palpitations

I have posted in your forum before but I have one more question.  Female, healthy, 39 years old.

I was at my family physcian on Friday and she had a letter from my EP doctor.  It stated that I have a normal heart and the following was documented previously on holters and monitors.

I have extrasystoles, short runs of SVT, and short runs of PVC's (6 in a row was documented).  

The doctors don't seem at all concerned about these runs of PVC's because I have a normal heart.  From what I have read anything that is more than three beats of PVC's in a row is considered v-tach?  The EP doctor said no it is not v-tach, it is just considered a run on PVC's?

I am scared to death knowing that I have what I think is v-tach and nobody seems to care?????  Am I making a big deal out of nothing?

What is your opinion.

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Dear cc,
"A rose by any other name..."  I think what you are running into here is the difference between definition and intent. By arbitrary definition anything more than 3 PVCs in a row is considered nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT).  However when most physicians say "PVC" they intend to mean something benign whereas "NSVT" carries a more ominous tone.  In general PVCs and even NSVT in a normal heart do not carry an increased risk.  In diseased hearts there is an increased risk and beta-blockers are often used in these situations.  In severely diseased hearts implantable defibrillators are sometimes used.  I hope this helps clarify a somewhat grey zone.

[Bodoni]

Try and remember that SVT is NOT the same as VT.
Supra Ventricular Tachycardia...is from ABOVE...the
word 'Supra' means from above..

I had a short 4-second run of SVT during a 24 hour
7-Lead Holter...and they found no PVC's. He said the
SVT was nothing and that a great majority of the
population at large - would show the same thing - if
they wore a 24 hour Holter.

Sounds like you are in good shape and should have
nothing to worry about.

[BillyboyAA]

This is my first time writing to this wonderful and informative web-site.  My problem started two years ago in 1998 with a visit to the emergency room with what I thought might be a heart attack at the age of 28.  Turns out it was just a panic attack.
I later noticed, due to anxiety, that my heart beat was doubling up on me.  I then returned to the cardiologist, and he put a holter monitor on me.  The result was PAC's.  Not to worry.  I still worry though I was told not to.  Anyway, I kept worrying and bothering him and then he called me in for the works, EKG, Echo, Thallium Stress Test, Echo stress test, you name it, I had it done.  All came out fine.  Then I started to notice my heart rate was slow.  Maybe it has always been, and I started to obsess about that.  My resting rate is usually 45-60.  He said this was due to cardio work-outs that I have been doing now for 2 years.  I stair-climb for 30 minutes about 3-4 times weekly.  He said that is the reason my resting rate is slower than the usual pulse.  Then I started having this wierd feeling like I couldn't take a full breath in or like it was hard to breathe in.
I would never gasp for air, just that wierd feeling.  Then a new problem, I noticed pauses in my heartbeat.  My GP said is sounded like Sinus Arrhythmia, which was normal in someone like me who is in good shape.  I just last week had a second Holter put on and felt a bunch of the "breathing things" and was called a week later to come in right away.  I went in and he wanted to do another thallium stress on me because I had "alot more" PAC's than I had two years before.  I was scared to death.  I did so well on the treadmill he expects the results to be fine.  I don't even notice the PAC's anymore, just the pauses, which he says are in conjunction with the PAC's.  I just pulled up an article on the internet about PAC's and Sinus Arrhythmia and how the two can be confused for each other.  Is it possible the two are being mixed up.  He gave me a beta-blocker called Pindolol.
Isn't this bad for me to take, as my rate is already slow.  I am so scared and tired of all this.  I often think I will die from whatever this is or need a pacemaker or open-heart surgery.  Please anyone that has answers or experience, help me.....My e-mail address is ***@**** and God bless...

[ZEET]

