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Pauses in heartbeat?
I have been in the ER many times (23 times in the last year, 14 of them just this past few months) and seen my doctor many times for this. At LEAST 3 times a day my heartbeat pauses and I feel a choking/strained feeling in my face chest and neck. I have lost consciousness twice because of this. These pauses are unpredictable and I often have to check my pulse (these will cause my pulse to drop from around 80 which is my average, to as low as 59 bpm) with my pulse oximeter. I know these happen but they never happened while I was on an EKG. I was on an event monitor for a while, but like I said there is no way to predict these. My primary care and psychiatrist have ignored any concerns of mine and brushed them off because of my age (19) with a generalized anxiety diagnosis (naturally when I feel I'm about to die I don't feel comfortable).
The ER doctors are a little more helpful and say that I might be having PVCs or PACs, but due to my previous diagnosis they just refer me back to my negligent Primary.
These pauses occur regardless of my mood. SOMETIMES they are triggered by sudden changes in activity (like walking then sitting down quickly, masturbation, etc), but they are mainly random.
If anyone has ANY idea as to what this might be please tell me. I've had to quit my job because I can't work with these things popping up and I can't afford to continue to be unemployed. My heart rate is SLOWER than usual during these so it can't be a panic attack right? Please, this is destroying my life and my brain.
The ER doctors are a little more helpful and say that I might be having PVCs or PACs, but due to my previous diagnosis they just refer me back to my negligent Primary.
These pauses occur regardless of my mood. SOMETIMES they are triggered by sudden changes in activity (like walking then sitting down quickly, masturbation, etc), but they are mainly random.
If anyone has ANY idea as to what this might be please tell me. I've had to quit my job because I can't work with these things popping up and I can't afford to continue to be unemployed. My heart rate is SLOWER than usual during these so it can't be a panic attack right? Please, this is destroying my life and my brain.
Pauses in the heart are indicative of a condition called sick sinus syndrome.
However the doctors are correct, you are wayyy too young for it.
Vasovagal episodes make more sense. Pvc/pac is a fitting differential diagnosis but unless youre in like.. A bigeminy, i don't see it having the profound impact your describing (loss of consciousness, but recording a drop in rate on a monitor). In any case, the only thing that really fixes bradycardia is a pacemaker.
Most doctors aren't going to go that route unless theres a real danger to you as a result of the episodes.
However the doctors are correct, you are wayyy too young for it.
Vasovagal episodes make more sense. Pvc/pac is a fitting differential diagnosis but unless youre in like.. A bigeminy, i don't see it having the profound impact your describing (loss of consciousness, but recording a drop in rate on a monitor). In any case, the only thing that really fixes bradycardia is a pacemaker.
Most doctors aren't going to go that route unless theres a real danger to you as a result of the episodes.
I have been having arrhythmias since early last year and been to cardiologist couple of times but it he said everything is normal..
Mine would be triggered mostly by caffeine (I quit drinking coffee altogether now) and sometimes triggered by sudden change of activity like you said.. Back then, I would have three to four skipped beats in a row and every single one followed by a thump sensation in my chest or throat. Some event lasts for 10 hours or more. But I don't feel dizzy or nauseous though. I stopped drinking coffee and now, thankfully the skipped beat decreased a lot. I still have them now and then, but on a rare basis, and very short duration like 1 hour or so.
The cardiologist said my heart is normal and that skipped beats are also common.
What I do when the skipped beat session is just relax in a lying position, breath slowly and try to ignore the doomed feeling I have. It helps
Mine would be triggered mostly by caffeine (I quit drinking coffee altogether now) and sometimes triggered by sudden change of activity like you said.. Back then, I would have three to four skipped beats in a row and every single one followed by a thump sensation in my chest or throat. Some event lasts for 10 hours or more. But I don't feel dizzy or nauseous though. I stopped drinking coffee and now, thankfully the skipped beat decreased a lot. I still have them now and then, but on a rare basis, and very short duration like 1 hour or so.
The cardiologist said my heart is normal and that skipped beats are also common.
What I do when the skipped beat session is just relax in a lying position, breath slowly and try to ignore the doomed feeling I have. It helps
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