"fluttering" heartbeat.

Posted By Candi on August 30, 1998 at 22:42:08:







My husband is driving me crazy.  He will not go to a doctor.  He had one of his "episodes" today.  It started in the late morning and it's still going on now, at 10:35 p.m.  He's forty years old and this has been happening since he was seventeen.  Basically, his heart will suddenly start beating irregularly.  He says his heart feels sluggish and "fluttery".  He can't walk around because he gets lightheaded (sometimes, not today) and because it throws his heart more out of whack.  Two times we have visited an emergency room only to have his heart "kick in" once we got there.  He says that a shot of adrenalin usually sets it straight.  He runs 3.5 miles five times per week and it very thin (but healthy, I believe).  His normal resting heart rate is about 45 bpm.  The main reason he won't call his doctor or visit the emergency room is because one time the cardiologist on call at the emergency room said to him, "It's probably not serious, and if it is, the medication you would need to take has worse side effects than the irregular heartbeat."  Personally, I don't like that response, but my husband is satisfied with it.  I'd appreciate a recommendation on what to do.  Thanks.