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Jena
USA
195 Posts |
 Posted - 02/03/2011 : 21:55:35
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I havent been on this forum in years! I hope everyone is well. I am basically panicking. I am 25 years old with my health always on the line. It seems doctors keep thinking i have an autoimmune disease or some kind of strange thing going on. I have inflammation in my body. Anyway my newest biggest problem is severe severe heart palpitations (PVCS). I understand people say that are normal and benign but mine have runs in a row and I understand that to be dangerous?
I suffer from extreme fear of disease and constant worrying. THese palpitations wont subside. I was even in the hospital for them. I feel them in my throat and my stomach. I need someone to talk to who understands. I feel like I am dieing. Im scared. I google things and see that if you have a few in a row you can have sudden cardiac arrest. Im terrified and don't know how to rid them. Ive had several tests done. The only thing that showed up was a leaky valve which apparently is common? Its only a trace of it. I feel every single skipped beat. Help me! |
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skizzik
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2011 : 22:48:36
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| Read books from Rhonda Byrne. Over a short time you'll have peace and be happy. |
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healingback
United Kingdom
134 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2011 : 23:06:37
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First of all you need to breathe... you say you were on this forum years ago is that because you had a tms symptom that you have since dealt
with? Inflammation in the body could mean anything, I got told I had an odd pattern of inflammation years ago when I was suffering with a lot of stomach trouble, it turned out to be a parasite infection, not nice no, but easily treated. Inflammation could be anything or nothing.... do you see yourself as a tms personaliity? If your going to go full hog into the tms approach then you need to stop thinking physical, not going to doctors, what was going on in your life when the heart palpations started ? Hb
This to shall pass.... |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2011 : 10:06:14
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I've had those at many different times in my life. Sometimes many beats in a row. I run, bike, shovel snow, whatever. If I drop dead, it probably won't be from benign palpitations..
Then again, I will drop dead at some point. We all will. Worry and fear are no protection.
Might as well accept mortality and move on...You're only 25 years old. Enjoy!
Jena, you clearly need a good therapist. You're trapped in your own self-perpetuating fears and worries. No matter how many times you find reassurance, you'll be back for more. This fear of illness and death is bottomless.
Please seek out a good therapist if you don't have one already.
And cut out the symptom googling!!!
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EileenTM
92 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2011 : 19:29:33
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| The Claire weekes books address palpitations & how to get rid of them. Sarno talks about having them himself. Same principles apply assuming you have been checked out and have no type of heart problem. The 20s can be a stressful tme. Look at what is going on in your life. |
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mk6283
USA
272 Posts |
Posted - 02/04/2011 : 19:58:50
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I've had PVCs as a manifestation of TMS as well. I still get them from time to time. PVCs are absolutely benign in the setting of a young and healthy heart. That said, anyone who consumes the typical American diet already has asymptomatic coronary artery disease and should be treated as such. That is why I recommend that people overhaul their diet completely towards a whole-foods, plant-based diet that has been proven to eliminate the risk of myocardial infarction entirely and to reverse even the most severe cases of ischemic cardiomyopathy. In the history of the Framingham Heart Study, not a single patient ever suffered a cardiac event with a cholesterol panel of TC<150 and LDL<80. That may be the most startling statistic in the history of medicine given the fact that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world today. The guidelines in this country are, therefore, highly flawed. I am, of course, referring to the pioneering work of men like Dean Ornish and Caldwell Esselstyn on atherosclerotic regression. Dr. Ornish actually incorporates daily meditation and stress reduction into his program as he is well aware of the mindbody connection and its role in human health (cardiology is no exception).
As an aside, one of the easy things you can do is start taking 3-4 grams a day of fish oil. Dr. Alexander Leaf at MGH has been studying the antiarrhythmic properties of the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish for over 30 years and his studies have shown (quite definitively if you dissect the literature) that consuming 3-4 grams a day of fish oil can reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death by up to 80%. That is pretty amazing if you think about it. Of course, you should consult with your personal physician before making any serious changes to your diet/lifestyle and before starting any new medications.
