Heart Palpitations - Extinction Burst?

[Mardi327]

Hi, I'm new to the group but have benefited so much from reading your posts. Thank you.

I have been working through TMS for about nine months now and I really feel like I've made some progress. It all began after a miscarriage December 2022. So it makes sense that it is TMS because a traumatic trigger and shifting symptoms. I've had all sorts of symptoms and once I "solve" one then another crops up. Usually they go between hip/low abdominal pain to jaw/ear pain to upper right abdominal pain to some IBS related things. I've lost 25 pounds. I've gone gluten/dairy free. I've done all I can think of to do - physical therapy, chiropractic care, meditation, Curable, doctors visits, worked with a functional medicine doctor and I'm reading Alan Gordon's The Way Out. It's gotten easier to identify my issues at TMS and move forwards. Till now.

Last week I started having heart palpitations. I don't drink any caffeine, no alcohol, minimal sugar. It just woke me in the middle of the night and I've had them off and on since. I got an EKG - all good, but was referred to a cardiologist because apparently five days of heart palpitations isn't normal. Now I'm so scared something will *actually* be wrong this time but I want so badly to just convince myself it's TMS and move forward.

Any advice? Could this be my brain's last ditch effort at keeping me in fear? Is this what an extinction burst looks like? This is a totally new symptom not the usual pain symptoms so it's really got me trapped. Do others experience heart palpitations for days with TMS? Thank you in advance for your replies.

 

[Cactusflower]

@Mardi327
My experience with heart palpitations has been because of anxiety. TMS.Stick with Alan’s book.
Extinction bursts happen. Keep going, observe. Get another, observe.
Sometimes you might want to get things like palpitations looked at by your Dr. -it’s good to be safe, and rejoice when nothing is wrong.
I’ve had such fun things happen I laugh at them. I will internally comment on my amazing ability for creativity. Extinction bursts can come and go over time. They could crop up again. You are learning the strategies to deal with them.

 

[Mardi327]

Thank you for your encouragement!

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Heart palpitations are on my list of symptoms that my brain semi-regularly tries on me if I'm shoving something under the rug. I've actually had them on and off for decades, starting in my thirties, long "before Sarno" - but perhaps 15? years ago I had an incident like yours where they started in the middle of the night and were so strong that my husband could feel the extra beats. They were somewhat alarming and lasted almost two hours, but I reeeally didn't feel like running to the ER, and an EKG the next day showed nothing, so I decided to not worry about it. This was actually several years before my full-blown TMS crisis in 2011, which is when I discovered Dr Sarno and got my life back better than it had been for decades. But I still can have those palpitations! Just the old TMS mechanism trying to assert itself.

 

[Mardi327]

Thank you @JanAtheCPA ! I hope that’s all it is! I’m struggling because it feels like I’ve had it almost constantly for over a week. The beats aren’t out of order or irrhythmic just beating hard with chest tension.

 

[CaptivaLady]

Heart palpitations are one of my “pre-TMS” symptoms as well. Throughout the years, they’ve come and gone. One common theme in Nicole Sachs’ podcast is listeners who have wonderful decreases in pain/symptoms, only to be met with new anxieties. It’s very common and I experienced it as well!

I will be bold here and suggest opening your heart to the idea that restrictive diets can increase anxiety as well. After almost 15 years of many, MANY elimination diets, I can personally attest to finding enormous freedom without them. I was diagnosed with IBS as a child, eczema as an adult. The diets would provide initial relief that never lasted. I found myself eating only one type of food for over two years. I am no longer restricting any particular food and my health is both subjectively and objectively fine. My story with diets “causing” flare ups is on this forum if you are interested.

Somatic tracking is a great tool for palpitations, in my experience. I still experience very minor anxiety from time to time and if I sit with it… it dissipates sooner. Be curious.

I hope you are doing well and learning tons!

 

[Mardi327]

Heart palpitations are one of my “pre-TMS” symptoms as well. Throughout the years, they’ve come and gone. One common theme in Nicole Sachs’ podcast is listeners who have wonderful decreases in pain/symptoms, only to be met with new anxieties. It’s very common and I experienced it as well!

I will be bold here and suggest opening your heart to the idea that restrictive diets can increase anxiety as well. After almost 15 years of many, MANY elimination diets, I can personally attest to finding enormous freedom without them. I was diagnosed with IBS as a child, eczema as an adult. The diets would provide initial relief that never lasted. I found myself eating only one type of food for over two years. I am no longer restricting any particular food and my health is both subjectively and objectively fine. My story with diets “causing” flare ups is on this forum if you are interested.

Somatic tracking is a great tool for palpitations, in my experience. I still experience very minor anxiety from time to time and if I sit with it… it dissipates sooner. Be curious.

I hope you are doing well and learning tons!

Thank you for your reply @CaptivaLady. It is encouraging. This is definitely a new symptom that's just emerged as I've started really diving into the TMS work (I'm using the Structured Education Program). And thanks for your suggestion about the diets. I was working with a functional medicine doctor who proposed those and they've helped some things but I don't want to stay off those foods forever. I'll keep that in mind thank you.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

This is definitely a new symptom that's just emerged as I've started really diving into the TMS work

See if you can talk back to your poor freaked out TMS brain. It actually thinks that you're in danger by exposing your emotions instead of living in fear and watching out for danger all the time. One of my favorite self-talk techniques is along the lines of "Hey brain, thank you, but this really isn't necessary! I'm perfectly safe, I'm perfectly healthy, and you don't need to give me palpitations to try and keep me safe!" Do this along with some deep breathing. Repeat as needed!