heart fluttering

[chinagurl2005]

Hello,

I have been having really bad anxiety lately. The reason for the anxiety is due to a feeling of heart fluttering in my chest that at times can be felt in my throat, middle of my chest or in my stomach. The first time this happened was 3 years ago which terrified me and sent me off to numerous er trips. All test came back clear my next trip was a visit to the cardiologist and he listened to my heart did a ekg and a echo stress test that came back fine. Well I kept having them and as annoying as they were I tried to ignore them...whats funny is I have never experienced this before I would get a fast heart beat when I was afraid or nervous of something but quickly would go away. Anyway In 2010 I moved into a different apartment and after drinking the water I developed bad diarrhea also lower abdominal pressure almost as if I had a uti but dr confirmed that I did not have a uti but put me on antibiotic anyway. Well the diarrhea kept happening and shortly after that I would get a bloated belly every time I ate something, I still managed to go on then my stress levels became bad after constantly hearing about a death of someone I knew... this was 2011 it seemed like every other day someone died. Well after all of this I noticed the heart fluttering, like I stated before tons of er visits, dr visits and cardiologist and everything is fine which I am grateful for but the problem is still here. I finally seen a gastro doc and he prescribed dexilant 60 mg every morning before eating and the heart fluttering went away. After getting pregnant the end of 2011 I had to stop the dexilant and sure enough a few months later my flutters came back but I ignored them. Recently again after having more stress test and echoes and ekg still fine along with blood work.  After changing my diet adding some herbs to my food and drinking more water they seem to disappear until last week wheni had a piece of cake at my sister's party I felt a few but ignored it and every since last week I have been having them every day all day and its causing headaches my nerves are shot from them im constantly tired... my life is a mess im constantly afraid my social life has been ruined my husband cannot communicate with me anymore because of this. Every dr I have seen has been little to no help the er no longer takes me serious but I know my body and something is wrong. I just want my life back, sorry for the long story but if someone is experiencing the same pleaae tell me what you did to get rid of them. Thank you again for taking the time to read this!

[lindaloutara2]

Awww, thank you very much!   I hope so.

[chinagurl2005]

@lindaloutara2, I just want to wish you lots of luck with your test tomorrow.  You will be fine..

[chinagurl2005]

Aah it feels good to know that I am not alone in this nightmare.  I just came back from the cardiologist once again and had a ekg which showed normal again, my heart rate was at 102 she said but that was because I was nervous and anxious so she says. Ok she took my blood pressure which showed totally normal,  however when listening to my heart with the stethescope she heard the skipped beats which she calls extra beats. I have to say I was really relieved because all of these years no one has ever heard it and she did...... she constantly assured me that this was not dangerous a lot of people get them just some are more sensitive to them. The cardiologist predcribed a low dose beta blocker toporol if I spelled that correct, but I am afraid to take it being that I read awful side affects it has. I was also told to see my primary doc so I can get help for my anxiety.     This is such a nightmare for me the fluttering causes me to have headaches, I feel off balanced a bit dizzy and so tired.....I just wish & pray for the old me. Anyway I am sorry that you all are experiencing these similar symptoms and I hope you all can get past this as well and this can all be something of the past for us.

[ToriLynn1992]

My chest feels fluttery too... I don't understand anxiety... but you are right husbands don't understand sometimes. Mine tells me to suck it up. I keep it in a lot.. I am not on medicine and really don't want to be. I think exercise is key. I am going to try that and see if it works. I hope it does.

[moinonplus]

I read your post and know how you feel. For me, the palpitations/fluttering came out of the blue 5 years ago and got me straight to the docs thinking I was having a heart attack.. like you, examinations showed no imminent arrest nor heart problems, although I do have a heart murmur so that made me scared when I felt the fluttering, like a bird was flying in my chest, along with choking sensation in my throat. These symptoms are classic Panic Attack. I was given various medications, such as Propanalol which calms and slows the heart rate, on a need to take basis. Then was prescribed Cipralex (Escitalapram) - a longer acting anti depressant effective for anxiety. Over a period of weeks, that did kick in and worked for me. I also underwent a 13 week course of CBT therapy. No more panic for several years. So last year I stopped taking it, thinking there was no more need for it. A month or so ago, however, after a period of stress, the palpitations started up again - as well as being short of breath, sweating and blurred vision. Once panic attack after another, making me have to take sick leave from work and hardly able to go out I cannot drive for fear of an attack, nor even go shopping or to my gym alone. I now am back on Escitalopram, waiting for it to kick back in again and get my life back as it was before I stopped taking it. Like you, my partner has a problem with this condition - it is not nice to witness nor live with, as well as me being off work and not earning to help the household expenses. My only social life is people coming to the house. I know it will get better again, but waking up each day wondering if the tightness in my chest is the start of another panic attack is part of the cycle. I can only urge you to get advice, medication and CBT therapy if this sounds like anything you are experiencing. Good luck.

[lindaloutara2]

I have this.  I am tapering off of Methadon but before I started the taper my heart started doing funny things.  It scares me all of the time.  I am in the process of getting my heart checked. Tomorrow they do a stress test and the next day I am getting a monitor put on for 2 weeks.  I have even had to call the ambulance several times.  The one time I went to the hospital they said that I have PVC little heart palpitations.  EVERYONE has these not everyone can feel it.  I am hyper aware of everything in my body and I feel them all of the time.  I was told that they are normal.  The problem is, when I feel them, it sends me into a full fledged panic attack and then I am positive that I am having a heart attack and that I am about to die,  I feel like that most of the day.  This morning I have been con tinplating going to the ER because my chest feels tight and I sometimes feel that I can't breath properly.  I am also constantly checking my heart rate and feeling for my heart.  It is anxiety,  I know this because when something bothers me or I get nervous My heart starts to do funny things.  My mind is triggering it.  I know this in my heart but I have to get all of the tests done so that I know for sure.  It is probably just anxiety and panic.  I can think my way into feeling like I am having a heart attack.  If I read about what the symptoms of a female heart attack is soon after I will have the symptoms.  It;s scary stuff but it's all in my head.  You are ok.  I am glad you posted this because it helps to talk about it and know someone else is going through the same thing.