Outlaw, I forgot to mention something! Whenever I go to the doctor and tell them I am worried about diabetes (I am overweight) they always do the finger poke and say my blood sugar is just fine. But, one doctor did a test where they test the average sugar levels over the last three months. She found that I was borderline for diabetes and put me on Glucophage. I changed my diet, which suprisingly doesn't have to be changed that much thanks to new studies, mostly cutting out white flour and eating whole grains breads, pasta and rice, using Aspartime instead of sugar, cutting sweets down to a couple times a week instead of daily and a 30 minute walk every day. It really isn't a major lifestyle change like doctors believed years ago. There are a few little changes, like I mentioned above, but it's really not major. When I went back and had it checked again a couple months later, it was right back on target. If you're worried about diabetes, make sure they take a blood test that gets an average of the three months prior for blood sugar levels - not just todays. If there is a problem, you'd be amazed how easily it can be managed.

Hey Outlaw! How are you feeling today? I too am over obsessed about heart issues! I am constantly checking my heart rate and if it's just a little fast or there's a few extra beats or if I notice my heart rate changes from when I breathe in and breathe out, I panic. I'm trying really hard to stop checking it because I know it's just going to make me panic but, it is so hard! I even check my ankles to see if they are swollen every day because both of my parents had heart problems not too long ago and they both had swelling ankles. I have now started worrying about my blood pressure because it has always been low but I went to a pharmacy a few weeks ago and thought, I'm feeling kind of panicky today so I'm going to take my blood pressure and prove to myself that everything is ok. Huge mistake! For the first time EVER my blood pressure was high (143/90) and my heart rate was 117! I instantly went from being anxious into a massive panic attack and left the store. I went home and laid in bed with the lights off until I could calm myself down. But since then, I am constantly terrified that I have a blood pressure problem. Logically, I know that your emotions affect your blood pressure and heart rate, but the anxiety just won't let that kind of logic sink in. I am so tired of being afraid of everything and nothing!! Do you ever have a problem with jaw aches? My jaws have been aching the last couple of days. I've had all of my wisdom teeth removed years ago so I know it's not that. I'm wondering if I am grinding my teeth and not realizing it. Does anyone else here suffer with that? Anyways, Outlaw, I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone in being terrified of your heart. I am right there suffering the same and totally understand! Hang in there!

i cannot shake the fear of my heart,i belive deep down there is a underlying problem it scares me..its like i take in just little amounts of sugar and my heart is racing,pounding etc its terrible..i count the grams on the side its so bad..i worry that i have diabetes or somehing because even little amounts of sugar set me off..well im scared and cant shake the feeling...thanks for the prayer.. outlaw

Hey outlaw I am always here, everyday I check the boards in the morning and before I go to bed. Sometimes by evening my mind is too exhausted to post any replies but I do pray for everyone here for healing. I dont know if my words will make sense today as I am having a really bad time, besides being physically sick with a bad cold I have had an email from my ex and I am rather upset. Anyway I wish that I could sit with you and talk to you for a while and try my best to make you understand that you are afraid of you. I know how you feel, how the years have passed and nothing seems to be getting any better. Believe me I know this. But I also believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is a way to recovery for all of us. We just have to change the way we react to our symptoms, to our own fears. sending prayers Edited on 4/5/2005 @ 11:38:24 AM by The Support Team

Crystal i should have responded to this post earlier im not sure if your still around people come and go from this site..i love the way you explain it you found what works for you,and that is great..xanax and drinking used to work for me i got gerd and it went downhill..i didnt have to outlet to run to so the last 3 years have been bad to say the least but i am sobr..now to the point here,how can my heart pound so hard hour after hourim staying pretty active,and yet they lasing way beyond the 30 minute window you read about..i guess when i first got on xanax like 5 years ago i would pop pill,look at the clock 20 minutes later i felt bettermi said hey its gotta be my head right..now i dont know if im immune or what but i take em and sometimes they like a placebo..so now im confused i cant get a moment most days of feeling well..i hate to excerise im obseded about my heart..read this and respond when you can..i love how you made the connection on what it does over time... outlaw

