Please can someone help me, losing my mind :(

[Moxxi]

I have health anxiety and since I was 18 I have had a fast heart rate. I'm 26 now. In January 2021 I was rushed to hospital because my heart rate was 171 I spent the night there and after many tests they didn't find anything at all. I have a 24 HR tape which just showed sinus tachycardia and I had an echo done which showed my structure is fine.

My resting HR is 90
When I'm up and about in the house doing stuff it's 110
When I'm out walking in 140
If I'm out running it's 170
In my sleep it's 70-80
When I wake up in the morning it'll shoot to 100
My heart rate is never below 70, is this going to kill me?

I am 5ft 7 and weigh 86kg ( a year ago I was 107kg)

Anyone else have a heart rate like me? I'm so scared I lay awake at night crying.

You must have asked the consultant this, in among all of those medical tests? What did they say? They are the ones who know the answer to this question.

They have reassured me I'm fine but when I feel my heart absolutely pounding from just walking to take a pee I freak out :(

You freak out because you have anxiety. What treatment are you having for that?

I'm on the waiting list for CBT but I'm just so scared :(

So I suffered from panic disorder from 14 to 25. It was so bad. I didn't eat, I had to be fed complan. I lost 6 stone. I went to the hospital and told them if something doesn't change I was going to kill myself, and I meant it. Basically, two things..you're waaay more aware of your heart than the average Joe because of your anxiety, and your heart is in a state of panic with so much adrenaline running through your body. Your health is fine, your mind needs adjusting. I have so much sympathy for you because I couldn't live with the mental disorder I had for so many years. I really am praying for you x

If the consultant has told you it’s fine then it’s fine.

@yahyahs22 how did you recover may I ask? I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel :( xx

As @yahyahs22 said, your heart rate and anxiety are linked, so if one goes up so does the other.

If you are looking to get your anxiety down then I recommend meditation or mindfulness. This will also help keep your heart rate down. There is a fab free app called Insight Timer that I use that you may find helpful - literally hundreds of different meditations etc, so you should be able to find some that you like/are helpful.

Your consultant is an expert in his field, so when you feel you heart racing keep reminding yourself that he know what he is talking about and work on lowering your anxiety. It is an awful feeling when your heart races, so I sympathise.

CBT will work.

Also in your case a beta blocker may be appropriate. Im not a doctor so not giving medical advice but a beta blocker will make it so it's more difficult for your anxiety to raise your heart rate. They're really effective at stopping the physical impact of anxiety. Also great that they have minimal side effects, not addictive and safer than traditional psychiatric meds like benzos and ssris. Might be worth just asking a doctor about it.

But CBT will be what cures this issue for you so keep pursuing that.

Have you had your thyroid checked? Same symptoms as me when it's overactive. My resting rate was 120. Anxiety through the roof. It's a horrible cycle fast heart make you panic then that makes it faster.

I just hope I recover and it's not this way forever :(

I have this exact same thing. Pretty much exactly same heartratr as you. Just standing in the shower it goes to 130.

Also had 24hr ecg showing sinus tachycardia and echo was normal. But I was given beta blockers which have really helped. I'm still sometimes conscious of my heart beat and I also get pulsatile tinnitus in my left ear which worries me sometimes. But I'm 99% sure in my case it is down to anxiety.

Did the cardiologist not suggest beta blockers? If not speak to your GP about it.

I am also going to be honest and say I had CBT and it didn't work for me. I'm now exploring talking therapy/person-centred counselling. I'm not sure CBT works with health anxiety as for me it was all about accepting that something bad was unlikely to happen statistically. That didn't help me as I was fixated on the small chance that something bad would happen.

I'm just saying this because I felt like a failure when CBT didn't work, which then made my anxiety even worse. But I've heard from other people with health anxiety that it didn't help them either. But it does work for some people and I hope it works out for you.

@autumnBrooke I am taking propanolol 5mg in the morning and I'm still getting the numbers I stated :( do you know if a fast heart can kill me or cause heart failure? Silly question but that's literally how bad I feel xx

I had this with my heart when I was with my abusive ex husband. My heart would pound so hard and fast I felt dizzy and sick and thought I was going to pass out. Beta blockers were a total life saver. Not only did they slow down my heart but also stopped other symptoms like feeling sick, shaking etc. You have had all the tests done and your heart is fine. You need to visit your GP and admit to him and yourself your heart issues are related to your anxiety. And for the love of God get rid of whatever device you are using to monitor your heart as its allowing you to fixate and making things much much worse.

I take propranolol, prescribed for anxiety. It really helps!

@ohsuzannah did you have a fast heart rate also? How long have you been taking it? I've only had it since January x

Have you tried beta blockers

Yeah I'm taking 5mg of propanolo

I still think CBT is worth exploring.

One thing that was effective for me was inducing anxiety then watching symptoms then calming down and seeing them disappear.

I was diagnosed with panic disorder and was having daily panic attacks for a while. For probably 6 months I didn't believe they were panic attacks, came up with like a bunch of different medical theories about what it was. What worked for me that we did in therapy was inducing a panic attack by simply talking about some of these things that were triggering me and then watching all of the physical symptoms come on... then I was snapped out of it and it all went away. That was the first time I actually believed hey this might actually be mental and that was first step to recovery for me. I went from daily panic attacks to not having one in 7 years now (no medication needed).

Stop checking your heart rate. I know it's easier said than done, but you're in a vicious cycle currently and you need to distract yourself from checking. If you're not aware of your heart rate, then assuming no other pertinent symptoms, the anxiety and the heart rate will reduce.

And well done on the brilliant weight loss!

Since you asked, I can't be accused of 'pushing it down anyone's throat'. But after years of cbt, councilling, therapy and a shed load of meds, I turned to faith. Was the only thing that made it all disappear over night. That's just my personal experience.
I just wanted to let you know that you're not crazy and most importantly you're not dying and your health is fine.

@yahyahs22 thanks for sharing. I appreciate it so much. I seriously hope that doing something to help with reduce my heart rate. I can't live without my heart rate monitor ATM. I want to get rid of it. Although I don't have ANY physical symptoms at all, I am worried that if I'm not aware of my heart rate and it's high something bad might happen. Does that make sense :( sorry xx

I'm not an expert but my cardiologist said propranolol was very mild and so prescribed bisoprolol. I'm on 2.5mg in the morning and it has made a big difference to me. I forgot to take it one day and was wondering why I felt so anxious and my HR was really high until I realised I had forgotten to take it.

Can you talk to your GP and get the dosage increased or try another beta blocker like bisoprolol?

IMO 5mg of propranolol will not do much. I take 80mg per day and am similar height/build as you.