Aa
Looking for a direction to go in
Hello, this is my first post here so I guess I'll start with some background. Forgive me for the length, but I have been dealing with this for awhile and just found this site today, so there is a little to tell...
I am 28, and other than this one nagging issue, consider myself to be in good health. I eat well and exercise fairly regularly. Beginning in my early 20's, I started to experience what I could best describe as a flutter, or "catch" type feeling in my upper chest area. It only lasted for a brief moment, and wasn't associated with any other symptoms. It began as a rare occurence, only happening once in awhile. I looked up some information online, and found that this feeling was commonly associated with a heart palpitation. I didn't really know what that meant, so I went to my doctor. He told me it was normal, and since I was having no other symptoms I didn't have to worry about it. At this point in my life, I was consuming a lot of caffeine and was not on a normal sleep pattern. I was also somewhat overweight and did not get much exercise.
A few years passed, and I experienced the same feeling randomly throughout them. One day, while driving, I felt something similar in my chest, though it was different this time, in that it seemed to last longer. I pulled over and felt my pulse, and my heart was beating very erratically. It sped up to a very high rate and also skipped beats. I was in a cold sweat, felt like I was losing control / having a heart attack. I got out of my car and went up to a random house and asked them to call 911. While sitting in this strangers house, I calmed down a little, though I still felt very strange and my chest still felt very strange. I went to the hospital and had an EKG which turned out normal. They told me what I had most likely experienced was a panic attack. I was released and informed to go to my doctor and tell him what happened. I was 23 at this point.
After speaking with my doctor, I was referred to a cardiologist for a stress test, which revealed nothing wrong with my heart. I decided to change my lifestyle at this point, and started exercising regularly, gave up unhealthy foods, coffee, and just tried to live healthier in general. Over the next few years, I lost some weight and stuck with the healthy lifestyle thing, but also had a few more episodes similar to what the doctors called a panic attack. Overall, I had perhaps 5 of them, in various time intervals. I'd go a year without having one, and then have 2 within a few weeks. The symptoms were always the same...feeling of impending doom, rapid heart rate, palpitations, followed by a trip to the emergency room or EMT's called and a diagnosis of panic attack. My doctor wanted to put me on Paxil, which I refused. I have an aversion to prescription medication, especially ones that deal in depression / anxiety, and believe that if I do have an issue with this (which I'm still not totally convinced of), then I should figure out what the cause is and not try to medicate it away. I've also known people who took Paxil, and they had bad experiences with it.
Fast forward to today. I have not had one of these episodes in around 2 and a half years. In that time, I have lost close to 50 pounds and keep up a healthy lifestyle. I have not had coffee since I gave it up after my first episode. I do still consume tea, though not very much of it. In that time, I have still had the random "flutter" that I first described. I have been able to catch it while feeling my pulse, and it does coincide with my heart skipping a beat. It seemed to come and go, I'd not feel it for weeks, even months, and then it would come back and stick around for a period of time, and then vanish again.
Lately, and this is the reason for my post in the first place, it has been happening way more frequently. It started about 2 months ago, where I began to notice it multiple times a day. I went to the doctor, and did a halter monitor test. Naturally the day I wore the monitor, I experienced no palpitations. The test came back normal, no underlying electrical problems, I was told. He said to come back in if it gets any worse. Around a week ago, I had a day where I had this feeling once every 10 minutes or so. Sometimes it would be strong enough make me cough, sometimes I would just feel a slight weirdness for a second. Feeling my pulse though, it always coincided with my heart skipping a beat. Its been basically the same since then, happens frequently throughout the day (has happened a few times while I wrote this). I went to the doctor again, and this time he wants to put me on a blood pressure med (Bystolic), which might help regulate my heartbeat he says, but if it does not he wants me to go on some other anxiety med, which I still have a big aversion to.
Basically, I just want to know what the deal is with my heart. Why is it skipping beats? To me, I can't just accept this as something I'm just going to have to live with. I am a healthy person. I certainly don't feel stressed or anxious about anything (besides these people telling me I have an anxiety problem, at least...). I would like to avoid taking medication if at all possible, but it is starting to disrupt my life. What should I do?
Thank you!
-Luke Wolfroma
I am 28, and other than this one nagging issue, consider myself to be in good health. I eat well and exercise fairly regularly. Beginning in my early 20's, I started to experience what I could best describe as a flutter, or "catch" type feeling in my upper chest area. It only lasted for a brief moment, and wasn't associated with any other symptoms. It began as a rare occurence, only happening once in awhile. I looked up some information online, and found that this feeling was commonly associated with a heart palpitation. I didn't really know what that meant, so I went to my doctor. He told me it was normal, and since I was having no other symptoms I didn't have to worry about it. At this point in my life, I was consuming a lot of caffeine and was not on a normal sleep pattern. I was also somewhat overweight and did not get much exercise.
