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very strange heart sensation followed by adrenaline rush and fast heartbeat - very worried about this
Hi. I'm a 26 year old female, neither fat nor skinny, no smoking, only occasional alcohol use. Prior to what I'm about to describe, the only heart issues I had were: occasional flip-flopping feeling which knocked the wind out of me but only happened maybe a few times a year, and a sort of flip-flopping or difficulty beating when lying down on my left side (sometimes, not every time I lay this way - started around age 13).
Background: Three years ago something happened to me that I still haven't figured out - my heart started beating very fast and my BP went way up (so high that with every heartbeat I could see the tiny capillaries in my eyes as an overlay on my visual field). Paramedics couldn't bring them down so took me to "A&E" (aka the ER - I'm American but live in England). Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happened (that I'm aware of) prior to this incident, except for insertion of Mirena IUD one week prior - I do still have it but now think I'll have it removed.
Thus began months of seemingly random 'attacks' during which I'd get varying combinations of tachycardia, high BP, tremors esp in left leg, lightheadedness, inability to fully inhale, feeling of not getting enough oxygen even if I could breathe properly, and the list goes on. I also had a terrible feeling of physical anxiety (churning stomach, agitation, etc) but with no mental anxiety as the apparent cause!!! Attacks could last minutes or hours and any combination of symptoms would happen. And in between attacks, my heart would regularly do many strange things - tachy, brady, irregular rhythm, extremely forceful beats, 'flip-flopping' feelings, etc.
I also sometimes experienced a sensation of the heart stopping and restarting - immediately after the restart I would feel a MASSIVE, uncomfortable surge of adrenaline and the heart would beat very fast for a little while. I could never figure out if I was getting an adrenaline surge that caused some odd heart behaviour that I felt before I actually felt the adrenaline, or what. Sometimes my heart would also start beating EXTREMELY fast from resting for no reason at all - it was literally immediate - this was also accompanied by an adrenaline rush but no preceding feeling of the heart stopping.
These incidents gradually decreased in frequency over time, along w/ the other symptoms, until after three years I was feeling mostly recovered from whatever got me. I viewed myself as not entirely back to normal, but almost there. UNTIL a couple of days ago, when I had another (random as always - I was just riding in the car reading, no stress) heart stoppage -> restart -> adrenaline event. This one was the second most severe one I've ever had and I thought I might die. Luckily the heart DID start pumping again so I'm still here. By now I'm pretty familiar with flip-floppings and extra-strong beats, etc, and this definitely feels very different and much more worrying. I am afraid that if it happens again, the heart might not start on its own.
I should also say that when I say it 'stops', I mean it seems to stop pumping blood...I get the impression there is still activity going on in the heart but that blood is not being circulated. Could it be ventricular fibrillation, or ...? Maybe adrenaline is not causing this, but rather my heart goes into an abnormal rhythm and my body releases adrenaline in an attempt to self-shock into proper rhythm?
During the most severe incident in '06 or '07, my colleagues said I turned "white as a sheet" while it was happening. That time, I was clawing at my chest (reflex reaction, I didn't actually think that would help) and thinking "please start please start please start", knowing I'd die if it didn't. That time, it felt like the heart was quivering/fluttering but not pumping. All other times including the one a couple of days ago, it has sort of felt like the heart is contracting in extreme slow motion, or having some sort of muscle cramp.
I cannot figure this out and would welcome any insight anyone has to offer. After it all began in 06, I had a stress test (slightly above avg exercise tolerance), echo (normal), stress echo (normal) and many ECGs. The cardio said my heart was perfectly healthy. No evidence of MVP (which I thought I might have). He said the only thing to remark on was that the heart was smallish, but not abnormally so.
My GP diagnosed me w/ 'anxiety attacks' w/out finding it necessary to order any physical testing whatsoever. (The above cardio is a friend of my parents who saw me while I was on vacation in the US). GP put me on citalopram which I went along w/ just to be cooperative, and propranolol to help regulate what he viewed as anxiety-induced tachy. Did not seem to find it significant that symptoms did not occur during periods of actual mental anxiety. Said it might be pheochromocytoma, but that he wouldn't bother testing as that's so rare. Ashamed to say I didn't and still haven't actually demanded said testing.
All ECGs were normal except once at A&E when they caught random very hard beats interspersed w/ regular beats - v. hard beats could be seen as an extra-long downward spike on the readout. Of their own volition (as opposed to at my request), A&E sent this to a cardio (different one) who didn't bother to look at it and just told me not to worry. Thanks, buddy! So, not really knowing how to interpret these readouts, I still don't know if that was significant.
