did my heart really stop?

Yesterday something happened with my heart and I don't know whether I should worry about it or not.

I'm a 41 years old woman. The only problem I've had with my heart till now is paroxysmal tachycardia, which I get once or twice a year. My heart rate is then 240 or higher and these episodes last for 1 to 2 hours. I support them well, just some shortness of breath. During one of these episodes I went to the hospital and they reassured me that it's nothing to worry about. The cardiologist also said that with such infrequent attacks it's better not to take any medication.

I get the occasional PVCs or PACs (don't know what exactly as this has never been registered), but not many (sometimes several a day, but mostly several days or weeks without them, or at least not that I notice). Sometimes the tachycardia attacks are set on by PVCs/PACs but not always. They always end from one beat to the next and there is no abnormal pause between the end of the tachycardia and the start of the regular heart rhythm.

Sometimes I get multiple PVCs/PACs but till now I had never felt more than like 3 of 4 in a row. Now yesterday I got like 10 or more abnormal beats in a row and then I believe I had no heart beat at all for like 4 or 5 seconds (or at least not a heart beat that I could feel with my finger in my neck). Immediately after this my rhythm went back to normal and the dizzyness that I felt also went away after a minute or so.

Is this something I should worry about? Another thing is that yesterday I took some cough syrup (which I normally never do as I know it can cause rhythm problems, but I'm having a cold, with my voice almost completely gone, and I had to give a speech). It was on OTC-syrup with among other things ephedrine hydrochloride (1.5 mg) and belladonna (25 mg). Can this have something to do with it?

It was really an awful experience to have my heart like stopping for several seconds. Or that's at least how I felt it. So what should I think about this?

[Cleveland Clinic]

I would probably stay away from the ephedrine and the belladonna (atropine), as both can elevate you heart rate and potentially trigger some arrhythmias.  As far as the pauses go, those are called post conversion pauses and are a relatively normal finding.  You don't need a pacemaker for them.  The heart doesn't really stop, it just takes a long pause as it resets from the arrhythmia to the normal rhythm.  

[tickertock]

Wow those 2 combined stimulants can be very dangerous and trigger potentially dangerous arrhythmias from my understanding!

[LindaTX]

Ephedrine alone can put your heart in a tailspin.  Take it from one who knows first-hand.  It started with ephedrine-laced diet pills 12-14 yrs ago and has progressed into a 12 yr a-fib nightmare that may still culminate into an ablation.  Really, the bad thing is once you get into this sort of pattern, its hard to get out of it.  It's like a vicious cycle!  Even my anti-arrythmia drugs have re-bounded me into arrythmia.

[LindaTX]

Oh, I meant to tell you, one thing that has really helped with my PVC's is EPA/DHA omega3 only fish oil capsules.  I only take one a day/300mg total. I got the GNC brand.