I am a 39 year old healthy female (I Think). Back in 1990 one day I thought I felt a weird thing. At the time I didnt contribute it to my heart. It was just a flutter, an extra beat I don't really know what it was. Then nothing until about 1993, when one day my heart started racing like crazy. It started in the morning and lasted about two hours. Then every day it seemed after that first day it did the same thing. It would start up about 15 minutes after breakfast or sometimes any meal. I just lived with it and never saw a doctor. Then in 1996 one day I felt something new and so scary, It was like a flutter then my heart was either pausing or beating very slow. I cough then do something quick like get up and walk fast, then it goes from the weird beating, slow or whatever to a super fast rate, then from their back down to the normal rate, then sometimes i feel a warm flush into my face,and then the event is over. From that first time I felt that event it would come back again every few weeks or so.
Still I never seen a doctor. Then one day in february of 1998, my heart started it's normal thing. beating fast in the a.m. like ususal, only this day it wouldnt slow down at all. If I got up to do something it would go nuts. Then besides racing all day , I started to feel all this weird fluttering. I' t feels like your heart is doing a somersault. By 7:oo that night I had enough and went to the E.R. the normal tests were done. They gave me something to help slow it down and I went home. I went to the cardiologist a week after that and had all the tests. Event and holter monitors, cardiograms and a echo cardiogram, still I was told a picture perfect heart. The event that scares the hek out of me I described above with the pause or slow beating then to the fast rate, and then to the normal rate, started to happen more and more. He put me on Toprol 25mg. at first. I then soon started to get symptons, then it was 50mg. Now it is 50mg twice daily. I started the med. in september, 1999. I still get symptons  but better than before, and I do see the cardiologist about once every four months or so. But I do feel alot better with the med. than before. I was worried at first with the Toprol because of the event I get with a pause or slow beating, I thought the med would make my heart beat too slow and when the event happens I't wouldnt be the same. But now when I fell that episode, my heart goes from the slow beating to a slightly faster rate then to normal. But living with these stinking things each day it is aggravating and fustrating, and it makes you wonder why did all this start up in the first place, what did I do to bring this on. Wine I cant drink, my heart will start racing right away. I still have my one cup of coffee a day, but drink decaff coffee and soda,after that, and I try not to eat things that have alot of sugar. I really just take things day by day and try not to let these things get to me. I ( TRY ) not to think about them but as you probably know it is hard to do. Take care.

[Jodie]

Billyboy you are describing my systems to a "tee".  I've had the fast heartbeats, the PVC"s, multiple PVC's in a row and that wierd breathing thing.  I also get pauses (not as often, maybe once a year) where I do not feel the early beat, just the pause.  This pause is much longer than the ones after the early beat.  I'd say 3-4 seconds.  Then it takes off...beats really fast and irregular for a minute or so and then it just goes back to normal.  I HATE those pauses.  They scare me more than anything.  I also had a period when my heartbeat was slow.  All very wierd.  It is good to read about an experience  that sounds like it could have been written by me. Does anyone else feel those longer than usual pauses?
Jodie

[Sandy]

Hi. In response to Billy Boy.  I just want to tell you that you might try some zoloft or paxil.  I had a million odd heart problems which turned out to be mostly panic attacks and it is amazing how much anxiety can affect your physical system.  It was like I had adrenaline running thru me 24 hours a day.  I was constantly fatigued and either had too rapid a heartbeat and then too slow.  I fretted and called my doctor in the middle of the night, etc. etc.  Wore holtor monitors and numerous ekgs.  Anyway , 3 weeks on zoloft 50mgs has dramatically changed my life.  My heart is acting normal - I was having a lot of pvcs - and I hardly think about my health anymore.  I am amazed at how much the stress and fear made my body feel so awful.  You might want to give it a try.  Best wishes.

[Ann]

Maybe it's simply being a 39 y.o. female or fit male of any age...

I'm another 39 y.o. female, overweight, but generally healthy.  I've never had anything wrong with me until last Feb.  Had the first of many panic attacks.  This one was brought on by a 5-6 racing, pounding beats.  Not like I had just run up several flights of stairs, but strange...as you've all explained so well.  It's like a gear that misses and takes a few attempts to get back into the sprocket.

After that, I went on Prothiaden to take care of the panic attacks.  That seemed to work well for awhile.  Then just recently, I've had more and more of the palpitations.  One was the strongest yet -- that was a week ago, others are softer versions, but strange feeling and seem to happen when I'm breathing in deeply.

I have seen a doctor and am returning for a follow up visit in the next 2 days.  He can't tell me anything until he looks over some results from a previous test done by another doctor -- we moved during this whole thing.

As a consequence, I'm preoccupied and obsessed with my heart and breathing.  I don't know whether I'm imaginging various pains in my chest and under my arms.  I feel like a hypocondriac (sp?) talking about all these things that are going around in me that refuse to be measured or monitored.  Had the 24 Holter as well -- clean as a whistle.  Every ECG comes clean.  Every blood test comes normal.  Why can't I FEEL normal???

What HAS helped enormously is this forum.  I realize I'm not alone after all.  If anyone needs a palpitation-penpal...***@****

All the best to you all, and I'll post my results from the next doctor's visit here...it may help someone!

Ann

[angie]

I agree with Sandy.  Anyone feeling lots of palpitations would probably benefit from taking Paxil or another SSRI.  After reading some things on this site a couple of months ago I asked my doctor to try Paxil and started taking Magnesium.  After the side effects from Paxil (tiredness, tremors, yawning) went away so did a great majority of my PVC's and palpitations.  I still feel them every so often, once a day if that, but I don't get really scared anymore and end up with a full fledged panic attack.  I was like everyone else-  I could think of nothing put these crazy skipped heartbeats waiting around for the time it would kill me.  Now with the help of Paxil I have some sort of life back.  It really helps.

