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715338 tn?1229867390

Skipped Heart Beats

Last night for the first time my heart "skipped a beat".  It was just before I was going to bed and it scared me.  It felt like a flutter and I somewhat lost my breath.  I had to cough to get my breath back.  It happened several times over the next hour.  The skipped beats and the feeling of breathlessness in my throat.  I felt my pulse several times over the hour and could feel the stopped beat.  Is this something that happens normally to alot of people or should I go see my doctor.  It did scare me pretty good.  

Any answers I could get to this question would greatly be appreciated to ease my mind.
Thanks so much.
10 Responses
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713386 tn?1235951442
You guys have really help reassure me thankyou sooo much its so hard to explain the symptons but you guys got it in one. What do pvc stand for cuz my doctor calls them eptopic beats?
They are so scarey, do any of you guys get a quick dizzy light headed spell with these? i do xxx
kind regards xxx
Helpful - 0
267401 tn?1251852496
I had wondered today if I'd had a couplet or triplet.  It was the weirdest feeling - I can only describe it as feeling like someone was dragging a stylus/needle over a record - that screechy noise.  But a feeling instead of a noise, and in my chest.

So I guess one really nice benefit of having this event monitor is that I recorded it, transmitted it, then fired a bunch of questions at the nurse who received it at the hospital.  I've been really fortunate to have a good many nurses receiving these recordings who are willing to give me explanations of what they're seeing.  In my case, on this recording, it was a flurry of 3 fast atria-initiated beats, jumping my rate from the 60's up to 116 for those three beats, then back to the 60's or 70's.  Not ever having had confirmation of having a couplet (and then knowing what it feels like when it happens), I would've sworn that was a couplet or triplet.  But it wasn't.  

So even if you've had years of PVC's (like I have) and it feels like a string of those same PVC's in a row, it may not be that at all.  

But for flutterby803, yours sound like simple PVC's to me.  Not couplets.  If you have a skipped beat after every heavy beat (beat -skip- pause -HEAVYBEAT-skip - pause - HEAVYBEAT) then you have bigeminy, which is less desirable than more widely spaced PVC's (and what I think you're referring to), but still not very dangerous.  I've had a few short runs of that myself.  It scores high on the personal freak-out meter, but usually doesn't impress the cardiologists.
Helpful - 0
764838 tn?1236876652
Scary, isn't it? I put a post up last week with similar issues. I'm healthy, eat right, exercise a lot (not as much recently, until I get a handle on this), and all of my tests have come back normal. Including my holter, which I was informed of today. Mine happened out of the blue and they are scary as hell, but everyone here is right - go to the doc, have them run tests, and more tests. Maybe they will find something - sometimes I wonder if finding something is better. At least you know. Most likely, as with me, as with a lot of people, they will find nothing. And as you can read with these posts, there are plenty of people suffering with the symptoms, but they are not dropping dead.

You will probably suffer from anxiety and stress over this too. I will not tell you to not stress - you will anyway, especially when they happen. Xanax helps me when I really start to worry. Its a crutch right now but whatever. I'm adjusting. I've also requested another stress test, so we'll see what happens with that.

Mine happen after I eat too much, or push myself too hard with exercise. Sometimes they happen just to freak me out. Thus I eat much smaller portions and try not to push myself. That said, I wonder about ties to my hiatal hernia, acid reflux and the whole vagal nerve thing. The stomach can put pressure on the diaphram and the diaphram somehow affects the nerve, which supposedly can affect the heart rhythm.

In short, you are not alone. Your best bet is to see the doc, get checked out - don't let them tell you its nothing without doing some tests. Then go from there.
Helpful - 0
177337 tn?1310059899
Please don't worry.  That is your worst enemy.  As for couplets..they are no more dangerous than a single pvc.  So DON"T WORRY.
see below .......
Frenchie

A couplet is when you have two PVC's in a row.   Like thump-thump-thump--trip trip PAUSE--thump-thump-thump.  A regular singleton PVC would be like thump-thump-thump-trip pause-thump-thump-thump.  

