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17 Year Old, Body Shaking With Rapid Heartbeat, Head Feels Heavy, Anxiety. Physically Fit. Any Ideas?
My daughter is 17 and complains about body shaking with a rapid heart beat and her head feels heavy and hard to hold up. She is in great shape - runs about an hour a day on the tread mill. We have been in many times to the hospital and her Doctor but nothing shows up. She says her head hurts toward the back and she is often very tired.
She does admit that she has anxiety but the symptoms show up even when she is laying in bed.
She does admit that she has anxiety but the symptoms show up even when she is laying in bed.
Tue, 14 May 2013
Dear Ma'm
Thanks for writing to us.
The combination of a shaky body with rapid heart beat indicates that our sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is activated. It is the part of our autonomic nervous system which is activated by danger/ fear/ anxiety/ challenges /stress. We have to look into any of these causes.
Since your doctor have examined her and found nothing, we have to look for a cause for this. Tea/Coffee/ anti-asthma drugs/ Nasal decongestants/ Anxiety state/ overactive thyroid can all cause this.
Best way to be sure is to check her pulse rate when she is fast asleep (not laying only). If it comes out to be significantly lower (~25%) then an organic cause will be less likely.
Please see your neurologist for her headache and rule out migraine as a cause of her headache and tiredness. Anxiety / panic attack may have all this features. But a Neurologist opinion is a must before making that diagnosis.
Sincerely
sukhvinder singh
Thanks for writing to us.
The combination of a shaky body with rapid heart beat indicates that our sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is activated. It is the part of our autonomic nervous system which is activated by danger/ fear/ anxiety/ challenges /stress. We have to look into any of these causes.
Since your doctor have examined her and found nothing, we have to look for a cause for this. Tea/Coffee/ anti-asthma drugs/ Nasal decongestants/ Anxiety state/ overactive thyroid can all cause this.
Best way to be sure is to check her pulse rate when she is fast asleep (not laying only). If it comes out to be significantly lower (~25%) then an organic cause will be less likely.
Please see your neurologist for her headache and rule out migraine as a cause of her headache and tiredness. Anxiety / panic attack may have all this features. But a Neurologist opinion is a must before making that diagnosis.
Sincerely
sukhvinder singh
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