ADVICE ON HOW TO CONTROL THIS ANXIETY PLEASE HELP ASAP

[Jtreyo89 1]

Ok so if you have read my past few posts thank you but I really need help to control this so first let me tell you what I do.. so every single day I just obsess and obsess and obsess about my heart because it beats off rythm and it beats irregular and it palpatations and I swear I’m gonna drop dead every single day I’m about to lose my job and my family because all I do is sit at the er hell I went twice today already 

 

ok so how do I stop this how do I convince myself this is anxiety and not a heart arrhythmia that’s gonna send me into cardiac arrest I need to stop like all I do is sit in the er and in the parking lot sometimes I sit in the parking lot of the er for over 8 hours makes me feel safe like if I do go into a cardiac arrest I can run inside and they will save me I’m scared to be home now at night I lay in bed just waiting for my heart to start palpatations and beating off rythm and then race to the er in hopes I don’t die before I get there this is what I do every single day all day long I have to stop this but how how can I stop this madness I need it to stop ASAP before I lose everything someone anyone please help any advice and can anxiety really get this bad like can anxiety really make me do all of this every single day 

[Bterflymom 155]

YES, anxiety can make you do this every day.  

[Kindra 87]

The thing is, we have all offered advice and you keep choosing not to take / try it. Going to the ER daily and begging for input that you don’t listen to is not helping you at all. Nobody can help you until you try to help yourself. Constantly spiraling out of control and going into panic over every sensation is something you need to learn to control. You need therapy. At this point have you considered inpatient therapy? Your body is so stressed out from your constant anxiety that it honestly might be the best place to start. Do you journal? Do you meditate? Do you read self help book? (Googling symptoms is not self help). Again, everyone here is happy to listen and give some input and suggestions, but you are never going to conquer your anxiety by continuing with the same behaviours and mind set. Change your mind set, change your inner dialogue, change your state of mind. It all goes hand in hand. 

[Kindra 87]

Oh, and as for your question how do you stop this, how do you know it’s not a heart attack? Easy. You tell yourself and you KEEP telling yourself that you wasted yesterday and the day before that and a hundred days before that sitting in and ER only to find out what you already know. You are fine. Keep telling yourself that. Look at your family. REALLY look at them and acknowledge the time you have wasted and missed out on with them. You have to start looking at the the things right in front of you and fight for that, not your mind telling you your dying. 

[jonathan123 2368]

for over 8 hours makes me feel safe like if I do go into a cardiac arrest I can run inside and they will save me

You have made medical history. The only person to run with cardiac arrest! Congratulations!!!! Seriously, can you see how illogical it is? When you suffer from HA all sorts of scenarios will come up, and always the worst possible. You are living in a permanent state of fear, and fear is always at the root of anxiety. You are frightening yourself, no one is doing this to you. When you feel the way you do stop fighting it, trying to get rid of it. It won't work. Calm acceptance is the answer. Now I'm not diminishing your pain because I do know, but it's the fear of fear that keeps your anxiety going. You sit and anticipate what MIGHT happen. Anticipation in nervous illness is the chief example as to why it continues. That's why it's so wrong to Google symptoms. Try and accept how you feel now, because you won't always be like it. Honest!

[MsLLL 413]

On 12/10/2018 at 2:47 AM, Jtreyo89 said:

Ok so if you have read my past few posts thank you but I really need help to control this so first let me tell you what I do.. so every single day I just obsess and obsess and obsess about my heart because it beats off rythm and it beats irregular and it palpatations and I swear I’m gonna drop dead every single day I’m about to lose my job and my family because all I do is sit at the er hell I went twice today already 

 

ok so how do I stop this how do I convince myself this is anxiety and not a heart arrhythmia that’s gonna send me into cardiac arrest I need to stop like all I do is sit in the er and in the parking lot sometimes I sit in the parking lot of the er for over 8 hours makes me feel safe like if I do go into a cardiac arrest I can run inside and they will save me I’m scared to be home now at night I lay in bed just waiting for my heart to start palpatations and beating off rythm and then race to the er in hopes I don’t die before I get there this is what I do every single day all day long I have to stop this but how how can I stop this madness I need it to stop ASAP before I lose everything someone anyone please help any advice and can anxiety really get this bad like can anxiety really make me do all of this every single day 

Yes, anxiety can do all this! And more. You can trust us or read what some of us have been through. You can't control anxiety. The more you fight it the stronger it comes. 

You need to go to your doctor and discuss in detail all your anxious symptoms and tell him/her about all the ER/ ER parking lot visits. Just be really honest, then find a good counselor and get help. You will get there and accept you have anxiety and you will learn how to live a normal life. 

Deep inside you know it's anxiety. You have been cleared by medical professionals and you are on this site. Don't fight it or let your mind tell you it's your heart, it's not. It's in our minds. And it's perfectly fine to live a good life suffering from it. You can do it! 

[pixielauren 0]

I wonder if it would help for you to take out a pen and notebook and write down some of the thoughts you have in one column ("My heart is about to stop") and then in a second column replace that thought with a more rational one. Like: "When my heart races, it's just anxiety." And then refer to this list when you are having these thoughts.

I also find it helpful to actually accept my own negative self-talk "worse case scenario." In other words: your worst-case is that you die. Why are you so terrified to die? I mean, of course, nobody wants to die, and the idea of leaving loved ones behind, or having unfinished business etc. isn't great, but ... everyone dies at some point. You will die at some point. Accepting this might help you, paradoxically. If you drop dead from your heart, you won't even know it, right? It's not like death will result in suffering for you.

Your fear of dropping dead is irrational, so using my pen/paper idea above and replacing that "I might drop dead" fear with either "I am not about to drop dead" OR ... "Even if I die, everything will be okay" might help you out. 

In my own current situation, I am trying to accept my own possible "worst case scenario" and deciding that even if I do (in my case) get fired, I will still be okay somehow. 

[pixielauren 0]

Other thoughts: Can you put a plan in place (again, maybe make it in writing, put a post-it note on the inside of your door or on your coat or shoes or keys, so you'll see it before you race out the door) -- a plan that says:

Before I leave for the hospital, I will:

1. Set a timer for two minutes. For those two minutes I will practice deep breathing or meditation.
2. I will notice at the end of those two minutes that I am still alive.
3. Before I go to the hospital, I will phone (or text) a friend asking if they think my heart is about to stop, and I will set my timer for two more minutes while I wait for replies.
4. During those two minutes, I will practice deep breathing or meditation.
5. Etc., etc., list out other things you can do INSTEAD of racing to the hospital, including rewarding yourself for not going in some way that makes sense for you.

The idea is to stop yourself from going out that door. Change the pattern -- don't give yourself permission to leave until you have interrogated your fear and tried to calm yourself down.

[pixielauren 0]

Lastly, in addition to anxiety you clearly have some obsessive thoughts (in other words, you can't stop thinking that your heart will just quit on you). Finding ways to interrupt that pattern -- via distraction, or reasoning with yourself, or SOMETHING ... is going to be key here. Question: is there any time during the day when you are NOT obsessing like this? (While eating? At work? While caring for a child? Watching favorite TV show? etc.) I don't know anything about your life so these are just suggested things -- but is there any point in the day, ever, when you're not thinking about this? Start there, and build on that.