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.

[matt]

What causes PVCs?

[.]

To Maddy:

try being some of us getting 10-20 a minute or more...I envy you, you've got it easy.

[Mary]

Please all of you,research into the many side-effects (palpitations and racing heart) of the additives which are in our foods. Msg is in practically all processed food and is a known cause of heart irregularities. It is even present in vitamins but as hydrolyzed vegetable protein. Food dyes and tartrazine are components of many medications and may be causing your troubles. Some of us are simply more sensitive to the toxic
additives in our food and drink. I had a terrible episode of heartracing after ingesting a pack of Wine Gums candy which is full of FD&C #5 food colouring and that is how I made the connection. Kentucky Fried Chicken, affected me in the same way and it is full of msg. If you do the research you will discover that these food additives are in nearly everything and you will have to really examine the packages of food you buy from now on.There is an excellent website at www.nomsg.com.

[chris]

I'm a 19 year old male and have been suffering the odd heart palpitation daily for about 8 years or so. It started gradually getting worse over the years, sometimes once a day it would feel like my heart was going crazy and skipping or giving extra beats in the time period of about 15 seconds. I would just get up and walk around, then I would be fine. This week has been really bad, in the past few days, these palpitations have been happening almost constantly during the day. There are periods of about 3 hours or so where I will be ok, but the rest of the time, particularly when I go to bed or wake up my heart will start skipping  beats like crazy and it feels like I'm going to die. There has never been any pain involved or pressure. Just basically the  very uneasy sensation of my hear skipping beats. This really scares me, I have had 3 ECG's and so far they have been fine. I don't smoke, drink alcohol or anything with caffeine in it. I am very concerned over this. I find my self feeling my chest and praying that it starts to beat regularly again. I find that when I am in a situation where there is a lot of adrenaline (like an ER visit) my heart seems to beat normally with not palpitations or at least very few of them. I have a bit of stress in my life, I am a part owner in a small business, had my mom pass away earlier this year and just crashed my car the other week. I don't know if this is related or not. Right now I'm wondering if it is safe to go to sleep with all these palpitations and if I'm going to wake up in the morning. I have also suffered so called "panic attacks" off and on in the past few weeks. At first, I thought it was just my blood sugar level because I was feeling very dizzy and felt like I was about to pass out. During this period, my heart rate might have been fast, but there were no actual skipped or extra beats. For all I know, these might not be panic attacks but somthing more serious, this is all up to my doctor I guess. Right now I wish I had a degree in medicine so that I knew what was going on and how to make myself feel better. If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do or even ask my doctor, please let me know. I am very fustrated over this and want to prevent or fix the situation. My email address is: ***@****

I would greatly appreciate any advice that anyone has, thanks for your time, Chris.

[chris]

I'm a 19 year old male and have been suffering the odd heart palpitation daily for about 8 years or so. It started gradually getting worse over the years, sometimes once a day it would feel like my heart was going crazy and skipping or giving extra beats in the time period of about 15 seconds. I would just get up and walk around, then I would be fine. This week has been really bad, in the past few days, these palpitations have been happening almost constantly during the day. There are periods of about 3 hours or so where I will be ok, but the rest of the time, particularly when I go to bed or wake up my heart will start skipping  beats like crazy and it feels like I'm going to die. There has never been any pain involved or pressure. Just basically the  very uneasy sensation of my hear skipping beats. This really scares me, I have had 3 ECG's and so far they have been fine. I don't smoke, drink alcohol or anything with caffeine in it. I am very concerned over this. I find my self feeling my chest and praying that it starts to beat regularly again. I find that when I am in a situation where there is a lot of adrenaline (like an ER visit) my heart seems to beat normally with not palpitations or at least very few of them. I have a bit of stress in my life, I am a part owner in a small business, had my mom pass away earlier this year and just crashed my car the other week. I don't know if this is related or not. Right now I'm wondering if it is safe to go to sleep with all these palpitations and if I'm going to wake up in the morning. I have also suffered so called "panic attacks" off and on in the past few weeks. At first, I thought it was just my blood sugar level because I was feeling very dizzy and felt like I was about to pass out. During this period, my heart rate might have been fast, but there were no actual skipped or extra beats. For all I know, these might not be panic attacks but somthing more serious, this is all up to my doctor I guess. Right now I wish I had a degree in medicine so that I knew what was going on and how to make myself feel better. If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do or even ask my doctor, please let me know. I am very fustrated over this and want to prevent or fix the situation. My email address is: ***@****

I would greatly appreciate any advice that anyone has, thanks for your time, Chris.

