hart skips second beat

My heart skips it's second beat some times, what is it called and do beta blockers help?

[Cleveland Clinic]

jax,

Its most likely what are called palpitations. It means you have an extra heart beat from time to time. If you search back through the forum, you will literally find hundreds of post regarding the topic. Most likely it means nothing unless you are markedly bothered by them. You should disuss it with your physician though.

There are several mechaniss that generate palpitations. Depending on the mechanism, sometimes beta blockers can help. They do have a some side effects so if the side effects are worse than the palpitations, then they probably are not worth it.

good luck

[tickertock]

When I had pvcs one time when is was occuring every other beat in the cardio office , he referred to it as ventricular bigeminy, when its pacs occuring every other i understand they call it atrial bigeminy, if 2 beats are normal then the 3 third premature it is called trigeminy, either atria or ventricular depending where the beat arise from. I am only refering to my experience, this might not apply to your symtoms (symptoms) at all.

[tickertock]

Just to add I find beta blockers very helpful, though everyone responds differently.

[madgeOwens]

Everyone is different and many symptoms mimick other diseases. It may or may not be heart related. Please see your doctor.
I have skipped beat every two beats as well, and mine are preventricular and preatrial contractions...an irregular heart beat....however I have had all of the heart tests to rule out heart disease. I take Inderol and also a prn anti anxiety med. Good luck finding the right treament for you. See your doctor for a checkup asap. Merry Christmas!

[macdoo]

Yes beta blockers help me with the pac's as well..They were felt very strong  before i went onto the beta blockers.
Now i hardly notice them, they're almost like little blips now.

[lolathechi]

I think Toprol xl the beta blocker I take helps with the frequency of them... One day I forgot to take them and I had a ton all afternoon... I also think coenzymeq10 helps a great deal.. I take 4 a day and whenever I feel the pvcs coming I take one and it seems to help a lot... Now I am getting the quiet scary ones , more than the numeours little ones.. I dont know which are worse??? ;-)

[LukeL]

A skipped beat every now and then is usually a PVC or PAC both of which are benign if your heart is strucally normal and you are free of cardiovascular disease.

The doctor will tell you beta blockers will not stop the skipped beats but may make them less noticable as the drug lowers BP and the strength of each heartbeat.

[LukeL]

I wll also add that beta blockers have the added benefit of lowering BP which new studies have shown to prevent not just cardiovascualr disease but neruolgical disease as well as an asortment of other diseases. Also people have been on them for decades with no increased risk of any kind of serious disease.

[upbeat63]

that's very true, BB do lower blood pressure, but my mother died very unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 62! after taking BB for 20 years, so I'd like to just add that BB lower the workload of your heart, which should help to "reduce" the risk of cardiovascular disease but not prevent it. Just a clarification :-)

[stlcard1521]

cutting out stimulants like caffeine and nicotine helps a lot of people. lots of times theyre stress induced as well, so worrying about them can make them worse. personally, i started excercising and i bet that's reduced mine by 70-80%. theyre usually harmless, but like the doc said you should be evaluated by a doctor to make sure you dont have a more serious problem

[upbeat63]

I agree with stlcard, cutting out the triggers helps tremendously, but still I'm 20,000pvcs/day.

Exercise, even just 30 minutes walking/day has stopped a recent constant trigeminy. The trigeminy now just comes and goes. Guess you have to enjoy the "goes" part and keep on exercising!

[mom3kids98]

Does anyone feel like your chest is sort of vibrating or something? I feel like my heart vibrates when I have pacs,also, does anyone know if they can do an ablation for pacs? My ep dr. says they can't hardly catch them to ablate them during procedure. Any thoughts? Thanks, Joy

[upbeat63]

Hello, yes I sometimes get a vibrating feeling, or fluttering sensation, it's about the same time I feel slightly short of breath and that I have a hollow feeling in my chest. I've even now just experienced a couple of episodes where I feel like my breath got taken away momentarily.

My guess is that I may be hyperventilating or having anxiety, because my high frequency PVCs really don't change whether I'm having that sensation or not!!

I could be bigeminy, trigeminy, quad or 20+pvcs/min---sometimes I have those sensations and sometimes I don't. This morning I was feeling really great, and not feeling any PVCs so I listened to my heart with a stethescope. It was a PVC every third beat, followed by a PVC on every 4th beat and it repeated that pattern until I got tired of listening. Actually I'm really tired of checking, but when I don't feel anything I get excited that maybe they've stopped altogether--no such luck.