I'm currently seeing a neurologist for delayed sleep phase syndrome. After hearing all this, he very kindly volunteered to arrange for me to use the clinic's Holter monitor; he'll then send the tape to a cardiologist. Not sure when this will happen, though, as it's the NHS (meaning things do not tend to happen promptly).
At the time of the latest incident, I was on amoxicillin but no other meds continuously, although I have been taking lansoprazole at night only, for a week and a half to two weeks. A few days prior to the incident, I had taken myself off of the pramipexole that I'd been on for a week, as I was having trouble swallowing (for which the amoxicillin and lanso were prescribed - possible sinus/throat infection or gastric reflux - doc and I wanted to attack on both fronts in order to avoid the return of the laryngospams I'd had during recent respiratory infection).
Thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to help...
Background: Three years ago something happened to me that I still haven't figured out - my heart started beating very fast and my BP went way up (so high that with every heartbeat I could see the tiny capillaries in my eyes as an overlay on my visual field). Paramedics couldn't bring them down so took me to "A&E" (aka the ER - I'm American but live in England). Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happened (that I'm aware of) prior to this incident, except for insertion of Mirena IUD one week prior - I do still have it but now think I'll have it removed.
Thus began months of seemingly random 'attacks' during which I'd get varying combinations of tachycardia, high BP, tremors esp in left leg, lightheadedness, inability to fully inhale, feeling of not getting enough oxygen even if I could breathe properly, and the list goes on. I also had a terrible feeling of physical anxiety (churning stomach, agitation, etc) but with no mental anxiety as the apparent cause!!! Attacks could last minutes or hours and any combination of symptoms would happen. And in between attacks, my heart would regularly do many strange things - tachy, brady, irregular rhythm, extremely forceful beats, 'flip-flopping' feelings, etc.
I also sometimes experienced a sensation of the heart stopping and restarting - immediately after the restart I would feel a MASSIVE, uncomfortable surge of adrenaline and the heart would beat very fast for a little while. I could never figure out if I was getting an adrenaline surge that caused some odd heart behaviour that I felt before I actually felt the adrenaline, or what. Sometimes my heart would also start beating EXTREMELY fast from resting for no reason at all - it was literally immediate - this was also accompanied by an adrenaline rush but no preceding feeling of the heart stopping.
These incidents gradually decreased in frequency over time, along w/ the other symptoms, until after three years I was feeling mostly recovered from whatever got me. I viewed myself as not entirely back to normal, but almost there. UNTIL a couple of days ago, when I had another (random as always - I was just riding in the car reading, no stress) heart stoppage -> restart -> adrenaline event. This one was the second most severe one I've ever had and I thought I might die. Luckily the heart DID start pumping again so I'm still here. By now I'm pretty familiar with flip-floppings and extra-strong beats, etc, and this definitely feels very different and much more worrying. I am afraid that if it happens again, the heart might not start on its own.
I should also say that when I say it 'stops', I mean it seems to stop pumping blood...I get the impression there is still activity going on in the heart but that blood is not being circulated. Could it be ventricular fibrillation, or ...? Maybe adrenaline is not causing this, but rather my heart goes into an abnormal rhythm and my body releases adrenaline in an attempt to self-shock into proper rhythm?
During the most severe incident in '06 or '07, my colleagues said I turned "white as a sheet" while it was happening. That time, I was clawing at my chest (reflex reaction, I didn't actually think that would help) and thinking "please start please start please start", knowing I'd die if it didn't. That time, it felt like the heart was quivering/fluttering but not pumping. All other times including the one a couple of days ago, it has sort of felt like the heart is contracting in extreme slow motion, or having some sort of muscle cramp.
I cannot figure this out and would welcome any insight anyone has to offer. After it all began in 06, I had a stress test (slightly above avg exercise tolerance), echo (normal), stress echo (normal) and many ECGs. The cardio said my heart was perfectly healthy. No evidence of MVP (which I thought I might have). He said the only thing to remark on was that the heart was smallish, but not abnormally so.
My GP diagnosed me w/ 'anxiety attacks' w/out finding it necessary to order any physical testing whatsoever. (The above cardio is a friend of my parents who saw me while I was on vacation in the US). GP put me on citalopram which I went along w/ just to be cooperative, and propranolol to help regulate what he viewed as anxiety-induced tachy. Did not seem to find it significant that symptoms did not occur during periods of actual mental anxiety. Said it might be pheochromocytoma, but that he wouldn't bother testing as that's so rare. Ashamed to say I didn't and still haven't actually demanded said testing.
