Strange Heart Beats, Arrhythmia??

[Jean27]

I am hoping to get some help on this problem I have had for about 3 years. I get a strange feeling in my chest like I could feel each heart beat in my chest and it is very bothersome. My heart is not skiping although I do get that palpatations at times also,but this is more like energy jumping around in my chest. This is an all day thing I get for days at a time. Sometimes it gets alot worse after eating a meal. My heart will feel like it is racing but most times if I take my pulse it is 72BPM but it FEELS much faster.  I have been for every heart test(Holter, 30 day monitor, stress test, echo)  and the only thing they found was an elongated mitral valve and trace regurgitation which they tell me both are nothing, is this true?? or could that be causing these feelings?
  Also If I am sitting still watching TV my eyes seem to flicker along with each heart beat. I now this sounds wierd and I am hoping you may have heard of this before but it's like every time my heart beats my eyes pulse. My blood pressure is not high at all so I dont know why that happens. I am 31 female, not overweight, non-smoker. I also have days where I feel out of breath and a rapid pulse just from walking up a flight of stairs and the very next day I feel fine walking up the same stairs. I really need to know whats going on any ideas....thanks so much and have a Happy Thanksgiving   Jean :)

[naturojj]

Hi,
I am also experiencing some palpitations and pounding of my heart. I notice that it is greatly related to stressors as already mentioned by many above. My concern is this; my mother died suddenly a month ago of a massive heart attach, she was only 46 and it was not expected. This had mad these heart problem so much more appearent and worriesome. My mother had extremely high blood pressure and a very unlucky family history, both parents had quadruple by pass surgeries .... I currently have no other risk factors as I am very aware...I am a medical student. Even though I have no other risk factors, could these palpitaions be an early indicator of risk? I am so worried...
Thank you!
JJ

[jaz5802]

I too have bouts of anxiety attacks.  First one was when I was 17 and that's when I was told I had an irregular heart beat and a murmur (trip to the ER).  Like you, just telling me that made my anxiety even worse!

I was prescribed either Xanax or the equivalent then -- don't know if Xanax was around in 1977. Every step I took, I was afraid of increasing my heart rate.  What got me over it then, I don't remember exactly, except I got busy doing other things in my life and before I knew it, they were "gone."

Of course, the anxiety induced ones were gone.  The normal flutters would surface here and there.  During times of extreme stress I didn't have any!  Not sure why.

I do know that relaxation techniques and exercise help.  As afraid as I was to do any exercise (for fear of falling down dead in my tracks), it has helped reduce the adrenaline in my body.  I had to admit to myself that I was doing this to myself -- creating the adrenaline and thus the rapid heart beat.  I would tell myself "you're okay" and work through the exercises. Sometimes I would stop to really calm down, but I never gave up.

Now, I am 44 (so I am still breathing and on this earth) and I dance 2x week with my hubby, weight lift, walk, etc. Of course, I had all the necessary tests done with my cardio to make sure I could start an exercise program. My PVCs were termed benign (like you) and I was given the go ahead to exercise to my "heart's content" which I try to do as often as possible.

You are right: the mind is a powerful being.  It is amazing how quickly we can have ourselves in a tizzy. But then again, we also have the power to calm ourselves down!

Thanks for sharing,
Beth

[ShawnLee]

The more i read this forum the more I believe in anxiety causing all these rapid heart beats.  When i was 17 I had a sudden onset of tachy, i was laying in bed watching tv when i noticed my heart pounding hard, it was right after i had just taken a dose of astma medication.  Well I tried to ignore it and keep on watching tv, but once I noticed it i couldn't ignore it anymore.  So then i kept on rising and rising, i got scared and went into the front room and told my mom about it.  She started taking my pulse and said "hmm that is aweful high" and after she said that it skyrocketed to over 180bpm.  She freaked out and called 911 and i got to take a nice ambulance ride.  After I got to the hospital the doctors could find absolutely nothing wrong with me and i was sent home.  Yet i could not sleep or eat out of fear from what had happend.  And that nobody knew why made it all the more scary for me.  So for a solid week i had nothing but attacks, my pulse would raise up and i'd get scared and make it worse..  Until finally I got to doctor and they realized i had Hypertension, and they noticed i had a murmur, of course they had to scare me by saying "that is the loudest murmur I have ever heard"  Then they made a appointment for me to see a cardi and that was over a week away.  So there goes another week of no sleep and constant terror.  When i go to the cardiologist he did tons of test and discovered nothing at all wrong, and the murmur was a simple flow murmur.  So he simply prescribed Toprol XL for me to help manage my heartrate and bp.  After a year of taking toprol i decided i wanted to stop taking it, cause it made me generally tired all the time and just no energy.  So I slowly got off of the toprol and was fine for 6 years, then suddenly all my anxiety is back and worse then before.  I have panick attacks regularly and Have a difficult time exercising cause of the rate at which my heart races to.  The only thing that has really helped the rate go down was Effexor or Paxil, the mind is one powerful thing, never underestimate it.

Shawn

[jaz5802]

Funny you should mention your pulse sensation in your eye.  I can feel and see this in both my eyes.

Went to my doctor about it.  Response: you're just aware of it now. His only question to me was if I saw it while "day dreaming" (staring off into space) or if I saw it while I was actually involved in something.  I see it only if I force my eyes out of focus.  But I always feel it!

Thought it had to do with sinus pressure (terrible allergies).

Thanks.

[psteng19]

Hi,

I am new to this board.
I also seem to be suffering the same symptoms as you.

Lately, my heart has been beating faster than normal.
My resting pulse has gone from 60's to 80's.
Brisk walking will bring me up to anywhere from 100-120.
Lifting a light load up the stairs will also bring me to 120-130.
Afterwards, I become tired, and short of breath.

I've had all kinds of tests, EKG, stress, echo, CT scan, and they all come back normal.

Just yesterday, I started feeling this pulse behind (or in) my right eye.
I can induce this pulse in my eye by blinking or closing and then opening it.

I am a healthy male, 23 yrs old, with no family history of major heart conditions.

Just wanted to share.

[lolitabo]

I have the same symtoms as here....today.....I ate a piece of tomato and some mayonaise and it started.....
I have had all the test too...... but I am still not satisfied that it is nothing .... if so why have I not had it before in my life....nothing has changed.....