Heart palps, feeling lightheaded

[jcm4144]

I am a 33 yr old caucasian male.  I have a hx of 7 years ago a bone meningioma removed from my skull. Uncomplicated recovery. My story began about 3 years ago... with no cardiac symptoms in my whole life, I inexplicably started suddenly having 100's of extra heartbeats and multiple fluttering episodes that often made me lightheaded every day.     I had tests..echo, EKG.  and all the usual blood tests, which were normal.  The heartbeats were showing up on the 30 days monitor I was wearing, so they were really noticeable to me...hard thumps and fluttering inside my chest.   Of significance I also had an atypical chest discomfort that was heavy and tight in the center 24/7. But, after a little over a year of these symptoms, both the chest discomfort and irregular beats basically 99% disappeared just as mysteriously.    

But unfortunately after being symptom free for all this time, they're trying to make a return visit.  Not so much the chest discomfort this time, but just the random beats and fluttering. But here is one other particular thing that really bothers me, that no one can explain. One day after not having symptoms for a long, long time,  I began to feel ill for a couple hours... sort of lightheaded and uneasy...lightheaded when I first stand up, and a bit breathless when I take a flight of stairs. I denounce these symptoms to myself after I feel my pulse and it feels regular, but a couple hours later my heart starts jumping and fluttering for the first time in AGES.  

Now, I don't know, but I have a feeling based of the heart monitor I wore a couple years ago and the EKG's I had, that when I was feeling lightheaded and whatnot for a couple hours that my EKG would have showed normal (maybe, maybe not), but it seems weird to me that this precedes or accompanies the return or aggravation of my heart flutterings..But I still wonder, why do I get all these symptoms...am I probably safe, despite my mini-headrushes and near syncope's if the flutterings occur?

[Cleveland Clinic]

It is not uncommon to have these extra heart beats.  I am an electrophysiologist and deal with patients such as yourself on a daily basis.  My general approach is to first identify the cause of the palpitations and the lightheadedness.  This is typically done with a 24 hour holter and with an event monitor.  You have to be symptomatic while wearing those monitor in order for them to provide useful info.  If the premature beats, because that's usually the cause are infrequent, I tell my patients to live with them because it is not worth submitting yourself to the risk of being on medications if the symptoms are very rare and typically resolve.  If the symptoms don't go away, or if the heart functions gets worse for whatever reason (sometime numerous PVC's can cause abnormal heart function) I get more aggressive with meds and even with an abaltion proceudre.  We don't fully understand why people get these extra beats.  Majority of them are benign.  Some of probably has to do with your genetics.  We still have lots to learn about these arrhythmias.

[tickertock]

you ever checked you blood glucose and BP while you're were feeling that way?

[tickertock]

I know how you feel, I had the same problem( though I still get occasional PVCs) but from 1992 to 2001, I had episodes of PVCs that would last from weeks to months, 2001 was my last bad episode in the 1000s daily for about 6 months, so far so good probably have around 50 a month that I'm aware of, maybe a lot less! This is the pattern for about 90-95% of persons with ectopic beats they tend to come and go wax and wane, if everything checks out normal, then you have nothing to fear but the symptoms and fear itself.I'm still knocking on wood that they never return like they used to. I have a feeling you're going to be just fine! My Dad is going on 83 and have them in 1000s daily all his life, but he doesn't feel a one and can work like 50-60 year old man.

[jcm4144]

One way to look at it is, when I get to feeling generally lightheaded for an extended period, is,  even thought I may not be feeling palpitations at that moment, it sometimes feels like I get a little more lightheaded for a few seconds and then I feel my heart beat more forcefully for 10 seconds as if to "catch back up" and then I feel a little less lightheaded, and I go on that yo yo ride until I eat or lay down a while or something.