Now that I got all that off my chest, I am here to remind you about the greatest lesson I ever learned as a physician -- and for that I am eternally grateful to Dr. Sarno and his work -- and that is that the only way to cure disease is to treat the cause, not the symptom. When you treat chronic back pain as a psychosomatic illness, you treat the cause of the disease and a cure is, therefore, possible. When you treat coronary artery disease with extreme dietary changes, you treat the cause of the disease and a cure is, therefore, possible. The palpitations you describe are usually a TMS equivalent in people with young and healthy hearts as yours. As such, a cure can only be attained by treating them as such. Sure, you can protect yourself from some of the rare sequelae of PVCs by making some of the changes I outlined above, but you can only eliminate the PVCs entirely (or close to it) if you address where they are coming from. Like all other TMS equivalents, the source is from within (and I'm not referring to your heart ;). Good luck.
Best,
MK
p.s. The "common leaky valve" you describe is probably mitral valve prolapse, which is extremely common in people with TMS (and "fibromyalgia"). In younger patients, its usually not a disorder of myxomatous degeneration, but a result of the hyperadrenergic state of TMS combined with a young, strong, and healthy heart. That is why they usually disappear (because they are technically misdiagnosed in the first place -- the valve leaflets are only prolapsing on echocardiography because your heart is beating so strong, not because they are degenerative). The PVCs you describe are sometimes referred to as part of the so-called "mitral valve prolapse syndrome". MVP syndrome is, of course, a TMS equivalent as the vast majority of these patients don't even have real mitral valve prolapse as I just explained. Hope this helps. |
Edited by - mk6283 on 02/05/2011 18:19:45 |
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Jena
USA
195 Posts |
Posted - 02/23/2011 : 10:48:28
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Thank you for your responces. Yes, I am a patient of Dr. Sarnos. I have actually been calliing him but his voicemail explains that he wont be around until next Monday. Im falling apart. Tomorrow is my stress test and I was in the hospital again because my pvcs were in constant Bigeminy. Every other heart beat is irregular. Can TMS cause these types of palpitations for 3 weeks nonstop?!!
The biggest problem I am having to overcome is autoimmune disease related. Doctors have mentioned they think it can be possible I have sarccoidosis. My symptoms are an enlarged lacrimal gland, enlarged salivary gland, enlarged lymph nodes, and dry eye. I have read online that many many people die from Cardiac Sarcoid which is very hard to diagnos and causes constant PVCS like I am getting. Im lost. I have no one to talk to who understands what I am going through (except people on this forum). I dont see how my hearts not being damaged. I calculated it. I have about 16-20 pvcs a minute which is about 22,000 pvcs in 24 hours. This has been going on for 3 weeks. Has anyone had this going on so constantly for so long? After Sarno healed my back pain I became a nervous wreck. I am a hypochondriac but I do have all these symptoms. HEart palpitations the scariest. Id rather have back pain again. I am so tired of having to get all these tests done. Cardiac sarcoid is hard to diagnose and is becoming increasingly more common that the public realizes. I am lost. I dont know what is going on with my heart. |
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Jena
USA
195 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2011 : 19:04:10
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Its been 6 months and still constant pvcs all day long. Possible different arrythmeias going on. I feel a fluttering and racing as well. I am desperate for help. I am currently seeing a TMS psycho therapist but it hasnt been helping. I believe I have sarcoidosis of the heart and I am just going to die from this. I seriously am not trying to be over dramatic but I cannot stand these skipped beats any longer. Dr. Sarno rarely mentions it in his books. I read Claire Weekes; however, it no longer makes me feel better because I think I have some type of autoimmune disease affecting my heart. All of a sudden I SUFFER and I do mean SUFFER with bigeminy pvcs. I feel hopeless and lost. My relationships (or whats left of them ) are deteriorating. I cant stand this. I dont know what to
do !!!! Im doing a cardiac mri soon. How many more tests can I do?
Also Sarcoidosis of the heart is extrememly difficult to find so am I always going to this I have this??? I am 26 years old with constant bigeminy pvcs and who knows what else?? How can I live with this going on so much? I cant sleep! I havent slept in days. I need guidance. I dont know what to do. I know what TMS is and its not going away. Cured my back pain for 6 years and now this?? Id rather have back pain!! My heart is jumping out of rhythm and it wont stop. Sorry I needed to vent
jena |
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balto
839 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2011 : 08:28:51
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As long as you still believe your illness is something else and not TMS you will not get rid of it. No matter what is the cause of it, it will stop once you have no more fear of it. Fear of the symptoms, fear of what the symptoms would do to you is why you remained ill. In the end, no one can help you but yourself.
