big thump/pound

[john2live]

Hi. For about 2 years i have been getting these big thumps out of no where on and off. It is NOTracing heart beat at all. I can be doing anything and all of sudden boom as if my heart pumps 1 big thump hard. Sometimes when the episode happens it will go on all day.Other times it will happen 1 time and wont happen for a couple days. I do get them quite often but some are bigger thumps that really alarm me and others are smaller. I just had one big thump yesterday and since after that one ive been getting smaller ones on & off throughout last night and today. Like i said it has been going on for a couple years. I have been to ER few times, had ultra sound on my heart which they say all is normal. They insist its anxiety. Last time i went to ER was last year. Does this sound like stress / anxiety causing this or could it be more serious where i wont live much longer. I am 28 years old. Also how the heck can i use a holter monitor with no insurance without paying $1000 for it

Anyone with info on this please

Thanks

Jonathan

[Seatownphil]

Thanks for the info. It really helps to not worry about it knowing it's probably nothing. Just to be safe and because I have really high cholesterol (around 300 when normal is 100) and i'm only 38yo. I have a appointment with my cardiologist later this week to get a monitor to wear for 48 hours. I just hope everything turns out to be fine. Crossing my fingers.

[JaneDuh]

I've been constantly be worried of my heart. I'm a 13 year old girl. A couple of months ago I started drinking coffee, in the start it has no problem. I have 1 until 2 cups of coffee per week, mostly at weekend. 2 months ago I decided to take the step and drink my first espresso, and that's where it all starts to happen. I started worrying about death, that my heart will stop at any time (cardiac arrest). My chest, especially upper started to hurt with no reason then this "thumps" came,especially when I eat. I usually eat soup, or something else that kind. I rarely eat junk foods, although I usually take snacks of chocolates and stuffs like that. My anxiety "reduced" since a couple of weeks ago but that thumps still come. I still worry about death sometimes but not that often. Does my heart have problems? Please answer.(I told my parents my chest hurt but they won't listen)

[blazlily]

@JaneDuh that happened to me too. it is from having to much caffeine.

[Jorgeous]

This was an amazing explanation. I get these all the time. Not often, but when I do, I get so scared. Thankfully I've learned to take a deep breath and continue on my day. I've changed my thinking into a positive one. Comparing it to the holy spirit letting me know it's alive and well within me. ;-)
But thank you for the explanation and for the book. I just started to read it.

[yarrow]

You say you've been to the ER a few times and had a heart ultrasound, and each time your heart has been found to be normal.

Has anyone talked to you about PVCs or 'Premature Ventricular Contractions"?  These are generally harmless heartbeats whose timing is just a little off the regular schedule--and it's important to understand that everyone--that's EVERYONE--has these.  What happens is that the heart contracts a little earlier than usual, but because the big chambers, the ventricles, haven't had a chance to fill all the way up, you don't even feel that beat.

After that, there's a very small natural delay while the heart gets ready to fire again, and during that time, those ventricles have a chance to fill up a bit more than usual (which is possible because the ventricles are elastic).  Now, there's a rule called the Law of the Heart, which says the healthy heart must pump out as much blood as it receives, and a slightly fuller heart has to contract harder if it's fuller.  Make sense, right?

But some people are more aware than others of this vigorous pulse, and what they feel is a big 'boom.'  You'd be surprised at how often that word 'boom' appears in posts from people who feel these things.

In between the 'booms', the heart just beats normally and there's nothing to get excited about, but people may have many big, weird beats per day, or every other day, or every few months.  There's no rule or rhyme or reason to them; they just happen.

The important things in your case are these:

1. PVCs in an otherwise healthy heart are usually not worth worrying about.   Many people have thousands of them per day (my last Holter monitor caught 4800, and many on this board have lots more than that), and most will live to 80, anyhow.

2.  You are young, and if your heart has been checked out a number of times (as it has been at the ER and by ultrasound) and found healthy, then you are almost certainly in no danger of a cardiac problem.  

3.  No one really knows what causes these odd beats, but it is known that (a) anxiety does make them worse, and (b) certain sensitive people are more aware of them than others, and (c) just being aware of the PVCs can make folk more anxious.  You can probably see where this is going.

4. Since you say you have no insurance, I'd suggest spending under $10 for a nice little book called "Hope and Help for Your Nerves," by Dr. Claire Weekes.  It will teach you some simple mental exercises for dealing with odd but not dangerous signals you get from your body.

5.  Try to get a job with health benefits.  Young people often don't think they need insurance, but they do.  

[merileegal]

Abnormal heart beats, arrythmias, are hard to diagnose unless you have an episode of irregular beats caught on a holter moniter of some kind. The EKG reading at the hospital is usually just a few seconds long and the irregular heart beat hardly ever is caught on one of those. If you really want answers, better see a cardiologist rather than a gp.  So sorry to hear you don't have insurance because this can get very expensive. With that said, if it is  electrical problems, the thumps & pounds, I've been  told  are harmless, just annoying and worrisome.  I've lived with arrythmias for at least 20 years. I've learned to stay away from foods that trigger mine: caffeine, msg, fish oil, and any other kind of stimulants such as cough meds etc: stress and being tired seem to trigger them as well.

Good luck deciding what to do.