Unexplained Palpitations

[LukeL]

In March I had a series of endless palpitations that started with a buzzing feeling in my chest that lasted for about 3-4 seconds. This went away and I felt fine, but I looked up causes of palpitations and within an hour got a fluttering feeling in my chest that lasted for a couple of seconds and came in a couple of runs for about 1-2 hours.

I went to the ER and they found nothing wrong with me and my EKG only showed an IRBBB and Sinus Tach.

I went to the ER two days later still afraid and they still only found IRBBB and sinus tach.

I asked to be refered to a cardiologist and had an echo done which showed no abnormalites and a perfectly normal heart.

I also had a EKG later on and it again only showed an IRBBB.

Since then I have not had the fluttering feeling but have goten very troubling symptoms. Twice I have had blury vision for a couple of seconds and have recently felt a quick lump or pulse in my neck and chest which last less then a second and comes and goes for a couple of hours.

Also during the day my chest often feels hollow or like I am getting an adreline rush that goes up into my neck.

My questions are:

1. With 3 normal EKGs and an ECHO do you think my symptoms are indicating a serious condtion (especially the fluttering)?

2. I am particualry concerned about EP condtions like Brugada and LQTS should this concern me with normal EKGs and no history of heart disease in my family? (no realitve has died from heart disease in my family)

3. I am currently on Toprol XL and Valium could this explain my periodic blured vision?

Thanks.

[jade00]

I'm 23 years old, and began experiencing a weird feeling in my chest (towards my left shoulder), a fluttering and a slight stomach sinking feeling every few heart beats. With this, my heartrate was pretty fast..about 85-90bpm.

At the beginning of the week I had a cold virus of a sort where my thyroids glands were swollen and was feverish, but recovered from this after a day. The next day from this recovery, I had a slight episode where my heartrate would increase all of a sudden, and my neck tightens up, and have slight trouble breathing. That night as i was tryign to sleep, it happened again and my heartrate hasn't really slowed down since. (I has been 3 days).

I've been to the hospital and did a few ECG tests, a blood test and a urine test, which resulted in the doctor concluding to a supposed underlying anxiety.

What I don't understand about this is that I am sure that I have not been stressed for weeks now. I haven't drank coffee in months, only teas. I am not a smoker, nor have I been taking any medication or drugs of any sort. I'm not overweight and I feel that I eat fairly well.

The only explanation is that my family has a history of heart disease. Other than that I am puzzled and I can't take 'underlying anxiety' as a final answer, because I've scanned my mind and cannot find anything that could cause my body to react this way. Although, my chest fluttering all the time just from lying down and relaxing, is making me constantly worried.

I'm wondering if anyone can shed some light on this or have any suggestions...?

Thanks

[prjose56]

Hi Jade.  I can't say that I have the same fluttering sensations that you do but I think we're in the same boat in that we can't accept that what we have is anxiety.  Well, I've seen three different docs and they all concluded I have an anxiety disorder.  I had a normal echo and from what they say it's pretty conclusive.  I still have episodes now and then and am still afraid to over-exert myself, but little by little I'll get there.  I think if you've had an echo then you can rule out any heart problems.  I know it's hard to accept though because you constantly feel the symptoms.  Have you had your thyroid checked?  I think I can speak for everyone here when I say we're pulling for you.

[brian12]

I'm a thirty-one year old male, I have been having fluttering sensations and feelings like my heart is going to stop for about the past year and a half.  Occasionally I would get pain with these "attacks".  I've made multiple trips to the ER with everything checking out normal.  I've seen a cardiologist and have taken almost every stress imaginable, all of which came back negative.  The only problem that was uncovered was my cholesterol was very high, I was put on Crestor 10mg and it came back down.  I still have these awful sensations of fluttering about once per month, which now trigger panic attacks, I really don't get the pain so much anymore. I occasionally take Xanax .25 but it does seem to matter since these feeling have a mind of their own.  I wish I could have my life back, I am constantly worried that I am going to have a heart attack.

[prjose56]

Yea...I just had an appointment with the cardiologist yesterday and he came to the same conclusion - I have anxiety disorder.  I'm slowly accepting it.  It's just the variability in heart rate that gets me.  I think I'm slowly coming around though.  Thanks for the response.

[fearfactor]

Hi - I have anxiety attacks, too.  I have heart rate variability too and I'm on a beta blocker.  My HR goes down to about 48 when I'm really relaxed or sleeping and can jump to 130 or so when I'm anxious.  I've been at the ER with an HR of 160 when I was having a severe panic attack.  I think it's normal for someone's HR to jump up when you're anxious.  I've dealt with this all my life and it's miserable worrying about your heart all the time.  I'm still trying to accept the fact that it really is just anxiety and get on with life.  I've had all the heart tests, too, and they're all normal.  I hope you can find freedom from the worry!

[prjose56]

Hi everyone.  First off I'd like to thank everyone for their posts and support.  It helps immensely to know that I'm not alone.  Here's my story.  

My condition began with panic attacks resulting in palpitations.  I've had them since I was a kid and learned to deal with them.  They also only happened at night.  About two months ago they started happening randomly.  My pulse upon awakening in the morning was usually between 50 and 70, but one morning I woke up with a pulse close to 100 and it really scared me because it remained there for a while.  It only got worse from there and my lifestyle changed drastically from athletic to sedentary.  Any slight exertion would cause my heart rate to jump to 130+.  I saw a doctor and went through a series of tests...EKG, Holter, and Echo.  The EKG showed a few premature beats, and the Holter showed sinus tachycardia, sinus bradycardia during sleep (I was on a beta blocker at the time), ~4000 pacs, infrequent pvcs, and normal baseline rhythm.  Overall I was told not to consider myself a cardiac patient and was diagnosed with anxiety disorder.  I was prescribed celexa and have been taking 20mg/day for over 6 weeks now.  I don't feel much better.  

Recently before climbing a flight of stairs I went into a panic attack and my heart rate jumped to 180.  It had never gone that high before so this really scared me.  Twenty minutes later we were in the hospital parking lot but never went in.  My pulse finally dropped below 100 half hour later.  I can't explain why it takes so long to return to normal.  I've had a few more episodes since then.  

So here I am today.  I wake up in the morning with a speedy pulse that doesn't drop until a few hours after awakening.  Even then slight exertion raises it.  I just can't accept that this is all due to anxiety.  My heart is like a switch.  It'll be beating around 60bpm then I'll switch positions while sitting and it'll jump to 100bpm.  Sometimes I also have runs of pacs, about 5 or 6 in a row.  I feel like I'm constantly on the verge of a panic attack.  I find it hard to believe anxiety is causing this.  I haven't exercised for over two months in fear of raising my heart rate and going into panic mode which, in turn, would raise my heart rate even higher.  What can I do?  Why is my heart rate so dynamic?  I'm still on 20mg/day of celexa and take lorazepam as needed for anxiety.  Should I increase my dosage of celexa?  I just want to go back to the way it used to be.  I'd give anything to go back to the nocturnal panic attacks.  I could at least deal with those.  

Sorry the posting was so long but I wanted to air it all out.  I appreciate anyone taking the time to read my story and offering any advice.  I wish you all the best.  God bless.