***Welcome to the Palpitations Room***

[dannyMH]

Dear to all Heart Rhythm Community
I am trying to come up with a list of "What causes your palpitations?"

Okay here's mine:
- Lack of sleep/rest
- Not enough water
- Caffein
- Anxiety
- Bending down position to stand up position

Your list would might help others realize that they are not alone, so please feel free to add in.

Life is good, so lets all enjoy it by living healthy.
Cheers!

[Artaud]

Since this post started in 2008, I figured I would tally the triggers that people feel responsible for any heart rhythm issues.

This data was extracted from 34 Comments pertaining to the Trigger for Heart Rhythm Issues.

Stress and Anxiety Related
Stress (13)
Stress from PVCs/Palpitations/Higher HR causes me to have more PVCs/Higher HR (7)
Severe Stress
Stress / Public Speaking / Doctor Visit
Stress, Being Up-Tight and Worried Over Things

Anxiety (7)
Anxiety Attack (1)

Nervousness (4)
Big Emotional Events (Excitement), Good or Bad (3)
Crying (Sobbing) (2)
Painful Feelings (2)
Conversion Disorder (1)
Obsessing About Body, Mainly Heart
Taking My Pulse for Checking Purposes
Reading this Forum
Fighting or Disagreements With Spouse
Anything Medical
Upset
Competition
Being Startled
Fear
Anger

Sleep Related
Lack of Sleep (11)
Not Enough Rest (1)
While Asleep (1)
Insomnia
Being Tired

Positional
Bending Over (8)
Twisting In Certain Positions (4)
Raising Hands / Arms above Head (4)
Lying Down (3)
Laying On Side (2)
Yoga Positions (2)
Bending Down Position to Stand Up Position
Picking Up Something from a Table
Pulling Out A Drawer
Opening the Front Door
Jumping
Not Sitting with a Straight Back
Sometimes Leaning Over
Lying Down
Lying Down To Go To Sleep
Sleeping With my Arms above my Head
Some Sexual Positions
Crouching Position

Dehydration or Inadequate Hydration
Dehydration (4)
Not Enough Water (2)
Too Much Water

Caffeine
Caffeine (9)

Alcohol
Alcohol (8)
Certain Beers, Wines
Tequila

Foods
Chocolate (4)
Msg (3)
Sugar (3)
Spicy Foods (3)
Sodas (2)
Eating Too Many Carbs  
Cilantro
Heavy Tabasco
Red Bull
Decaf Products
Ginger
Licorice
Soy Sauce
Autolyzed Yeast
Diet Soda W/Artificial Sweeteners
Tea
Eating Ice Cream
Drinking Cold Beverages
Carbonated Beverages
White Foods Bread Pasta
Drinking Grape Juice
Greasy Food
Salty Foods

Medication Related
Prednisone
Epinephrine
Cold Medicines
Medication
Albuterol

Electrolytes
Low Magnesium and/or Potassium
Not Enough Magnesium
Too Much Sodium

Hormones and Blood Chemistry
Hormones (3)
Hormone Changes/Menstral Cycle (3)
Hypoglycemia (2)
Thyroid Disease out of Whack, Either Hypo or Hyper
PMS
PMC
Adrenaline Rush

Ambient Temperatures
Cold Temperatures (2)
Extreme Heat or Extreme Cold
Overheating/Heat Stress (Big Trigger for Me)
Hot Weather
Overheating Myself
Higher Heart Rate when in Hot Shower

Pain and Fever
Severe Pain
Fever

Exercise and Activity
Exercise / Sometimes / Too much (3)
Over Exercising/Exhaustion (2)
Sex (2)
Walking Up Hills or Flight of Stairs
Too Fast Cycling
Yard Work
Walking In Cold, Windy Weather
Swinging an Ax
Not Enough Exercise
Exercise Occasionally
Jogging

GI Tract Related
Not Eating (at all / enough) (4)
Overeating (4)
Gerd (3)
Eating (3)
After Eating (2)
Uncontrolled Gerd
Vomiting
Food and/or Eating
Hiatal Hernia
Indigestion
Bending Down After I Eat
Drinking Lots of Water and Then Slouching In a Chair or Lying Down
Being In a Reclining Position after Eating
Drinking Any Liquid Quickly
Having to defecate
Gas Buildup/Burps

