Young and afraid.

[Bquinn]

Hi im not sure how to ask a doctor a question directly - maybe someone can tell me how?
Im 24 Yr old male, 11.5 stone, non smoker, light drinker. I started having a strange "jumping" feeling in my chest about 4 years ago. After some thought i finally decided to see a cardiologist as i suspected it was my heart jumping about. The "jumping" feeling lasted about 2-3 seconds, it felt like a single skipped beat. I had a chest x-ray, a 24 hour holter monitor and an ekg. All these came back normal, as i suspected, because i felt fine during this time.

The feeling was explained to me by the cardiologist as an extra beat, or ectopic beat which did not worry him atall, and didnt suggest any futher investigation. He described it as a palpitation. About a year went by and the palpitation continued. I would usually get it when i was at rest, just watching t.v, but it would dissappear in a second. One night i felt like the extra beat sensation lasted for bout 30 seconds, so i got HUGELY worried and called a local 24 hour doctor. I was at rest at the time. The doctor suggested that I go into hospital and get fully checked out to get to the bottom of this once and for all. So I went in and ended up there for four nights while I had all the tests done. I was so upset at the time.

I had a chest x-ray again, a 24hr holter monitor, stress test, an ultrasound of the heart, an ekg, bloodwork and urine. The tests showed that the heart was structurally normal, thank god. The holter monitor showed occassional PVC's. Bloods were normal, everything else seemed normal!

The cardiologist was reassured that my sensations were symptomatic of what the holter monitor showed and was happy that the heart was structurally normal. He told me that im not really sick and he wouldnt prescribe any medication as i was happily getting on with my life.

This all happened about 18 months ago. Since then when I play soccer I feel a large thud in my chest when the blood starts flowing and i work up a sweat. This could last for 20 seconds and i feel myself holding back until it passes. It almost feels like the heart finds another gear all of a sudden, and then suddenly drops back to a normal feeling. Maybe something to do with working up a sweat? when adrenaline gets pumping?

Tonight i was playing soccer and i had this feeling but it started coming all the time, whenever i would suddenly start running or lunging for the ball. it took ages to go away this time, and the heart really felt like it was poubding very hard and not regularly. I found myself coming off the pitch and going for a sit down for a few minutes because it felt really weird. It was still there when i came home and died off as i started to relax to write this post!..

I went to my local doctor about 4 weeks ago because i never followed up with him after my trip to hospital. He told me about stress management, and mentioned that palpitations are extremely common and that if the cardiologist suspected anything, that he would of called me back in a few months for an update.

This is my story to date. I like to think of myself as a rational thinker and a happy person. I do drink about 5 cups of tea a day at work, maybe thats a large caffeine intake?

Im so scared and am crying as i type, im scared incase the doctors missed something, or cannot tell what is wrong because it never really happened in the presence of a doctor or tesing machines, im scared to mention it to my family again as it may upset them..im kind of lost.

My local doctor said i should try not to rely on professionals telling me its ok, but rather try to logically look at what the tests have shown and try to "accept" to some degree that i may just have to get on with it. This could be good advice but im just so scared.

I dont know much about conditions like Atrial Fibrillation, only what ive read on wikipedia, but could i have something like this?..could the doctors have missed it?..it scares me because supposedly it "tends to become chronic". This irregular feeling when i play soccer is one that has been worse tonight than it ever has, although sometimes i could play for an hour and feel absolutely nothing. My local doctor encouraged excercise.

I think i will visit my local doctor again soon. Apologies for the long post.

[Bquinn]

Yeah i do love soccer, the dutch are very good. Im also trying to get my first golf handicap, so will be practising over winter.

Thanks for the reply, its funny that i saw a post in this forum about indigestion correlating with arrythmia, the last week, my stomach has felt fairly poorly. Funny how some posts just click with you.

[erijon]

You are welcome, reach out to me anytime. There are a couple of things that are indicative of a good prognosis;

* You have a normal structure meaning that the palpitations are almost ALWAYS benign. There can be issues but at your age and with a normal echo you should be good.

* These events have been happening over 3 or 4 years, usually serious issues escalate well before that.

Having said that, you know your body better than anyone and if you feel there is something to get checked out you certainly should. See you doctor and ask the questions, knowledge is power when it comes to anxiety, go get the knowledge.

Good luck and have fun playing soccer, wish I was still young enough to play. Over here, we have industrial leagues in which I played for many years, really enjoyed it. My father played in the Netherlands so I was brought up in it. I really miss the game.

Jon

[Bquinn]

Thanks Jon,

The last time I went to see my local doctor i asked him if it could be more serious but the anology he drew up was that a palpitation is like a sneeze or a cough to a cardiologist. I suppose that i can take reassurance that im structurally ok, with no other issues. I asked my cardiologist some basic questions at the time, like what are pvc's etc.

I dont think its about reassurance anymore, it feels like something was very very strange tonight, but i think its hard for cardiologists to find the answers sometimes. I now have about 3 or 4 years of history that ive kept in my head, feels good to get it out on paper.

Thanks for replying, its very emotional trying to keep this to myself. There could be so many things wrong with me, its scary trying to figure out what it is.

[erijon]

No apologies necessary for the long post, you are obviously frustrated. First off, in my experience everything you've been told sounds correct. I know it can be difficult to trust test results when you don't feel you have all the answers, but you've been checked out pretty well and I can't imagine that anything was missed, especially at your young age (ah to be that age again). Did you have your cardiologist sit down with you and go over the results one by one so you could ask questions? That's what I do. What you describe sounds like normal events but if you are going to see your doctor again I would suggest you lay it out just like you explained it here, it was very well thought out. Go into the appointment with a list of questions you want to ask, don't leave it to memory. Be prepared for them to tell you to modify your lifestyle and cut out the caffeine intake. You should also ask about any other triggers to PVC's and AFIB. The tests will only pick up AFIB if you are in it at the time the test is taken.

Good luck, I think you'll do fine but you should probably see your doctor for some additional peace of mind.

Jon