[Raymond Gray]

Hi peeps.
    
         You should try the UK health service, you can wait forever for even the simplist of things.  I get pvc's and i can feel my heart beat most of the time, I was given a 24 hour holter (after considerable moaning) which predictably showed nothing.  My heart skips sometimes when i'm jogging and is obviously off putting, but I keep at it because it gives me a better quality of life.  My doctor will not send me for any further tests because I am 'ok', (not in pain or passing out)
I just have to keep hoping I am because there is absolutely nothing else I can do.

Keep your chin up and I hope everything works out for you.

Best wishes

           Ray.

[Mike in Boston]

Hi, I just read your story on the Heart forum. For the last 5 years I have been bothered by the same thing as you( kinda). It all started with a little chest pain then one night while trying to get to sleep I felt my heart skip a few beats and it scared me to death. I drove to the ER and they did blood work and a stress test and some x-rays and the DR's told me i had a Hiatal Hernia. I was relieved but still had some doubts. Over the next 3 years I went to the ER like 8 more times had a Echocardiogram, 3 more stress tests, Holter monitor, at least 10 EKG's and the Dr's still tell me there is nothing wrong with my Heart. Sometimes im sure im having a heart attack, my heart races and skips I cant catch my breath and like you I use to run and lift weights but when my heart skipped one time while running I just quit scared that my running was hurting my heart. It really bothers me at night. I cant think of 2 nights i have slept all night ever since this all started. They put me on a beta blocker also but my heart rate was already slow so they took me off after that didn't stop my heart palpation's and pain. I have found myself trying everything from taking aspirin to trying to drink a few beers before bed just to make this all go away but it's always there. Some weeks I don't feel it at all but it always comes back. I think about this every day of my life and like you it scares me to death. So your not alone:) One thing I can tell you is that my Doctor told me " If its your heart its the longest heart attack in history( 5 years)" Take care-------Mike in Boston( 781-273-2373)

[chocolate lover]

Mike       I read your letter and understand exactly what you are going through. I am a 28 yr old female and have had skipped beats for  6 years nows. Pacs and pvcs sometimes thousands a day. Sometimes the beats will even come together like many in a row it is very scary and frustrating. There have been many many nights that I havent been able to sleep. Ive been to th er Ive had holters, ekgs the works. Sometimes its all you can think about people who dont suffer from this dont understand how awful it is. Having this support group is great You feel as though you are not alone.

[Ann]

Since the last posting, I've been to the doc several times and to a psychologist once.  I HAD to go into this with an open mind because the one thing I knew for sure was that I didn't want this -- palpitations, pvcs, etc. -- running my life.  I wasn't sceptical, I was just a little wary of how much of an effect my head was having on my heart.

I must say that it has been an eye opener.  Just telling someone, who can deal with me objectively, how this effects me was a great weight off my shoulders.  My husband tries to understand, but comes up with magazine articles and web pages with a myriad of advice (the strangest was from a 1969 Scientific American - found at a book sale - that said that the arrhythmia was probably due to a build up of lactic acid...something I've never seen anywhere else).  He meant well, but the effect of all this "advice" was frustration with him, with me, with...anyone and everyone who offered their two cent's worth.

I'm going off the Prothiaden (was on it for the panic attacks that resulted from prolonged palpitations and strings of pvcs) as it's been known to occasionally play tricks with heart rhythms, something my first doc didn't think anything about when he put me on it.  I also have valium available should I need to keep those panic attacks at bay.  I'm bushwalking 1 hr a day and gardening.  I have more energy and believe it or not, the palpitaions are down to just a few a day.  I know that I probably have a mild condition given some of the posters here, but it's been quite an experience.

I can't believe that things have changed so dramatically simply by talking to someone who can advise me on how to keep the panic and anxiety at bay.  I know I can't change how my heart behaves, but I can modify how I react...and as many of you know, arrhythmia can be perpetuated by stress and anxiety.  If your doctor hasn't suggested talking to a psychologist or psychiatrist, ask him/her if it might help you.

All the best.

