How do you ease Palpitations and/or Anxiety Attacks?
Lately I've noticed ever since I've gotten Ritalin to help with my ADD, although it happens on occasion other times, I feel fine for a while...but then my mind starts racing and I feel all shaky and I can't focus on stilling myself (e.g playing piano, even typing this is awkward) and it feels really quick and I feel I can't talk. I'm not sure if this is an anxiety attack, although I am prone to those, it gets me in a real frenzy.
Usually to fix it, I'll try and do something 'mind numbing' like play an easy game, nap, or do some work that doesn't need much thought. I also notice that the activity I'm 'failing' in gets me thinking about it, but not doing anything about it, if that makes sense? e.g if I'm playing piano, I'll think too much about freaking out, or that I'm not good, etc. It feels like an anxiety attack, but there's no actual threat, so I try to just take things slower...
If you experience something similar, I'd like to ask!
1) How does it feel?
2) How long does it go for/ how common is it?
3) What are some notable causes of it?
4) What are some strategies you use to get through it?
Thank you for your time, I'll try to investigate and post my findings!
Anxiety attacks are different for everyone. Mine normally last 20 minutes or so. Something that helps me a lot is putting my hands in ice. It's weird, but it helps. Another this is a name game of sorts. It's to name...
5 things you see
4 things you hear
3 things you feel
2 things you smell
1 thing you taste
I think the point is to take your focus away from whatever is causing the attack and turn it to your surroundings. Doing anything that will turn your attention to what's going on around you will help, from my experience at least.
The only thing that stopped the palpitations for me was going on beta blockers. Racing heart is also called tachycardia. It caused my panic attacks. With some people that is the case, with others, the panic attacks cause the tachycardia. I also have ADHD but have never been medicated for it because of how overly sensitive I am to stimulants. Ritalin, if you didn't know, is a stimulant. In my case, I chose difficulty concentrating over panic attacks... And I'm using self help apps now, like headspace, to learn mindfulness training and how to refocus my thoughts when my brain wanders, which is all the time, unless I'm doing something I really enjoy! Check with your doctor and see if there is any interactions between them, but once you start betas, you can't ever stop them suddenly or you could die, so I wouldn't recommend it if you're young. That said, I suffered panic attacks for over 20 years before the beta blockers stopped the adrenaline from making my heart pound and my body tremble. I still have anxiety, but not more extreme physical panic reactions for the last 5 years! Except once when I found a black widow spider in my shower!
For me, my anxiety attacks are using the feeling that that my heart is beating hard and palpitations, and sometimes chest discomfort and nausea. It's a new thing for me so I'm still trying to figure out all my triggers and best ways to help it. I've had the range of cardiology tests to make sure it's not a real heart problem (ECGs, echocardiogram, 24 hour holter monitor, stress test). A professional helped me identify what was going on, so that could be something you could try.
Mine are triggered by worry or thoughts about something worrisome, even slightly. Or social situations, or stress. Sometimes it seems triggered by nothing at all. So far they last between 10 and 20 minutes. I take medication if it doesn't subside quickly or is particularly bad or annoying. Otherwise, I try to distract myself big time. Playing a game on my phone or chatting in the chat rooms here.