Many people read Dr. Sarno's books and instantly cure themselve without knowing exactly what stressful events in their lifes caused their illness. Why, because they totally believed in Dr Sarno's explanations and know that their illnesses have a mental cause => they loose all fears and end their suffering in a short time.
Books from Dr. Sarno, from Dr. Claire Weekes, and from many other explained TMS, anxiety,... from many view points, they offered ways to control or over come the disease, they all have one thing in common, NO MORE FEAR, NO MORE PAIN.
Here is what helped me in my journey to cure myself of 15 years of suffering:
- No more searching the internet for causes, symptoms.
- No more suffing the net unless for work (the www is full of negative things)
- No more watching TV. spend time with friends, relative, do volunteers... seek out positive peoples to be with.
- I accepted dead. I tell myself dead is nothing to be fearful of, we'll all die. Once you don't fear dead anymore then not much left in this world to be fearful of.
- Meditation, eat right, exercise... take good care of yourself so mentally and physically.
- don't fear insomnia, have you ever heard of anyone died from insomnia?
- don't fear back pain. I have never read or heard of anyone ever paralised from back pain or sciatica. I have herniated disc and no pain at all now.
- do everything you can to totally shut your mind from fear. Tell yourself: so what. I've been sick for months, years, from all these things and I'm still here, still alive. I haven't die yet am I. Let enjoy life while I'm still here. Let's not fear it.
Sorry English is not my native language, I know my writting is full of grammar mistake and I can not fully express my thought. I just hope I can share with everyone how I cured myself. I hope this help. The most important thing is stop your fear of the symptoms no matter what you thought caused it. |
Edited by - balto on 07/06/2011 08:45:04 |
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jjh2go
35 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2011 : 11:14:35
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| I have heart palpitations throughout the day. I wouldn't call mine severe. My palpitations started around 10 years ago. What is interesting is after I had horrible back pain, and started seeing a chiropractor, my heart palpitations went away. As long as I saw the chiropractor regularly, I didn't have much back pain or irregular heart beat. Now that I stopped seeing the chiropractor after a back surgery (long story), my heart palpitations have come back, just like they were 10 years ago. Now I know that they are caused by TMS, and the chiropractor was just a placebo. |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2011 : 11:33:35
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Jena,
Not everything is TMS, as you know. When it comes to the heart, I'd not fool around but get myself a thorough and complete work-up. I'm sorry I had to kind of skim your posts so not sure if you've done that. I see that you've taken some tests. How about a clinic where they could take you in and monitor you for a day or two. Do you have a cardiologist? What is he saying? Arrhythmias can be treated. Very often they're not dangerous.
I had double missed beats for a few weeks, and it worried me of course. I can only imagine what it might feel like for months. MIne was stress induced. Obviously, you've got plenty of that going on, so it's hard to separate out cause and effect.
Jena, this is one of those times in life, and they come to us all, when you have to dig deep. Be brave. Try not to catastrophise (sp)...
Meanwhile, I'd consider short term anxiety meds while you're trying to figure out what's going on. Stress is not good under the circumstances especially, and anything you need to do to reduce that is fair game...
Wish I had something more helpful..
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sue1012
USA
31 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2011 : 13:38:53
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Jena, I had exactly what you describe for about 6 months about 2 years ago. Mine was definitely stress induced and caused by how that stress ravaged my body. For me, my digestion had a lot to do with it. It was very impaired at the time, which affects the vagus nerve, which then can cause palpitations. What helped me, was digestive enzymes, magnesium supplements (deficiency will cause palps), eating regularly (if I got hypoglycemic, they were much worse), and trying to get regular sleep, which was horrible for me at the time. My cardiologist even said that reflux caused palps in HIM. I don't care what anyone says, but there is a connection bteween digestion and palpitations (for some). I truly thought I would die from them many times over and lived in constant fear. I agree I would rather have my back pain as they are petrifying when you get that many and run your life. I don't know what your cause is, but wanted to let you know my situation. I still get them now, but they are no big deal and don't affect me at all. You can likely get control of yours too. I agree with the others that you MUST stop googling things. I absolutely did myself in doing that....truly. You CANNOT do that anymore. You will find no answers, but lots of fear. Your anxiety is absolutely contributing to your symptoms, as mine was. It ravaged my body and caused me so many unnecessary symptoms. Follow up with testing, but if everything looks normal, you are likely fine. I also had 20,000+ palps per day and now probably get less than 50 (i don't count them because they bother me no longer). It will get better if you relax. If you need an anti-anxiety med for a while, they can really help. Best of luck to you, Jena.
