It feels like my heart stops for a second

Hello. I'm 29 years old and I'm fairly active. I'm in good shape and eat as healty as I can.
I dont drink coffee, I dont smoke and I rarely drink any alchool.
Sometimes when I rest, like sitting at my desk working or in my couch watching TV I feel all of a sudden like my heart stops beating for a second and I have to catch my breath.
I feel a little squeeze in my chest and throat and I feel like my heart just stops for a second.
It only happens sometimes, very randomly and I don't know what it is. I went to my family doctor recently and he listened to my heart and I even had an EKG done about a few months ago and everything looked good.
When I exercise this never happens, only when I rest.
I still get a bit worried every time this happens and I dont know what it is.
Can someone please give me some advice? Does it have to do with my heart? Should I have more tests done?

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

In a young healthy person this is rarely significant.  If I saw a similar patient in my office I would probably order a 30 day event monitor to see what the heart is doing when you have the symptoms.  The most common reasons for this symptoms is premature beats from the lower chamber of your heart (premature ventricular contraction).  Premature atrial beats can cause similar symptoms.

They only way to know if it is related to a heart rhythm is to see the rhythm correlate with symptoms on a monitor.  If you are worried about it, it might be worth having more tests to help put your mind at ease.  The only way to know for sure is talk to your doctor.

I hope this helps.

[liza1990]

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