A few years passed, and I experienced the same feeling randomly throughout them. One day, while driving, I felt something similar in my chest, though it was different this time, in that it seemed to last longer. I pulled over and felt my pulse, and my heart was beating very erratically. It sped up to a very high rate and also skipped beats. I was in a cold sweat, felt like I was losing control / having a heart attack. I got out of my car and went up to a random house and asked them to call 911. While sitting in this strangers house, I calmed down a little, though I still felt very strange and my chest still felt very strange. I went to the hospital and had an EKG which turned out normal. They told me what I had most likely experienced was a panic attack. I was released and informed to go to my doctor and tell him what happened. I was 23 at this point.
After speaking with my doctor, I was referred to a cardiologist for a stress test, which revealed nothing wrong with my heart. I decided to change my lifestyle at this point, and started exercising regularly, gave up unhealthy foods, coffee, and just tried to live healthier in general. Over the next few years, I lost some weight and stuck with the healthy lifestyle thing, but also had a few more episodes similar to what the doctors called a panic attack. Overall, I had perhaps 5 of them, in various time intervals. I'd go a year without having one, and then have 2 within a few weeks. The symptoms were always the same...feeling of impending doom, rapid heart rate, palpitations, followed by a trip to the emergency room or EMT's called and a diagnosis of panic attack. My doctor wanted to put me on Paxil, which I refused. I have an aversion to prescription medication, especially ones that deal in depression / anxiety, and believe that if I do have an issue with this (which I'm still not totally convinced of), then I should figure out what the cause is and not try to medicate it away. I've also known people who took Paxil, and they had bad experiences with it.
Fast forward to today. I have not had one of these episodes in around 2 and a half years. In that time, I have lost close to 50 pounds and keep up a healthy lifestyle. I have not had coffee since I gave it up after my first episode. I do still consume tea, though not very much of it. In that time, I have still had the random "flutter" that I first described. I have been able to catch it while feeling my pulse, and it does coincide with my heart skipping a beat. It seemed to come and go, I'd not feel it for weeks, even months, and then it would come back and stick around for a period of time, and then vanish again.
Lately, and this is the reason for my post in the first place, it has been happening way more frequently. It started about 2 months ago, where I began to notice it multiple times a day. I went to the doctor, and did a halter monitor test. Naturally the day I wore the monitor, I experienced no palpitations. The test came back normal, no underlying electrical problems, I was told. He said to come back in if it gets any worse. Around a week ago, I had a day where I had this feeling once every 10 minutes or so. Sometimes it would be strong enough make me cough, sometimes I would just feel a slight weirdness for a second. Feeling my pulse though, it always coincided with my heart skipping a beat. Its been basically the same since then, happens frequently throughout the day (has happened a few times while I wrote this). I went to the doctor again, and this time he wants to put me on a blood pressure med (Bystolic), which might help regulate my heartbeat he says, but if it does not he wants me to go on some other anxiety med, which I still have a big aversion to.
Basically, I just want to know what the deal is with my heart. Why is it skipping beats? To me, I can't just accept this as something I'm just going to have to live with. I am a healthy person. I certainly don't feel stressed or anxious about anything (besides these people telling me I have an anxiety problem, at least...). I would like to avoid taking medication if at all possible, but it is starting to disrupt my life. What should I do?
Thank you!
-Luke Wolfroma
I haven't noticed a connection with eating and experiencing the symptoms, but I will pay closer attention. It really just seems to be a random occurence.
Luke,
I have similar symptoms, but they only occur within thirty minutes of either eating spicy food or stuffing myself. Do your symptoms correlate with eating? My doc is convinced I have acid reflux that somehow stimulates my vagal nerve to cause the irregular hear rate. I am currently wearing a 30 day event monitor and actually captured an episode on day 3. I called it in and the tech immediately told me that I had some skipped beats but nothing dangerous. I too think you should ask your doc to give you the 30 day monitor. As a previous poster told you it is more than likely benign and to confirm that will give you peace of mind.
I have similar symptoms, but they only occur within thirty minutes of either eating spicy food or stuffing myself. Do your symptoms correlate with eating? My doc is convinced I have acid reflux that somehow stimulates my vagal nerve to cause the irregular hear rate. I am currently wearing a 30 day event monitor and actually captured an episode on day 3. I called it in and the tech immediately told me that I had some skipped beats but nothing dangerous. I too think you should ask your doc to give you the 30 day monitor. As a previous poster told you it is more than likely benign and to confirm that will give you peace of mind.