[chris]

I'm a 19 year old male and have been suffering the odd heart palpitation daily for about 8 years or so. It started gradually getting worse over the years, sometimes once a day it would feel like my heart was going crazy and skipping or giving extra beats in the time period of about 15 seconds. I would just get up and walk around, then I would be fine. This week has been really bad, in the past few days, these palpitations have been happening almost constantly during the day. There are periods of about 3 hours or so where I will be ok, but the rest of the time, particularly when I go to bed or wake up my heart will start skipping  beats like crazy and it feels like I'm going to die. There has never been any pain involved or pressure. Just basically the  very uneasy sensation of my hear skipping beats. This really scares me, I have had 3 ECG's and so far they have been fine. I don't smoke, drink alcohol or anything with caffeine in it. I am very concerned over this. I find my self feeling my chest and praying that it starts to beat regularly again. I find that when I am in a situation where there is a lot of adrenaline (like an ER visit) my heart seems to beat normally with not palpitations or at least very few of them. I have a bit of stress in my life, I am a part owner in a small business, had my mom pass away earlier this year and just crashed my car the other week. I don't know if this is related or not. Right now I'm wondering if it is safe to go to sleep with all these palpitations and if I'm going to wake up in the morning. I have also suffered so called "panic attacks" off and on in the past few weeks. At first, I thought it was just my blood sugar level because I was feeling very dizzy and felt like I was about to pass out. During this period, my heart rate might have been fast, but there were no actual skipped or extra beats. For all I know, these might not be panic attacks but somthing more serious, this is all up to my doctor I guess. Right now I wish I had a degree in medicine so that I knew what was going on and how to make myself feel better. If anyone has any suggestions on what I can do or even ask my doctor, please let me know. I am very fustrated over this and want to prevent or fix the situation. My email address is: ***@****

I would greatly appreciate any advice that anyone has, thanks for your time, Chris.

[John]

I'm 49 I have had heart palps everyday now for the 2 past years -they sometimes make me cough, i'm sometimes light headed and get a headache from it. I do find that when I get them the most, I also have an upset stomach and have to take an antacid.I drink coffee everyday and drink sometimes on weekends I have a sister that has the same thing.Any ideas  ?

[James L.Kee]

Three years ago I started with palps everytime I would awake.  My Dr. had did a holter and put me on 240 mg veapamil once daily.  EKG showed a thickening of the left wall of my hert.  Stress test OK.  I only have palps which always end up in a flutter when I awake. I can fall asleep on a couch or just doze and will wake up with paplps or flutter.  Dr. does not seem to be concerned.  My quality of life is not good.  I am always afraid the flutter will not stop and I always get up and move.  This will stop the flutter.  My normal at rest heart rate is 56.  Same as my fathers.  I am 65 years old.  Staying off cafeine and chocalate decreases the severity of the palps.  Something as I awake triggers the flutter.  Adrenaline??  Anyone with similar problems.  Will flutter cause a stroke if I let it go.  I take one aspirin daily.  Sometimes I feel a sensation in left cheek, no weakness, just a sensation. Help.