All ECGs were normal except once at A&E when they caught random very hard beats interspersed w/ regular beats - v. hard beats could be seen as an extra-long downward spike on the readout. Of their own volition (as opposed to at my request), A&E sent this to a cardio (different one) who didn't bother to look at it and just told me not to worry. Thanks, buddy! So, not really knowing how to interpret these readouts, I still don't know if that was significant.
I'm currently seeing a neurologist for delayed sleep phase syndrome. After hearing all this, he very kindly volunteered to arrange for me to use the clinic's Holter monitor; he'll then send the tape to a cardiologist. Not sure when this will happen, though, as it's the NHS (meaning things do not tend to happen promptly).
At the time of the latest incident, I was on amoxicillin but no other meds continuously, although I have been taking lansoprazole at night only, for a week and a half to two weeks. A few days prior to the incident, I had taken myself off of the pramipexole that I'd been on for a week, as I was having trouble swallowing (for which the amoxicillin and lanso were prescribed - possible sinus/throat infection or gastric reflux - doc and I wanted to attack on both fronts in order to avoid the return of the laryngospams I'd had during recent respiratory infection).
Thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to help...
I also wanted to add that after a few years of suffering from occasional bouts of PVC's, they became so frequent and numerous that I was suffering from thousand of them every day. I would have at lease 20 PVC's in a minute, all day every day, even during sleep. They would occasionally wake me up in the middle of the night. They were so bothersome but I was always told that they were not life threatening and since I didn't want to take beta blockers, would just have to live with them. Well, at one of my physicals a few years ago, my GP suggested that low magnesium levels can sometimes cause these PVC's. She tested my blood level and it came back in the low end of the normal range and she did not recommend supplements. I decided to read up more about magnesium and found a book called the Magnesium Miracle. I decided to try supplementing to see if it would help at all and began taking a 1:1 ration of magnesium glycerinate and calcium. (About 500 milligrams each). Well it took a few months but surprisingly my PVC's diminished by probably 95%. I now have a few episodes scattered through the day but never have them at night anymore and never have runs where my heart is flip flopping every other beat for hours on end. It truly was a miracle for me. It has not cured the PVC's I get from anxiety as I described in the post above, but it has made me feel nearly normal the rest of the time.
I read through most of this thread and was so interested by your original post describing your symptoms. I have been feeling this way for years but have never been able to describe it in a coherent way. I also get these quick adrenaline rushes as my heart pauses and I feel scared that it will not restart. This causes me to immediately feel my neck to see if I can detect my heart beat. At times, I can't detect it (although it must just be too faint to feel otherwise I would be passed out), then of course I launch into a panic which speeds up my heart rate and causes me to feel dizzy.
My history with PVC's began over 13 years ago when I began experiencing them out of the blue. They didn't cause any panic at that time, just felt like a "normal" pvc with a pause and a thud. Sometimes I would get them a few times in a minute, other times they would disappear for weeks. I received a full workup from a cardiologist at that time and the only thing he found was mitral valve prolapse. I managed to live fine with my heart palps for the next few years since I knew they were not life threatening. Then, out of the blue, I began experiencing the kind of palpitation with the adrenaline rush and dizziness. Most were brought on by social anxiety because the first time it happened, I was in the middle of a conversation then felt panicky and wanted to run out of the room. This would cause so much embarassment however, that I tried to ride out the anxiety and continue my face to face conversation while also trying to contain my extreme anxiety that I would simply collapse while speaking to this person. Since this initial incident, I have this happen repeatedly when meeting new people or having to socialize at cocktail parties. My crazy palpitations begin, the adrenaline flows, and I want to run out of the room.
My GP says anxiety is bringing this all on and has given me xanax and propranolol for situational social anxiety. I have yet to test it out since I also have a phobia that I will react adversely to the medication.
Your posting finally make me feel like I am not alone and completely crazy. I do think I may suffer from full blown mitral valve prolapse syndrome and it seems the way to control it is through meds.
Wundergecko, I hope you are doing better with your episodes. Like you said, we are all still here. My big problem is that I have to attend events and cocktail parties and appear social and interested and entertaining. However my fear of having one of my episodes is so disabling I can't cope. The next event I go to, I am going to try the meds the dr. gave me and hope for the best.
My history with PVC's began over 13 years ago when I began experiencing them out of the blue. They didn't cause any panic at that time, just felt like a "normal" pvc with a pause and a thud. Sometimes I would get them a few times in a minute, other times they would disappear for weeks. I received a full workup from a cardiologist at that time and the only thing he found was mitral valve prolapse. I managed to live fine with my heart palps for the next few years since I knew they were not life threatening. Then, out of the blue, I began experiencing the kind of palpitation with the adrenaline rush and dizziness. Most were brought on by social anxiety because the first time it happened, I was in the middle of a conversation then felt panicky and wanted to run out of the room. This would cause so much embarassment however, that I tried to ride out the anxiety and continue my face to face conversation while also trying to contain my extreme anxiety that I would simply collapse while speaking to this person. Since this initial incident, I have this happen repeatedly when meeting new people or having to socialize at cocktail parties. My crazy palpitations begin, the adrenaline flows, and I want to run out of the room.