[kathryn from Auckland New Zealand]

I have just discovered this website by accident and cannot believe there are so many people out there with the same symptoms and fears as me. I have had SVT's for twenty years (I am now 38 years old) and in february this year I had Radio Frequency Ablation at Greenlane hospital in Auckland NZ. The procedure was "apparently" successful or so my cardiologist told me, but within days of returning home I started getting PVC's.I rang the hospital but all they said was that my heart was irritable after the procedure, and it would settle down. Well it took its sweet time doing that, and after much harrasment of the cardiologist (who thinks its my head that needs fixing not my heart) they put me on a 48 hour halter to see what was happening,by the way I was getting short bursts of SVT's also, but of course my heart behaved perfectly whilst the halter was on-typical! The upshot was that they did nothing because as far as they were concerned they had fixed me.Anyway things improved for about six months with virtually no symptoms until a couple of weeks ago when the PVC's and short runs of SVT started again.My whole life is consumed by this and my family thinks I am a hypocondriac, but unless you have suffered with this you cannot possibly understand it.After reading Ann's comments about Lactic acid contributing to palpitations, that makes sense to me as I also suffer from Hyperventilation (probably because of all this worry) and when you overbreathe over a long period of time, apparently there is a buildup of lactic acid and adrenalin in the body and it has to be released somewhere hence the increase in heart rate. Also I am on a betablocker now to help with my anxiety but it doesn't seem to suppress the pvc's or the palpitations, and it also suppresses the respitory system, which makes you overbreathe, which causes in turn the lactic acid buildup plus adrenalin, hence the svt's,so its a big vicious circle. Sorry to prattle on so long but its great to connect with other people who understand you. Thanks for listening.my E-mail is ***@****.

[Brynn Zellner]

What a relief it was to find this site, although I am not too familiar with all the abbreviations. I too suffer with irregular heartbeats. It is by far one of the scariest things and it has dramatically affected my life. I am scared to do anything that will increase my heart rate. I will not even sleep on my side at night for fear that I am not allowing my heart sufficient room to do its job properly. I have been to the ER two times. Blood work and EKGs were done-all came back normal. I didn't believe it but what can you do when a doctor is telling you that you are okay. It sounds logical given that I am only 20 years old but I still won't believe it. Every pain I have in my chest, my arms, fingers leads me to believe I am having a heart attack as crazy as it sounds. I always think one day it will skip one too many beats and I will die. I get scared driving thinking I will pass out. I hate living like this. How do you explain it to someone who doesn't know? All I can say it my heart is doing that "funny" thing again. People think I'm crazy. One doctor prescribed medication for heart palpitations but I wouldn't take because I thought the side effects could possibly make it worse. I have tried aspirin thinking it will thin my blood and maybe that will help. So far, nothing has. I am so very thankful that I found this website and people like me who suffer from this horrible problem. My email is ***@****.

[Brynn Zellner]

What a relief it was to find this site, although I am not too familiar with all the abbreviations. I too suffer with irregular heartbeats. It is by far one of the scariest things and it has dramatically affected my life. I am scared to do anything that will increase my heart rate. I will not even sleep on my side at night for fear that I am not allowing my heart sufficient room to do its job properly. I have been to the ER two times. Blood work and EKGs were done-all came back normal. I didn't believe it but what can you do when a doctor is telling you that you are okay. It sounds logical given that I am only 20 years old but I still won't believe it. Every pain I have in my chest, my arms, fingers leads me to believe I am having a heart attack as crazy as it sounds. I always think one day it will skip one too many beats and I will die. I get scared driving thinking I will pass out. I hate living like this. How do you explain it to someone who doesn't know? All I can say it my heart is doing that "funny" thing again. People think I'm crazy. One doctor prescribed medication for heart palpitations but I wouldn't take because I thought the side effects could possibly make it worse. I have tried aspirin thinking it will thin my blood and maybe that will help. So far, nothing has. I am so very thankful that I found this website and people like me who suffer from this horrible problem. My email is ***@****.

[Brynn Zellner]

What a relief it was to find this site, although I am not too familiar with all the abbreviations. I too suffer with irregular heartbeats. It is by far one of the scariest things and it has dramatically affected my life. I am scared to do anything that will increase my heart rate. I will not even sleep on my side at night for fear that I am not allowing my heart sufficient room to do its job properly. I have been to the ER two times. Blood work and EKGs were done-all came back normal. I didn't believe it but what can you do when a doctor is telling you that you are okay. It sounds logical given that I am only 20 years old but I still won't believe it. Every pain I have in my chest, my arms, fingers leads me to believe I am having a heart attack as crazy as it sounds. I always think one day it will skip one too many beats and I will die. I get scared driving thinking I will pass out. I hate living like this. How do you explain it to someone who doesn't know? All I can say it my heart is doing that "funny" thing again. People think I'm crazy. One doctor prescribed medication for heart palpitations but I wouldn't take because I thought the side effects could possibly make it worse. I have tried aspirin thinking it will thin my blood and maybe that will help. So far, nothing has. I am so very thankful that I found this website and people like me who suffer from this horrible problem. My email is ***@****.

