Waking Up With Tachycardia

[villen]

Hey everybody!

Im struggling bad with anxiety and potsssymptoms. My worst is waking up(especially after a "good" nights sleep after having stressful day) then it feels like em dying, and just waking gives me pounding heart (I know this is partly anxiety and a hyper nervous system) but the worst thing is when I try to sit up or move, my heart beats like crazy (just after moving a little bit) and I get out of breath, and even more anxious! This often leads to more anxiety, I cant never sleep alone, I dont want to wake up alone etc etc. Its so horrible. Its better when I havent been eaten much sugary foods the day before,

(Reducing gluten from my diet has improved my symptoms)and if I have been calm and slept good, but its not very easy all the time. How do I cope with this? Any advice? Wish you all the best and good health:)

Villen

[carinara]

When i wake up like that, i do some breathing excercises to calm my HR down. For example: breath in, hold your breath and try to press the air down towards your stomach (just as if you would give birth), or another one like: breath in whilest counting to 4, hold your breath whilest counting to 4, breath out counting to 4, hold your breath counting to 4. start all over again until you feel better. I also have cold water to drink next to my bed. Cold water also brings the HR down.

If you feel a little better, maybe you want to sit down in bed until your body is more in balance. You might also want to place a chair with rolls on next to your bed, that way you dont have to stand up, you can sit straight on the chair and roll around.

Hope you are feeling better soon.

carinara

[kayjay]

Villen, I have to take meds for this. A beta blocker, ssri and Klonopin. Also I drink a large glass of V8 ( really salty tomato juice) with a straw before I get up. I wait about 15-20 min. I get up slowly. Use the bathroom and lay back down to put on compression.

Good luck to you... this is not good for your heart ( over time) so make sure you find something that will help you-Kayjay

[villen]

thanks guys! I appreciate it. But will it improve over time? I take betablocker (atenolol 50-75 mg), but they seem to help less now than before. Is it really dangerous to the heart? I get a little scared...I have heard these symptoms arent dangerous but very uncomfortable...I dont want to take any benzos, but I take sleeping pill once in a while when I dont get any sleep.

Thanks again!

[HoudiniCat]

I used to get this all the time and I can sympathize with you. At its worst, I would first wake up and do the 4-count breathing technique that Carinara described while slowly sitting up and then getting out of bed. Then a big glass of water and trying to sit calmly for a few minutes all while doing that breathing/counting. Over the years, as my POTS symptoms have lessened, so has that one. I don?t believe I?ve had an AM tachy episode like that in over a year. Good luck.

[kayjay]

Villen, do you have a heart rate/blood pressure monitor you can use? For me the only think that has helped is meds. I still do "breath work" because I believe it is good for us, but it did not slow my ehart during surges (beither did atavan b/c it was not "from stress").

Over time (not to worry you) your heart can become enlarged if it is always working too hard. It sounds like this is temporary for you so I wouldn't worry... But why put up with it if you can feel better?

Nothing but meds stopped these surges for me. The ssri has helped after a few months and nadolol is the beta blocker I use. I had to try many. Atenelol was no good for me and lopressor/metoprolol made me too low. You might need to chanegey our med. Good luck to you

[daisy]

Hello - I really feel for you because those episodes certainly are difficult...and I can relate to the domino effect with the fast heartrate and then the anxiety.

I don't know what your a.m. routine is but I found I can't jump out of bed at all. I have to take my time, start drinking water or something salty and move slowly.

I used to bounce out of bed and get moving but that just can't happen anymore.

Our bodies are coming off of a long night of not drinking so maybe a little hydration can help? Just a thought....

Also, you said the beta blocker isn't working as well. That did happen to me. I found I built up a tolerance to it over time.

It may be time to tweak your dose a bit if possible...maybe bring this up to your Dr.

Feel better!

[Mrs. Burschman]

I take an SSRI (Paxil) for this. I really hate taking medication, but on it, I'm a functional human being. Off of it, not so much. I was getting these type of surges nearly nonstop. Ugh! I dont' think there's anything worse!

Amy

[villen]

thanks again guys! Seems as if this a problem for many. I do the breathing and the "holding my breath and blow though the nose"thing, and it seems to help, but it doesnt remove the problem every morning. I still get it....maybe because I focus so bad on it every night before I go to bed. The subconscious remembers! Iknow this is bad when my stress is up and I have eaten bad, so this morning was a little better.

I get a little scared when I read that heart can become enlarged after this...is it really too strenous to the heart? Then waht about pots-symptoms in general? (standing up, giving a very high heart rate) I thought that POTS, IST, anxiety, SVT etc were all benign heart conditions, and that you didnt have to treat it unless the symptoms bohtered you. I mean, look at the athlethes who work out two times a day with a sky high pulse for a long time? My doc and cardio say my heart is fine, but I get the betablocker to calm it down. I will have an app.at a new cardiologist in a little time, and I wil definaltey discuss my medication with him. Maybe try a different betablocker, or maybe an SSRI. thanks again, and sorry if I seem freaked out. I`m having a better day today- going for a walk with my mom soon, and going to a party later (with a cool new dress;)I miss the dancing though, but I know I will improve over time, and be able to an active person as I used to be. Have a good weekend all of you:) (btw, sorry for my english- I`m a scandinavian;)

Villen