My GP says anxiety is bringing this all on and has given me xanax and propranolol for situational social anxiety. I have yet to test it out since I also have a phobia that I will react adversely to the medication.
Your posting finally make me feel like I am not alone and completely crazy. I do think I may suffer from full blown mitral valve prolapse syndrome and it seems the way to control it is through meds.
Wundergecko, I hope you are doing better with your episodes. Like you said, we are all still here. My big problem is that I have to attend events and cocktail parties and appear social and interested and entertaining. However my fear of having one of my episodes is so disabling I can't cope. The next event I go to, I am going to try the meds the dr. gave me and hope for the best.
Thanks to Lonna94 for her post about MCAD. Could be relevant to some who have posted here.
(Like this thread, I'm still alive, by the way. Palps are pretty situational now.)
(Like this thread, I'm still alive, by the way. Palps are pretty situational now.)
Hi...
I am so sorry you are going through these things. I hope my post can help.
Has anyone considered Mast Cell Activation Disorder/Syndrome?
For some of these posts the symptoms seem almost "classic." Many doctors are unfamiliar with the disorder and/or do not consider it.
Someone mentioned possible relationship between food and symptoms...good idea because often with MCAD, food can definitely trigger the symptoms mentioned if you have MCAD/MCAS, as can various scents, temperature (extreme hot/cold), exercise, fatigue, the list goes on. Any of those and many more things can trigger the symptoms. Hot showers/baths can even elicit symptoms in MCAD/MCAS. Symptoms are as you described (and may include some or all of them simultaneously or different symptoms at different times, seemingly not connected but they are all the result of this MCAD). Symptoms can include: cardiac symptoms, gastrointestinal, neurological, cutaneous (skin), basically it can cause symptoms in any organ system in your body (and possibly more than one).
If you have not considered MCAD, I encourage you to research the condition and see if it seems to match what you are going through.
There are also some "extreme" versions of the disorder...please don't let those freak you out...it can be scary to read about those. But take heart knowing that even if the mast cell issue sounds like a carbon copy of what you have been going through...it is much more likely that it is the MCAD/MCAS, rather than some of the other more "extreme" and very rare forms of an actual mast cell disease. Take comfort in realizing that the treatment can be as "simple" as antihistamines (high doses gradually increasing to several times per day) along with something like a leukotriene inhibitor (montelukast aka Singulair) daily. A good allergist can help with this!
I wish you all the very best!
Lonna
Oh, here is a website about MCAD/MCAS
http://www.medpagetoday.com/resource-center/anaphylaxis/mast-cells/a/37978
I am so sorry you are going through these things. I hope my post can help.
Has anyone considered Mast Cell Activation Disorder/Syndrome?
For some of these posts the symptoms seem almost "classic." Many doctors are unfamiliar with the disorder and/or do not consider it.
Someone mentioned possible relationship between food and symptoms...good idea because often with MCAD, food can definitely trigger the symptoms mentioned if you have MCAD/MCAS, as can various scents, temperature (extreme hot/cold), exercise, fatigue, the list goes on. Any of those and many more things can trigger the symptoms. Hot showers/baths can even elicit symptoms in MCAD/MCAS. Symptoms are as you described (and may include some or all of them simultaneously or different symptoms at different times, seemingly not connected but they are all the result of this MCAD). Symptoms can include: cardiac symptoms, gastrointestinal, neurological, cutaneous (skin), basically it can cause symptoms in any organ system in your body (and possibly more than one).
If you have not considered MCAD, I encourage you to research the condition and see if it seems to match what you are going through.
There are also some "extreme" versions of the disorder...please don't let those freak you out...it can be scary to read about those. But take heart knowing that even if the mast cell issue sounds like a carbon copy of what you have been going through...it is much more likely that it is the MCAD/MCAS, rather than some of the other more "extreme" and very rare forms of an actual mast cell disease. Take comfort in realizing that the treatment can be as "simple" as antihistamines (high doses gradually increasing to several times per day) along with something like a leukotriene inhibitor (montelukast aka Singulair) daily. A good allergist can help with this!
I wish you all the very best!
Lonna
Oh, here is a website about MCAD/MCAS
http://www.medpagetoday.com/resource-center/anaphylaxis/mast-cells/a/37978
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