Hello, when you are out eating in public do you feel anxious, scared or overwelmed immediately before these heart flutters occur?

Hi, thanks for replying! I only get the shortness of breath while out eating..I think its because of all the people?! 9 out of 10 times I get the flutters when I least expect it

No problem. Well done for seeing a doctor about it though, to rule out a physical condition but it does sound to me like it is purely down to anxiety and im sure (even though it doesnt seem it) that the heart flutters do tie in with the shortness of breath, in that they are a symptom of anxiety thats going on in your life.

I do experience occasional heart flutters due to my anxiety but I did used to get them a lot more so I just wanted to give you some positive thoughts that im sure they will go in time once you become less anxious.

I can also relate to the shortness of breath in public places. When you experience this shortness of breath do u get a racing heart or sweaty palms or a feeling like you just want to get up and walk off because of the 'pressure' that is on you?

Stevo, to answer your questions about the shortness of breath in public...Yes,yes and yes! Lol. I get so anxious and I have noticed that when I do go to my car or leave...My breathing seems to go back to normal. But these flutters happen when I am watching t.V, like I said most always when I am relaxing and feeling fine. Thats what scares me! I have never had one of these flutters captured on a monitor but ive had ekgs, echo,bloodwork,etc. And my cardiologist says im fine. I worry about these things constantly!! I have it in my head that I have a terrible heart condition and that the Dr. Is just missing it. Make any sense?!

Did something major happen in your life when you were 16? Did you move home, suffer bereavement or stressful times at college for example?



Yeah what you are saying makes absolute sense and I can relate to it entirely. Peace let me assure you that you dont have a terrible heart condition, you just think you do because anxiety is playing tricks on your mind. Geez I could write pages about things ive read about anxiety (things that have actually helped me the last few months) and how it affects people.

When you have bad anxiety your mind exagerates thought processes and you cannot control it. You think of something and before you know it, your mind has become fixated on it, negatively, quicker than you realise its happening. If it wasnt your heart, if for example you got a sharp pain in your leg you would immediately think it was something fatal like a blood clot, ive had these thoughts before

in your case you began worrying about the heart flutters and because they have continued (due to anxiety!) its made you think you are dying. You are not and you just need to believe in this to break your anxiety cycle! You can do it!



Im my case my anxiety began and I got a thought stuck in my head that I was going crazy and this then made me feel terrible and fearful. I understand how you are feeling and there is no feeling like it, its horrible. I was stuck in this rut for 7 years (since I was 17) and am only just coming out of it now because I found some answers.



Regarding the public places symptoms I had a feeling you would say yes! I will admit now that I am not an anxiety specialist but because of my own experience I picked up on your post straight away. It seems you suffer from something called anxiety disorder like me. Its triggered when something major happens in your life, hence my question at at the top of this post and you can overcome it and feel great again, you just need to know which way to go!

The anxiety disorder manifests itself in different ways in different people. In your case it has made you socially anxious and fearing for your health. The same happened to me.

I used to suffer really badly with it, being afraid of going into places (typically resturants) incase I would get anxious and people would look at me. It makes you feel out of place and not part of whats happening. On times that you do feel fine, the anxiety can come over you all of a sudden and you feel terrible. My social anxiety has improved greatly the last few months so I just wanted to get this message accross to you that you will get better through realisation process and positive thinking and hopefully this post will kickstart it for you.



Regarding the heart flutters...They happen simply because you are anxious. Even though they happen when you are relaxing, its because you are still slightly anxious subconciously, but you dont realise that you are anxious! The reason they dont happen when you are on the heart monitor is because your mind is pre-occupied on other things eg. The hospital surroundings. This proves to you that you dont have a heart condition because if you did, the flutters would occur when you were on the monitor too! Do you see the logic? I have every confidence they will go when you begin to get rid of your anxiety completely.

You need to start feeling good about yourself in resturants. Go to less crowded ones and walk in there like you own the place! Then work your way up to the busy ones. Trust me you are better than anyone else in that resurant and you just gotta believe it!

Read this thread if you wanto understand more about where I am coming from:

http://ehealthforum.Com/health/topic33651. Html

i have to go out now but will check this thread again later.

Stevo, what your saying makes perfect sense. And a great post by the way, thank you soo much! It really helps to talk to others! When I was 10 my parents went through a nasty divorce and when I was 15 my mother suffered from a nervous breakdown. She too has terrible anxiety. I guess from those 2 things the anxiety just built up and came out when I was 16?

I read that link you gave me and I think that is definetly worth checking into. At times I tell myself that im strong and can over come this and at other times I just know im having heart failure! Again many thanks!

Youve got it exactly peace! You are spot on. Those 2 events in your life were massive and they would give anyone anxiety! You are strong, stronger than you realise.

Anxiety always stems from an event(s) in your life but once someone has the anxiety, they dont realise this. Instead, they think they are going crazy, that the anxiety is an illness. Or they start analyzing the physical symptoms (pains, heart flutters) and think they are dying. My mum also convinced herself she was dying through anxiety when I was young

none of this is true though and once you realise this you will begin to switch the anxiety back off and start feeling really good about yourself. Like you are getting your life back. Your heart flutters will dissapear too because they are simply a product of your anxiety and I wish I could see the size of the smile on your face when they do go!


Im lucky enough to have access to the use of a councelling service where I work. Ive chatted about the issues that caused my anxiety (a close friend of mine died and I got moved to a different country). Together with my understanding of how this condition develops, its really helped me begin to feel free again.

It is good to talk and I suggest you go down this path if you can. If you dont want to see a councellor (i was skeptical at first too) but you want to talk to someone just pm me and ill give you my email address.

I had heart flutters really bad for about 5-6 days in a row... This was very recently. I was really freaking out over them. I thought there was something seriously wrong. I wondered if I would wake up in the morning when I'd go to sleep! I am female and 26. There wasn't anything I was specifically stressed about at that time, either (though I have been worried for a while about not having found a job yet). After cutting out caffeine (I am never going to have another Diet Coke ever again, esp. after discovering all the yucky stuff it has), starting a multivitamin (Women's Ultra Mega from GNC, to get what my body needed, especially magnesium, which can cause heart arrhythmias), taking a CoQ-10 supplement (helps with heart functioning) each day, and starting on omega-3 fish oil pills, they stopped! I also ordered some "Natural Calm" which is an easily absorbed magnesium supplement, it's supposed to help with flutters, I will take it when I get it in the mail, just in case.

I also attribute a lot to prayer and giving it over to God... In my life, nothing can compare to having Jesus on my side.