[maryann]

I have had Atrial Flutter and palpitations for 30 years.  I was tried on several cardiac drugs and finally doctors settled on Inderal.  I was on Inderal and Digoxi for about 20 years and developed asthma which doctors felt was started by the Inderal.  I suffered a lung hemorage and was taken off Inderal and was put on another round of drugs without much success.  I would get palpitations nearly every day and had many trips to the ER and wearing a holter monitor up to 3 days at a time with nothing really showing.  My doctor put me back on Atenonol and I am still having palpitations and have now developed panic attacks because of it.  I get palpitations when I eat, when I drink any alcohol, if I eat anything sweet, if I walk up a flight of stairs, if I have to go to the bathroom.  This is consuming my life and on top of this situation I find that I cannot get off of the Atenonol because of the negative effects it has had on my adrenaline.  If I hear a noise my heart races and I shake for hours.  I need some health and am not getting it from my cardiologist.

[Gary]

I have had heart palpitations since I was about 13 years old and am now 39.I still have them and have been to the doctor several times.I have had all the tests and everything is normal.It helps to know there are others out there with the same problem.I don't like them in fact I hate them.

[Tim (UK)]

I have had palpitations for 20yrs. Had all the tests, and my doctor says nothing to worry about..just ventricular ectopic beats. I am 45yrs old male in UK. I have just discovered this site, and what a comfort it is to know that many have experienced this utterly miserable condition, and we can all share our feelings about the condition, which I am sure is a great help in itself. It is very disturbing. The condition can dissapear for weeks at a time, and then for no reason reappear for days/weeks at a time. It has been so bad that I have taken myself off to hospital on many occassions convinced that my heart will throw a complete wobbly as it feels so unstable. No pain, but a feeling of light headiness, sometimes nausia, and slight discomfort in my right jaw.A general unsettled feeling inside. Sometimes a scary fainting feeling. Had the 24 hr monitor etc..everything ok even tho it picked up these missing/premature beats every few seconds. The crazy thing is that alcohol often calmes it all down..but the following day it can be bad again. Also noticed that a really good hot curry seems to calm the problem for a few days. There seems to be something very calming/soporific in curry (coriander)?? Any comments welcomed :***@****

[diana]

dear jack,
iam 24 years old, and i too have just started to have palpitations. it seems to be when i feel stressed, or excited. i have stopped drinking, and it seemed to have started after that! i went to the hospital, and they gave me a ECG, and said everything was fine. but that doesnt stop me thinking about it. i seem to waiting for the next attack to happen. the more i think about it when the attacks are happening, the more distressed i beome. it is like a circle!i think it could be a panic attack, as i have been feeling very stressed the past few months. i just hope that it goes away as it really gets you down, and scares you.

[diana]

dear jack,
iam 24 years old, and i too have just started to have palpitations. it seems to be when i feel stressed, or excited. i have stopped drinking, and it seemed to have started after that! i went to the hospital, and they gave me a ECG, and said everything was fine. but that doesnt stop me thinking about it. i seem to waiting for the next attack to happen. the more i think about it when the attacks are happening, the more distressed i beome. it is like a circle!i think it could be a panic attack, as i have been feeling very stressed the past few months. i just hope that it goes away as it really gets you down, and scares you.

[Leslie Howard]

I am afflicted with the skipping heart beats too.  I have had them since I was 18 years old.  Now I am 47.  Recently they have gotten worse.  Every day I get up and it skips.  I wish just one day would go by without it doing it.  I can't enjoy doing anything because it makes it worse.  I finally went to the doctor again and he says it probably isn't anything to worry about but I'm going for a stress test next month.  I've had everything elses done.  It's great to read all these comments about heart palpitations because you feel so alone sometimes.  You see other people and you say to yourself, "I bet he or she doesn't have this problem".  I'd give anything if I didn't have this!!!

[Geoffrey]

My symptoms started a few years ago with feeling my pulse pound in my head when I exerted myself. I began to think I was devloping an anurism or worse, so a few trips to the ER and an MRI later, my Doc said my head was OK. Then a few months ago I started developing palpitations in my chest, felt so much like how they describe a heart attack......so, 2 or 3 more ER trips later, and still they say I am fine! I feel like an idiot when it happens, but it really, really feels like something is very wrong, but when I go to the ER, everything is fine.
Funny thing is, when I tell the docs about the hard pulse in my head, and the palps, they never seemed concerned. They all say its stress or anxiety, which may be so, but why can't I control it???..............I have cut out all stimulants, no coffee, nothing..........I welcome any and all comments you may have. Also, it does feel worse, sometimes, after eating......thanks!

