Heart skips while inhaling

Recently I was at work and feeling sluggish and a little dizzy. I went to the plant nurse and had my bp and blood sugar checked. My bp was 128 over 84 and blood sugar was 84. However while checking my pulse and heart rate the nurse informed me that whenever I inhaled my heart would skip a beat. She checked it several times and for fairly long durations. Is this a problem to be concerned with and did it cause the symptoms I described?

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

The question I have is -- is this a skipped beat or does your heart rate just slow down.  There is a normal heart rhythm called sinus arrhythmia that shows slowing of the heart rate with inspiration.  This is a good thing because it suggests high vagal tone and high vagal tone is associated with a healthy heart.  this is more likely to happen in young people.

I would recommened talking to your doctor about this and asking if a monitor is indicated to determine what the rhythm is.  It does not sound like anything to worry about but a monitor and 12 lead EKG is a good place to start the evaluation.

I hope this helps. Thanks for posting.

[deedle1976]

I get most of my PVCs when breathing in. Especially when I breath in quickly like between sentences when talking or when singing. I have quite pronounced sinus arrhythmia and thought it might be due to my heart rate increasing. Might be no sense in that theory though. I also get them whenever I do other things that cause a sudden increase in hr like starting to climb stairs, standing up and especially when lifting things. I used to get them every minute of the day but now mainly when I am doing these things. It's nice to know that sinus arrhythmia is a sign of health.

[Celeste77]

I experience many of my PVC's when breathing in or bending over, but mine are usually after a meal and I also have sinus arrhythmia on almost all of my EKG's, and have so since my early twenties. My Cardio/EP told me the same thing, high vagal tone is a sign of heart health and is a good thing. (especially in a 43 year old)

Deedle~If you research some, you'll find decreased vagal tone and HRV from disease has become an important tool for risk assessment in overall cardiac mortality.

" The closely monitored elderly population from the Framingham Heart Study were assessed using 2 hours of HRV data from an ambulatory ECG monitor. It was found that HRV was significantly associated with all-cause mortality and provided prognostic information beyond that provided by the evaluation of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Furthermore, reduced vagal activity has also been associated with the occurrence of ventricular fibrillation.  A later study showed that reduced vagal tone or HRV was also an independent risk factor in the healthy cohort of the Framingham study. "

[Llyons22]

Just a quick question and I mean no disrespect whatsoever by this, its just that I teach physiology but am trained as a molecular/cell biologist and I am a little out of my field when it comes to phys and I want to make sure that I have not been teaching them incorrectly. I tell my students that heart rate should increase upon inhalation because of brief vagal inhibition. Please let me know if this is incorrect as I am putting together next semesters lectures...it is very possible that the book is incorrect and it would not be the first time

Thanks so much!!!!

[va_tony]

The way you were teaching RSA was correct, of course, I think Dr. McWilliams simply mispoke, which is understandable from time to time considering how busy he must be.

Just google respiratory sinus arrhythmia and you will find countless sites describing RSA..

Inspiration is characterized by decreased vagal tone and an increase in heart rate. Expiration is accompanied by increased vagal tone and a decrease in heart rate.

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

didn't know you guys were hanging on every word......heart rate increases briefly with inspiration and should decrease with exhalation.  I was just trying to point out that there can be heart rate variability with respiration and it people with high vagal tone, it can be profound at times.  They way you are teaching is correct.

sorry for the confusion.