My GP MD says ablation "might" be an option if everything else fails (first line BB, second antiarrythmics), but I haven't even been on BB for longer than 3 days in a row (my choice). Also I've heard conflicting information about whether they would suggest ablation for "PVCs/PACs". Almost seems to depend on your doctor. Sounds like your EP recommends not. The doctors here seem to lean toward not, unless you've been through all the medication options and your PVCs/PACs are particularily disabling to you (least that's what I've read here and I read their answers to that question very closely!!). Still, I think it's on an individual basis. Hope you get some answers and some relief.

[stlcard1521]

yeah i get the vibrating thing too. my doc said they wont do abalations unless it is causing signficant symptoms since it isnt life threatening. mine area also multifocal so there isnt much they can do, they'd have to hit all the spots and that could be risky as abalation can further mess up your rhythm and make them worse

[David30]

Well Im new to this site, I have taken great comfort in peoples comments from this site, I feel like im not a lone now in suffering with this.
Im 30, im from england
Im very fit, I workout 5 days a week, and walk everyday.
Im not overweight or underweight. I dont have panic attacks.

Ive suffered with an Extra heartbeat for many years, since i was around 15 they began, but since ive turned 30, they have gotten worse.

Ive had blood tests, ECG, 24 heart monitor, all showed up with no problem, why did this happen? because during the time I had these tests, my heart was beating perfectly! This extra heartbeat comes in waves, I dont know what triggers it, but when it comes on, it can stay for weeks. Its constant, its 24 hours a day, its never beats normal, I can feel it, it feels like its vibrating and wobbling, I can feel it in my throat, its like a gurgle sometimes, sometimes makes me cough, Its getting to me bigtime! But when i saw the cadiologist, because when i had the tests my heart was fine, he basically made me feel like i was wasting his time!. He was like "David let me tell you now, there is nothing wrong with your heart, it has more to do with your state of mind than anything else, 60% of the poulation suffer with this, only people like you who think about it too much feel the need to have it checked out"

I have an echo to goto on jan 17th to scan my heat structure, Im hoping its beating like it is now so it will show up. I want to go on medication, because now its effecting my life, how I feel and what I do.

[joeche]

I suffered a heart attack five years ago (no surgery) and was recently diagonosed with PAC. I underwent the whole gamut of tests including echo and myo view. My cardio said my heart is OK and PAC is harmless. But as most PAC sufferers know, PAC gives one a rather uncomfortable sensation when it acts up. I'm taking BB and aspirin. Has anyone any natural or herbal over-the-counter supplement suggestion which can help to minimize the PAC discomfort ?

[rickyc]

As I've stated earlier, I've had these skipped beats since I was around eighteen years old.  I am now 61.  There have been more in recent years, and I agree with you all -- they are a bothersome part of existance.  I still chew copenhagen which of course does not help, andf I dring a couple of cups of coffee a day.  My question is this:  I have noticed quite a few individuals that take Tenormin.  I basically began to take this for slightly elevated blood pressure.  I thought I had read somewhere that in certain instances, Tenormin can actually cause skipped beats.  Can anyone reply to this.

Thanks

[kellydeeking]

David30

I was reading your post and I have the same thing happen.  I have had really bad PACS that give me anxiety and even depression.  I go to the emergency room and nothing.  I was in the ER one time and I was dizzy and sick feeling as soon as the called my name guess what, it stops.  Please don't think your crazy or its all in your head cause I have the same thing.  I had open heart at 15months for a VSD repair.  About 7 years ago I starting getting my first bad heart beats.  This morning I woke up having them.  I did a search and found this forum and I'm going to take CQ10 and start excercise ASAP.  I did finally have tachacardia OMG my uncle called 911 and went to the hostpital they thought I was on drugs.  I was laying there in the ER and I did not feel well.  I was all hooked up and bells and sirens went off.  It was like my turn to go I thought I felt as if I was dying and it was the end as people rushed in the door.  But they didn't look at me they went to the stupid lady next to me that pulled the code blue string.  I had an adrenaline rush all night and the next day.  They had to give me medicine to stop it.  Now I take xanex and boy is it a life saver.  I think I'm past the freak out stage but I don't want to go on dates or anything as I might have an apisode or something and make a scene.  Alcohol makes my PACS worse or can bring them on.  I really have dicided that excercise is what I need.  My doctors tell me to do it but I have been scared because I thought excercise causes it but the lack of it is worse.  I have one every third beat and then I get nervous and it goes to every beat which they say when the finally saw it on ekg every other beat.  The Mid-America Heart intitute in Kansas city MO said there is nothing to worry about as its not life threating.  Man I dont even have a life when I have these.  I am controled by these beats.