[Michael from Hull, England]

Guess what - same story...

My heart has been skipping beats for 7 years. At first it was an occasional pause followed by a heavy beat, which I learned to cope with. About 2 years ago I started to suffer episodes of these which varied somewhat to what I had previously experienced. The missed beats were ontop of each other and very frequent - probably about ever 7 beats. I felt like I was going to go crazy with worry, as well as drop dead from a heart attack. I had false images of what my heart was doing and what was going to happen to it. Despite being told by numerous doctors that I was fit and healthy, I still could not accept that something which felt so ominous was something to be ignored. It ruled my life.
There is no happy ending, as I am still a bag of nerves, every time I feel one happen I think to myself "oh no here it goes again" and sure enough I'm experiencing them for hours after. I know that my doctors are right, just by reading this and seeing how many other people suffer from this, but I find it absolutely impossible to not feel scared whilst this is happening. I spend my days feeling pathetic and unhealthy.
It has been good to read the comments and maybe this will go some way to accepting this and maybe controlling it.

[don't worry, be happy]

For all you worry warts who think you are going to die from this.............I have it, my mother has it, my mothers mother had it, my aunts and uncles have it.  My mother is 76 years old and still mows her own lawn, my aunts and uncles are all in their 80's and my grandmother lived to the ripe old age of 86.  After I first experienced it I thought I was going to die too, one day my mother told me, "don't worry, you can't die from it", now everytime my heart acts up I just tell myself that and get my mind on something else and guess what, a few minutes later it is better and I'm still alive! In fact, I had a major SVT at the movies the other week, thought I was going to freak out, was there with my kids and I just wanted to bolt out of there.  But I kept my wits, controlled my breathing and tried the bearing down method (which does work by the way) and it slowed down to where I could finish the last 15 minutes of the movie.  Took it out of me though, was exhausted afterward. Unless they invent some miracle cure, this is something we will all have to live with for the rest of our lives and I am not going to spend it totally consumed thinking about my heart everyday.   Just try not to worry about it so much, it really does make your symptoms much worse!

[don't worry, be happy]

For all you worry warts who think you are going to die from this.............I have it, my mother has it, my mothers mother had it, my aunts and uncles have it.  My mother is 76 years old and still mows her own lawn, my aunts and uncles are all in their 80's and my grandmother lived to the ripe old age of 86.  After I first experienced it I thought I was going to die too, one day my mother told me, "don't worry, you can't die from it", now everytime my heart acts up I just tell myself that and get my mind on something else and guess what, a few minutes later it is better and I'm still alive! In fact, I had a major SVT at the movies the other week, thought I was going to freak out, was there with my kids and I just wanted to bolt out of there.  But I kept my wits, controlled my breathing and tried the bearing down method (which does work by the way) and it slowed down to where I could finish the last 15 minutes of the movie.  Took it out of me though, was exhausted afterward. Unless they invent some miracle cure, this is something we will all have to live with for the rest of our lives and I am not going to spend it totally consumed thinking about my heart everyday.   Just try not to worry about it so much, it really does make your symptoms much worse!

[.]

There's a saying that I read in a book one time - "What goes on in your head, controls your heart"  I am a firm believer in that.

[chocolate lover]

Im wondering if you have ever lived with all day and night or just on and off? Just a thought.

[Does anyone know what this is?]

I have had arrthymia problems for the last couple of years. I'm 39 now, they started about when I was 33. The first thing I felt was a fast heart rate that started one day, then everyday after. Then the second thing I felt was like a strong beat or something. It is like extra beats. It feels like sometimes my heart is doing a somersault. The third thing and this scares me the most, is I can be doing whatever, totally fine, then my heart will go instantly to a very slow beating. I dont think it is out of rythm, I'm not sure, but then I ususally start to panic, and I do something with a quick motion like walk fast or something, and I cough. Sometimes I start to feel woosy in my head. Then it goes from the slow or eratic beat to a normal but fast beat, then back down to the normal rate and the event is over. I dont know if this event is a sinus pause or what. I ALWAYS get these three seperate syntoms much more, around the time of my menses. Usually right before and during. Then as each day goes by, they slow down and go away, until two weeks later around ovulation time when they start to start up again. If anyone else have a simular syntom like the third one I described above, and if anyone knows what this may be called PLEASE post your comments here. I do see a cardio, and I am on 100mg. of toprol a day. I have all the same syntoms as before the med. but they are less severe and less frequent.
Thanks, Val.

[Does anyone know what this is?]

