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Skipping many beats
I recently was diagnosed with an irregular heart beat. I haven't seen a cardiologist yet but my Dr. feels I am fine because I am an athletic and only 32. I also have two children so this is important to get another opinion. My heart skips constantly and it has only started (to my knowledge) a couple months ago. But I feel the flip flop and my pulse is skipping every other beat to every 30 beats. Once it was skipping 2 at once when I was cold. Tell me if this is just an irregular heart beat or should I be worried, cause I am and no one else is. What is normal with skipping beats and what is dangerous. Thanks for the insights....
Hi,
Your heart is not going to burst.
From the Mayo Clinic:
"Enlarged heart (cardiomegaly) is not a disease but a sign of an underlying problem. It can have many causes, including:
High blood pressure, Heart valve disorders, Weakness of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy), Severe anemia, Thyroid disorders, Excessive iron in the body (hemochromatosis), and Abnormal protein buildup in an organ (amyloidosis). In some people, an enlarged heart causes no signs or symptoms.
Others may experience: Breathing difficulties, Shortness of breath, Dizziness, Abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia), Swelling (edema).
Treatment is directed at the underlying cause of enlarged heart."
From another site: "Treatment for an enlarged heart can include medications (e.g., ACE inhibitors and beta blockers) to treat the condition itself, as well as treatment for any underlying conditions, such as high blood pressure or heart valve disorders. With proper treatment, the condition may be controlled or even reversed....."
Talk to your Doctor about your concerns. They may be treating you appropriately, but have not tried to explain how the treatment works for you.
Happy New Year.
Your heart is not going to burst.
From the Mayo Clinic:
"Enlarged heart (cardiomegaly) is not a disease but a sign of an underlying problem. It can have many causes, including:
High blood pressure, Heart valve disorders, Weakness of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy), Severe anemia, Thyroid disorders, Excessive iron in the body (hemochromatosis), and Abnormal protein buildup in an organ (amyloidosis). In some people, an enlarged heart causes no signs or symptoms.
Others may experience: Breathing difficulties, Shortness of breath, Dizziness, Abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia), Swelling (edema).
Treatment is directed at the underlying cause of enlarged heart."
From another site: "Treatment for an enlarged heart can include medications (e.g., ACE inhibitors and beta blockers) to treat the condition itself, as well as treatment for any underlying conditions, such as high blood pressure or heart valve disorders. With proper treatment, the condition may be controlled or even reversed....."
Talk to your Doctor about your concerns. They may be treating you appropriately, but have not tried to explain how the treatment works for you.
Happy New Year.
Hi Artaud,
Thanks for the quick reply. Domperidone is for my tummy. Doctor said my tummy also didn't contract as it should be (like my heart). Other than that, I use a very little amount of Metformin or Minidiab to control my blood sugar. Everything went into lazy mode.
Yes, the pacemaker and A-Fib.... My heart also has a slightly enlarged! When they saw my heart get fat, they still said OK! Their not OK which is the time my heart will get burst soon! Why can't they save it rather than let it burst?
Thanks for the quick reply. Domperidone is for my tummy. Doctor said my tummy also didn't contract as it should be (like my heart). Other than that, I use a very little amount of Metformin or Minidiab to control my blood sugar. Everything went into lazy mode.
Yes, the pacemaker and A-Fib.... My heart also has a slightly enlarged! When they saw my heart get fat, they still said OK! Their not OK which is the time my heart will get burst soon! Why can't they save it rather than let it burst?
Hi,
Exactly why are you taking Domperidone? For Nausea and Vomiting? Are you currently taking other medications as well?
Ordinarily, just having PVCs or PACs won't damage your heart. Is there something that you are concerned about that may cause your heart to be damaged?
I hope your Holiday went well.
Best of Health and Happiness.
Exactly why are you taking Domperidone? For Nausea and Vomiting? Are you currently taking other medications as well?
Ordinarily, just having PVCs or PACs won't damage your heart. Is there something that you are concerned about that may cause your heart to be damaged?
I hope your Holiday went well.
Best of Health and Happiness.
Hi Artaud, thanks for the explaination. Now I seem quite understand of my naughty heart. I read the website later on.
