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How the heart influences what we perceive and fear

quantamagazine.org

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Re: How the heart influences what we perceive and fear

#31

Post by rootinier »

troughway wrote: post #27
rootinier wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, my potassium is not constantly low. It's great and sad to hear that there are people out there with similar issues. I also feel my heartbeat effectively all the time. Caffeine makes it worse, so does alcohol. I stopped drinking alcohol, it made it a tiny bit better.

Aside from VESs; isn't a strong heart beat that you can feel (and sometimes hear if someone puts their ear to your chest) a sign of a healthy heart? I'm not talking about fast palpitations, but rather feeling your heart through your chest wall, albeit at a regular, steady rhythm.

Not so sure. Palpitations are often nothing serious, but what I heard is that not feeling your heart beat is normal. Except when you exercise hard. I feel my heart pumping when I lay in bed an my pulse is 60-70 bpm.

Re: How the heart influences what we perceive and fear

#32

Post by rootinier »

kqr wrote: post #16
rootinier wrote: post #4

My heart brought me a solid anxiety disorder. I have ventricular extrasystoles, been to a couple of different cardiologists, done longtime ecg monitoring, echocardiograms and everyone told me my heart is fine, and I should chill. Coupled with low blood potassium levels and increasing distrust in my heart, I developed a fear that I could get ventricular tachycardia, and basically die instantly. I'm 33. I know it's sli…

I feel you. I occasionally get fairly strong palpitations that can last up to a minute in the worst cases (they seem to come in spells during various times of my life), and it does really feel awful. The first period it happened I got some bad hypochondria. (And I was thoroughly checked up multiple times. Nothing detectably wrong.) I'm more used to it now, but the sense of doom still passes right through all my reaso…

Yup. Hypochondria is what they told me as well. But in my opinion, most of the doctors don't experience this on their own, they read it in books and studies. That's why they often can't really help you.

Re: How the heart influences what we perceive and fear

#33

Post by rootinier »

yalok wrote: post #28
rootinier wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, my potassium is not constantly low. It's great and sad to hear that there are people out there with similar issues. I also feel my heartbeat effectively all the time. Caffeine makes it worse, so does alcohol. I stopped drinking alcohol, it made it a tiny bit better.

When I experienced somewhat similar symptoms, I ended up stopping to consume any caffeine (was mostly tea for me), and significantly reduced sugar - and started feeling much better. Other things that helped was regular exercise, with good cardio load, and getting enough sleep. Hoping in God and the eternal life definitely helped with the anxiety part. Hope you feel better.

Thank you.

Re: How the heart influences what we perceive and fear

#34

Post by rootinier »

x87678r wrote: post #26
rootinier wrote: post #4

My heart brought me a solid anxiety disorder. I have ventricular extrasystoles, been to a couple of different cardiologists, done longtime ecg monitoring, echocardiograms and everyone told me my heart is fine, and I should chill. Coupled with low blood potassium levels and increasing distrust in my heart, I developed a fear that I could get ventricular tachycardia, and basically die instantly. I'm 33. I know it's sli…

I have something similar. If you hook me up to an automatic EKG it will say I'm having an infarction right now. Makes me want to stay away from ERs as they'll put me on some treatment for heart attacks without thinking. Right now the extra stress and weight gain gives me much worse heart palpitations. Its hard when that happens to relax when you have to think whether something serious is finally happening or just ano…

Yup, I was once misdiagnosed with Brugada syndrome by a young doctor. That really didn't help in making me more self conscious about my heart.

Re: How the heart influences what we perceive and fear

#35

Post by rootinier »

nonbirithm wrote: post #22
rootinier wrote: post #4

My heart brought me a solid anxiety disorder. I have ventricular extrasystoles, been to a couple of different cardiologists, done longtime ecg monitoring, echocardiograms and everyone told me my heart is fine, and I should chill. Coupled with low blood potassium levels and increasing distrust in my heart, I developed a fear that I could get ventricular tachycardia, and basically die instantly. I'm 33. I know it's sli…

I have had this exact feeling regarding my heart for a year and a half and until now felt nobody understood. For me it is constant chest pain that comes and goes essentially whenever it wants. It is quite varied and never fails to keep worrying me with its novelty. Sometimes burning, sometimes squeezing, sometimes stabbing. Been to the doctor and ER dozens of times. No diagnosis. And it isn't even correlated with anx…

If it helps, I can completely understand your feelings. It's the same for me. If there are more palpitations "than usual", I lose my concentration and start thinking whether I should pay the ER a visit. All the best to you.

