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Persistent palpitations

Hi I'm Sam Lucania. I am a male 20 year and I like to think I am relatively healthy. However, being  a college student, I have had my share of drinking binges. Previous to what I'm about to tell you, I have had no heart related issues, other than a couple of instances when my heart began to race with out reason after I did a physical activity out in the Texas heat, which seems to be a normal occurrence. However about 7 months ago, after driving 8 hours from Memphis I went out drinking with friends. I was not drunk but I had a few drinks. I was worried about my girl friend at the time because she was very drunk and 8 hours away from me. My heart began to have normal nervous palpitations, and then kicked into a new gear while I was with friends. I freaked out and left the house I was at and when home and went to sleep hoping that that would cure it, which it didn't. I had palpitations all day where I could feel every single beat my heart made and it felt like I had something sitting in the middle of my chest. 5 days later when it didn't stop I went to a cardiologist, got a chest  X-ray, and EKG,blood work and it all came back normal. I wore a monitor for 24 hours and it came back normal as well. I have my "episodes" in the evening to the later part of the night on most days and it has even kept me up until 4 in the morning on occasions, mainly because I'm scared to go to sleep. I usually work out regularly but since this has started my work out schedule has been erratic to say the least due to the palpitations. Occasionally I feel moderately lightheaded and have been experiencing hot flashes recently. I have no idea if this is even related but I'm just trying to pinpoint what is going on. Could this because be a form of cancer (my family has a history of colorectal cancer) or is this heart related? If so, what would be your best guess on what this is?
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Avatar universal
Thank you that helped a lot!
Helpful - 0
257552 tn?1404602554
I've had Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs) and Premature Atrial Contractions (PACs) on and off, over the years, for nearly 40 years.

For this reason, I can't:

Smoke, drink alcohol, consume drinks or foods with caffeine (i.e. no coffee or chocolate), take certain cold medications or recreational drugs, drink or eat energy drinks or bars, go without sleep, and a bunch of other things. Sure, my doctor says my problems are benign, but I dislike the rhythm disturbances more than I like the things I listed.

I would suggest you avoid those substances as well. The following sites helped calm me a lot about premature beats, give them a look over.

http://www.drjohnm.org/2013/06/benign-pvcs-a-heart-rhythm-doctors-approach/

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/0215/p743.html

Did the doctor identify what you are feeling on the Holter or EKG?

It's very common for people to have premature beats, most are unaware that they're having them. I'd keep in touch with your doctor if you have new symptoms. If they have not captured your symptoms on a monitor, a longer session with a Holter or an event monitor may be an option.
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