signifiance of heart palpitations

[maddy]

Could you please tell me if there is any signifance to the amount and hardness of heart palpitations.  

I am a 38 year old female who suffers from heart palpitations almost daily.  I usually have between 10 - 20 skips or strange sensations in my heart per day.  Sometimes the skips are REALLY hard.  I have no heart disease and a completely normal heart so I am told not to worry.  

My question is 10 - 20 abnormal beats a lot during one day and is there any significance to how hard the skips are.  I am told a lot of people just ignore the skips but I can't believe they can do that when they are so intense.

Thank you for your time.

[Cindy]

For months now I have noticed skipped beats or a fluttering of my heart which did not concern me a great deal at first but recently I have had irregular and pounding heart beats which then in turn makes me very anxious.I have taken to drinking a glass of warm milk, taking a hot bath or doing Yoga like breathing to calm myself down so it doesn't make it worse.I've noticed coffee & alcohol increase my bouts so I have been advised to cut that out and see if any improvement. My doctor doesn't seem concerned, she just takes my blood pressure (which reads just fine). Of course I don't have any trouble with my heart when I finally get to see the doctor and she finds no reason to do any other tests until we rule out caffeine & alcohol (I do drink 2-3 drinks a day). I do have anxiety which I take Rivitrol occasionaly so she thinks it's all part and parcel.

[Lynn]

I am 53 years old.  On June, 20, the morning after I had just had a routine check-up, I felt as if I were really nervous.  I thought that I had forgotten to take my blood pressure medicine, but no shot.  That night, I woke up with a pounding heart, some palpitations, and pain at the base of my breastbone.  This went on periodically.  While on vacation the second week of July, I was aware of the pain quite a bit.  I was never short of breath, no nausea, no pain while walking on the beach.  It mainly happened at suppertime when things were hectic.
I made an appt. with a cardiologist but not until 9/12. In the meantime, I went to my internist, who did an ekg, which was normal.  I have a lot of stress in my life right now, so he put me on Paxil, which worked for awhile.  My mother-in-law was very sick, so I gave her my appt., thinking I was okay.  Now the pain and palps have returned, and I have an appt. with the cardiologist Oct. 3.  The pain feels like spasms, but I'm not sure.  I am very nervous today, because I was awake most of the night, and the more I think about what it could be, the worse I become.  I have walked three miles at least four days a week for 20 years.  I never feel any pain while walking.  Also, I bicycle.  Again, no pain.  I usually go to bed feeling fine, then wake about 2 am.  I feel as if my breastbone is sore and my bra is pressing on it!  Does anyone have any advice for me?  I would like to know if anyone is having the same symptoms.
Lynn

[Jack]

I'm 23 years old and I have been having palpitations for the last 3 months.  I've gone to the hospital and the doctor told me that these were pvc's and not to worry about them.  Easy for him to say!  Well, I've noticed that some days they are very frequent and other days not frequent at all.  Some days, I never have them.  I've been experiencing anxiety, and a few panic attacks about 6 months prior to having my first palpitations.  The doctor seems to think this has alot to do with my palpitations.  I don't have panic attacks anymore, but my anxiety revolves around my palpitations.  I've also noticed that when I drink alcohol, I don't have them during, or a few days after drinking.  Thats weird because they recomend not drinking alcohol if you have palps.  It's also caused me to drink more frequently than I ever had.  Just wondering if anyone my age is experiencing the same thing.

[tom]

I am a 40 year old male who started having palp's 8 years ago. the cardiologist advised me to cut down an cafeine, chocolates etc. which helped.

Now 8 years later, I have developed the palp's again and they last all day long ( 1 or 2 per minute sometimes more.) I notice them the most when I am at my desk or lying in bed totaly relaxed.

I went in recently for a stress echo and of course everything looked fine. I blew through the stress test without a problem.
Does anyone else get these when at rest? It is starting to drive me crazy!

[Jack]

I'm 23 years old and I have been having palpitations for the last 3 months.  I've gone to the hospital and the doctor told me that these were pvc's and not to worry about them.  Easy for him to say!  Well, I've noticed that some days they are very frequent and other days not frequent at all.  Some days, I never have them.  I've been experiencing anxiety, and a few panic attacks about 6 months prior to having my first palpitations.  The doctor seems to think this has alot to do with my palpitations.  I don't have panic attacks anymore, but my anxiety revolves around my palpitations.  I've also noticed that when I drink alcohol, I don't have them during, or a few days after drinking.  Thats weird because they recomend not drinking alcohol if you have palps.  It's also caused me to drink more frequently than I ever had.  Just wondering if anyone my age is experiencing the same thing.

[Kristi]

Sherry-I am in almost the exact situation that you have described.  About 7 years ago, I started getting panic attacks where my heart would palpitate for several minutes at a time.  Then, after the panic attacks had ceased, I began to notice irregular heartbeats more often....especially in the past few years.  Like you described, sometimes they seem to occur several times a day, and other times every few seconds.  The doctor had me wear a heart monitor, and told me after several weeks that what I had were "PVCs" and not "PACs."  I don't really understand the difference but he did say that PACs are always benign. This made me feel better temporarily, and the skipped heartbeat sensation seeded to fade, but now, about 7 months later, I am sensing them very often.  I have developed a habit of feeling my pulse every few minutes, almost unconsciously, to see if I can sense any irregularity.  It is extremely annoying, uncomfortable, and sometimes downright frightening.  I can tell you that yoga and completely eliminating caffeine from my diet has helped in the past.  If you eliminate caffeine completely, yours may dissapear, because that seems to be the most common cause.  Other things that may contribute to heartbeat irregularity that I've read about are red wine, cold medicine, and chocolate.  Thanks for letting me vent!  Let me know if you have any ideas or input.