Can Stress and Anxiety Cause Heart Palpitations?
Stress and anxiety are known as the epidemics of our time. These terms are often used interchangeably, as they present similar sensations and symptoms. However, these conditions are not entirely the same.
Stress is a response associated with a threatening external situation, like a negative remark from your boss or a traffic jam. Anxiety on the other hand is often due to internal worries and fears that are often extreme and usually arise when no visible threat is present.
Both stress and anxiety can cause an array of symptoms – and even mimic serious illnesses! A question that regularly comes up is if stress and anxiety can cause heart palpitations. The answer is yes.
Read more about Stress and its Ayurvedic Treatment : The types of stress and their physical symptoms – which do you have? and Stress – your Ayurvedic treatment plan.
How Stress and Anxiety Can Cause Heart Palpitations
To grasp the relevance between stress/anxiety and heart palpitations, we must first understand the bodily functions associated with these conditions.
Stress is what we feel when adrenaline and cortisol (also known as the “stress hormone”) are produced in our adrenal glands. Think of the adrenals as the major defence mechanism against an external threat, our internal “alarm system”; Running on “fuel” made up of absorbed nutrients, they try their best to deal with our “fight or flight” response. But sometimes the adrenals are unsuccessful in managing the stress response, especially when the body needs to deal with a chronic overload of it. In this case, the adrenal glands will seek their fuel elsewhere, and this will usually be the bone marrow. But again, the adrenals may fail to find the resources they need. They will then turn to the endocrine system for a backup and, eventually, the heart.
When you stress too much or chronically, the adrenals will eventually wear out and not have enough resources to handle the stress. This lack of resources will wreak havoc on the entire body, particularly affecting the endocrine system and the heart. This is how stress, due to inadequate adrenal function, can cause heart palpitations.
Read more about adrenal stress : Adrenal stress: its causes and treatment
Heart Palpitation Case Studies
The following case studies were successfully treated by Raman Das Mahatyagi at the Yatan Ayurvedic Clinic in Sydney, Australia.
Case Study #1: Heart Palpitations Caused by Driving Stress
A man, aged 50, suffered an anxiety attack while driving from St Leonards, NSW to our clinic in Gordon. His anxiety was provoked by two trucks that his car was jammed between. Unable to budge either back or forth, he began to feel trapped and as if his life was threatened. This consequently caused his blood pressure to rise along with a rapid heart rate. The man had no history of heart or blood pressure problems. When he arrived at the clinic, he was not prescribed any medication for the anxiety attack, but rather was prompted to rest and drink some water until he soon felt better.
Read more about Anxiety Attack and its Ayurvedic Treatment : What are Anxiety Attack Symptoms or Depression Treatment? and Ayurvedic Treatment for Anxiety and Panic Attack Symptoms
Case Study #2: Heart Palpitations due to External Stimuli
A woman, 45, was experiencing symptoms of nervousness, crankiness, anxiety, insomnia, monthly weight loss and light sensitivity, most of which were due to some family and relationships problems she had been experiencing. While she was being examined by Mr Mahatyagi via pulse reading, the office phone rang. With every ring of the phone, the woman’s heartbeat rose to sync with the tone. It then became clear to the Ayurvedic practitioner that this woman had become oversensitive both emotionally and physically due to long-term stress and her adrenal glands were trying to overcompensate for the lack of resources. Her heart, now affected by the dysfunctional adrenals, was sensitive to any kind of external stimuli, and her extreme weight loss was due to the loss of bone marrow that too was compensating for the adrenal dysfunction. The woman was prescribed an Ayurvedic treatment plan according to her particular constitution.
How to Treat Heart Palpitations with Ayurveda
We referenced two very different case studies pertaining to the affect of stress on the heart. Two very different approaches were required, as well as two different treatments. This is the case for all patients, as everyone is different. Hence treating any kind of heart palpitations must commence only once the root cause of the anxiety or stress has been identified and based on each person’s unique Dosha type.
An Ayurvedic practitioner will first identify the kind of stress or anxiety you are suffering from. It could be due to one of the following causes:
- Vata Aggravation (excessive air, dryness of bodily fluids)
- Low Pitta (lack of internal warmth/fire)
- Weak Kapha (dryness with inner burning)
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Internal congestion (Kapha clogging) that results in nutrient absorption problems
For the above causes, a diet will most likely be recommended. For our 1st case study, a vegetarian diet consisting of foods such as roasted vegetables and brown rice would be highly beneficial, while our 2nd case study patient who suffered weight loss (without a heart-related disease) would have to add nutrient-rich foods to her diet such as bananas, avocados, ghee and honey.
Additional recommendations may include Yoga, particularly yogic breathing exercises. These would include Ujjayi Pranayama (Conqueror’s Breath) and Nadi Shodhana Pranayama (Alternate Nostril Breathing).
Do you experience heart palpitations when you are stressed or anxious?
Contact us today for a free no-obligation consultation on how we can best treat your condition or visit our clinic for a thorough assessment and treatment plan.
All information and resources referenced in this article, including medicinal preparations, exercise and dietary recommendations, are based on the opinion of the author. All content is intended to inform and encourage the reader to seek professional advice if the following conditions and symptoms are present. No information in this article should be considered a diagnosis or prescription and none of it should be followed unless a health advisor is consulted first.
Related Posts
