Palpatations or Esophageal Spasms?

[HockeyShark]

How can you tell the difference? And Exactly what are they? I thi.k I am having Palpatations. They just drop from the blue and are followed by horrific panic attacks.

[be still my beating heart 13]

Heart Palpitation are very noticable beats of your heart that feel like your heart either skipped a beat or a REALLY strong heart beat.  They are actually an extra heart beat.  Many people with anxiety get quite a few in a row, I am one of them :-(  I ALWAYS get them just before a panic attack, but I also have them everyday out of the blue for no apparent reason.  I also get esphogeal spasms, and they are a different sort of pain all together.  They can occur anywhere along my esophogus, from just below my windpipe all the way down to the area at the bottom of the breatbone.  It feels like a case of really severe heartburn with a 'knotty" feeling to it.  The pain intensifies whenever I swallow and it feels as if I have something stuck in there where the spasm is occuring. Can you give us a description of what you feel and where, maybe this will help us to point you in the right direction.  I hope this helps clarify the difference between them for you, and that you felt well today!

Cori

[AJPTRF]

Where do you feel it? Base of your neck?  I ask because I get them too, at the base of my neck and I thought my heart was fluttering with it.   It wasn't.  I would check my pulse right away to see if it was "acting up" and it never was.  Asked my dr about it, he said it is from heartburn/acid reflux. If this is what you get, yes they are very scary.