Outlook1958
Well-known member
Hello dear BFS-community,I would like to address a topic that is maybe not directly related to BFS and twitching, but this still does bother me a lot and I'm really in need of reassurance now 
I just guess that some of you here have symptoms and experiences beyond BFS its direct issues.Years ago I used to go out with friends, drink a lot, have fun, and not have any adverse reactions to alcohol except of just getting a little tired and thirsty next morning. Sometimes I however woke up quite early (earlier than I should, just after 4-5 hours of sleep) and couldn't fall asleep for about an hour. I thought that this is somehow normal after having drunk a lot.Well, then things changed in my life (drinking pals moved away after we all finished school, increased use of my car to drive to parties => no alc, more interesting things to do in the evening etc) and I just lost the interest in overdoing it. Okay, I kept on drinking a beer or two at weekends, but definetely not the way I did it years ago.But then something happened: September 2008 I was in the beer garden with friends and really had a nice afternoon. Next morning I woke up and somehow thought that something's wrong with my heart, I panicked, got palipations and stuff, and was taken to ER. I already had palpitations and panic attacks before because I always fear that something's wrong with my heart. Well, I was checked in hospital (our region's best cardio hospital) for heart diseases: All sorts of ECGs, 24h and normal, 24h-blood-pressure, five blood analysis, two urine analysis, heart ultrasound... The first day they even monitored my heart for 24 hours with cables connected literally everywhere (chest, feet, blood pressure every 30 mins on the arm, etc). Everything was fine. Then they sent me back to my cardiologist who again did an ECG and an ultrasound. I had my ductus botalli closed at the age of three, and so they also sent me to see a specialist professor for heart failures. He did an ECG and heart ultrasound too, and said that everything's fine. All doctors agreed that my panic attacks with high pulse and chest pressure have some psychological reasons. The cardio prof however gave me Metoprolol 25mg which has lowered my average blood pressure to a normal level.OK, first I thought that the alcohol and the panic attack were just a coincidence, but then I started thinking about a possible connection. In recent months I've been out with friends for a couple of times and drank a little, and in 75% of the cases I woke up with a panic attack and a crazy heartbeat. When I was in hospital I was clever enough to ask what to do if such a panic attack reoccurs and wether the palpitations and high pulse can be somehow life-threatening, and they said that there was no danger. I should just sit and wait till it's over, drink a glass of water etc.So, I made a brave decision: I just thought: Well, all these doctors assured that I'm healthy and that this crazy heartbeat and chest pressure etc won't kill me. OK, I thought, if it comes from my mind after all, there is a REMOTE chance that I can battle it without doctors, ER, medication and all this. So, the last three times during the past months when I had drunk something in the evening and got that panic attack early in the morning, I decided to do something completely illogical for somebody who's just dying from a heart attack or something: I stood up, turned on my computer and watched a funny video or logged in in World of Warcraft. And, believe it or not: My pulse went down to normal, the chest pressure and overall panic was gone, and 20 minutes later I went back to bed and fell asleep. Clever/anxious as I am I also tested wether my physical position and getting up form bed might have helped: I sat down in my chair at the computer, put my hands on the keyboard, but didn't turn the computer on. THIS did not help.Well, I've got a lot of questions now... Sorry for being such a pain by the way 1. What the hell do panic attacks have to do with alcohol? I am SURE that I have NEVER EVER taken any drugs on parties or something, just to make it clear. Is it the alcohol after all? Maybe that one singular episode of being taken to ER in the morning has shocked me so much that now I always expect something bad when I wake up after having drunk some alcohol in the evening?2. Is it possible that my month-long anxiety over BFS has increased my heart anxiety as well? Can both anxieties have some sort of common hyper-anxiety? I do have palpitations and panic without alcohol too, sometimes. Usually it starts with some sort of "signal" coming from my chest telling me something is wrong. Not pain, not arrythmia, not chest pressure... This strange signal makes me jerk and then start panicking around.3. How, how in the name of all that is holy can turning on the computer and concentrating on some stupid stuff make such a really violent heart-panic attack disappear within MINUTES? I haven't really expected that to work, I just thought "well, if you die now, you'll die either lying in bed or sitting in front of the computer, it doesn't matter." What is going on with me?Thanks to everybody who reads this... My problem is not the alcohol itself, I have absolutely no problem with stopping drinking. I've reduced it anyway in the recent years and I'm going to reduce it further, just to one beer a week with supper or something. I'm afraid of the REASON for this strange reaction, that there is something underlying this harmless symptom of alcohol intolerance that will develop to something evil, and maybe it is even somehow related to my muscle twitching. Right now I'm sitting here and like checking my blood pressure and pulse almost every 30 mins, I wonder how long the battery of the blood pressure meter will last -.- I don't feel ill, as none of my symptoms (heart and twitches) handicap my daily life because of pain, weakness, REAL heart attacks or stuff, but I don't feel healthy either because some voice in the back of my mind keeps telling me that that what I'm experiencing isn't normal and that it must be caused by some dreadful disease. I'm not even talking about **S - interestingly, my mind seems to start to accept that **S isn't so probable for me after all, I noticed that I'm not thinking about **S that often any more.Wow... I just had that urgent need to write now... maybe some of you can even relate to my problems... *sigh*