I have had arrthymia problems for the last couple of years. I'm 39 now, they started about when I was 33. The first thing I felt was a fast heart rate that started one day, then everyday after. Then the second thing I felt was like a strong beat or something. It is like extra beats. It feels like sometimes my heart is doing a somersault. The third thing and this scares me the most, is I can be doing whatever, totally fine, then my heart will go instantly to a very slow beating. I dont think it is out of rythm, I'm not sure, but then I ususally start to panic, and I do something with a quick motion like walk fast or something, and I cough. Sometimes I start to feel woosy in my head. Then it goes from the slow or eratic beat to a normal but fast beat, then back down to the normal rate and the event is over. I dont know if this event is a sinus pause or what. I ALWAYS get these three seperate syntoms much more, around the time of my menses. Usually right before and during. Then as each day goes by, they slow down and go away, until two weeks later around ovulation time when they start to start up again. If anyone else have a simular syntom like the third one I described above, and if anyone knows what this may be called PLEASE post your comments here. I do see a cardio, and I am on 100mg. of toprol a day. I have all the same syntoms as before the med. but they are less severe and less frequent.
Thanks, Val.

[Jane in Chicago]

I have it too.  
I dont remember how old I was when I first noticed an iregular heartbeat but my parents think i was about 13.  I know for sure I identified the feeling of what I know know are PVC's when I was 19 and had my first ER run from a "panic attack" (PVC'S).  I am now 35 (female) and they are still going strong.  So am I.  I can go from only a few a day to thousands a day/night. Here's the kicker: after 15 years of this i've found that no matter what I do or don't do they are always with me.  I get moderate exercise, I eat sometimes good, sometimes junk, I'm about 50 lbs overweight, AND I smoke.  But ALL my stress/heart tests were normal (i get them done every 6 yrs just to be safe) I never have caffinated beverages because I've found they make my heart race and when it does i feel the PVC's more, I have normal to low blood pressure and a pulse of 70-75 bpm.
  
Here are some tips that have made ME feel better (i notice the PVC's less):  
Sometimes when they are frequent or more annoying, I eat a small meal.  That seems to help them quiet down. Drinking alot of cold water seems to help a tiny bit too.  
If I have gas or abdominal pressure, they are terrible.
I find that, as a woman, they are WORSE during PMS.  The closer I get to my "time", the more frequent they are but as soon as my period starts, they drop off considerably (indicating stress related?).  
I find when my body begins to relax before i drift off to sleep they get really bad (sometimes they wake me up) but in the morning they are very mild almost to where I hardly notice them. I also find that when I get enough sleep, they don't bother me as much.  
Here's a good one - even when they are very bad, if I drink enough alcohol to get a little more than tipsy, I tend not to notice them very much at all which makes me feel better (I hardly drink though, i hate hangovers).
If I dont smoke that day, they are very faint.  Caffeine doesnt necesarily make them worse, I just notice them more with a more rapid heartbeat.
Ok; here is a personal one so dont read this if you are easily offended - they get pretty bad just before orgasm too,but afterward they are as close to gone as can be.  
I have found that 2-4 Advil before work will get me through several hours. (muscle relaxing effect?)
A hot bath always makes me feel better.
And some days I cant handle it anymore and just want to cry for an hour.  (that helps).
I also refuse to take perscription meds for this for fear of the side effects.  

So what does all this info mean? To me, I interpret it to be that the less stressed I am the less problematic my palpatations are.  I personally think it partially is stomach related in that if there is pressure on the heart from gas/stomach/constipation it will trigger as well as emotional stress.  I really hav no reaction to physical stress although a more rapid heartbeat will make it worse.

Some cardiologist wanted to go into my heart through an artery with a cauterizer fiber-optic tube thingie and burn out some section of the inside of my heart which was "making this happen".  Yeah right, if you cant tell me what causes it then you aint going in there burning stuff i might need.

My current theory is that if I havent dropped dead from all this yet, I probably wont any time soon.  It is one of the scariest and most annoying things i can imagine, but I deal with it every single day and that makes me a better/stronger person than most in my book.

i hope this helps someone out there!  take care.

[chris]

