Severe Anxiety Or Severe Adrenaline Rushes? Please, Help Me!

[Altruism]

Hi,

I've had postpartum POTS for 2 months now. Five days ago, after another hormonal shift in my body, I experienced multiple "anxiety attacks" that lead to severe and scary SVTs. I'm now wearing Holter monitor at home, but I feel like death 24/7 Please, help me identify whether I'm having anxiety attacks due to fear of what's going on with my health or adrenaline surges due to sympathetic ANS overactivity.

I'll try to describe the sensation - it happens while sleeping, resting or reading something. Out of nowhere, I feel nervous, sweaty (especially my palms and feet) and panicky. Then I feel hot and cold at the same time, kind of hard to imagine, I know. Then I assume it's anxiety and try to breathe deeply and focus on something else, but I can't!!! It gets worse and worse, I feel like my stomach is squeezed and my heart keeps racing more and more... until it goes into SVT!! It's so so so scary and it feels like I'm dying! It races for a couple of minutes and then it's usually back to normal, but the nervousness stay with me for days. Then I have another attack a couple of hours later. It's the worst feeling in the world!

Can you please help me identify if it's anxiety or adrenaline rush? Has this happened to any of you? I take Klonopin (0.25 with every attack) and Metorpolol (12.5 mg with every attack), but it's not helping! Please, I am at my wits end! I'm seeing my neurologist tomorrow and since I'm educating her about my disease (familiar, huh), I need to narrow down if it's adrenaline surges due to Hyper Pots and NET defect or "simply" uncontrollable panic attacks due to hormonal changes in my body. Can adrenaline surges lead to SVT? How about anxiety? Can I die from all this - it definitely feels like I am!!! Klonopin normally helps with my anxiety, but this time it does not, so I'm really scared... I need this to stop! I can live bedridden, I can survive the debilitating POTS symptoms, but I cannot live on the edge of life and death with hourly SVTs, it's too much to handle...

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot,

Lucy

[Altruism]

P.S. One more thing is a flushing sensation in my face, neck and hands. Should I look into MCAD as well or is this a normal symptom for an adrenaline rush? I have EDS, so I guess I should?

Ugh, I've been here for 2 weeks and I feel like I need a manual "Pots for dummies". I'm trying to read, learn and understand it all, but it's so hard..

[lissy]

Hi, sorry about all your difficulties:(

I'm not around the site too often so can you post what you've already been tested for;

As in sheehans, pheocromocytoma(sp)...postpartum cardiomyopathies.

I know from personal experience POTS anxiety seems like it lasts longer ( more than the normal 20 minute panic attacks) and all my docs say is they can only say my test rule out anything other thsn POTS ans symptoms sound like anxiety, and they suggest the SSRI's to restart the autonomic nervous system. On the main dinet page and other research papers mention alot of us get dxed with anxiety but seems like thats included in this condition maybe its just more pronounced. Alot of ppl on here take SSRI's and other meds so Maybe once you make sure nothing else is causing the problems you may look into it. Becoming ill after having a baby is pretty hard to handle, I went through it been 5 years in March.Losing control over your health and accepting illness is a long difficult process and when we have to always focus on our symptoms and take vitals and perform all theses functions just to make our lives managable it adds to anxiety and we begin to associate every feeling with a potential problem or clue. So just know this is a wonderful site with the most knowledgeable people that have been to the best doctors in the world, your not alone & hopefully u get some more answers at your upcoming appointments:)

[Altruism]

Hi, thank you so much for taking the time to respond! It made my day!

I've tested negative for Sheehan's. I am about to rule out Pheo next week. I'm having high BP when standing with low pulse pressure. My EKG was normal except for some trace valve regurgitation. I have unexplained SVTs and I'm wearing a Holter monitor this week.

But the surges are so scary! I was hoping more hyperPOTsies will chime in, I really need to differentiate between anxiety and NE surges...

You're right about the hard time I'm having when I have to admit I've lost control over my body and my health. But this feels like fear+anxiety+more! It's undescribable and so scary! It's like the worst panic attack in the world that sends my heart into PSVT...

I'll see 3 docs next week, hoping to find some answers..

[POTLUCK]

Panic attacks are not known for causing SVT episodes. The Holter monitor may show something helpful.