My doctor does not concern my heart at all. He said fine! Everythings looked OK! If he says not OK that's the time need surgery and badly damaged..... That is not what I wanted and waiting for till that stage! I hope he can help me to prevent those damages to develope to that stage. It is all I wanted but I receive NO HELP at all! (I have a normal structure heart.) I am not on cardic medication at all. But.. I 'm on Domperidone (to make my tummy contracted, my tummy got Sick Sinus Syndrome.)
How can I ask my heart or make them all contracted in the same time? Make sure it is not lazy and must be hard working... Please, do not want it over worked. Just want it to work perfect! Am I asking too much....?
Merry Christmas.
My doctor does not concern my heart at all. He said fine! Everythings looked OK! If he says not OK that's the time need surgery and badly damaged..... That is not what I wanted and waiting for till that stage! I hope he can help me to prevent those damages to develope to that stage. It is all I wanted but I receive NO HELP at all! (I have a normal structure heart.) I am not on cardic medication at all. But.. I 'm on Domperidone (to make my tummy contracted, my tummy got Sick Sinus Syndrome.)
How can I ask my heart or make them all contracted in the same time? Make sure it is not lazy and must be hard working... Please, do not want it over worked. Just want it to work perfect! Am I asking too much....?
Merry Christmas.
Hi,
There are many factors in determining problems with heart function. Often, in a Structurally Normal Heart, Arrhythmias are caused by irritated points on the heart causing it to beat when it should not have.
The heart has two upper chambers and two lower chambers. The upper chambers are known as the atria, and the lower chambers are the ventricles. The right side of the heart receives the blood back from the body into the right atrium, then when the atrium contracts the blood is sent to the right ventricle. When the right ventricle contracts, it sends the blood to the lungs. The left atrium receives the blood back from the lungs. When the left atrium contracts, the blood is sent to the left ventricle. When the left ventricle contracts, the blood is sent to the body. Of course, all this usually happens almost instantaneously and in a very coordinated manner. From the Cleveland Clinic, a link, hopefully one that the forum moderators will not object to.
http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartcenter/pub/guide/heartworks/bloodflow.htm
The heart has a conduction system designed to cause the heart to beat in a specific pattern. In the heart's atrial area (the top) is the SA Node (Sino Atrial Node), this is the heart's usual pacemaker and usually is the area responsible for the heart beating. Below that is the AV (Atrio Ventricular) Node, which receives its signal from the SA Node, causing the AV Node to discharge. The AV Node is responsible for causing the Ventricles to contract. If the SA Node begins to have problems, and even if it does not discharge, the AV Node will do it on its own. Pretty cool actually, kind of like a back-up system. The only problem is that the AV Node discharges at a slower rate than the SA Node, so a person so affected would have a very slow heart rate. (Other things can cause a slow heart rate as well).
Unfortunately, other cells on the heart can also cause it to beat. These usually often irritated areas on the heart that discharge unexpectedly and causes a premature beat. If the beat affects the Atria (top) of the heart, it is a Premature Atrial Contraction. If the beat affects the Ventricles (bottom of the heart), it is a Premature Ventricular Contraction.
PACs or PVCs are not necessarily impairment of the Atria or Ventricles per se, they are often just a random disorder of the heart beating at a time not initiated by the heart’s pacemaker.
On another note, during a Stress Echo-Cardiogram test, the functioning of the heart while at rest is compared with the functioning of the heart after performing the stress of walking on the treadmill. If there is a difference in the pattern of contractions after the test, this may indicate an impairment of the heart in some way not related to PACs or PVCs.
A structurally normal heart would be one without problems with the valves, arteries and veins on the heart, or without previous damage to the heart muscle itself (say from a heart attack that occurred sometime in the past) or without damage to the conduction system of the heart’s natural pacemaker. If all these things are ok, and you have problems with certain arrhythmias, they usually are benign, often caused by stress or by substances such as caffeine or cold medications or even by lack of sleep.
Does your Doctor see any need to be concerned? Are you on medication?
Best Wishes for the New Year, and:
Merry Christmas.
There are many factors in determining problems with heart function. Often, in a Structurally Normal Heart, Arrhythmias are caused by irritated points on the heart causing it to beat when it should not have.
