Joga training

I am a 21-year-old triathlete. My pulse is usually around 50 and BP is 110/60. I do not feel any kind of pain or strange heart condition but there is something that I do not know what means. I recently started a joga training and at the first part of the exercises we usually try to relax. While doing this I feel the slow and soft waving of my body, which is my heartbeat actually. Can it mean anything like high BP, or somethig ? And is it normal when you can feel your heartbeat while relaxing ( if you focus on it ) ?

Thanks
Adam

[Cleveland Clinic]

adam,

What you experience is perfectly normal. Some people are able to feel heart beats more then others (see: palitations).

Other than a routine office visit to an internist at some point, I would recommend continuing an active lifestyle with attention to diet and tobacco abstinence.

good luck

[Makaveli]

This may be a good place to ask this question, that has been bothering me like crazy. I have been getting this heart sensation almost like incomplete heart feeling. I don't know how to describe it but it feels like a really strange beat. I usually get them once a day and I thought I got them when I had the holter on, but I guess I was wrong. Is there any other sensation I could be feeling in the chest region that a holter won't pick up? Or is this a PVC or PAC? It doesn't feel like it comes in runs of three, and it is rare that I feel a pause. In fact I felt my pulse when I had one once and my beat seemed unaffected. So my question is, since I had an echo, then these feelings, whatever they are, are harmless? I also had a stress test too, as well as two holters. I don't want an event monitor because I am only 17 and every doctor I have seen has told me it was nothing and it didn't even reveal any premature beats on the monitor. My rate has really come down and is resting around 65 bpm, but I have really been stressed the past two days..

I need help... so if anybody versed in this could give me a possible explanation without freaking me out and telling me I am going to die..haha

[Dr. Erik]

You are going to die when you're in your 80's or 90's probably. That's a long time to worry. The heart tests you had say a lot toward you good heart health. Adopt a healthy lifestyle of exercise, no smoking and eating good. The sensations you feel are probably PVC's or PAC's which are completely harmless. I am 36 years old and I've been getting them since I was 18. They haven't slowed me down yet. Enjoy your life!

Erik

[Makaveli]

Your the best, you have no idea how much better that makes me feel. I have been under tons of stress lately and that could be the cause. In fact my two worse episodes happened in my two most stressed momemts in the past 2 months.

[arthur]

Your question regarding the odd sensation of a thump/flutter/apparent pause in the chest, which you indicate did not show up as a premature beat while being monitored, may have several explanations.  If you assume the sensation was due to a muscular movement in the chest (near the heart), then there are only a couple of things to consider: (1) the diaphragm and (2) the esophagus.  Anxiety can cause the vagal nerves to be over-active and result in a spasm of the diaphragm.  The spasm could be real short (a bump) or prolonged (a vibration or a series of undulations).  In either event, driving away anxiety will drive away these bumps.  An esophageal spasm which is generated by inappropriate peristaltic movement could also occur...but this is pretty rare (almost as rare as the diaphragmatic flutter).  Once again, no big deal, unless you get these constantly, in which case, you should check them out with an internist (who would probably try to see the internal movement on a fluorometer).

Early in my anxiety period (when first encountering PACs/PVCs) I had a few amazing bouts of diaphragmatic movement which only made things much worse for me (anxiety shot way up). Of course, no one would believe me about these sensations, so that made things worse.  Understanding eventually led to resolution.


-Arthur

[adi007]

Thank you very much for your replies.

[pms_barbie]

Eric I too have pvc's and pac.  I dont notice my pac's though.  Its just the pvc's I notice.  Do you ever have runs of bigeminy?  Because I do and they suck.  I do however still smoke.  I have tried the gum the patches you name it.

[Dr. Erik]

Yes I have had runs of Bigeminy and they DO suck. The Beta Blocker Toprol XL seems to keep my PVC's as single ectopic beats. You notice the PVC's because they are a hard forceful beat that is followed by a pause in which your heart may beat fast or hard for a short time. Toprol XL also helps me with this. After suffering with this for 18 years I have to say I find them rather ammusing than troublesome. Except when, of course, I get runs of PVC's or Bigeminy. Then they suck again. But I know they won't hurt me and regular exrecise has actually reduced the frequency of my PVC's. Also I had a four hour run of Atrial Fibrillation 2 1/2 years ago. That sucked big time. It was the scariest moment in my life until the ER staff told me it wasn't life threatening. I haven't had it since then and I stay away from alcohol which I believe caused it in the first place. Good luck to you!

[pms_barbie]

I am on verapamil.  Heck I thought that stuff was used to lower blood pressure.  It doesnt effect my blood pressure at all but helps with the pvc's.  So far.  I had a pvc ablation that was totaly pointless.  I had to stay awake until they found a spot to ablate.  As my luck would have it it wasnt the spot causing the bigeminy.lol  SOmedays I could scream from the bigem.  It seeme rate related.  If my heart is above 80 usually no skips but let me hit 78....lol that seems to be the key.  Hey wonder if they could put a pacemaker in and make it stay at 80......lol

[JSouth]

I have a question that may be a little unusual but it relates to the discussion. For years, I have felt the progression of shortness of breath during hard exertion. Went to my doctor and went through all the tests (EKG, stress test, echo during rest and after running) and all seemed to be normal. My EF was very good at 68 and the only problem found were PVC's (singles, doubles, triples and quads). Cardiologist said this was nothing to worry about and to lose weight. I concluded that perhaps I was just out of shape and getting older (34 then and 37 now). Anyway, I've since dropped my weight from 260 to 235, work out 6 days a week with cardio and aerobics, feel much better and stronger and my wind is very much improved. BUT I've noticed that I still get shortness of breath very quickly during hard exertion! How can it be that I can do aerobics for 45 minutes straight but if I try to lift and push a wheelbarrow or carry a heavy box up the stairs I feel like I'm going to fall over and hyperventilate? This is VERY distressing to me. Squats during exercise are also tough and get me winded quickly.

