Too young for this Crap!

[korqd]

I’m afraid I’m going to die. I don’t say that lightly in a frenzy of panic and emotion but calmly, after a period of reflection. I am an otherwise healthy, Caucasian, 22 year old male but for more than a month now I have had irregular heart rhythms, dizziness and palpitations every day. Almost every hour of every day. In addition to that there is pain that comes and goes; sometimes a dull, delocalized pain spanning my whole chest and sometimes a sharp stabbing pain on my left side that startles me when it strikes and leaves just as suddenly as it arrived. When these palpitations occur I can often feel the blood flowing through my limbs, making them feel uncomfortable and ‘giggly’. I can sometimes feel the same sensation in my head, but in that case it feels like running water.
The palpitations do not make my heart go particularly fast or slow but make the beat irregular. Often my heart will skip beats, and sometimes there will be extra ones. This feels uncomfortable, but the feeling of the palpitations in my chest is by far the most remarkable symptom. When they are occurring, the sensation on the inside of the left of my chest is one of vibrating, wobbling, squeezing, heaviness and just general discomfort. They are often accompanied by the pain as I described above.
The pain and palpitations come and go without warning or apparent provocation, whether I be up walking around, talking, or watching a movie. I haven’t noticed anything that aggravates them or anything that relieves them.
Since they started I have abstained from caffeine or alcohol use and my consumption of these substances have never been excessive. I don’t smoke.
I have had blood tests and they have come back normal. No thyroid or electrolyte problems.
There is no family history of such problems. My parents have no heart problems, three of my grandparents are alive (73, 77, 85) without any serious heart problems. My maternal grandfather died of acute myeloid leukemia aged 68 and he had previously suffered a stroke and two heart attacks. He was a smoker for the majority of his life and had an industrial occupation that caused health complications.

What's wrong with me?

[Smiley2000]

Hi there,

What you describe i.e. the palpitations and irregular heart beats sounds like PAC's and PVC's and it is a common finding on an ECG.  I hope that the 24hr holter ECG brings you closer to a diagnoses although in my experience these holter tests normally don't produce much info when you need it to.  It is good that the bloodtests were done and you could rule out some of the other health problems associated with dysrhythmias.

Have you had an Echo done yet?  that could rule out any valvular problems.

[korqd]

Thanks for the response. My GP referred me for a 24 hour EKG which I just had. I get the results of that on Tuesday. I spent the first 22 years of my life in New Zealand, but I recently moved to London for work. not that I've been working much in the last month.

[achillea]

First, the big questions:  Have you been examined by a cardiologist or even by a general practitioner for the problems which you feel are cardiac?  Have you had an EKG?  If not, those are things you should do now, before concentrating on your death.

However, speaking as an older person who has acquired several documented cardiac issues over many years, I would like to reassure you that your symptoms, however disquieting, do not point to anything life threatening at this time.