[RubyLane]

I would agree with Potluck, with my "regular" panic attacks my only physical symptoms are sweating and increased heartrate. I hope you find out more info at your appointment as I know it's scary! Ruby

[MomtoGiuliana]

I remember having adrenaline rushes after my daughter was born that were really dramatic. I thought they were panic attacks b/c I was not diagnosed with anything and I although I felt something physical was wrong no dr could diagnose me with anything but depression and anxiety. Mainly my symptoms were a sudden fast hr, sweaty, feeling cold then hot then cold, shaky. It would usually happen just when I was falling asleep or waking up. Of course I felt anxious too. I don't believe I had SVT however. I don't know if excessive adrenaline could trigger SVT. I hope your dr gets more info from the holter monitor that will help with getting you on the best medication.

[Altruism]

MomToGuiliana, I get these rushes exactly when I wake up or seconds before I fall asleep too! I feel hot and cold at the same time, a feeling of "coming doom", fear and lots of tension. Then my HR increases up to ... 180+ in a resting position! I will dig into this more... And I'm pretty sure it's hormonal - 1st episode came 24 hrs after I gave birth, second one(s) - when my 1st postpartum period came. Hm..

If it turns out I do have SVTs... I know ablation could make my POTS worse (though I don't know how much worse can this be, I'm bedridden and suffer 24/7). But if it's PSVT - how can I take care of this without making my POTS worse? Is anybody else with SVT and POTS on this forum?

[peregrine]

Not a doc, obviously, but those don't sound like panic attacks to me - in the past when I got them it was just sweaty palms, feeling pale, nausea, and rapid heart rate, but certainly not that often and not with the hot/cold thing. If it isn't responding to the cognitive-behavioral stuff you're trying (breathing/refocusing), that's probably more evidence too. As a question - when you are worried about your health, do you have the same reaction? Or is it only "out of the blue?" If it's just random, and doesn't ever happen when you're actively worrying about your health... it sure sounds like not just an anxiety attack.

With other folks - see what the Holter says. The surges are weird and take some getting used to, but just remember that "this, too, shall pass" - it's not an episode that will kill you, it will finish and you will feel better, you have no control and you did nothing wrong and you're not having a panic attack - that helped me a lot and it might be helpful to you. You might also, if you have insurance that will cover it, see a therapist for a few sessions - a good therapist can help you both come to terms with the diagnosis and give you suggestions on how to treat symptoms that feel like a panic attack even if they aren't one.

[kalamazoo]

I get both and they honestly have begun to feel the same. I feel I am a hyper pots patient. Basically if I suddenly get nervous I flush, shake and my heart rate pounds of out of my head. It throbs so bad and goes up to 150 minimum easy. It's hard to breath. I used to get them randomly and realized it was from severe low blood sugar and rebound hypoglycemia. Now I watch what I eat and eat like a diabetic. But I also have adrenaline surges but those only occur when im nervous now.

[MomtoGiuliana]

Altruism--In my case, too, I believe the surges were connected to hormonal changes. I tend to feel worse right before my period, however nothing as dramatic as what I experienced during pregnancy and especially post partum, when I had the worst POTS symptoms of my life for about 4-5 months...

[Canadiangirl73]

When I first got POTS, I would get the really bad adrenal surges that would last for hours around the same time every month. So after three months, I realized they had to be related to my cycle. I figured out that they get worse around ovulation time until a few days into my period. As far as SVT goes, I have had it often enough (documented via Holters and event recorders). All I can tell you is that SVT feels different than the sinus tach that comes with an adrenal surge. A few months after my POTS onset, I was in the hospital because I had an adrenal surge that sent my HR into the 170s. It wouldn't come down, so I went to ER. While I was there, it came down to around 110 and shot up close to 180 very quickly. The doctor rushed to my bedside and told me I was in SVT. Because I had had episodes of those before, I knew this was just fast sinus tach. Of course I felt horrible, but I could tell the difference. So I asked to doctor if he was sure before he gave me adenosine, and I did a Valsalva, which brought down my HR enough for him to see the P wave, if I recall correctly. At that point, the doctor gave up and said he had never seen anything like it and called cardiology LOL. All I'm trying to say, is that very quick sinus tach can look like SVT to some docs and that the sinus tach that comes with adrenal surges and SVT feel very different. When I have episodes of SVT, I can feel my heart is beating abnormally. Hard to explain, but I can. From what you"re describing, those sound like adrenal surges, especially since they interrupt your sleep and last long enough. I know they feel horrible and are scary. The Holter you're wearing will most likely shed a lot of light on what you're going through. Hang in there!