[noel]

I'm a 50 year old male.  It's reassuring to hear my own story repeated.  It tends to magnify the credibility of my doctors.  I started having PVCs about 10 years while I was going through a divorce.  Very stressful time.  They reoccured periodically during times of stress and, a couple years ago, were accompanied by reflux problems.  About 2 months ago I ended up in the emergency room as I was having storms of them along with severe stomach and abdominal distress.

I've since calmed both problems down, but the frequency of my PVCs is much greater than the other times I've experienced this. My doctor is not recommending drugs -- other than the prevacid I'm taking for my reflux problems.

I find it interesting to note that several of you have mentioned both anxiety attacks or anxiety levels, esophigial problems and some sort of palpitations.  Think there's a link?  I had anxiety attacks when I was younger and suffered from agoraphobia for a number of years.  

Anyway, thanks for sharing your stories with me.  I figure, living with PVCs is annoying, but it's a hell of a lot better than the alternative.

[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

[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.

[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.

[Barbara]

I am a member of the same club as all of you.  I have palpitations of every description including atrial fibs, PVCs, etc. for no known reason. I am 52 and have had occasional or once-in-while skips since my late 20's when I was diagnosed with MVP and later panic attacks. Now I guess old age has set it because with Hashimoto's Disease (hypothyroidism)and with the introduction of Thyroid meds (Synthroid)and Armour Thryoid, I have had more problems than not. When TSH's go below or above normal, atrial fibs can occur and they did with me. I got that regulated and once again my TSH came way too close to the edge ( the norm is .4-5.0 ) and the first time mine was <.1 and the 2nd time my TSH was .7. I have noticed that the more I am at the edge of the norm or closer to .4 I get worse with my heart palpitations.
One of the reasons for my note is that I have been reading where some of your doctors do not believe what heart palps and chest pains you all are having and naturally when you are being monitored with a Holtor Monitor, nothing much happens. It is rather like taking your car to the shop and no problems! Have you all heard of the Event Recorder? It records the event as it is happening. If you ask the doctor for this, you can catch most of the palps as they occur......it is always in a backtracking mode by about 10 seconds so when you feel the pain or the skip, when you press "record" it has backtracked 10 seconds and it "catches" the palpitations and then continues on for maybe 20 seconds. You then send it in to the lab via the phone and a mouthpiece on the recorder....you push "send" on your event recorder after you match up the phone mouthpiece with the tiny recorder's mouthpiece and it goes over the phone to a computer lab which transcribes the noise you hear to an EKG. I did not read of many of you using this or being asked to use it so I thought I would tell you about this because I had to be told about it. I love this machine!
    I am also wondering about this drug called Azimilide. Is it out yet? Thanks, Barbara. My email is ***@****.

[Sherry]

Hi...sherry here again..since I last wrote I hav efound out the results of the holtor monitor....Since I don't have a family doctor at this time I signed a medical release to receive the report myself...WHAT A MISTAKE.....I really don't understand what it means but here is part of what it says.......1.sinus rhythm normal iv and av conduction time of no higher degrees of av block...2. no major repolorization changes......3. isolated pvc's and pac's...there was a 7 beat run of atrial fib flutter with heartblock being evident with a maximum RR interval of 1.4 seconds....4.  there were no sustained atrial or ventrical tachyarrhythmias........5.   severity of pvc's this falls into a grade 1a on theLOWNS GRADING SYSTEM with infrequent unifocal pvc's..........6.there is nothing consistant with a syncpal spell or acute or silent myocardial ischemia...7...it is not clear whether the patient could have had more sustained run of SVT at sometime in the past..........there you go..this is my holtor monitor report..I have no idea what it means. If someone out there could please tell me I would greatly appreciate it...I'm really worried..What are svt's?..thank you.