Noise and Light
Loud Concerts
Bass Sounds
Noise Screaming Babies
Car Signal Lights

Breathing Related
Laughing (4)
Breathing In Deeply (4)
Coughing / Sneezing

Miscellaneous
Out Of The Blue (6)
Waking Up and Just Being Still
Being Woken Up
Higher in Morning
Heart Beats Hard In Morning
Idiopathic
Random During the Day
Smoke Fumes
Vagus Nerve (2)
Jet Lag
Cigarette Smoke
Fatigue / Tiredness
Physical Stress
Flu Season

[FRSTRD]

These are some of my triggers (which seem to be more of the same that I've seen here on the forum):   BENDING OVER, especially while getting my clothes out of the dryer.  EXTREMELY PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, could be any activity that gets your heartrate going good.  LYING DOWN OR LYING ON LEFT SIDE.  This is a sometimes.  EXTREME HEAT OR EXTREME COLD.  When it's the cold, I usually start shivering, then the palps will follow.  TEA.  I really cannot figure this one out because tea has less caffiene than coffee and the coffee rarely ever gives me any symptoms.  NERVOUSNESS OR ANXIETY.  Big trigger.  BEING WOKE UP.  Doesn't matter if by a person or a noise or whatever.  If I am awakened by anything other than my bodies own alarm clock, then it is almost a sure bet, I will have a rapid heart rate that will take FOREVER to go down.  Hours, usually.  

[SwanSong]

Amazing, that was censored. Okay, no problem, the guy was the creepiest and scariest man I have ever met.

[SwanSong]

My list in order of worst offender to least offender:
Nightmares about my father's abuse (********* and sociopath)
Insomnia
Lack of sleep (needing 7 1/2 hours and only getting 6 hours)
Not enough magnesium
Thyroid disease out of whack, either hypo or hyper
Too much exercise
Too fast cycling
Stress

[LindaTX]

I still think the Vagus Nerve has a lot to do with creating ...or a least affecting or influencing arrhythmias.

[jamie455]

Has anyone heard of the multitude of "Dysuatonomias" out there?  There are different types, and not enough is know about some of them, but many on this post are fitting the description of one type of dysautonomia or another.  I got mine post viral.  It is time for these conditions to be taken seriously, as they cause significant disability and distress for many affected.

[demps123]

oh also time of the month can sometimes set it off, usually the week before i am due. Odd really.
and if i have a cold bug.

[demps123]

well my list would be:
*being tired
*stress
*having more then 2 glasses of alcohol
*sometimes exercise
*walking up hills or flight of stairs (try to avoid)

Hopefully my ablation in September will do the trick and get rid of my extra pathway. fingers crossed.

[MaryLL]

I really love this site as it reminds me that AFib is a "one size doesn't fit all". Sometimes I can't pinpoint why I have an episode but some of the triggers i know are:
Caffeine
Diet soda w/artifical sweeteners
Alcohol
Too much sodium
Not enough rest
Stress
Stuffing painful feelings
Trauma or death anniversary dates
Doing lots of weed pulling in the yard
For some reason, I often have them when I lie down to sleep or wake in the middle of a nap with them
Not taking my meds at the same time each day
and after reading this, I am wondering about hot weather? We have so little hot weather in Seattle but I often get them when it is a hot day.
When I get to the ER or the Urgent Care, I am often dehydrated.
With AFIB it's critical that we take good care of ourselves I'm learning. Have others found this too?

[fargon]

