Long pause between beats

[YaYa53]

I have had palpitations since age 31 and am now 57. Lately I feel like my heart stops and I get a strange feeling in my head, almost like when one has an earache and you sense your heartbeat in your head. After the long pause, my heart beats irregular for a bit and then beats fast probably because I get so scared. I have had stress tests, echocardiograms and worn an event monitor and cardiologist says that what shows on the monitor is not life threatening but ask if I WANT to take Flecainide because of the annoyance. Sometimes Im so afraid my hear won't start beating again. I do not consume any caffeine but I do smoke 10 to 12 cigarettes per day and know I need to stop. I was also diagnosed with mild sleep apnea and my GP didn't think a cpap was necessary according to sleep study results. I have reflux and heartburn occasionally and it seems that the heart sensations happen more when I do.

[itdood]

Flec has been found to create problems where none exist.  In other words, in patients with healthy hearts, flec can create malignant arrhythmias where previously only benign arrhythmias exist.

Instead of putting yourself on a med that will eventually become something you need to take all the time with possible dangerous side effects, why not make lifestlye changes instead?

I find it odd that you would want to put yourself on Flec instead of quiting the smokes and making other positive lifestyle changes.  I do everything I can to avoid a life-long dependency on medication.  A med like Flec is one of those that once you start taking it, it may be rough to get off it as your cardiac muscle remodels itself around the presence of this compound.

[tom_h]

Several years ago I found out that I had severe sleep apnea.  Once I was on CPAP, a great deal of my PVC's (skipped beats) that I experienced throughout the day went away.  I love my CPAP, and I now sleep line a stone at night.

[yarrow]

The interesting thing about worrying about whether or not your heart will start again is that IF you have the time to worry and think about it, your heart and circulatory system are doing just fine, because your brain cannot think if it doesn't have enough oxygen.  If you don't have time to worry about it, you are probably dead.  ;-)

But really, sweetie, as I am sure you know, we cannot even talk about this intelligently unless you quit the ciggies right now.  They cause the blood vessels to constrict all over the body, from the heart itself right out to the skin (think wrinkles around the mouth; the French call it 'Chicken B*tt'), and they CAUSE irregular heartbeats.

Unless you're willing to quit the cancer sticks cold and forever, there's no good advice anyone can give you.