Does anyone else experience this...

For the past week, I have felt my heart pounding in my chest, even at rest. It's not a rapid heartbeat, just a hard pounding. It's disturbing because I sometimes feel shortness of breath with it too.

The other night I was up until 5am because my heart was pounding so hard I couldn't sleep. Finally, I took a Toprol and that helped me fall asleep.

I am taking 25mg of Toprol once a day and it seemed to have been helping me, then the pounding came along.

So far, all of my heart tests have been normal, except I've had a couple abnormal and borderline normal ekg's (one said Low Voltage QRS, which I have no idea what that means), and my Cardiologist thinks I may have MVP (which hasn't shown up in any Echos that I've had done).

Does anyone else experience the heart pounding? Should I be worried?

[CollegeGirl143]

this heart pounding would be classified as  palpitations.. I know its different from a pvc or pac, but a palpitation is classified as basically any heart beat that you feel or are aware of.. alot of people have hearts who beat hard.. personally, sometimes my heart beat moves my whole body, it almost resembles shaking, and im fine :) if you're concerned, as always, mention it to your physician.

[*Robin*]

I'm just concerned because it came on suddenly. I've never really been aware of my heart beating, and this time it wasn't the normal fast heart rate that I experience, just this pounding that I can't remember experiencing before. I'm scared my heart is just going to explode if it keeps pounding like this.

My Cardiologist is on vacation, so his receptionist just says to go to the ER, which I honestly don't want to do if I don't have to. I'm not experiencing chest pain, just the heart pounding.

In addition to my heart tests, I'm being re-tested for Lyme Disease, because I have a lot of those symptoms, but I don't have the results back yet. At this point, I would actually be happy for a Lyme diagnosis, just to know that it's not my heart that causing all of this.

I had the 24 hour Holter and all it picked up was a rapid beat at times. Do you think 24 hours is long enough to pick up something?

[Barbarella]

Do you have high Blood Pressure?  Before I knew that I had high BP my heart sometimes used to beat real hard I even could see it in the front of my throat when I wasn't doing anything.  The beats didn't really increase that much but the force of it, real hard pounding.  That happened while I was at rest for example reading or watching TV, no streneous work/exercise.  

Mine came from the high BP the Cardiologist told me.  I had severe spikes which caused my heart to beat harder and more forceful.  Since I'm on BP meds for the last 5 yrs I never had any of these episodesever again.  

That doesn't mean this is what causes it in your case, but an overactive thyroid can also cause it, and many other things.   I assume you had all the appropreate blood work done which ruled out thyroid problems for example.  

And sometimes there is no cause at all, it just happens because the heart is over stimulated due to stress, subcounscious stress, worries, anxieties etc.

[*Robin*]

I don't have high blood pressure. The last time it was taken, it was 110/80.

I had bloodwork to rule out Thyroid, too.

This is just another symptom that has some seemingly out of the blue. I don't feel overly stressed or anxious, but the pounding itself makes me scared. I could kind of understand it pounding if I was experiencing Tachycardia, but I'm not, which is why it is so strange. The shortness of breath I experience with it has also been keeping me from doing my normal activities.

The Toprol does seem to help it when I first take the pill, but even that seems to wear off. I've cut out caffeine and only drink on the weekends, so I don't know what could be causing the pounding, but I sure am scared about it.

[CollegeGirl143]

if its really scaring you, go to the ER while you are symptomatic, that way they can give you an actual diagnosis, whether it be something new or just normal activity.. dont stress to much.. thats what the ER is there for sweety.

[*Robin*]

I don't want to go to the ER because it's always at least a 3 hour wait to see a doctor, so by the time you actually see someone, who knows if the symptoms will be there or not. It's just such a hassle over there that I avoid it at all costs.

I'm honestly hoping that it's anxiety, even though that's not what I believe it is. I would think an anxiety attack would only last minutes to hours, not days, but I don't know. I just hate feeling this pounding all the time.

[anacyde]

I get pounding heart.  Hate it.  No clue what causes it.  I did find my BP was slightly elevated the past two days (119/78 and 120/77, respectively).  I know that's okay, but it's high for me, since my average is 110/65.  I have been particularly stressed out, and I hurt everywhere with the substantial temperature shift (from 75 to 28 in two days, ya gotta love Ohio) so I chalk it up to that.  Usually though, the pounding heart thing is not correlated with my blood pressure.

[kitcurious]

In our local emergency rooms if a person walks in complaing of anything to do with their heart they are seen immediately. Those of us who broke our finger sledding just have to wait :-)

It's worth a try to go.

And for the record, yes, chronic anxiety attacks can roll one into the other and go on for days.

[ireneo]

Yep, last night was one of those times when my heart was pounding and skipping some. What usually causes it for me is fluid retention. I had a dinner a bit high in sodium and I paid the price last night. After I'd gone to the bathroom several times things settled down and I was able to sleep. That meant around 2 am but I'll take what I can get. Tonight I'll eat better food.

[*Robin*]

That's the weird thing for me. Most people can pinpoint what is causing their heart to pound, it seems, and I just can't. It just came on suddenly and stayed. I don't know what would cause it to be constant like this.

[*Robin*]

I'm glad to know I'm not alone!

Did your Cardiologist say anything about the pounding heart? Since mine just came out of nowhere recently, I haven't had a chance to talk to mine about it since he is on vacation.

I hate to say it, but I think the pounding heart may bother me more than PVC's did. With the pounding, I assume it's putting stress on my heart, thereby stressing me out even more!

[*Robin*]

I never ended up going to the ER, I have a doctor appointment on Thursday. The ER's here are just too much of a hassle, and I've sat there for hours before, even with chest symptoms. The worst part is, once you get back into the the ER, you have to wait forever for a doctor.

I read that MVP can cause heart pounding, but I read it online so I don't know it's accuracy. My Cardiologist thinks that's what I have, even though there is nothing on an Echo to suggest it. I have friends with MVP that has shown up on their Echo and they have no symptoms, so I don't know.

[anacyde]

There is no apparent cause for my heart pounding sometimes, but dehydration is a HUGE culprit I can identify.

What kind of ER do you have?  When I had to go last March, I was seen immediately.  Blood pressure, then EKG, then blood draw.  Of course, I sat there for four hours on a continuous heart monitor after that, but hey, they ruled out the immediate threats within minutes.

[*Robin*]

I finally went to the ER this morning because the pounding, irregular beats, and shortness of breath were just driving me crazy. I waited awhile, and they did an EKG, Chest X Ray, and bloodwork, all of which came out fine. They kept me connected to the monitor for a 1/2 hour, and the doctor told me that although everything was okay as far as he could see, he thought it would be a good idea to see an Electrophysiologist, to rule out any problems with the electrical part of my heart.

So, the pounding and shortness of breath continue. It happens at rest, but it's worse with even minimal exertion.

Since I have a lot of multisystem complaints, in addition to my heart issues, we are looking further into Lyme disease, because my symptoms just started suddenly and I have had exposure to Lyme. In the meantime, I'm still very scared that something is wrong with my heart, as I can't imagine that the constant pounding is good for it.

[leah217]

hi , have u ever been tested for anemia? i suffer from that and it makes your heart feel like you have ran around the block a few times when your just sitting there . it also will leave you short of breath. i also have anxiety and well that dose all sorts of things to your heart and breathing, any ways i hope this maybe helps .