I have much to say that may help all of you.  My journey has been this, I started having palpitations like 10 years ago or so.  I definately get major physiological reactions to my environment.  Anxiety attacks, heart rate increasing etc.  I am tall and thin and I think I'm a bit deficient for one reason or another nutritionally.  I have been putting this puzzle together for many years and where I'm at right now is this.  I have many of the same triggers as all of you anxiety, stress, food, positions, breathing, hormones etc the list goes on.  I feel that the reason the heart rate goes out of rhythm is deficiency in key minerals that help regulate heart rate.  It explains many of the symptoms and triggers.  Now I know this isn't true for everyone some people have heart abnormalities, genetic stuff but I think for a lot of us it's a touchy mineral/electrolyte balance in our bodies.  Many many things have taught me this and I think I may have begun to get this rollercoaster ride under control a bit.   I did all this crazy stuff to myself that exacerbated the problem but in doing so it showed me what was happening I think.  Like I said I've always had palpitations for many years but about a year ago I started to do something called The ****** Therapy.  This is when you drink a lot of freshly juiced juices and do coffee enemas and it's supposed to heal everything under the sun as well as cancer.  So because i have had many health issues i thought i'd try it.  What it did was pull tons and tons of water out of my body daily.  The juices and coffee enemas created a powerful diuretic effect and I was peeing all the time.  I did this for almost a year and things got really bad for me, my palpitations went from frequent and occasional to daily to hourly to every five minutes it seemed.  Everything would throw my heart rhythm out, bending over, walking, absolutely anything that altered my heart rate in any way caused irregular beats.  I was terrified.  Then it got worse, i started to go into a fib when i would walk up gradual hills, or sweat.  If any of you have ever gone into a fib it makes a palpitation look like a walk in the park.  Terrifying, this started happening daily, my heart would start to malfunction then it would speed up to a shockingly high rate and my breathing would go crazy.  I was at my wits end, I had been to the hospital, had ECG, blood tests, ultrasound, holter monitor, all "normal" I felt totally alone.  Then i went onto a forum and a lady was saying she was having the same symptoms she said she started taking magnesium and the symptoms that were nearly out of control, daily and horrific simply stopped (like right away!) so of course i went right out and bought myself a ten dollar bottle of magnesium citrate.  The day I started taking the magnesium I was feeling 60% better which was astounding.  It's now been about two months things have been getting steadily better.   I haven't had another a fib episode, the palpitations I get are nowhere near as frequent or severe.  I feel like how I used to feel yes get the occasional palpitation but I am no longer constantly feeling like I need to go to the hospital.  So I have concluded, that I took an already deficient body and then with my crazy detoxing diuretic diet I did pulled like crazy tons of minerals out of my body and it created an exaggerated mineral electrolyte imbalance.  Even now it's touchy I have to be so careful to drink enough water, take magnesium, and a mineral supplement (potassium has a lot to do with heart rate too heck they all do) if I get at all dehydrated my heart lets me know promptly but also if I don't have enough sodium my heart get's weird, if I have too much sodium it gets weird.  But if I keep up with lots of water, the supplements and have not to little or too much sodium I feel almost completely  normal!!!!  You guys too may have mineral imbalances definately try the magnesium right off the bat.  But you lose tons of minerals in urine, sweat, hot baths, etc.  If you already have a slight deficiency then it makes sense that anything you do to further pull minerals out ie, caffeine (which is a strong diuretic) alcohol, exercise, sugar.  Also eating too many carbs or grains suck up water in the body and cause dehydration, your body and heart need proper water, mineral and electrolyte balance to function properly. It's electrical activity and it's very touchy if it somehow gets out of balance.  The triggers your describing, the heart should be able to handle stress, and blood pressure changes, positions etc without going out of rhythm.  I think it's the imbalance that keeps your heart from acting normally when it's under any change.  For the most part I can do things without worrying now that my heart will start malfunctioning.  I mean even changing my body temp would cause palpitations not so anymore.  We all have different reasons most likely for the deficiencies for me I think I may have something called diabetes insipidus which causes me not to absorb water properly it just flushes right through me and along with it my minerals.  Man was it a bad idea to do the ****** Therapy if I have that condition!! lol.  Anyway, some of you it may be digestive stuff, your just not absorbing your minerals properly.  Anyway I hope this helps, please write me and let me know if you have success with this idea.

[Pino10]

Did anyone memtion just sleeping. I have palpitations them I'm asleep only and so long as I sleep, never when awake.

[jonaz]

It's already mentioned but i would like to emphasize this one as it can be a subtle one easilly missed:
- bending over and not sitting with a straight back give me PVC's and tachycardia,
caused by pressure on vagus nerve probably.

[Petya111]

I want to add - flu season. Right before I feel sick with a flu I have the worst PVCs. Another things for me are - PMC, indigestion, too much or not enought sleep and sudden jumping or twisting my body.