Sue |
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Jena
USA
195 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2011 : 00:20:02
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| Thank you everyone for your answers. I'm sitting awake on another sleepless night awake with pvcs. To answer a couple of your questions I have had many tests. I had a holder monitor which showed tens of thousands of.pvcs. I had an echocardiogram which was perfect. I had a exercise stress test where the pvcs were gone during exercise. I am getting a cardiac Mri and another holder put on. My cardiologist said my heart is very healthy. However I have a difficult time believing this bc of the extent of pvcs. Also because of the questionable autoimmune diagnosis. This specific autoimmuje disease only effects 20% of patients hearts so 80% of people who.have sarcoidosis, it doesn't effect their heart. What's ironic.is when the doctor said they're harmless they went away for a day or 2 which makes me believe its tms. I am definitely living in constant fear. All day everyday I'm scared. I constantly check my.pulse and have friends n.family listen.to my heart. I'm so exhausted and all I wanna do.is sleep but all I feel is beat thump beat thump. Sue you have eased my mind a little. So you were diagnosed with pvcs? Did they feel different at different times ?? For example, does your heart flutter or vibrate sometimes ? Were they every single day all day long for 6 months ?? Mine don't let up even being Kk beta lockers. I agree with another poster about digestion. Mine are def correlated to indigestion. Idk what to do or how to treat this. Sue what did you do ?! Thanks |
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Javizy
United Kingdom
76 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2011 : 04:31:51
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If you have digestive problems, then I'd take that as even further evidence that anxiety is one of the main causes. Stress causes a lot of tension in your abdominal muscles, which can affect your digestive organs and also compress your bladder. Tension in the chest is also part and parcel of anxiety, and I know that it can cause arrhythmia, so maybe it's part of your problem, though I don't know anything about PVCs.
One thing you can't argue with is the fact that your heart, like your digestion, is self-regulated, and by continually being stressed, you're robbing your body of its ability to self-regulate properly. It's like putting the wrong kind of fuel in a car and expecting it to carry on running properly.
As terrible as your problem sounds, if you want to overcome it, you need to first come to terms with it. Nothing you do will make it go away overnight, and this is the same for a lot of other TMS symptoms. You need to learn to live with it for the short-term, like you would a caste on a broken leg. You'll be amazed at how much better you feel just by changing your outlook in this way, and it's a big step towards recovery. Then start trying some of the things balto suggested (although personally I'd never give up my idle web browsing  ) and start enjoying your life again! You might find trying something like yoga useful to relieve the tension in the front of your trunk, too. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2011 : 08:28:42
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quote:
Originally posted by Jena
My cardiologist said my heart is very healthy.
Your problem is not your physical heart. You are a hypochondriac, seek treatment for that disorder and not for your heart. It is not normal to tune in to your heart beating as you have and to ask other people to listen to it also. You have OCD.
DR. SARNO'S 12 DAILY REMINDERS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0dKBFwGR0g
TAKE THE HOLMES-RAHE STRESS TEST
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_and_Rahe_stress_scale
Some of my favorite excerpts from _THE DIVIDED MIND_ :
http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
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"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." Jiddu Krishnamurti
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2011 : 11:14:01
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Based on the info you've given, I agree with TT, though I'd not have put it quite so bluntly.
BUT, and this is a big but, you can make yourself sick with worry. I mean actually sick. Again I agree with TT: seek counseling.