Re: How the heart influences what we perceive and fear

#36

Post by jpxw »

nonbirithm wrote: post #22
rootinier wrote: post #4

My heart brought me a solid anxiety disorder. I have ventricular extrasystoles, been to a couple of different cardiologists, done longtime ecg monitoring, echocardiograms and everyone told me my heart is fine, and I should chill. Coupled with low blood potassium levels and increasing distrust in my heart, I developed a fear that I could get ventricular tachycardia, and basically die instantly. I'm 33. I know it's sli…

I have had this exact feeling regarding my heart for a year and a half and until now felt nobody understood. For me it is constant chest pain that comes and goes essentially whenever it wants. It is quite varied and never fails to keep worrying me with its novelty. Sometimes burning, sometimes squeezing, sometimes stabbing. Been to the doctor and ER dozens of times. No diagnosis. And it isn't even correlated with anx…

I have the exact same issue, been going on for three years now. I’ve also spoken to a psychologist, but nothing has helped so far. The feeling of chest pain is impossible to ignore. It feels hardwired.

Re: How the heart influences what we perceive and fear

#37

Post by say0nara »

rootinier wrote: post #29
rootinier wrote: post #4

My heart brought me a solid anxiety disorder. I have ventricular extrasystoles, been to a couple of different cardiologists, done longtime ecg monitoring, echocardiograms and everyone told me my heart is fine, and I should chill. Coupled with low blood potassium levels and increasing distrust in my heart, I developed a fear that I could get ventricular tachycardia, and basically die instantly. I'm 33. I know it's sli…

Wow, I'm surprised how many replied and have similar experiences. There are a few things I'd like to add, because I did learn some things in the last 7 years since it started. - Cognitive-behavioral therapy did not work for me. The thing is, as soon as your heart wants your attention, you're submissive. I talked a lot with psychologists, but it didn't get better. - Running to the ER and being dismissed with good bloo…

Did you try Mirtazapine? I could not sleep because my body would "randomly" produce adrenaline. I would feel my heart frequently. I woke up at night, typically at 2 or 3, and could not fall asleep again.

Mirtazapine is not an SSRI, but it is an anti-depressant that blocks adrenaline receptors. My resting-heartrate went from 95 to 55 from one day to another.

The first few days my body felt a little heavy, but after that I had absolutely no side effects at all.

Re: How the heart influences what we perceive and fear

#38

Post by athenot »

marz0 wrote: post #24
rootinier wrote: post #4

My heart brought me a solid anxiety disorder. I have ventricular extrasystoles, been to a couple of different cardiologists, done longtime ecg monitoring, echocardiograms and everyone told me my heart is fine, and I should chill. Coupled with low blood potassium levels and increasing distrust in my heart, I developed a fear that I could get ventricular tachycardia, and basically die instantly. I'm 33. I know it's sli…

Have you tried supplementing with magnesium? Seems to help a lot of people with anxiety, including myself. There also seems to be a link between low magnesium levels and heart rhythm issues. > The risk of heart rhythm problems with low magnesium levels is particularly high in people who also have low potassium levels. [0] [0] https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/ask-the-doctors-...

At the risk of sounding obvious, it is always a good idea to get labs drawn first and then consider supplements if needed. Blindly taking supplements can cause issues in the opposite direction.

Most of us taste our food before deciding whether to add salt, same should go with supplements.

Re: How the heart influences what we perceive and fear

#40

Post by sandman1906 »

nonbirithm wrote: post #22
rootinier wrote: post #4

My heart brought me a solid anxiety disorder. I have ventricular extrasystoles, been to a couple of different cardiologists, done longtime ecg monitoring, echocardiograms and everyone told me my heart is fine, and I should chill. Coupled with low blood potassium levels and increasing distrust in my heart, I developed a fear that I could get ventricular tachycardia, and basically die instantly. I'm 33. I know it's sli…

I have had this exact feeling regarding my heart for a year and a half and until now felt nobody understood. For me it is constant chest pain that comes and goes essentially whenever it wants. It is quite varied and never fails to keep worrying me with its novelty. Sometimes burning, sometimes squeezing, sometimes stabbing. Been to the doctor and ER dozens of times. No diagnosis. And it isn't even correlated with anx…

Have you considered that it might be costochondritis?

I'm 23 and healthy. I went into ER a few months back with high heart rate, chest pressure, and palpitations. They couldn't find anything wrong with my heart, monitored me for a few days and discharged me without a diagnosis.

For 2-3 weeks after that I still had that same occasional chest pressure/tightness. This might be a coincidence but it started easing away when I started doing various exercises meant for costochondritis.

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