Heart palpitations (your input needed plse)

I see a palpitation as a skipped beat, extra beat and fast beating. Now i get these occaisionaly and i do not worry about them, i just take a deep breath, I find i get them bad when i am stressed, drank to much coke, or smoked to much.

NOW a heart futter i class as a different type of palpitation, i call it flutter palp.. (lol)... I have also experienced these, where your heart just skips constantly for a few minutes, and can come and go through out 7 days (happened to me once). Now when my daughter was a few months old, i remember being asleep and awoke up by her screaming (for bottle), and i was experiencing a flutter palp for few minutes that really scared to poo out of me, i went back to sleep and for few days i has achy chest.. (looking back, i woke up frightened, and was anxious for few days after hence achy chest.)
Happened again when i was abroad with my partner, i was asleep and got woken up by noisy hotel cross the road, banging music, and again flutter palp for few mins, i tried to ignore it, but i couldnt, i woke my partner up, and it was still going on, i was terrified, then my heart went to normal palitation for a few mins, and i managed to get bk to sleep. Achy chest for few days after.

Now over the years i have had many ecg (1 min monitor), a few 24 hr holtor monitors, perfect BP, blood work, and recently i had an ecogram (where they did ultrasound of my heart), Doc doesnt think an event monitor (4 weekly) Will make any difference, and just told me i was an anxious person. what gives?

I am pretty much scared of going abroad again, or doing anything that may cause me to get them, such as big rides at fun fairs :-(

So what my question is, have any of you experienced what i class as a flutter palp?

[Jannah1980]

Hi Donna,

I would describe "flutter" as what my palpitations are most of the time.  My heart rate is usually pretty normal or calm when they happen.  I had a really big one that scared me to death about a month ago, the flutter wasn't as quick and my pulse felt very irregular.  I went to the doctor and he didn't seem to be worried at all.  My previous EKG was normal (from 3 months before0 and I have a history of anxiety so he didn't do any further tests.  He said because of my age (28) and my overall health, he wasn't concerned.  

I'm going back to him tomorrow because I'm still having the flutter palps and I am terrified that there is something wrong with my heart.  I stopped coffee and smoking too!  I think they get worse when I'm PMS'ing.

Anyhow, I know exactly how you feel.

[Wisconsin2007]

If you've developed your own lingo for it, then you've probably had a lot of 'em.  Until recently I never had much more than PVC's and PAC's, which are usually considered the most benign of arrhythmias.

I had a few episodes that were more than PVC's but until recently I couldn't reproduce them on any monitoring.  But in the last month with an event monitor I was able to capture them.  For me (and what it is for me may not be what it is for you), it appears the large majority of them were short bursts of SVT - a fast beating of the heart that lasts a very short time - in my case, no more than 5 or 6 beats at a time.  On a few of the recorded events my HR would go from the 60's or 70's up to 110's to 140's, then back down.  I also was told yesterday that I may have been experiencing a few beats of v-tach, which is something I'm not very enthused about.  But again, a quick rhythm, then back to normal.  In the case of the SVT, the rhythm looks completely normal on a rhythm strip/EKG - just fast.  In my chest they feel anything but normal - feels like my heart is a flopping fish.  I guess the v-tach felt about the same, too, when I think about it.

If your previous tests have captured your symptoms, then your doctor may be right - the event monitor may not do anything but show more of the same.  But if you think the symptoms are different, it wouldn't hurt to press the matter a little. If it turns out to be something similar to what I've been experiencing, you might want to consider the treatment I'm considering - an anti-anxiety medication.  It is entirely possible that your anxiousness is causing or at least exacerbating your problem, as it sounds like that's your doctor's hypothesis.  I'm almost certain that that's the case for me.

And the medication doesn't need to be permanent - you may be able to use as needed, and you may be able to do without it completely if you can recognize your triggers and figure out some ways to minimize those triggers - but do something so that your quality of life doesn't suffer.  You only get one go-round, so get the most out of it.

[Jannah1980]

So nice to chat with someone who is experiencing similar sensations and thank you for your suggestions!  I actually am on an antidepressant (used to treat anxiety and panic) and have been for about 8 months now.  I have Xanax as well, but tend to not want to use it very often.  

Oddly enough, even knowing that my family has a tendancy to have these types of heart palpitations doesn't lessen my fear.  My grandfather, my aunt and and my father all have had similar things happening to them, also having them begin in their late 20's.  They all have been told they have perfect heart function.

I would like the doctor to at least do one more EKG just to rule out AFib.  These flutters literally scare the life out of me.  They only happen when I'm sitting or laying down.  Never while I've been active.

Have you heard of Inderal (beta blocker) being used to lessen the flutter palps?  My aunt swears by it and has taken a small dose for years.  She would prefer I take that over Xanax.