Couplets are no more dangerous then regular single PVC's and occur regularly in the population at large, but are most pronounced and noticed in those of us who are sensitive to the PVC's to begin with.

A triplet is just that....THREE PVC's in a row.  Feels kind of like your heart is tumbling over itself before it "resets."  Again, these are not dangerous in a structurally normal heart.

Hope this helps.  Please be at ease.... (and no a couplet is NOT the same as NSVT).

Helpful - 0
713386 tn?1235951442
Hi i am lee-anne 28 years old and have been getting the exact same symptoms for years and have got worse and more regular, i have been to cardiologyst who has reasurred me its nothing serious even though i almost faint when they are strong, i have lived in fear over these for so long they take over my life, it feels like my heart will just stop and i'll drop dead its so scarey but i have just been told its common eptopic beats where the heart has 2 beats to close together so it then takes longer for the next which gives that awful sensation. my heart also races at times 100's when resting and has even been 145 resting but i am still told my heart is healthy, i dont get it but i am a very anxious girl too.
See if your doc can help put your mind at rest or you will end up like me to afraid to go any where alone because i am sure something bad will happen to me Xxx
Helpful - 0
715338 tn?1229867390
Thanks so much for all your help.  I have an appt in the new year to see my doc on an unrelated issue so I will ask her then about what may be going on.  Thanks again your help has been greatly appreciated.

Happy Holidays
Helpful - 0
520292 tn?1232035850
A couplet is defined as 2 PvC's in a row, WITHOUT a normal beat in between.  From what you described it sounds like you do not have couplets.  If you get a pause and a thump, then have some normal beats after that, then you just had one PvC.  If you get a pause and a thump then BANG you feel another big thump, more than likely you just had a couplet.  Try checking your pulse and you will be able to feel if it is just one pause and thump or more than that.  Hopefully you feel the pause then thump and your pulse beats normal for at least a few beats in between. As long as you have some normal beats in between than more than likely your fine.  I throw over 5000 PvC's a day for a couple years now. Mine have remained 1 at a time and I am thankful for that.  Couplets are a little more risky because they give you a higher risk from your heart rhythm turning into V-Tach or heaven forbid V-Fib. If you have any more questions please ask!  Please go see a doctor to be sure that you are benign!!
Helpful - 0
715338 tn?1229867390
I was wondering if you could tell me what a couplet means.  Because the way mine happens is I have normal beats then I get the skipped beat, my heart then beats 2 or 3 times then I get another skipped beat, then it is normal for like 10 - 15 min after that.  Then it happens again with the same pattern.  
Helpful - 0
520292 tn?1232035850
You are having PVC's.  Go to your doctor and have your thyroid checked out.  Run a full blood health panel to check electrolyte levels, and then stick you on a holter monitor for 24 hours to see in fact that you are having them and they are not happening back to back or in couplets.  Couplets can mean a little more serious problem.  After that stick you on a treadmill test to see if they happen when your heart rate is elevated.  If all that is fine, then you have a benign condtion.  Most of the time they find it to be a benign condtion.  The doctor probably will not run all of these tests, but atleast run the blood work.

Jondsam (RN,BSN)
Helpful - 0
703870 tn?1273024642
What you experienced was a completely normal event. I have these sensations all the time, especially during the evening and just before bed time.  My first episodes really scared me as well, staring a vicious cycle 'fear'.  Try not to fear them as it can lead to a unpleasant path of fearing them, or ;when is the next skipped beat coming;.

If you have any doubt about your heart, It would be wise to set a doctors appt. and get it checked out for piece of mind.

Lots of things can trigger skipped beats, such as caffeine, nicotine, sugar, msg, aspartame, indigestion, acid reflux, hormones, pre menstrual, post menstrual, anxiety, depression, standing or crouching too fast., etc.  There is a long list, and it is different for everyone.  Try not to over emphasize or get stuck trying to self-diagnose yourself, and creating ;what ifs;.  

There are many different types of skipped beats, and 80% of them are a benign condition in a structurally normal heart without any underlying heart disease.  Perfectly normal in a healthy individual.. Hope this helps.  Zach
Helpful - 0
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