[rickyc]

I know just how you feel.  Those that don't suffer from them, or have them and just don't feel them, don't know what individuals go through.  It's gotten to the point where I have learned to live with them.  The night I went to the emergency room I was having one out of every three.  Cardiogram was normal etc, etc.  The last few days mine have subsided somewhat.  Go figure.  I've went months without noticing any other than maybe one or two; then BLAM... they come back in droves.  Just learn to relax and live with them the best you can.  Good luck...

[sondacop]

Hi everyone!
It is interesting to hear of people with similar problems (and nice to know they didn't drop dead).
I am new here and I would love some advice from the experianced!

I am a 35 year old female, and I have had a fast heart rate ever since I can remember. I excercise 3 times a week (30 min slow run). My heart rate is usually 190 when running , around 110 when I'm up and about and 80 when resting. Since I have been experiencing skipped heart beats when I'm asleep, I asked my doctor to be checked. She sent me to do an echo which came out fine and I did  a 24 hour halter:
hr was 79-200
qrs total 140524
paced beats 3
152 vpb's - 94 of them when I was sleeping.
7 trigeminy when I was sleeping and a hr of 79
artefact seconds 149 when I was dancing and had hr of 200.
What does all this mean? I can't understand a word! Is any of this dangerous?
My doctor gave me Normalol. I didn't like it. I was always tired, had cold hands and feet and I couldn't do my workouts properly - I couldn't go at my usual rate and got all red in the face.
What is going on?

[dotty123]

hello therei have the same problem as most of you do. i have had heart skips everyday since i have bin 14 ,know im 35 and still get them i have bin to the doctors many times ,and theres not a thing wrong with my heart,it just worries me but smokeing and drinking coffiee dont help.i just want to know if its nomal or is something wrong to have them every day ,it skipps like every 5 mins forsure everyday ,im thinking since iv had it for so many years i have learded to deal with it ,my doctor gave me beta blockers .and i didnt want to take them .i thought that if i start something know ,it will make things worse its a scary thing , thankyou for your time,

[sondacop]

Well Dotty123, It seems like this thread died (maybe a heart attack?). Getting answers is never easy. If you find out anything let me know - and good luck. I hope you decide to stop smoking and to cut down on coffee and are succesful

[Shanny38]

Ok well I discovered a new trigger for my "whoopdydoos" as I call them. I hate this PAC **** but I am going to get through it for sure. Chinese food. Why would I think about that at all?
But, yes MSG is a very common problem in kicking in the "whoopdydoos". Maybe Im just dumb but my gosh everday things are interfering like lunch at Fei Yings with my friend. I got back from lunch and boy howdy they came on strong sometimes 4 or 5 in a row it seemed so I called my doc. Thanks alot PAC's. So folks watch the MSG intake its in so many foods these days.

Stay positive...Shanny

[1CuteToots]

What's going on when your heart just stops.  At bed time or after eating sugar, my heart will have no beat and then kick in, go another 5 beats and stop again...sometimes I can feel my heart rub and it is very painful????

[imfixable]

Shanny, I've done extensive research into diet, health, etc. Have had PVC'c for about 25 years (47 now) and have a pretty good understanding of most triggers, but not all. Chinese Food has MSG in it which is an exitotoxin. In laymans terms, it is an exitatory for the nerves, especially in the brain.  Some of your brain cells will go into a frenzy for a while and then just die off.  I cannot eat Chinese food without becoming jumpy like crazy with PVC's.  Some restaurants advertise that they cook without MSG.  Some places will even cook your food without it if you ask them.  Also, MSG is a major factor behind obesity!!  A Huge amount of processed foods are cooked with it.  Basically it shuts of you "appestat" (appetite control) and thus you continue to eat. . . . too much.
Sorry, I hope i give you more than you wanted, but I get excited about telling the truth!