Cloaked Prodigy

Hey everyone. First off I do not have any heart problems or minor ailments. Now that I have been reading through these topics for the last hour, I thank God. Why? Well because I have anxiety disorder and panic disorder.

If I had these heart conditions I would never leave my house. I respect every single person on this forum who have to deal with these "quirks" constantly. I am here for two reasons:

1. Tell you about anxiety and how I notice that many of these stories I am reading have a bit of anxiety in them which is normal.

2. Research heart disorders for my younger sister (16) which now that I have, her story seems very similar to many of yours with PVC. She has been to the doctor's many times and has palpatations for a day every so many years. She seems to have them coinciding with caffeine and stress. I will have her take a look at some topics when she gets home. I'm sure she will feel better when she can relate. Also, she will realize that she is nowhere near the members that have had these palpatations 1000 times per minute with tingling! for 10-20 years.

The Anxiety - I only write this because I have researched anxiety to the point of beating a dead horse and want to share my knowledge to those who feel anxiety might be playing a role in there "feelings."

Anxiety can happen in many different levels and it all depends on the person. The good thing is YOU have 100% control. Common symptoms include increased heart rate, chest and neck stiffness, clamy palms, tense muscles, "brain fog", and dry mouth. These are the normal anxiety symptoms that happen to everyone who is anxious. These are "Stage 1."

Stage 2 is where I excel/used to excel in. This is where I have anxiety disorder and panic disorder. It simply is my mind reacting to these Stage 1 symptoms. The result? A feeling of sudden fear to the point of crying, mood swings, tensing muscles to the point of my whole body tingling, feeling of catastrophic thoughts. Panic attacks last 20 minutes at max.

It seems that the best advice I can give to my sister and all members who have PVC and know they are worried about it to distract yourself. Distraction will cause your brain to not focus on the negative thoughts that will fuel your Stage 1 symptoms. JUST AS IMPORTANT, BREATHE FROM YOUR STOMACH and count to 10. This actually tells your brain that nothing is wrong and you will start to relieve your anxiety in 5 minutes.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU CAN'T RELIEVE YOUR ANXIETY? Well you will not pass out, you will not die, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WILL HAPPEN! Constant panic attacks whether minor or major will cause a "lull" of andrenaline exhaustion which can take a week or two to get out of. It's nothing major and long-term (think decades) results can be arthritis or stiffening joints. You may also have a hard time getting up in the morning, feel chronically fatigued (due to the exhaustion until you get back on schedule...so its not ever-lasting), feel that once you eat your blood sugar is fine.

It takes determination for people like me who have a panic disorder but for mild anxiety deep breathing for 10 minutes should do the trick. If you have any questions about anxiety ask in this post, I'll check back.

Hope this helps and thanks for all of the advice.