
wildharpo
New member
Hey guys,
I've been struggling off and on with panic disorder and anxiety for over ten years now. My biggest issue - particularly lately - has been the occurrence of random episodes where I will usually be roused from sleep (about an hour or less after falling asleep) with a rapid heart rate that can sometimes be as high as 170 BPM or more. Up until now, after a few minutes of deep breathing, I've been able to get it to come back down near or below 100 BPM (and eventually back to baseline of 70ish BPM).
I wore a Holter monitor a few months ago that caught one of these episodes and determined that I was in a normal sinus rhythm the entire time. I had an echo last week that showed a structurally normal heart with trivial to mild atrial regurgitation (which my cardiologist said did not need treatment and we would simply do a follow-up in a year to look for any changes - which he didn't expect). I've had prior stress tests, EKGs, a cardiac event monitor, and blood work all come back normal as well.
For those of you that have panic attacks out of the blue, does your heart rate ever get that high? I want desperately to believe that there's no sort of underlying, dangerous arrhythmia that has been overlooked given the number of tests I've undergone, but that nagging voice of doubt keeps asking "what if"? I'm looking for some reassurance that a panic attack alone can indeed cause a heart rate to go that high for others.
Thanks in advance for any feedback!
I've been struggling off and on with panic disorder and anxiety for over ten years now. My biggest issue - particularly lately - has been the occurrence of random episodes where I will usually be roused from sleep (about an hour or less after falling asleep) with a rapid heart rate that can sometimes be as high as 170 BPM or more. Up until now, after a few minutes of deep breathing, I've been able to get it to come back down near or below 100 BPM (and eventually back to baseline of 70ish BPM).
I wore a Holter monitor a few months ago that caught one of these episodes and determined that I was in a normal sinus rhythm the entire time. I had an echo last week that showed a structurally normal heart with trivial to mild atrial regurgitation (which my cardiologist said did not need treatment and we would simply do a follow-up in a year to look for any changes - which he didn't expect). I've had prior stress tests, EKGs, a cardiac event monitor, and blood work all come back normal as well.
For those of you that have panic attacks out of the blue, does your heart rate ever get that high? I want desperately to believe that there's no sort of underlying, dangerous arrhythmia that has been overlooked given the number of tests I've undergone, but that nagging voice of doubt keeps asking "what if"? I'm looking for some reassurance that a panic attack alone can indeed cause a heart rate to go that high for others.
Thanks in advance for any feedback!