Outlaw You are not a bad man, none of us who suffer from this are bad people. We are quite simply people who have become overwhelmed by stress in our lives. It doesnt matter how we got this way, what relly matters is how to heal and recover from anxiety and panic. You asked an excellent question, "Crystal and others how does it last hours to days,to weeks to months..ive had this anxiety thing now 5 years,and the heart symptoms are just as real as ever.." In answer you need to understand that your mind and nerves, feelings, thoughts, body is exhausted. Cumulative stress is the sustaining factor, since you live each day in anticipation and dread of any small abberation concerning your heart you add to the symptoms because you are so tuned-in or introspective. Always listening, waiting, worrying, dreading, reacting, even if nothing is wrong. To illustrate how tired your mind is try this test. Get a mental picture of something, like an apple, a nice fat rdark red apple. Concentrate on getting a picture of this apple in your minds eye and hold that picture for as long as you can. After you have dont this try to think of something else for a minute. You should notice that that picture of that apple kinda stays with you for a while. When the mind becomes exhausted from constant sustained worry thoughts seem to cling and become obsessive. This tired mind needs time to recharge its batteries, but it never gets a chance because it is always watching and waiting anxiously for any heart type symptom. I too suffer from these heart symptoms. I have found that if I take calcium and magnesium everyday that I dont have any heart palps, rapid beats or anything of that nature. Its probably because I am deficient in these minerals, I dont know but I am grateful that they have successfully halted these bothersome heart palp symptoms. Some people might argue that the calcium/magnesium had nothing to do with stopping the heart abberations, that when I believed that the minerals worked, I stopped worrying about my heart and the issue was resolved. Thats fine too. If you decide to try this make sure the calcium/magnesium isa 2:1 ratio (1000mg of calcium to 500 magnesium) Sustained anxiety also depletes our bodies of vitamins and minerals, especially when we suffer fo

Crystal,and friends thanks for the encourgment hen im bad i run to this board..Crytal im not offended i love what you wrote in fact im going to read it a few more times..that was a great act that you did for me,to take out of your time and write me a lengthy message..the only 2 things i somewhat disagree about i tend to think of myself as a bad man..not what you describded even though i know im a decent guy you gave me to much credit..about thw whole heart issue though Crystal and others how does it last hours to days,to weeks to months..ive had this anxiety thing now 5 years,and the heart symptoms are just as real as ever..i actually forgot about for a few years..30 minutes and the adrenaline runs out from what i read..hour after hour,to week to week,the symptoms can go non stop..how can this be the fight of flight response can only last so long,mine is a never ending deal,i eat healthy i drink nothing but water..im afraid if sugar pretty much i watch the grams so my hear wont race its a on going thing can you guys help me more i hope i explanined myslf well.. about the sex thing i agree it eels great,and peak your heart is racing but your not focused and the body is equipped to handle it..on a personal note ive had a few times where i started thinking about my heart,while i was doing well you know what a man does..i actually had to tell my lady,let me chill out a second i didnt want to trip out..i dunno what else to say but its a terrible disese even during a great moment like that,i feel funky...i want to get better..love ya guys.. outlaw

I talked to my psychiatrist today, and he said that EVERYBODY experiences skipped heartbeats, palpitations, etc. We only notice them because we're anxious. Plus, being anxious will cause more skipped heartbeats, fluttering, tightness in the chest, palpitations. This is very very very harmless. Nobody has ever died from this. It's frightening, uncomfortable, and so forth, but NOT life threatening.

Hi Outlaw I have been reading your posts for some time now and I believe that you are sensitive,intelligent,analytical, imaginative,preceptive, and have many more attributes. The problem with people like us who suffer from panic and anxiety is that we question and second guess the doctor, the tests, the medications, the therapy and the counseling too. We feel that we know ourselves so well that there has to be something really wrong with us that is making us feel this way. Well there is something wrong with us, we think too much. We are often unable to accept the fact that we are afraid of our own thoughts and feelings because they are so real. Our mind has a built in survival system, the fight or flight response.It was put there to help us survive in a dangerous situation. The problem is that in panic sufferers we are causing this normal response to misfire. When we begin to fear the symptoms and the feelings we are having, we pump more adrenalin into our already sensitized bodies and generate more sensations, more intense feelings. The more we fear these symptoms the more we believe there has to be something seriously wrong with us. So we begin going from doctor to doctor and from test to test, and when we are told that we are okay that nothing is physically wrong with us, we cannot accept this statement. We feel there has to be a mistake or an error on a test or something was missed (the analytical part of us-we think too much) I dont know for how long you have suffered from panic and anxiety but I can tell from your posts that you are feeling that there is no hope. Think about this: When you are having sex, you heart is beating, racing, may even feel like it is pounding against your ribcage. If the sex is excellent you may even feel like your heart is banging, fluttering or even about to burst (really really great sex!) You are feeling alot of other sensations at this time also, joy, release, love, satisfaction but you are not feeling FEAR! This is because your thoughts are not focused on fear, but on other things.So what I am saying is that you need to understand and accept that you are introspective, sensitised and fatigued from many days, weeks, months maybe even years of fear and worry, and that you are afraid of your o

hey outlaw,i havent heard from you in awhile.i am sick .but i have to keep going.i feel like my body doesnt want to go anymore.i am tired!!!!!!!!!! anyways how are you?you know my biggest fear is having a heart attack.i think about that all the time.i am always checking my pulse.well gotta go! talk to you soon i hope! gina