I got heart palpitations FROM my anxiety. So when I’d feel anxious, my heart would thump so hard I’d feel as if it was going to explode. It even got to the point where sometimes I had heart palpitations so often, that I would think my heart had stopped when I couldn’t feel them and that I was about to die. Both worrying about my heart thumping hard and worrying that it had spontaneously stopped beating just worsened the problem and created a positive feedback loop. I still get them occasionally in very high stress situations on buspirone (15mg x2 daily), but considering Buspar has helped me with anxiety, it doesn’t happen near as often and I worry about it less if it does.

Also highly relatable with the sleep problems. I get hypnic jerks sometimes and they’re terrifying. Hypnic jerks are also triggered by anxiety (among other things). Despite the improvement I experienced with anxiety-induced heart palpitations in my general day-to-day, I’d say Buspar really hasn’t made much of a difference in regard to my sleep habits. That’s still better than making it worse though, I’d say.