Heart Fluttering

[Kirsten36]

Hi, I'm 18 years old and have been experiencing several symptoms, mainly heart fluttering or rapid heart rate.. I don't eat  alot of sweets anymore because I wanted to see if the sugar from it was what is causing it. I workout regularly. I don't drink caffeine or soda. I have also been getting nauseous lately. This fluttering I don't think is caused by anything, it pretty much comes and goes as it pleases. I get plenty of joint pain, nothing severe just mild, but annoying nonetheless. Also soreness/aches in my muscles.  My back/neck is always stiff and painful when I wake up. Sleeping is also a problem for me.. I don't know if that has anything to do with the fluttering.. but I never feel rested in the morning even if I actually do sleep through the whole night.. I read up on articles on the internet and it said this could be Fibromyalgia? I've been to see my doctor and did an EKG which just showed my atriums are a little slow in pumping into my ventricles, I did bloodwork, which was normal. I did a heart monitor, showed episodes of irregular activity. I've seen a cardiologist and he didn't think much of it.

Any help? :( These rapid heart rates are getting on my nerves..

[Kirsten36]

Well actually, I only work out every other day, sometimes only 3 times a week.. and only for 20 minutes doing moderate cardio on an exercise bike usually.. I hardly break a sweat.. its pretty easy for me. So I know its not working out. I've had these symptoms over the summer and they came back. Both times I hadn't been working out at all. And I'm really not worried if it is Fibromyalgia because it's not horrible sounding at all. I just need more sleep.. Now that compared to my boyfriend's Crohn's disease.. it sounds like a papercut, and I'm fine with that. I just wanted other people's opinions.
But thank you for taking the time to answer my question :]

[cindy707]

Hi Kirsten...read your post...you have so many things on your side....your age .....you are obviously in great physical shape if you are working out and alot of your symtoms as you have explained them sound to me like you are way overdoing it at the gym or running or whatever it is you are doing in keeping in shape.  Almost everything that you described is either muscular and joint related and that points to you going way beyond what you should be doing to your body in working out.  I don't know if you worked up your own regimen or if you had a personal trainer help you but one of the first things i would do is just stop by any of the larger gyms in your area and talk to a personal trainer and tell them what your work out consists of and what you are feeling and let them recommend a better and different way to keep your body in great shape.  Personal trainers have alot of experience and are not just people off of the street  They have gone to shool and most of them are licensed or at the very least certified.  Now onto your heart..if your heart doc isn't worried you shouldn't be either.  If they are just a few irregularities so what ...the body with all of us is imperfect.  If you start having other symtoms tho you need to recontact him/her to let them look at you a litle further.  Heart flutters are pretty common when someone pushes their bodies in the gym trust me...i used to work out 7 days a week 3 hours a pop.....i have learned to scale that way back...sounds to me like you need to talk to a personal trainer and for gosh sake stay off of the internet to try to self diagnose yourself....there are some scary things out there that will definately not apply to you at 18 yeats old....look on the net when you are 70.....

[LBBBguy]

I understand the heart acting up getting on your nerves. Not sleeping so well probably doesn't help either. And not knowing what's behind it, well, that's maybe the worst part of all. Fibromyalgia? It's possible. You've got some symptoms, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I'd be cautious about trying to self-diagnose with Dr. Google (although many of us are guilty of it). I know that not knowing what's going on can cause anxiety, but then if you start wondering and worrying and maybe convincing yourself that you've got something like Fibromyalgia, when there's no way to really know without a doctor... well, that will probably cause even more anxiety. Which doesn't help anything.

So FWIW, it doesn't sound like whatever is going on is immediately dangerous. I know that's maybe some cold comfort. I would add that you keep on your doctor for a diagnosis if you think something just isn't right, and it seems like that's the case. In addition to your heart flutters, have you talked about your joint pain, sleep problems and concerns about Fibromyalgia? Keep at it, and eventually your doctor, or some doctor will figure it out. There is a Fibromyalgia forum, so I would check that out, too.

Good luck!