Posts by Nicole Ortiz51

Well, I just got back from that 😁 😍

First off, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone sharing such kind and helpful advice—it truly means the world to me! :*

I’ve noticed a lot of talk about different types of medication, and honestly, I try to avoid them as much as possible. I don't really want to go that route; instead, I'm determined to find ways to help myself through my own grit. For instance, over the last few days, whenever I feel that sudden wave of agitation hitting me again, I just try to ignore the heart palpitations and give my brain something else to focus on—basically, I force myself to stay busy—and within a minute or two, everything seems to settle back down to normal... I’d really suggest to everyone here that you just try telling yourself that you're going to be okay. If you can learn to take things as they come without letting them get under your skin, life feels so much lighter, I think. 🙂

@danci 2101, I completely relate to what you're going through. That sudden surge of agitation just hits out of nowhere—but if you can just push through it and hold your ground (which I know is incredibly hard, but please, stay persistent!), you'll get there. I'm still fighting my own battles and making progress slowly... because, at the end of the day, I guess it's all just in our heads!

By the way, I have this feeling that those of us dealing with this are just naturally very sensitive people—everything seems to hit us a little harder than most. My only real piece of advice would be to try and build up a bit of mental toughness and maybe try not to take things quite so personally...

@ restlesshound18, if your doctors haven't found anything specific, it doesn't necessarily mean you've inherited some underlying issue—it might just be that the fear itself is spiraling and creating all these scenarios in your mind. For instance, I find it absolutely jarring whenever I read or hear about someone passing away suddenly from a heart attack, because then my brain immediately starts looping, thinking the exact same thing could happen to me...
I truly empathize with how those sudden shocks feel, since I've found myself in that exact headspace more times than I care to admit. I'm trying to work through it slowly, though—learning to take things less personally and not let them consume me—but it's hard when you can't help but wonder, "what's going to happen when I'm older?"... Anyway, what specifically did your doctor prescribe for you to take when you start feeling an episode coming on?

It feels pretty likely that this heatwave is playing a role in how I’m feeling too—I often get this sensation of tightness in my chest, which just makes me feel so overwhelmed, and then suddenly, even the summer breeze and the sunshine start to feel like too much... I know for a fact I didn't deal with this during the winter, so I guess I just don't handle this kind of weather (around 95°F) very well. Plus, I've been trying to work through some underlying anxiety and stress lately.
I constantly try to tell myself that I'm not some old lady and to stop overthinking things—which, honestly, works sometimes!—but I have to reiterate that it can actually be quite uncomfortable...! So, I suppose the best advice is just to focus on deep breathing??

I don't necessarily think there’s an actual issue with my heart—it feels more like those intense waves of anxiety hitting me—mostly because life has been pretty high-pressure lately; well, I suppose I tend to make things as stressful as they can possibly be for myself. If I hear even a tiny bit of news that triggers a sudden racing sensation in my chest, I immediately start worrying (even though, logically, I really shouldn't), and that just fuels the fire, causing my heart to pound even harder as all these frantic thoughts about cardiac health start swirling around in my head. I am fully aware of what is happening to me, really—it's just that I need to learn how to simply brush off that fluttering feeling, and then everything should settle down. Since I haven't had too many obligations over the last few days, I've been trying to focus on relaxing activities quite a bit—life definitely feels lighter and more balanced when you do.

You just have to be strong enough to essentially ignore those "attacks"—sometimes I manage to pull it off, and other times, I just can't help it—but I guess the trick is to somehow just DISREGARD it all and stay RELAXED, and eventually, you'll find yourself forgetting it ever happened... I truly believe that might be the only way through it.

So, I’m running into a bit of a situation here, and I was really hoping someone might be able to offer some guidance. To give you a little context—June was an incredibly stressful month for me—and ever since then, just even the slightest thought about something I'm afraid of triggers this intense heart palpitations. As soon as I feel my heart start racing, I begin to panic, which leads to this overwhelming sense of insecurity, shortness of breath, restlessness, and even dizziness from the pounding in my chest. Since I've never actually had any heart issues before, I'm fairly certain that my mental state is playing a massive role here; I suppose I've always struggled with quite a bit of insecurity in my daily life, and it seems to be manifesting this way now. It’s becoming quite uncomfortable when I'm out in public, so I was wondering if anyone has any solid advice on how to let go of these fears? It’s starting to worry me because even the smallest scary thought can set this whole cycle in motion...
Thanks so much 👍