Re: palpitations

Posted By Frederik Rambout on May 11, 1999 at 13:39:00
Hello, I'm a 17 year old boy from Belgium, who suddenly started to have
palpitations. It's had made me very scared, so I went to the hospital,
and did several EKG-tests, an Echo-scan, scanner, 24h EKG monotoring
but the doctors didn't find anything abnormal.
But 4 months have passed by, and I have several palpitations each day,
like, when I get up in the morning, I have a couple, or suddenly they
come out of the blue, or I feel like it skips a beat, and then I start
to sweat big time. Now, even when I ride my bike, my heart beats very fast,
and very hard, and it's like I can't breath, so my condition is gone or so.
Sometimes, even when I walk up a few steps, my heart starts to beat fast
and hard, or I come awake with a racing heart, and it's like my rhythm is
complete wrong. Why is this happening, and the doctors say there nothing wrong. Will it go away again?? Because now, I can't do much things like I
want them to do, because I get tired all the time and those palpitations.
Ow, what I almost forgot is, that, my blood-pressure doesn't change when I
have those "attacks", and the heart-rhythm various several times (extrasystoles or something like that), and when i'm very tired, and I almost sleep, then suddenly my heart starts to skip a beat each 30 sec or even less. I ask myself, why does this have to happen? It's very difficult
for me to believe what the doctors say to me that there isn't a thing wrong
with my heart. (I don't smoke, and don't have a high cholesterol-level,
don't take drugs or alcohol).

[CCF CARDIO MD DLB]

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - DLB on May 11, 1999 at 19:48:59
Dear Frederik
It would be useful to figure out what was causing the palpitations. You said the 24 hour Holter was normal --but did you have your paplitations while wearing this device? If not, the normal test does not really tell us anything. In that case a longer term Holter monitor (called an event monitor) would be a useful test. You should see your doctor again and mention that the palpitations are still occurring.
I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to write back.
Information provided here is for general purposes only. Specific questions should be addressed to your own doctor. If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.

[Shely__0__0]

Posted By Shelly on May 13, 1999 at 14:30:07
I have had palpitations since I was about 16 years old. I am 33 now and they have gotten few and farther in between. I have learned that cutting down on the pop and coffee and sugar has helped me alot! I walk around and do breathing excersizes when they start up. I was also told that keeping my potassium level at bay will decrease the problem also. Is this true?

[CCF CARDIO MD DLB]

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - DLB on May 20, 1999 at 15:23:07
Dear Shelly
Eliminating caffeine usually helps. An abnormally low potassium level can cause PVCs, but this is unusual in healthy, well-nourished individuals.
I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to write back.
Information provided here is for general purposes only. Specific questions should be addressed to your own doctor. If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.











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