The heart has two upper chambers and two lower chambers. The upper chambers are known as the atria, and the lower chambers are the ventricles. The right side of the heart receives the blood back from the body into the right atrium, then when the atrium contracts the blood is sent to the right ventricle. When the right ventricle contracts, it sends the blood to the lungs. The left atrium receives the blood back from the lungs. When the left atrium contracts, the blood is sent to the left ventricle. When the left ventricle contracts, the blood is sent to the body. Of course, all this usually happens almost instantaneously and in a very coordinated manner. From the Cleveland Clinic, a link, hopefully one that the forum moderators will not object to.
http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartcenter/pub/guide/heartworks/bloodflow.htm
The heart has a conduction system designed to cause the heart to beat in a specific pattern. In the heart's atrial area (the top) is the SA Node (Sino Atrial Node), this is the heart's usual pacemaker and usually is the area responsible for the heart beating. Below that is the AV (Atrio Ventricular) Node, which receives its signal from the SA Node, causing the AV Node to discharge. The AV Node is responsible for causing the Ventricles to contract. If the SA Node begins to have problems, and even if it does not discharge, the AV Node will do it on its own. Pretty cool actually, kind of like a back-up system. The only problem is that the AV Node discharges at a slower rate than the SA Node, so a person so affected would have a very slow heart rate. (Other things can cause a slow heart rate as well).
Unfortunately, other cells on the heart can also cause it to beat. These usually often irritated areas on the heart that discharge unexpectedly and causes a premature beat. If the beat affects the Atria (top) of the heart, it is a Premature Atrial Contraction. If the beat affects the Ventricles (bottom of the heart), it is a Premature Ventricular Contraction.
PACs or PVCs are not necessarily impairment of the Atria or Ventricles per se, they are often just a random disorder of the heart beating at a time not initiated by the heart’s pacemaker.
On another note, during a Stress Echo-Cardiogram test, the functioning of the heart while at rest is compared with the functioning of the heart after performing the stress of walking on the treadmill. If there is a difference in the pattern of contractions after the test, this may indicate an impairment of the heart in some way not related to PACs or PVCs.
A structurally normal heart would be one without problems with the valves, arteries and veins on the heart, or without previous damage to the heart muscle itself (say from a heart attack that occurred sometime in the past) or without damage to the conduction system of the heart’s natural pacemaker. If all these things are ok, and you have problems with certain arrhythmias, they usually are benign, often caused by stress or by substances such as caffeine or cold medications or even by lack of sleep.
Does your Doctor see any need to be concerned? Are you on medication?
Best Wishes for the New Year, and:
Merry Christmas.
The Dr said my heart didn't contract as it should be.... Sound like PVC or PAC, is that right?
If you have PVC, it sound like the Atrial is impaired. If you have PAC, sound like the Ventricle is impaired? The Dr said, the heart should be contracted in the same time. I am not sure is right and left or/and upper and lower.
Is PAC/PVC heart considered as a normal structure heart? I'm still not very clear of "normal structure heart" meant by?
Thanks.
Merry Christmas.
If you have PVC, it sound like the Atrial is impaired. If you have PAC, sound like the Ventricle is impaired? The Dr said, the heart should be contracted in the same time. I am not sure is right and left or/and upper and lower.
Is PAC/PVC heart considered as a normal structure heart? I'm still not very clear of "normal structure heart" meant by?
Thanks.
Merry Christmas.
Hi,
What is normal?
Good question. First, have you been seen “recently” by your Doctor concerning this specific concern? If you have, did the Doctor do an in-office EKG?
If you have not recently seen your Doctor, please do so. If he/she has not done an EKG, ask them if they would do one to reassure you that all is well. If possible, ask the Doctor if he/she would have you fitted with a Holter Monitor to so that your heart's performance over a 24 hour period can be recorded and analyzed.
If you had these tests, and the Doctor feels that you are fine, allow me to reassure you that some arrhythmias are quite common. Often, the flip-flop or skipping you are referring to is known as a PVC (Premature Ventricular Contraction), in other words, the bottom of your heart, the ventricles, beats before they were supposed to. We seldom feel this early beat. After the early beat, the heart pauses (called a compensatory pause) while waiting for the time for the normal heart beat to occur again. This pause is not very long, but during it the heart ventricles fill with a little more blood than normal. Nothing to worry about, but when the heart beats again, the extra effort to eject the additional blood can be felt as a bang in the chest.
