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Help! :(

Posted , 4 users are following.

rheannon
rheannon

Most days, with the exception of a few here and there- I have the “jitters” inside. I do not drink caffeine at all because of this. I feel like I would if I were to drink Coffee or a few Redbulls. This makes it terribly hard to fall asleep at night. Sometimes it feels like my heart is beating a million miles per minute but it’s not and sometimes my heart really is. I have gotten 3 EKG’s and everything is “normal” but then again I did not have symptoms when I got them done. I have even been told my heart rate is “very regular”. This is not brought upon by me overthinking things, I get “anxiety” after I get these symptoms and start thinking about why I am having them.

Once in a blue moon: I will wake up in the middle of the night, out of breath, feeling faint, sometimes bad enough to feel like I need to call 911, need to drink a bottle or 2 of water and to walk around my house in order to feel okay again. Terrible time falling back to sleep. This has probably happened about 6 or 7 times in the past year.

I have always thought I have had anxiety but after speaking with a Midwife at work, she asked if I ever got my Cortisol level checked... I haven’t so I am on Wednesday and depending on the results, my GP will refer me to an Endocrinologist. Jan also going to set up an appointment to see a Cardiologist. Thoughts? Anything will help, thanks in advance. These “jitters” are out of control, especially at night when I know I should be sleeping and WANT to sleep and relax.

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • Innersmile
    Innersmile rheannon

    Posted

    Hi Rheannon,

    I can really relate to this. It happens to me too. I think you've described it really well. I often find it hard to put into words. I've been diagnosed with ME but what I've been told that causes this is dysautonomia. This can also happen if you have POTS. It maybe explain why you feel better after drinking water. My doc advised that I drink lots of water to keep my blood volume up and to add salt to retain the water. I tend to drink apple cider vinegar & celtic salt water throughout the day or you could have it with lemon or lime. Also laying down when you feel like this can help if POTS is the culprit. I sometimes take a small dose of beta blocker for when my hearts going crazy too. Sometimes it helps the symptoms, other times it doesn't. I know how scary it is, so know you are not alone. I felt alone and very scared for a long time with this without any answers. It doesn't matter how many times it happens it's always such an awful experience isn't it. I've had so many of these attacks while out and about and it's so awful I get scared to go out incase it happens. I get that inner jitter a lot. Doctors try to put it all down to anxiety being the cause but dysautonomia is a real condition and the truth is dysautonomia causes an anxiety response because we have a problem with our automatic nervous system. Have a look up dysautonomia and POTS see if you can relate to it. If you can take a print out from an official website and highlight your symptoms.

    • Innersmile
      Innersmile

      Posted

      Cortisol is worth getting checked too. I thought mine was cortisol related. Even though my cortisol was quite low unless it was classed as addisons disease they weren't prepared to do anything. I noticed you mentioned your midwife. Have you just recently had a baby? Hormone changes are known to trigger dysautonomia. I had my implant removed after 8 years and I went through some serious hormone turmoil which I think triggered it.

    • rheannon
      rheannon Innersmile

      Posted

      Thank you. I will look into this- Gatorade does help me and I will try adding celtic salt to my water. Anything’s possible at this point, I just want answers. I know I don’t have diabetes, hypoglycemia, Lyme. Does anything else help you? Are there certain foods you avoid completely? I have thought it may be a food intolerance as well.
    • rheannon
      rheannon Innersmile

      Posted

      No, I am not pregnant. I do have an 8 year old son. I work at OB/GYN office. I was prescribed Xanax as needed for anxiety, should I not take this? I hear it does cause a drop in blood pressure if it is high, but not sure of anything else.
    • rheannon
      rheannon

      Posted

      My thyroid has been checked, normal.
  • Guest
    Guest rheannon

    Posted

    Hi, a common cause of your symptoms is hyperthyroidism. In my case heart palpitations are worst at night. This is because of a surge of thyroid stimulating hormone around 3 am. Would be good to have your thyroid hormone levels checked.

    • Guest
      Guest

      Posted

      BTW, my EKG was normal except for an elevated heart rate.
    • rheannon
      rheannon Guest

      Posted

      My thyroid has been checked, normal. EKG, normal. I did wear a Holter Monitor for a day and it showed occasional Premature Atrial Contractions. Other than that, normal. I went to a cardiologist and he prescribed me Digoxin but I haven’t started it yet. I already have low blood pressure and it will not effect that so a I guess that’s why he chose that particular med. I go for an Echocardiogram next week.
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