Hello, for almost a year i have been struggling with serious panic attacks. i came to turns with them a few months back and have done a very good job fighting them off and preventing them in the day time. trouble is i still get them when im falling asleep. usually just as i drift off i feel a surge of energy and my heart will race... im still confident these are attacks and usually drift off back to sleep. last night however something new happened... i was lying in bed and just turned out the lights when i felt what i cam Only describe as heavy bubbling in my chest. It literally felt like my heart is flip-flopping in my chest. seconds later my heart rate went up to 190 which is higher than it’s ever gone during an attack. i had my heart checked Extensively last January when all this started and has a 25-year-old male they said I had the best echocardiogram they’ve seen in years. has anyone ever had a panic attack where they could actully feel their heart flip flop or miss a beat? it was so scary. i didnt want to go to the hospital because i went probably 5 times last year for panic attacks. please help.
as far as the flip flopping man those are palpitations which are very very common anxiety symptoms. Palpitations come in different forms this is one of them. To answer your question yes Ive had them before.
Yes I’ve had that feeling before. Sometimes the beating gets soo heavy and loud that I feel like I can hear it and I wonder if others can. I’ve also had racing heart where it is quiet but sooo fast, and it feels like my heart is just gonna explode.
- I read this book called “Anxiety & Phobia Workbook (6th edition)” - I HIGHLY recommend reading it - and it not only goes into detail on why our hearts race from panic attacks, but it also scientifically explains how our hearts are very strong and would never be damaged or go into cardiac arrest etc. from anxiety/panic attacks. It explains how there have been tests done showing a human heart can withstand something like 300 bpm nonstop for DAYS, and suffer no damage. So in that logic, even a panic attack for an hour or so with 190 bpm would be totally insignificant to your heart. Learning this really reassured me and helped me. Now when I’m having anxiety and my heart races I don’t get as freaked out by it.