[lizliz40]

To:  shannonm75
Sorry to reply so late.  I have stayed off this sight for a bit, thinking it would help me not think about my palpitations.  Well, my heart has been doing some funny things the past week or two, so I'm back to reading up on the issues!  I have not seen an EP yet, but I think I will call my cardio next week to get a recommendation.  My pacs and pvcs haven't been bad, but I think I'm having some svt (svt showed up on my holter test back in the beginning of this year, even though I don't recall feeling anything odd).  I've been getting short bursts of rapid, steady beats that last for about 5 or 10 seconds.  It is so scary.  I need to talk to an expert about what's going on.

[soxfan12]

Great post with lots of good information.  I have been dealing with PACs for about 10 years.  I can go for months with none or at least very few then they come on with frequency.  I have also had a few episodes of A-fib which tend to last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.  I currently take flecanide 150mg 2X per day.  The triggers that seemed most common for my PACs are eating, anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes afterward they can begin.  Some of the A-fib episodes were brought on by drinking any liquid quickly.  My rule now is no matter what I am drinking or how thirsty I am I sip it slowly.  Stress and lack of sleep are also factors.  It has been great to find this site and reading everyone's comments have made me feel better about my situation.  

[Bon-Bon]

Cold.  Rather it is eating icecream, drinking cold beverages or cold temperatures.

[shannonm75]

Have you seen an electrophysiologist? or EP? He or she might find it is something to do with the electrical part of your heart. My cardiologist alone could not figure it out what it was on the Holter but the EP was really good. he knew what it was and this was my second Holter with the same results so I am convinced they are right.

[shannonm75]

What causes mine are other than sometimes they start for no reason here are some triggers:

PMS (big time!)
After eating (because my heart rate picks up)
Tiredness
Physical stress
Anxiety
Sometimes leaning over and back up triggers mild ones.

I have been put on metoprolol or actually it was increased last week by an EP who said I have supra venticular premature beats and they were not dangerous or deadly.
I can feel sensations in my neck and he said some people have that too from them.

I avoid caffeine because it is also a trigger so I cut it out of my diet.

[lizliz40]

It is so comforting to find a community of people who are experiencing similar things as myself.  I'm 39 and just started experiencing palpitations a year ago.  I seem to have a bad week of pvc's every couple months.  Have had a stress test and worn an event monitor for a week and my cardiologist doesn't seem to think anything is wrong.  The palpitations are so annoying and worrisome though.  I'm otherwise a healthy and active person, so it really has bummed me out/stressed me out that I've started to have this problem.  They've made me afraid of exercise!  I don't know all my triggers yet, because I often feel they start out of the blue, but here are a few:

- yoga positions
- jogging
- gas buildup/burps
- albuterol (maybe?)
- thinking about palpitations

[Beachbum27]

It's good to finally find some forums that are up to date.  I've never seen a forum with so many people with so similar symptoms and triggers.  I had a nice exercise induced episode of pvc's today that ruined my whole day so now I've been researching online.  Briefly, I'm 27 and started getting pvc's about 8 years ago.  I don't let it control me, I've been an airline pilot now for 3 years.  It's tough when vacationing though somewhere overseas and getting episodes of these demons.  My triggers include:

alcohol (especially the 24 hours following even just 1 drink)
caffeine
sugar
being in a reclining position after eating
jet lag
crouching position (usually when reading a putt at the golf course)
exercise occasionally
greasy food
cigarette smoke
screaming babies (must be stress related)
thinking about pvcs
out of the blue
fatigue
eating salty or sugary foods after a round of golf or exercise over a long period
nervousness
There are probably more.  At least I don't feel them when I'm asleep!

[AlwynB]

Before mine disappeared alcohol was the biggest trigger...

[michele1999]

Thank goodness for you guys! All of the above I hate having palpatations but atleast I'm not alone.

[LindaTX]

I agree,  for me its not only alcoholic drinks, its carbonated drinks, and I've found after many yrs of drinking nothing but Perrier, its any carbonated water!

[claytex]

I have had AF off and on for ten years.  Using my arms above my head will trigger my AF.  Swinging an ax, lifting above my head and at times even sleeping with my arms above my head.  Als Tequila will trigger it.. no marguaritas!!!