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When to know when the rhythm is a concern?
57 female, post menaposal (surgical hysterectomy at 28), 5' 1" 170 (have lost 50 pounds over the past year), exercise 4-6 days a week - walk an hour or eliptical 30 minutes with heartrate at 140bpm, I was on 20mg of lisinopril but since the weight loss I have weaned down to 5 mg with average bp of 113/78 (but it does fluctuate in time of stress) resting heartrate in the 50s.
I've had a few episodes of irregular heartbeat in the past and seems whenever I went to the doc they could catch 1 or 2 PVCs on the EKG strip I've had echos and monitor in the past with no real concern....but lately I have been having a terrible time with irregular hearbeat especially at night ( I don't know if it's because I am active during the day and don't notice) but I have woke up the last couple nights with irregular heartbeat and it feels like little rushes (fight to flight stress response) took my bp and it was 154/88, I got up and get in a hot bubble bath and it relaxed me but the irregular heartbeat continued bp was then 118/82....I think it causes me anxiety because I don't know how serious it is or if I'll just drop dead....I don't drink or smoke and try to take care of myself...I have no medical insurance so I haven't been back to the doc. I haven't ever experienced chest pain have had shortness of breath as I do my controlled breathing thru the stress response but not at any other time.
Thank You for your insight.
I've had a few episodes of irregular heartbeat in the past and seems whenever I went to the doc they could catch 1 or 2 PVCs on the EKG strip I've had echos and monitor in the past with no real concern....but lately I have been having a terrible time with irregular hearbeat especially at night ( I don't know if it's because I am active during the day and don't notice) but I have woke up the last couple nights with irregular heartbeat and it feels like little rushes (fight to flight stress response) took my bp and it was 154/88, I got up and get in a hot bubble bath and it relaxed me but the irregular heartbeat continued bp was then 118/82....I think it causes me anxiety because I don't know how serious it is or if I'll just drop dead....I don't drink or smoke and try to take care of myself...I have no medical insurance so I haven't been back to the doc. I haven't ever experienced chest pain have had shortness of breath as I do my controlled breathing thru the stress response but not at any other time.
Thank You for your insight.
Hi,
It's good that you're feeling better!
If you're feeling better after you stopped eating fish, you may have an allergic reaction towards fish. Get some allergy tests from your GP. I doubt that carbon monoxide in this concentration can be bothersome, but who knows?
Anyway, continue to eat right. I really hope you'll stay OK!
It's good that you're feeling better!
If you're feeling better after you stopped eating fish, you may have an allergic reaction towards fish. Get some allergy tests from your GP. I doubt that carbon monoxide in this concentration can be bothersome, but who knows?
Anyway, continue to eat right. I really hope you'll stay OK!
Well....I have had good days...little to no irregular heartbeats....one thing I noticed I was eating a lot of fish lately....and noticed the fish had a perservative - carbon monoxide - in it....ever since I stopped eating the fish my heart has been in rhythm....has anyone else had this experience??? I am just giving it time because I have cycles like this where it would be irregular for a while and then the calm cycle...but who knows maybe it was just food related?????
Another good night.....looks like I am on the quiet cycle now .....seems it goes like that. Had another good night been trying to figure out if some fish I ate could of had anything to contribute to my situation because I noticed it had 'carbon monoxide' to maintain color...YUCK!!! I won't eat that again.....I am so sensitive to additives and I didn't check this time.....I usually watch the ingredients very close as I follow the blood type diet (I am 0-) but that one slipped through my fingers.
Anyway I had a few irregular beat when I fist got up because the phone rang and I had a stress response (why?? I don't know??...it's just the phone) but I did...I shut my phones off between 11pm and 6am just for that reason...if I get a call in the middle of he night I'm up for the rest of the night because it takes me a while to get past the adrenelin serge .....so other than that seems like my heart is calm today. Yayyy!!
Anyway I had a few irregular beat when I fist got up because the phone rang and I had a stress response (why?? I don't know??...it's just the phone) but I did...I shut my phones off between 11pm and 6am just for that reason...if I get a call in the middle of he night I'm up for the rest of the night because it takes me a while to get past the adrenelin serge .....so other than that seems like my heart is calm today. Yayyy!!
Good Morning....
I had a good nights sleep for the first time in a couple weeks....I didn't wake up once with my heart going crazy...it actually wakes me up and I feel almost in a panic...does this happen to anyone else?? When I first got up it skipped around a little and now after about an hour it seems to be running smooth or just a little spontanious flutters but I am not getting the irregular sensations or the little rushes that goes along with it. this is how it will go...I'll have a time where it's a mess then all of a sudden it gets regular for a while and then seems like something will maybe trigger it and it will be irregular again. Seems like suring the day even when it's irregular I just go about my business without too much concern but when I go to bed that is when I notice it the most and the anxiety sets in. I plan to do my walk on the eliptical today...a steady 39 mins at 140 beats per minute and see how it goes....I do have to work at it which probably causes a little stress so I am wondering if I should back down a little...I want to exercise the heart muscle to keep it strong but I don't want to over do it either.