I'm a 19 year old male and have been suffering the odd heart palpitation daily for about 8 years or so. It started gradually getting worse over the years, sometimes once a day it would feel like my heart was going crazy and skipping or giving extra beats in the time period of about 15 seconds. I would just get up and walk around, then I would be fine. This week has been really bad, in the past few days, these palpitations have been happening almost constantly during the day. There are periods of about 3 hours or so where I will be ok, but the rest of the time, particularly when I go to bed or wake up my heart will start skipping  beats like crazy and it feels like I'm going to die. There has never been any pain involved or pressure. Just basically the  very uneasy sensation of my hear skipping beats. This really scares me, I have had 3 ECG's and so far they have been fine. I don't smoke, drink alcohol or anything with caffeine in it. I am very concerned over this. I find my self feeling my chest and praying that it starts to beat regularly again. I find that when I am in a situation where there is a lot of adrenaline (like an ER visit) my heart seems to beat normally with not palpitations or at least very few of them. I have a bit of stress in my life, I am a part owner in a small business, had my mom pass away earlier this year and just crashed my car the other week. I don't know if this is related or not. Right now I'm wondering if it is safe to go to sleep with all these palpitations and if I'm going to wake up in the morning. I have also suffered so called "panic attacks" off and on in the past few weeks. At first, I thought it was just my blood sugar level because I was feeling very dizzy and felt like I was about to pass out. During this period, my heart rate might have been fast, but there were no actual skipped or extra beats. For all I know, these might not be panic attacks but somthing more serious, this is all up to my doctor I guess. Right now I wish I had a degree in medicine so that I knew what was going on and how to make myself feel better. If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do or even ask my doctor, please let me know. I am very fustrated over this and want to prevent or fix the situation. My email address is: ***@****

I would greatly appreciate any advice that anyone has, thanks for your time, Chris.

[comment to chris]

chris    I am 29 and started having the same thing for 7 years now. The fast heart beat and the skipping beats. My skipped beats would last all day and night with no break. I had ekgs and holters the holters would show thousands of pacs and a couple hundred pvcs. It was awful.These things have lasted for all of these years. I also had a normal echo.Have you ever had an echo or stress test? or even a holter monitor to see what your heart is actually doing. I am taking a beta blocker atenolol that does help some you might want to check into that with your doctor.I have also stopped consuming all caffine alcohol I also think stress can make these things worse. I hope you feel better this support group has helped me out alot.    Bw

[Reply for comment to chris]

Thanks for your reply, I have not had a stress, echo or holter test yet.  I have a doctor's appt. coming up before the new year and I hope to discuss this with him. What is exactly involved with these tests? For example, what is the stress test?  Also, are there any side effects to the medication you are taking? I really appreciate your response, it's good to have someone to talk to who believes somthing is going on here. Whenever I would have an ECG, my heart would just happen to work properly (I think maybe they caught one of the skipped beats, but didn't say anything about it.)

Thanks for your time - Chris
***@****

[comment to chris from Bw]

chris   I am glad also that there is this great support group. It helps to know that other people are going through the same thing that I am. Sometimes it is hard because my family has a hard time understanding what this is. I guess you wouldnt know unless you had to deal with it on a daily basis. As for some of the tests that can be done, there is the echo this test is like an ultra sound of the heart it can detect defects and other things . The stress test is like an exercise test where you get on a treadmill and walk they hook you up to a ekg and watch your heart rythm to see if there are any changes going on.They also look for heart blockages. The holter is when you are hooked up to a little portable ekg it monitors everything your heart does for 24 or 48 hours there are also holters called the king of hearts this machine will monitor your heart arrythmia you press a button and it records the arrythmia for one minute. You can wear this one for a while I kept mine for two weeks you can take it off to shower so its not to bad. I think all of these tests are useful and can help to find the problem. The medicine I am on is a beta blocker called atenolol I take 50 mg a day at first when I started taking it I felt sleepy. But the over time you get used to it and it dosent bother me now at all but everybody is different. It slows down the heart so your heart wont race mine always did and it should take some of those extra beats away. Hopefully I have been some help to you Let me know what happens.   BW

[comment to chris from Bw]

chris   I am glad also that there is this great support group. It helps to know that other people are going through the same thing that I am. Sometimes it is hard because my family has a hard time understanding what this is. I guess you wouldnt know unless you had to deal with it on a daily basis. As for some of the tests that can be done, there is the echo this test is like an ultra sound of the heart it can detect defects and other things . The stress test is like an exercise test where you get on a treadmill and walk they hook you up to a ekg and watch your heart rythm to see if there are any changes going on.They also look for heart blockages. The holter is when you are hooked up to a little portable ekg it monitors everything your heart does for 24 or 48 hours there are also holters called the king of hearts this machine will monitor your heart arrythmia you press a button and it records the arrythmia for one minute. You can wear this one for a while I kept mine for two weeks you can take it off to shower so its not to bad. I think all of these tests are useful and can help to find the problem. The medicine I am on is a beta blocker called atenolol I take 50 mg a day at first when I started taking it I felt sleepy. But the over time you get used to it and it dosent bother me now at all but everybody is different. It slows down the heart so your heart wont race mine always did and it should take some of those extra beats away. Hopefully I have been some help to you Let me know what happens.   BW

[James G]

Thank you for making me feel that I am not alone with this problem. I feel that I was the only person who has PAC, but reading these messages makes me feel stronger and more confidant in myself because I am reading other people who have panic attacks and heart pac together.


