Heart STOPS then JOLTS me awake the moment I am falling asleep.

[sandy2k]

Has anyone else experienced this?  It is not every night but when it happens it KEEPS happening and is very terrifying.  I am so afraid that it will stop and not restart making it difficult to calm down enought to try to fall asleep again, only to be JOLTED awake yet again!

[achillea]

One thing to be sure of:  Your heart is *NOT* stopping.  When your heart actually stops, you are a dead person and incapable of posting on medhelp.  ;-)    

If you are a woman, especially one who has not yet hit menopause, without a bad personal or family history of heart disease, you are most likely suddenly aware of what are called 'Premature Ventricular Contractions' or PVCs.  Everyone has them.  Most people do not feel them.  But we at the medhelp forum are a sensitive lot, and we are aware of every little twitch.

Get your wits about you, google the phrase 'Premature ventricular contraction' (some sites will be easier to understand), and try to 'get it.'  The 'thumping' sensation that so alarms you and seems to waken you is most likely a solid, healthy compensatory move by your heart.

If this does not ease your fear, then by all means see your doctor and describe your symptoms and fears.  Getting a baseline evaluation is a perfectly good idea.

[ed34]

And I didn't mean SVT I meant PVT :)

[ed34]

It could be anything from trapped gas in your gut to a lack of potassium. Try a couple of bananas a day.

[sandy2k]

Any ideas on how to lesson the episodes?

[ed34]

sounds like common old SVT to me. Don't worry about it unless you are having several hundred a day. Everyone gets them but most people just ignore it or don't notice it.