When I get my episodes it feels so crazy and I have tried to figure out what it's doing it feels like it is beating close together then it pauses and then sometimes it's like a thud ...but it seems to have a rhythm even when it's feeling crazy.
Thank You so much for your input it really helps to know others are going through this too!
I had a good nights sleep for the first time in a couple weeks....I didn't wake up once with my heart going crazy...it actually wakes me up and I feel almost in a panic...does this happen to anyone else?? When I first got up it skipped around a little and now after about an hour it seems to be running smooth or just a little spontanious flutters but I am not getting the irregular sensations or the little rushes that goes along with it. this is how it will go...I'll have a time where it's a mess then all of a sudden it gets regular for a while and then seems like something will maybe trigger it and it will be irregular again. Seems like suring the day even when it's irregular I just go about my business without too much concern but when I go to bed that is when I notice it the most and the anxiety sets in. I plan to do my walk on the eliptical today...a steady 39 mins at 140 beats per minute and see how it goes....I do have to work at it which probably causes a little stress so I am wondering if I should back down a little...I want to exercise the heart muscle to keep it strong but I don't want to over do it either.
When I get my episodes it feels so crazy and I have tried to figure out what it's doing it feels like it is beating close together then it pauses and then sometimes it's like a thud ...but it seems to have a rhythm even when it's feeling crazy.
Thank You so much for your input it really helps to know others are going through this too!
I would say that irregular heart rhythm always warrant a consultation with your doctor, but this doesn't seem very serious.
Your blood pressure is great and everyone get a little elevated blood pressure with stress or anxiety. It's completely normal to get an irregular heart rhythm with anxiety, it's caused by PACs or PVCs as you described.
What's important to rule out is atrial fibrillation with rapid heart rate or heart blocks with slow heart rate. How irregular was your heart rhythm? If it is like beat-beat-skip-beat-beat-beat-skip-beat it's most likely PVCs or PACs. Atrial fibrillation, especially in the setting of anxiety or exercise will usually cause a heart rate above max, in your case 170+ (it's slower if you are on medications like beta blockers). The more rapid, the more regular, usually. With slow heart rate, a-fib can manifest with long pauses and runs. My dad had A-fib after heart surgery. It felt really funny when I checked his pulse, like his heart rate went from 30 to 200 to 30 again. I'm used to having lots of PACs with panic attacks, in my case it's some kind of system in the madness, like a regular underlying heart rhythm that's constantly interrupted by extra or skipped beats.
If you get long runs of irregular (or rapid for no reason) heart rate, visit the emergency room.
Your blood pressure is great and everyone get a little elevated blood pressure with stress or anxiety. It's completely normal to get an irregular heart rhythm with anxiety, it's caused by PACs or PVCs as you described.
What's important to rule out is atrial fibrillation with rapid heart rate or heart blocks with slow heart rate. How irregular was your heart rhythm? If it is like beat-beat-skip-beat-beat-beat-skip-beat it's most likely PVCs or PACs. Atrial fibrillation, especially in the setting of anxiety or exercise will usually cause a heart rate above max, in your case 170+ (it's slower if you are on medications like beta blockers). The more rapid, the more regular, usually. With slow heart rate, a-fib can manifest with long pauses and runs. My dad had A-fib after heart surgery. It felt really funny when I checked his pulse, like his heart rate went from 30 to 200 to 30 again. I'm used to having lots of PACs with panic attacks, in my case it's some kind of system in the madness, like a regular underlying heart rhythm that's constantly interrupted by extra or skipped beats.
If you get long runs of irregular (or rapid for no reason) heart rate, visit the emergency room.
If all was normal in your tests, then try to find your triggers if you can. Most of the time dr's will treat 6,000 - 8,000 pvc's with meds; then anything above 15% of your daily total heartbeats with ablation (rougly 15,000 pvc's in the normal heart that beats 100,000/24 hrs), otherwise it's best to find what is triggering yours.
It's good to be cautious and watch for changing symptoms, just try not to fret too much over these and that will help you greatly =) A good tip is to keep a journal/log to see when you have them and if you have any symptoms such as dizziness, nausea etc.
Also, if you haven't blood tests may be needed to check your levels to make sure all is in check; sometimes magnesium or potassium is a bit low and can be the cause. Since you've been checked and your cardiac tests were all normal, I don't think they found anything dangerous - which would have shown in your echo or ekg's so it sounds like they're more of annoyance than anything =)
It's good to be cautious and watch for changing symptoms, just try not to fret too much over these and that will help you greatly =) A good tip is to keep a journal/log to see when you have them and if you have any symptoms such as dizziness, nausea etc.
Also, if you haven't blood tests may be needed to check your levels to make sure all is in check; sometimes magnesium or potassium is a bit low and can be the cause. Since you've been checked and your cardiac tests were all normal, I don't think they found anything dangerous - which would have shown in your echo or ekg's so it sounds like they're more of annoyance than anything =)
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