I just guess that some of you here have symptoms and experiences beyond BFS its direct issues.Years ago I used to go out with friends, drink a lot, have fun, and not have any adverse reactions to alcohol except of just getting a little tired and thirsty next morning. Sometimes I however woke up quite early (earlier than I should, just after 4-5 hours of sleep) and couldn't fall asleep for about an hour. I thought that this is somehow normal after having drunk a lot.Well, then things changed in my life (drinking pals moved away after we all finished school, increased use of my car to drive to parties => no alc, more interesting things to do in the evening etc) and I just lost the interest in overdoing it. Okay, I kept on drinking a beer or two at weekends, but definetely not the way I did it years ago.But then something happened: September 2008 I was in the beer garden with friends and really had a nice afternoon. Next morning I woke up and somehow thought that something's wrong with my heart, I panicked, got palipations and stuff, and was taken to ER. I already had palpitations and panic attacks before because I always fear that something's wrong with my heart. Well, I was checked in hospital (our region's best cardio hospital) for heart diseases: All sorts of ECGs, 24h and normal, 24h-blood-pressure, five blood analysis, two urine analysis, heart ultrasound... The first day they even monitored my heart for 24 hours with cables connected literally everywhere (chest, feet, blood pressure every 30 mins on the arm, etc). Everything was fine. Then they sent me back to my cardiologist who again did an ECG and an ultrasound. I had my ductus botalli closed at the age of three, and so they also sent me to see a specialist professor for heart failures. He did an ECG and heart ultrasound too, and said that everything's fine. All doctors agreed that my panic attacks with high pulse and chest pressure have some psychological reasons. The cardio prof however gave me Metoprolol 25mg which has lowered my average blood pressure to a normal level.OK, first I thought that the alcohol and the panic attack were just a coincidence, but then I started thinking about a possible connection. In recent months I've been out with friends for a couple of times and drank a little, and in 75% of the cases I woke up with a panic attack and a crazy heartbeat. When I was in hospital I was clever enough to ask what to do if such a panic attack reoccurs and wether the palpitations and high pulse can be somehow life-threatening, and they said that there was no danger. I should just sit and wait till it's over, drink a glass of water etc.So, I made a brave decision: I just thought: Well, all these doctors assured that I'm healthy and that this crazy heartbeat and chest pressure etc won't kill me. OK, I thought, if it comes from my mind after all, there is a REMOTE chance that I can battle it without doctors, ER, medication and all this. So, the last three times during the past months when I had drunk something in the evening and got that panic attack early in the morning, I decided to do something completely illogical for somebody who's just dying from a heart attack or something: I stood up, turned on my computer and watched a funny video or logged in in World of Warcraft. And, believe it or not: My pulse went down to normal, the chest pressure and overall panic was gone, and 20 minutes later I went back to bed and fell asleep. Clever/anxious as I am I also tested wether my physical position and getting up form bed might have helped: I sat down in my chair at the computer, put my hands on the keyboard, but didn't turn the computer on. THIS did not help.Well, I've got a lot of questions now... Sorry for being such a pain by the way 1. What the hell do panic attacks have to do with alcohol? I am SURE that I have NEVER EVER taken any drugs on parties or something, just to make it clear. Is it the alcohol after all? Maybe that one singular episode of being taken to ER in the morning has shocked me so much that now I always expect something bad when I wake up after having drunk some alcohol in the evening?2. Is it possible that my month-long anxiety over BFS has increased my heart anxiety as well? Can both anxieties have some sort of common hyper-anxiety? I do have palpitations and panic without alcohol too, sometimes. Usually it starts with some sort of "signal" coming from my chest telling me something is wrong. Not pain, not arrythmia, not chest pressure... This strange signal makes me jerk and then start panicking around.3. How, how in the name of all that is holy can turning on the computer and concentrating on some stupid stuff make such a really violent heart-panic attack disappear within MINUTES? I haven't really expected that to work, I just thought "well, if you die now, you'll die either lying in bed or sitting in front of the computer, it doesn't matter." What is going on with me?Thanks to everybody who reads this... My problem is not the alcohol itself, I have absolutely no problem with stopping drinking. I've reduced it anyway in the recent years and I'm going to reduce it further, just to one beer a week with supper or something. I'm afraid of the REASON for this strange reaction, that there is something underlying this harmless symptom of alcohol intolerance that will develop to something evil, and maybe it is even somehow related to my muscle twitching. Right now I'm sitting here and like checking my blood pressure and pulse almost every 30 mins, I wonder how long the battery of the blood pressure meter will last -.- I don't feel ill, as none of my symptoms (heart and twitches) handicap my daily life because of pain, weakness, REAL heart attacks or stuff, but I don't feel healthy either because some voice in the back of my mind keeps telling me that that what I'm experiencing isn't normal and that it must be caused by some dreadful disease. I'm not even talking about **S - interestingly, my mind seems to start to accept that **S isn't so probable for me after all, I noticed that I'm not thinking about **S that often any more.Wow... I just had that urgent need to write now... maybe some of you can even relate to my problems... *sigh*
No, seriously, IF I have something nasty then it would be very unlikely for a GP, a hospital and two different cardiologists to miss it. It's the same logic of argumentation as with BFS: Several doctors haven't found anything bad, it isn't progressing, and it hasn't killed anybody so far, it hasn't even put anybody in some serious medical condition. And both cause a lot of health anxiety. So why worry?