Does anyone have any idea what is going on? Anyone have a similar problem?

[JSouth]

Yes. That's me exactly. I got so worried about climbing flights of stairs that I started avoiding them. I used to run up stairs 10 years ago and just a couple of months ago almost hyperventilated walking up three flights. I detected this problem coming on about 7 years ago when I turned 30. I played basketball twice a week and suddenly began to lose my breath during moments of hard exertion while playing. Never had the problem before but it has progressed and gotten steadily worse. I began to think I was having heart failure and that's why I went to the cardiologist. Of course, they only found PVCs and I really don't have much of a problem with them anymore since I started losing weight and getting back into shape with aerobics. I guess they are still there but I don't feel them as much now. I have no trouble with aerobics lasting 45 minutes except the normal tiredness but if I try to do squats or push a wheelbarrow or walk quickly up a steep hill, I feel like I'm 90 years old. The funny thing is that I can do weightlifting without any difficulty! The whole thing has me baffled.

I think I read somewhere that PVCs tend to hit hard and heavy during the early moments of exercise and then fade off as the heart gets into a quicker rhythm. I wonder if this is why we can do long periods of exercise without the discomfort but quick, sudden bursts of exertion cause the feeling of shortness of breath?? PVCs do cause shortness of breath, you know. Perhaps this is the answer?

[JSouth]

One other point. I was told I have fair exercise tolerance with no ECG evidence of myocardial ischemia. Only the ectopy (PVCs). You mentioned your heart pounds after climbing just two flights of steps and you feel winded. I remember being told during an earlier stress test that my heart has a tendancy to speed up very quickly during exercise. I asked the doctor what this meant and he wasn't concerned because my heart slowed down at a normal rate after completing the stress test. I wonder if those of us who have this problem all suffer from a quicker than normal excelleration of the heart? The comment that your heart pounds make me think of this. Mine does too and does it very quickly during hard exertion.

Also, what is inappropriate sinus tachycardia?

[va_tony]

jsouth & pluto,

I also used to get easily out of breath during weight training but was OK while jogging. It was eventually pointed out to me that I wasn't breathing properly when lifting weights.  One tends to instinctively hold one's breath during heavy lifting, whereras one sucks in as much air as possible during cardiovascular training. Even though I'm less out-of-breath now when I breathe properly while lifting, I still eventually end up breathing heavily afterwards.  Doing reps while lifting heavy weights to feel the "burn" is inherently anaerobic.  It's the nature of the beast, especially when you push yourself to your failure point!

Just a thought.

Tony

[sampants]

Hi.  I have a quick question for anyone who knows.

I have had PVC and PACS in the past.

Someone mentioned bigeminy.  What is that and what does it feel like?  How do you know if you have it?

Thanks.

[JSouth]

I have bigeminy, trigeminy, and quadgeminy. Lots of fun, huh?

Weird thing is I haven't felt them much recently since I've been "de-stressing" my life while losing weight and exercising. Also gave up all caffeine. I know they're still there but not they don't knock the wind out of me anymore... so far.

[sampants]

Thanks, Pluto.

I don't think I have ever had that.  I'm lucky, I guess.  At least now if it happen I will know what it is.

I have not been having many palps at all lately.  I am off all caffiene and am exercising.  I HAVE to lose my extra weight.  I think that will make a huge difference in my life.  Other than the lbs. I am so healthy.

[wirl]

I'm very concerned... had an episode of A-Fib, cardio-verted to sinus rhythm, everything seemed fine.  They say a-fib was "holiday heart" due to too much drinking.  Anyway, I take the coumadin for 6 weeks, along with Toprol XL and everything is fine, at least i feel fine and no a-fib episodes...

Well, one-week after being off Coumadin (still on Toprol) I feel my pulse, beating normally, then a pause, beating normally, then a pause.  The emergency room ekg sees a normal healthy heart, until i tell the doctor that i feel it more so when i lay down. Then they say, "oh, it's just PVC's - don't worry" - What's happening?  anyone have any similar story?  kinda freaking me out to hear that it's "normal."  I'm 36, mostly feel them at rest, never winded or short of breath (at least to my knowledge).  I'm trying to ignore them but it is truly a pain in the *** - any advice would be great.  P.S. had stress test (pre- PVC's) and everything was normal.  Have been active all my life and did quite a few triathlons a few years back - i'm in releatively good condition and think the pvc's may have started while lifting weights... thanks in advance

[tigerpawn]

going to take stress test wed morning first one, can someone tell me how long they last, how many miles per hour so they make treadmill go, and how many inch incline is the treadmill put
on at its highest point.
thanx
tigerpawn

[wirl]

The stress test is about a 3 hour process - at least mine was.  The actual tredmill part of it takes about twenty mins; 10 mins of actual stress, in the form of walking at a brisk pace up to 4-5% grade.  Not a big deal otherwise, you'll lie down twice for 20 mins while they scan your heart.  The only real pain in the *** is the anxiety leading up to it - try to be calm and rested... or maybe it was just me, and the little fact that the morning of my heart stress test I also had an IRS audit... luckily, both went well.  Hope it helps.

[starion]

You MAY wish to have your lung function checked through a simple spirometry, to be sure there is nothing in your lung function that is contributing to your shortness of breath.  Heart and lung issues are sometimes difficult to separate.  If you have any lung condition, optimally treating it may allow you to do more, comfortably, which will help in your efforts to get down to your optimal weight.  Extra weight CAN affect our heart, lungs, and overall health.

Some folks with exercise-induced asthma benefit from pre-treating before vigorous exercise as well.
Starion (who has both heart & lung issues)