Irregular Heartbeats and on and off chest pain

[tatianahuntington]

Hi! My name is Tatiana and about a month and a half ago I went to ER because had lightheadedness for a few days and some tention around my heart...they checked out everything ( which costed $2500) did 2 X-rays, EKG, blood sample and EVERYTHING came out clear....so the Dr proposed that it was probably because of my stress with my work...and I WAS under a lot of stress, so he prescribed somesedatives to take just a week...i didn't take a lot of it...but started noticing lately that I have prediod of times during the day when I have an extra heartbeat...or it skips a beat...and it scares me!...But because my tests were done just a month ago, do you think my heart is allright? I also have chest pain often...comes and goes...What do you think it may be due to?

Thank you so much!!!!!
Tatiana

[Jeffrey S Guy, M.D., M. Sc.]

A single EKG done in the ED only records that your heart is beating normally for the 12 seconds of that particular EKG.  There are a large number of things that produce lightheadedness and chest discomfort.   More than likely, the ED made sure your were not having a heart attack (myocardial ischemia).  If these symptoms persists you certainly want to check with your family doctor.   Elevated thyroid levels can can your heart to do such crazy things.   Electrolytes out of whack from diet or an illness.  Often patients are asked to wear an EKG for 24 hours or more (Holter monitor) to evaluate what your hear rate and rhythm is over a longer period of time.  

[rlc3473]

almost everyone or actually, probbly everyone, has what are called premature ventricular contractions. it's where the chamber of the heart that pumps blood to the body does it earlier than it is supposed to. i have them and when i have one it feels like there's a big butterfly in my upper chest. it's an odd feeling. some people have them very frequently. you would have to have them ALOT for a doctor to put you on medicine. make sure they checked your magnesium level. the chest pain could be due to alot of things. i have seen people have pain when they have a PVC. does your pin happen when your heart skips a beat? what side of your chest is the pain on? does the pain usually come when you are active or resting? is it associated with eating? does the pain increase when you take a deep breath? is your chest tender to the touch? how old are you? do you have any medical problems? are you overweight? do you have a family history of any heart or similar problems? any venture to try and come up with a possible cause, would have to start with these questions being answered. the E.R. should have told you to follow up with a family medicine doctor, too.