Very rapid heart rate out of sleep

[Carey01]

Hello,

I have posted once before.  I am 39 F with Hypertension (controlled) and a dx of PAC/PVC.  I have had all the tests and my heart structure is normal. I am going to begin taking Inderal as needed for the horrible skipping.

Questions:

1.  Does HBP put you more at risk for PAC'S?

2.  I have had 2 episodes where I have woken up in the middle of the night with a racing, pounding heart and terrible nausea.  It eventually slowed after about 3o minutes with both episodes but I'm scared it was A-Fib or something.  By the way, it slowed down over time, not immeditately.

3.  I mainly feel the skips VERY HARD to the right.  Sometimes its actually painful, a sudden hard pain.  What the heck is this?  SHould I be worried?  (Because obviously I am)

4.  When I get these in runs -- one after another -- is it OK to ignore and go about my business.  Which is VERY hard to do.  But as long as I KNOW I'm not gonna drop dead....

Its just ruling my life so badly.  Thanks so much for the answers.  

  

[archiebell]

I am 69 female, mostly healthy with scoliosis and long history of arrhythmia, mitral valve prolapse with minimal regurgitation.  After 3 weeks of fatigue and dizziness had echocardiogram.  Surprise to MD and me, I have "hard heart" or diastolic dysfunction.  Ventrical hard and not relaxing in diasole to allow proper fill from atrium.  Could there be a logical relationship with scoliosis, arrhythmia an hard heart.  I have only one of the cardiac risk factors...stress.  I have had a stressful life and always seemed to not show stress.  Did I make my heart hard?

[Stevey1983]

hey,iam 23yrs old fit and healthy but for some strange reason i wake up to 4-8 times a night with a seriously fast heart rate! no pain,sometimes breathless,when it happens iam in immense panic because i obviously think i hate problems which i dont,no this doesnt happen if i got 2 bed after a few drinks,but it is more likely to happen when i go 2 bed on the evening of a hangover,can anybody help??

Thanks

steve

[trudynew]

I am on medication for sinus infection amoxsicillin/clavulan 875-125 mg.  The last two nights I have been awakened almost exactly 6 hours after going to sleep with a feeling of a racing heart.  With this bought of infection I have had ringing in the ears (sort of..it is more like leaves rustling).  I tell you this because I feel my heart beating in my ears.  I bolt out of bed and speak to my heart to be calm and walk and it gradually feels normal.  This has happened to me before, but it is usually when I don't feel well.  This however is the first time i have experienced the ear ringing.

I have had other heart flutters etc since I had one severe mold spor induceced panic attack.  The hospital test results read: inconclusive...after an overnight.

Since that time, I have been so aware of my heart it is unnerving.

My son has tachycardia and they put a pacer in his chest at age 25.  I am 63.

This is the third day of meds on this infection.  I have not had medication in my body since 1976 due to my sensitivity in my heart to all stimulants.

got any ideas...about what I might be dealing with.  I was born with a heart murmur  but never had any trouble before...Another thing that used to happen and does rarely is after dancing sometimes my heart would not come back to rest for hours or days.
Trudynew

[Forum-M.D.-MJM]

Hi Carey,

1. Does HBP put you more at risk for PAC'S?

Hypertension does increase your risk for PACs.

2. I have had 2 episodes where I have woken up in the middle of the night with a racing, pounding heart and terrible nausea. It eventually slowed after about 3o minutes with both episodes but I'm scared it was A-Fib or something. By the way, it slowed down over time, not immeditately.

You need an event monitor that you can trigger to record when the arrhythmia happens again.  If it slowly decreases in rate, that suggests it could be sinus tachycardia (panic attacks?) or atrial fibrillation. If the rhythm is irregular, that would suggest atrial fibrillation.  The easiest way to tell is look at a rhythm strip.

3. I mainly feel the skips VERY HARD to the right. Sometimes its actually painful, a sudden hard pain. What the heck is this? SHould I be worried? (Because obviously I am)

The best thing to do is capture the painful episode on holter or event monitor and write the time in a log.  Then you can correlate the time of the event with the rhythm on the monitor.  I do not think you should worry.  It is almost certainly a PVC or PAC.


4. When I get these in runs -- one after another -- is it OK to ignore and go about my business. Which is VERY hard to do. But as long as I KNOW I'm not gonna drop dead.... Its just ruling my life so badly.

I understand it can interfere with your quality of life.  I think it is important to see exactly what is causing the symtpoms on a monitor to know for sure, but with a structurally normal heart, the risks is very low.

I hope this helps.  Thanks for posting.