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sue1012
USA
31 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2011 : 15:07:04
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| Jena, yes, I was diagnosed with PVC's and also PAC's. You sound like a carbon copy of what I went through. I did the same tests...heart was perfectly healthy. I also had the couplets back to back to back. I definitely got the weird flipping, vibrating sensations to name a few. I KNOW for me it was stress and anxiety induced as that threw off all the systems in my body. It was completely unbalanced. Having my digestion get better through the enzymes, proper eating and magnesium supplements (which is depleted through stress) and stopping obsessing about it slowly allowed me to get better. Beta Blockers didn't help me at all when I had that. If your stomach is too acidic or not acidic enough, it could cause all those palps. I'm telling you I have BEEN there and I am completely fine now. No more than 100 per day, they don't keep me up at night anymore etc. I feel some here and there, but it doesn't bother me anymore. I can't 100% tell you nothing is wrong, but I truly believe there isn't based on my knowledge. You need to stop obsessing over it. The PVC's will NOT harm a healthy heart. I know that's hard to believe when you're getting them, but it's TRUE! I am living proof as I got thousands EVERY DAY for months and am here to tell you about it 2 years later. I really agree with the others that you need to seek help for your anxiety and hypochondria. It will rule your life otherwise. Take care of yourself, Jena. You will be fine, but you need to work on the stress management and psychological aspects of things. Chronic stress will wreck your body. I am living proof of that. You can get better! |
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art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2011 : 13:22:52
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Whenever symptoms come and go as function of fear and worry, as seems to be the case with Jena's palps,, it's as close to proof that said symptoms are psychosomatic as you're ever going to get.
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yogaluz
USA
81 Posts |
Posted - 07/09/2011 : 18:06:23
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You sound like you're in the state I was in for YEARS. My palpitations started in my mid 30's and I would say I went for roughly 8 years with a consistently irregular heartbeat. There were days when I swear my heart didn't have a regular beat all day. Getting to sleep when you can see your palpitations literally moving your body is near impossible.
I went to cardiologists and was told what you were - they're benign. 'Yes, you have thousands of them but they're nothing to worry about.' I didn't buy that but having had success with Sarno's methods to deal with debilitating back pain, I totally bought into the notion that if I quit catastrophizing over my heart rhythm, the palpitations would eventually go away. They didn't.
FINALLY, about two years ago in total frustration, I went to see a cardiologist at a research hospital. He put another monitor on me, reviewed the results and said that there were very specific areas of my heart that seemed to be highly reactive to adrenaline. He gave me two options: he could go in and zap the overactive cells (I can't remember the name of the procedure) or I could try taking a small dose of a beta blocker. Well, I didn't want surgery which I was told carried some risk so I decided to take the beta blocker. I now take 1/2 of the smallest dose of atenolol out there and basically NO PALPITATIONS!
Placebo? Perhaps? Or it's possible that the beta blocker is addressing the root cause of all my symptoms - anxiety. Whatever the mechanism, I don't care. It literally gave me my life back. Unlike you, my palpitations would increase with exercise and so I gave up running. I would even become winded hiking because a) I was no longer in shape and b) I honestly believe my heart was not functioning optimally.
I'm not advocating that medication is for everyone. There are side effects to this medicine (can cause depression, especially when you first start taking it) but all the side effects I experienced when I first started taking it have gone away. And this is where I think it's very important to be able to accept that there are conditions that can be treated medically (I feel the daggers winging their way to me as I write :-). But believe me, I still suffer from TMS symptoms and still do the work and they go away.. eventually. But I just couldn't get rid of the palpitations and honestly, I could kick myself for not pursuing treatment options sooner and being more persistent with the docs about what I could do to treat the damn things.
I agree with others posting here that you're caught in the fear loop and you need to do everything you can to alleviate the underlying anxiety but having been what you're going through, I sympathize with how hard that is when your heart is bouncing out of your chest day and night. It's a different beast than pain and I get that. I'm assuming Tennis Tom hasn't suffered from this particular form of hell or I doubt he'd say it's just a matter of tuning in to one's heartbeat. When the heartbeat is regular, we don't feel it or tune into it. When it's literally never regular (and her monitor showed this to be the case), it's impossible to ignore.
Good luck Jena and I hope you find a solution. Keep us posted
pain is inevitable, suffering optional |
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Jena
USA
195 Posts |
Posted - 07/09/2011 : 21:31:44
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| Yoga I felt thrilled when I started reading your post and that you go rid of them. Unfortunately I've been on beta blockers and they don't help me. In fact I think they make then worse for me. |
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Heart Palpitations
