and the pain and tightness disappear.

[PanicCured]

Hey that hyperventilation thing you do, that can cause so many problems. I was consumed with overbreathing and when I learned about Buteyko breathing techniques my life changed. I read Patrick McKeown's book, Anxiety Free and practiced the techniques Basically, the harder you breathe the more CO2 you release which actually causes you to get LESS oxygen. You can read about Buteyko breathing online.

[JulianS]

Have you tried, Paradoxical Intention, where you essentially use reverse psychology on yourself to induce sleep? For example instead of worrying in bed, try reading, get sleepy, and then lie there, almost challenging yourself to not drop off...I've read that this does work very well.

[Scooter86]

I have to agree with JulianS, when I was younger I had a therapist tell me to try and force myself to stay awake, keep my eyes open. Just lay there and every time your eyes start to droop, open them up again. The first night I did it, I was out like a light. I couldn't keep my eyes open for very long at all. I asked him about it the next session, was it a trick to help fall asleep? He just looked at me and said, "Not at all, if anything it would just mean you are tired the next day and you will get a good night sleep the following night!" It made me laugh, but I still expect it was a tip to help with sleeping.

The worst thing you can do is lie there and worry about it. If you really can't sleep you should get up and do something to take your mind off it.
Hope the appointment went well :)