God bless all of us for we are the only ones who know the inner fear that we feel and I would not wish this awlful feelings on my worst enemy. The majority of people who you tell about these problems do not understand the inner battles of fear that we feel. Yes I DO HAVE PAC and AF AND I WILL BE FINE! I have to tell myself this because it makes me less stressed out. I have had all the test also and the doctors have all told me that " It wont hurt you" "Dont worry about it"  but that still does not help my inner soul that tells me that " Hey what the hell was that! Could this be the big one? Oh no! We better panic now!"

Anyway I woke up at 2:30a.m.  with PAC. I could not sleep and then I found this forum. (Thank God for it!!)  By the way I went to the E-Room at 7:00 today and got checked over. (again) They said " Lots of people have this dont let it bother you." (again)
Easy for then to say it because they have never experienced it. That is what my inner voice always says to me anyway. I do know that some doctors nurses have the same problems that we have and if they are not bothered by it we should believe them about us also.
By the way since I have been writtting this letter my PAC has almost gone away totally. I guess that must mean that this "venting" was healthy for me.

Thank you,
James G.
***@****

[chocolate lover]

   James

        I get pacs thousands. And then ended up one day going into atrial fib did you get the same thing?

                                     BW

[james]

BW,
No the first one I had was when I was 17 when I was watching TV. I told my parents and they just said I was to young to have any heart trouble. I then noticed when iI would run in track and football during the cool down period from running my heart would do some serious AF. This would last for about 3 minutes and go away. I just thought that was normal. Well when I first got really scared is when I was doing physcal work and my heart went into AF for 6 hours. It was beating out of sync realy hard. It scared me really bad. This was in 1986. That is when I first heard from the doctor "dont worry about it it cant kill ya unless you are fairly old with bad circulatory system". Well that did not make me feel a whole lot better but it did a little anyway. I gave up booze and caffine drinks and chocolates also. Well since then the only times it happens to me now is when I am under stress. I had a stressful job and my marriage was not in the best shapeand my heart started top race and the first panic attacks of many started. Each one of these would trigger AF's. Which made me more upset and stressed out. These AF would last 1 to 4 days . I went to doctors in the Twin Cities and they gave me a full stress test and this confirmed that I did have AF during the cool down phase of the treadmill run test. They said it was triggered by adreninlyn(sp)  in my body. Well I got my life together and got a less stressfull job and they went away. Well I moved to a new town and got a new job and ended up in a 3 year legal battle in a small town that everyone knows your buisness. Then i brought in over $98,000 of equipment in that was being watched very closely by all of the upper management. Well after three years I started with CAP they have not turned into the alful AF beat but I can feel these flutterings in my chest. The dotors perscribed me Zanex (sp?) .25 mg. the smallest doesage. It seems to relax me and the fluttering is still there but not as noticable. I am going in for a check up on this Monday and I know he is just going to tell me that every thing is O.K. but I need that reinforement for myself.
Sorry about the long answer but CAP do not always lead to AF with me.

Thanks for asking me,
-Jim-

[DANNI TO CHRIS AND CAN SOMEONE HELP ME!]

Hi Chris... I'm a 17 yr old female..and I know what you mean..and it's hard being so young and have your heart go nutz in your chest. People don't take it serious b/c they don't think young ppl can have heart probs...so stereotypical.. n e ways I suffer from PAC's ans this is some scary stuff..But now I've begun feeling faint....and I did the other day..CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF I NEED TO WORRY NOW THAT I PASSED OUT!! I stay away from all the triggers, and I'm in excellent shape and health! I play every sport imaginable and my attacks have never happened while playing before, but now all of a sudden I pass out after i take a few laps around the rink!?!?!? PPPPLLEEEZZZEE help me and let me know if I should see my doctor or is he gonna think I'm a hypochondriac?(sorry if anyone is one, but I'm not so I just don't want him to think I am) If any one has some answers or support plese e-mail me at    danni_z***@****
Thanx and God Bless!!

[chocolate lover]

Danni

       Yes I understand completely about the pacs and pvcs ive had thousands a day. Its a scary scary thing. There are alot of tests for you to have ekg, echo, holter 24 48 hrs treadmill stress test. To name a few I would definitley go get my heart checked out some more if I were you. Especially with fainting.tell your Dr. about the fainting. I hope you eel better soon.  




                                    A friend

[Danni]

Thanx...yes I am getting my heart checked out more...my mom is not satisfied that the doc is assuming that i have PAC's..I was a premie so she's worried my heart isn't fully developed or something like that...thanx for you help and support