Hi guys, on and off for the past 4 months I've been experiencing POTS like symptoms that I've never had before being diagnosed with anxiety last year. I know i have been dealing with anxiety after I lost my ex to cancer. I became so stressed and anxious about my health which eventually lead to my first panic attack. Fast forward to may of this year the panic attacks became more frequent, I was dealing with tension in my chest and convinced myself I had angina and would have a heart attack if I worked out. One day I worked out and had the most intense panic attack ever, I was certain I was going to die. Since then I've been obsessed with checking my pulse and blood pressure having panic attacks regularly. I had my heart checked by a cardiologist had test ran and all was ok minus bp spikes from anxiety.
Here is where things start to not look like anxiety. Off and on after I'd had a panic attack or a full day of anxiety, my resting heart rate sometimes remain high for days or return to normal, however, when I stand, my hear jumps to 140 - 160 and slows to 120. I start getting really bad tension headache and blurred vision. I am not anxious when it happens or am not thinking about anything upsetting. This reaction last for weeks after I'd a panic attack. As if my sympathetic nervous system is stuck on. This only started recently after I was diagnosed with panic disorder. I know they aren't panic attacks because my attacks are brought on by an obsession like thinking my bp us high and I check it and its high then I panic. Or feel a twitch in my stomach then I panic.
I checked my bp when standing and my bp doesn't really change much. It might go up if I panic but otherwise it remains pretty steady. But my hear increases way beyond what is normal.
Is this some form of pots? Can panic and anxiety cause dysautonomia? Or is it that due to overstimulation from all the stress, panic and anxiety, my sympathetic nervous system is responding innapropriately? I can't do anything without my heart racing and its really uncomfortable and hard to live like this.