Sometimes the heart gets into a pattern of these skipped beats. If you imagine that the small x is the normal beat and the large X is the skipped beats, here are how some of the patterns can occur.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxX is called Bigeminy. The PVC occurs every other beat.
xxXxxXxxXxxXxxX is called Trigeminy. The PVC occurs every third beat.
xxxXxxxXxxxXxxxxX is called Quadrigeminy, the PVC occurs every forth beat.
For the last year or so, I was experiencing PVCs at about 600 or more per day. During that time, I would sometimes get into a Trigeminy Beat for hours at a time. I have had testing done over the last year or so, 3 Holters, one 30 Day Event Monitor, and a recent Cardiolite Stress Test. All, so far, have been ok. With the Cardiologist knowing that the results of these tests were normal, he felt that the Trigeminy was nothing to be worried about. I also visited my Family Doctor, and he also felt that the Trigeminy and PVCs that I was having at the time were nothing to be worried about. Both attributed the arrhythmia to stress.
Does your skipping beats go on for the entire day, all day, or do they come and go in episodes? Can you feel the skipping in your chest, or did you become aware of it from your pulse?
Some of the people on this forum have more than 10,000 PVCs per day. Others have been in a Bigeminy or Trigeminy pattern for days at a time. The presence of the arrhythmia is not necessarily an indication that something serious is wrong, but some testing by your Doctor should be considered, and a visit to the Cardiologist is an option if you still have concerns after talking with your Doctor.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I wish health and Happiness for you and your family.
What is normal?
Good question. First, have you been seen “recently” by your Doctor concerning this specific concern? If you have, did the Doctor do an in-office EKG?
If you have not recently seen your Doctor, please do so. If he/she has not done an EKG, ask them if they would do one to reassure you that all is well. If possible, ask the Doctor if he/she would have you fitted with a Holter Monitor to so that your heart's performance over a 24 hour period can be recorded and analyzed.
If you had these tests, and the Doctor feels that you are fine, allow me to reassure you that some arrhythmias are quite common. Often, the flip-flop or skipping you are referring to is known as a PVC (Premature Ventricular Contraction), in other words, the bottom of your heart, the ventricles, beats before they were supposed to. We seldom feel this early beat. After the early beat, the heart pauses (called a compensatory pause) while waiting for the time for the normal heart beat to occur again. This pause is not very long, but during it the heart ventricles fill with a little more blood than normal. Nothing to worry about, but when the heart beats again, the extra effort to eject the additional blood can be felt as a bang in the chest.
Sometimes the heart gets into a pattern of these skipped beats. If you imagine that the small x is the normal beat and the large X is the skipped beats, here are how some of the patterns can occur.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxX is called Bigeminy. The PVC occurs every other beat.
xxXxxXxxXxxXxxX is called Trigeminy. The PVC occurs every third beat.
xxxXxxxXxxxXxxxxX is called Quadrigeminy, the PVC occurs every forth beat.
For the last year or so, I was experiencing PVCs at about 600 or more per day. During that time, I would sometimes get into a Trigeminy Beat for hours at a time. I have had testing done over the last year or so, 3 Holters, one 30 Day Event Monitor, and a recent Cardiolite Stress Test. All, so far, have been ok. With the Cardiologist knowing that the results of these tests were normal, he felt that the Trigeminy was nothing to be worried about. I also visited my Family Doctor, and he also felt that the Trigeminy and PVCs that I was having at the time were nothing to be worried about. Both attributed the arrhythmia to stress.
Does your skipping beats go on for the entire day, all day, or do they come and go in episodes? Can you feel the skipping in your chest, or did you become aware of it from your pulse?
Some of the people on this forum have more than 10,000 PVCs per day. Others have been in a Bigeminy or Trigeminy pattern for days at a time. The presence of the arrhythmia is not necessarily an indication that something serious is wrong, but some testing by your Doctor should be considered, and a visit to the Cardiologist is an option if you still have concerns after talking with your Doctor.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I wish health and Happiness for you and your family.
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