How to slow down your racing heartbeat when feeling anxious in the morning?

Anxiety can certainly cause heart palpitations!

They are not anxiety or panic attacks as such, but can be related, can be both a symptom and a cause. Cutting down o on caffeine, exercise, and nicotine if you use it, can all help reduce heart palpitations. Probably the most effective way to slow your heart down (and heart palpitations are just a rapid heart beat after all), is to engage in breathing exercises. Just concentrate on breathing in and out, deeply and slowly. Perhaps picture a scene that is calming for you. You can also walk around, taking in the comforting things around you, whether they are trees or your home surroundings.

The difficulty is that you do not know for sure whether your heart palpitations are caused by anxiety. They can be, but too much caffeine, nicotine, hormonal changes, heart rhythm problems, hyperthyroid, etc, etc can also all be the cause of heart palpitations. One thing you know for sure is that you do have them. To find out why, you need to see a doctor. Since these heart palpitations are very unpleasant I would not wait it out and go to a doctor as soon as you reasonably can.

While some of the symptoms you are mentioning do sound like a panic attack, it is strange that you wake up feeling that way every day. Panic attacks do not usually follow a schedule like that, which is why I am wondering if you have something else going on. There is certainly no rule that says that if you are suffering from anxiety, you cannot also have other medical conditions. What you describe, the heart palpitations, could be due to hypertension for example. 

I'd see a doctor because whatever it is that you are suffering from, it is not nice and it can't help you the rest of your day if you already wake up feeling that way. 

This sounds a bit familiar to me. Not quite, but have you considered going to your doctor and having your blood pressure taken, or are you on any blood pressure medication that could be giving you side effects? I was once prescribed a beta blocker I believe propranolol, and my family doctor said I had to try it for 3 months to start out with, but I felt like you described, and it turned out that my blood pressure had gone up instead of down. Anxiety can be caused by medication side effects, please keep that in mind before thinking you have a mental issue.

One thing about mornings is they're associated with the day ahead... it's no wonder that people get anxiety attacks in the morning when they're faced wit all the responsibilities of the day in front of them, so much to do, so many people to see that day... especially if you've gone to bed thinking about everything waiting for you tomorrow and you perhaps have dreams as well it's really not that surprising. What can you do about it? What they say is breathe through the attack, talk more positive thoughts into yourself, grab a glass of water, whatever you can do to reassure yourself that right now everything's OK. Visualise relaxing scenery, for me during yoga that's a beach with waves going or woods where the branches are swayed by the wind. 

Yes, this is definitely true. Morning anxiety attacks can take place in anticipation of a stressful day. They can also be associated with a bad night's sleep, because many people suffering from anxiety have trouble sleeping as well.

This is where people who already know they're dealing with anxiety attacks should be looking for answers.

One other possible cause is caffeine intake. Lots of people drinking coffee, and sometimes lots of coffee, on an empty stomach when they get up. This can cause that racing heartbeat.

I am not a coffee drinker in the morning actually. I do have a cup of tea before breakfast and I do know that contains a little bit of caffeine. But I am quite positive that my racing heartbeat is not caused by that. Can't happen from just one cup of tea, can it?

Apart from that, the palpitations are often already there when I wake up and I am still in bed and I don't think I have a bad dream every single night. I do have stress in my life, quite bad stress, but I am not sure if it is diagnosable as an anxiety disorder or something of that kind, to be honest. I just don't know. That is why I came here for answers.

A racing heartbeat is a very common symptom of anxiety. 

Making sure you don't have underlying medical issues is always a good idea!!! Once you know it's anxiety related for sure, work on reducing your stress levels, both by removing stressors from your life when you can and practicing coping techniques. Breathing exercises can help, as stupid as they initially sound to many! You also want to set yourself up with exercise at least three times a week. This is a huge destressor that nobody should understimate. And that coffee? Sorry to break it, but that might have to go. 

 

I am not sure how relevant the timing is, anxiety in the morning vs later in the day, but it is interesting that it always happens around the same time. That would indicate that this is the time when you feel the biggest stress. I'd also have this looked at by a doctor just in case there is a medical cause, which is possible, but if not, they'll also have tips on anxiety management. In the meantime, perhaps research natural relief for anxiety and see if it helps you any. In some cases even something like vitamin deficiencies can be behind heart palpitations, but that is another thing you need to work out with your doctor.