If you suffer from anxiety and panics, the problem could lie with your heart and not with your mind.
You might have
Mitral valve syndrome!
http://www.mvpsupport.com/I know what I’m talking about because I have Mitral valve syndrome. Years ago, I would sometimes become totally panic stricken for no reason whatsoever. Later diagnosis showed that I had a mis-shapen mitral valve in my ticker, and this weird anomaly could produce exactly the same sensation as when we become very frightened of something, just as though a burst of adrenaline had surged through your body, accompanied by incredible sensations of fear. This is interesting:
Mitral Valve Prolapse SyndromeWhat is a Syndrome?
Syndrome is a name for a group of symptoms that happen together. A group of symptoms may collectively indicate a particular condition.If you experience several or more of the symptoms associated with mitral valve prolapse, you may have the Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome.
What is the Cause of the Syndrome?
The exact cause of the syndrome is still unclear to researchers, but studies indicate that the mitral valve prolapse syndrome is associated with a slight imbalance of the Autonomic Nervous System, called Dysautonomia.
What is the Autonomic Nervous System and Dysautonomia?
The autonomic nervous system is very complex. It is our "automatic" or "unconscious" nervous system, and it controls and affects most, if not all, of our body functions and systems such as our heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, sweating, gastrointestinal motility and secretions, digestion, sexual reflexes, to name a few.
The autonomic nervous system has two divisions: the Sympathetic nervous system and the Parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system tends to increase and accelerate our body functions. The parasympathetic nervous system tends to relax and slow things down. These two divisions of the autonomic nervous system work together maintaining a continuous, fine-tuned balance of our body functions.With Dysautonomia and the mitral valve prolapse syndrome, there is a slight imbalance of the autonomic nervous system causing our delicate, fine-tuned nervous system to be out of sync. We can have too much "speeding up" or too much "slowing down" at inappropriate times, with inappropriate nervous response to stimuli, for no apparent reason.
More commonly though, Dysautonomia occurs in response to stress, either emotional or physical. Stressful stimuli, such as fear, rage, anger, pain, childbirth, illness, or job pressure, will elicit a stress response from our autonomic nervous system. With Dysautonomia, your body may have an exaggerated or inappropriate stress response.
This is not life-threatening, but the symptoms that occur are frightening, frustrating, and uncomfortable - sometimes even disabling. Symptoms will vary in degree and will tend to come and go.
Did You Know... Mitral valve prolapse is a common cardiac condition and is thought to affect 10-20% of the general population.
Both males and females are affected. Females outnumber males by a 3:1 ratio.
MVP is hereditary.
The heart functions normally, pumping and receiving blood to and from the body.
Prolapsed valves do not tend to degenerate over time. Surgery is rarely needed.
The MVP syndrome is associated with a slight imbalance of the nervous system.
Approximately 40-60% of symptomatic MVP patients suffer from panic attacks.
You are not "crazy" or "neurotic". Your symptoms are real!
MVP is not life-threatening but may be lifestyle threatening.
With proper education, lifestyle modification, and individual treatment, symptoms can be alleviated and even eliminated.
Well, since I found out why the attacks occur, I no longer have to wrack my brains as to what is causing the panic. It’s physical! So now, I just accept it when it happens. The internal road crash, the WHOOSH that is the start of an anxiety attack is just my hearts weir shape causing the problem. So at least I don’t have to be anxious about feeling anxious! Knowing this means that the symptoms are minimised and are of a short duration.
The good news is that Mitral valve syndrome doesn’t have to make your life any different. I have a check just every 5 years, my heart specialist recommends that MSV people should ignore their symptoms totally unless they suffer from excessive tiredness.
So you might not be going nuts after all!
Englishman