Hey Luke! I experience the same exact sensations you do with your heart. I've had these since I was about 20, and I'm 32 now. They do seem to come and go throughout the years. They seem to be worse for me when I tend to stray off the path of a healthly lifestyle and feel guilty about it. This tends to make me anxious and aware of bodily functions to a point were I induce panic sometimes. I have just recently 'the past 6 months' started to expereince panic attacks assosicated with being irrational about my how fast or irregular my heart is beating. I just get myself all worked up to a point were I scare myself half to death. Luckily I have been able to control these much better with some major changes in lifestyle, quit smoking & eating poorly, less alchohol, etc.etc.etc. The same changes up probably made some years ago from your first post. I wish sometimes they would go away and never come back, but I think this is not going to be the case. :( I guess the key is to accept this was how we were made, it's not life threatening in a structurally normal and disease free heart, and we have to manage our stress and anxiety levels to combat the symtoms of these uncomfortable sensations. I wish you luck on your journey as there are any of us here in the same shoes. There are many great individuals here that will help at a moments notice! Zach
Hello...
Holter monitors are not the best at capturing problems that are isolated, since this is typically worn for 24-48 hours. A better diagnostic tool to aid in determining what is happening would be an event monitor. These are usually given for 30 days which would probably yield a greater success of catching and diagnosing the issue.
Based on your description of symptoms, it is most likely the result of a premature beat originating from either the Atria (PAC) or the Ventricles (PVC).
You said that you had been through cardiac testing in the past that ruled out anything wrong with your heart. If this is the case, than these "skipped" beats would be considered a benign problem. Sometimes there are no clear answers as to why they occur. If you have made lifestyle changes, for the better, and they are still occuring...it will come down to you learning to live with them or start taking some form of medication to reduce symptoms.
Medications are generally an empiric approach to treatment. What medications work for one may not work for someone else. It usually is a trial by error. Sometimes when medication is used to treat symptoms, you may be left with symptoms of medication side effects. It can be a double edged sword. I tend to look at it as "pick your poisen" or what's worse? Symptoms of skipped beat or side effects of medication...tends to be a tough choice.
I do hope that you find the answers you are looking for:)
Holter monitors are not the best at capturing problems that are isolated, since this is typically worn for 24-48 hours. A better diagnostic tool to aid in determining what is happening would be an event monitor. These are usually given for 30 days which would probably yield a greater success of catching and diagnosing the issue.
Based on your description of symptoms, it is most likely the result of a premature beat originating from either the Atria (PAC) or the Ventricles (PVC).
You said that you had been through cardiac testing in the past that ruled out anything wrong with your heart. If this is the case, than these "skipped" beats would be considered a benign problem. Sometimes there are no clear answers as to why they occur. If you have made lifestyle changes, for the better, and they are still occuring...it will come down to you learning to live with them or start taking some form of medication to reduce symptoms.
Medications are generally an empiric approach to treatment. What medications work for one may not work for someone else. It usually is a trial by error. Sometimes when medication is used to treat symptoms, you may be left with symptoms of medication side effects. It can be a double edged sword. I tend to look at it as "pick your poisen" or what's worse? Symptoms of skipped beat or side effects of medication...tends to be a tough choice.
I do hope that you find the answers you are looking for:)
My BP was slightly high the last time I went to the doctor, but I have never had a problem with it.
Resting HR is 65-70 on average.
The only time I have been on a monitor (halter monitor?) was a month or so ago. I had no problems that day, and the test came back "completely normal".
The 'episode' that I described has not happened for over 2 years. What I am experiencing now is the skipped beat / 'catch' / 'flutter' feeling in my chest when it happens. I have no other symptoms.
Resting HR is 65-70 on average.
The only time I have been on a monitor (halter monitor?) was a month or so ago. I had no problems that day, and the test came back "completely normal".
The 'episode' that I described has not happened for over 2 years. What I am experiencing now is the skipped beat / 'catch' / 'flutter' feeling in my chest when it happens. I have no other symptoms.
COMMUNITY LEADER
You didn't mention high blood pressure, so I assume you don't have that problem. You didn't give any "normal" HR numbers, but from you self-description I'd expect your rest rate to be below 70 bpm, right?
Sorry if I overlooked, but I don't recall you saying you were ever on a monitor when you had one of your episodes. That being the case, you doctor may be willing to put on a 24/7 monitor that is connected by wireless or by data set when you connect via wireline telephone. I wore one for a couple of weeks a few months back when my electro-physiologist (also cardiologist) put me on a very strong dose of Rythmol SR. This was to try to convert my AFib... didn't work. I mention only in that you may be able to get a recording of one or more of your episodes on a "2-point" EKG. I also suggest trying some medications, they may help and also help establish what is wrong. Some of this is just "practice", i.e., trial-and-error.
Sorry if I overlooked, but I don't recall you saying you were ever on a monitor when you had one of your episodes. That being the case, you doctor may be willing to put on a 24/7 monitor that is connected by wireless or by data set when you connect via wireline telephone. I wore one for a couple of weeks a few months back when my electro-physiologist (also cardiologist) put me on a very strong dose of Rythmol SR. This was to try to convert my AFib... didn't work. I mention only in that you may be able to get a recording of one or more of your episodes on a "2-point" EKG. I also suggest trying some medications, they may help and also help establish what is wrong. Some of this is just "practice", i.e., trial-and-error.
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