Every so often (maybe once every other month) I will have, for a few seconds, a very noticeable change in my heart rate. I’ll be sitting (or laying down) and my heart will race or beat erratically for a few beats and then go back to normal. This, of course, worries me - I think I even get a little boost of adrenaline afterward (could be because the episode is frightening to an extent). I’m 32 and in decent health. I drink a few cups of coffee every morning and I’m vaguely aware that doing so can contribute to this sort of thing (I think). I have a hazy recollection of reading something that indicates that all of this is normal and not, for example, a ‘warning sign’ of an impending heart attack.
Still, I’m curious about this. Should I be more worried? Is this normal (is my memory correct)?
If this is normal, what should I consider abnormal?
Sounds like what they call palpitations. I would see a doctor if I were you. It might be nothing, but it also might be a sign of something potentially nasty.
I have a condition similar to this. My heart skips beat, has irregular beats, and occasionally races.
I too started noticing little episodes of irregular heartbeats. Sometimes it occurred for a few seconds and sometimes as long as a minute.
It finally culminated with a locked in resting heart rate of close to 150 and a trip in the ambulance since I thought I was having a heart attack.
After batteries of tests the doctor told me that it was an “electrical” problem, not a coronary one.
I was told to decaf, given some medication that slows my heart slightly, and started blood pressure meds (My BP didn’t cause the fluctuations. That was a bonus diagnosis from getting the checkup).
If you haven’t had a physical checkup in a while this is a great reason to have one now.
I still get episodes, sometimes lasting as long as 10 hours.
The doctor said that while I’m weak during the episodes, I could actually for a day or two before it is considered physically damaging or life threatening.
It’s such an uncomfortable feeling that I would seek medical help if it went 12 hours.
I’m not a doctor. Not diagnosing your problem. I’m only telling you my experiences with heart palpitations.
The mods will probably close this as it appears that you are asking for medical advice.
I used to get these all the time in periods of high stress (such as staying up extra late studying for an exam), but the reason for it can be anything from benign to serious. Get a check-up and tell your doctor about it.
I don’t have the palpitations so much anymore, but I go through periods where I get a lot of skipped ectopic beats. On a normal day, it may be just one or two, but on bad days, in the dozens, maybe even the hundreds. Annoying as shit. But, in my case, apparently benign. But you won’t know unless you get it checked out. Don’t fret over it, but discuss it when you’re in for your next exam.
I get this as well. I’m female, 30 and very healthy. I went to the doctor and wore a holster for 24 hours. I was told it’s normal, and possibly due to stress.
I do notice that they get worse if I’m stressed out at work or home, but they still regularly occur at least a couple of times a day, more if I’m super stressed. I also notice it more when I’m trying to fall asleep.
Palpitations are solidly in the could be nothing, could be something zone. Worth getting checked out, and in the meantime you might want to take quick notes when it happens, was I stressed, how much caffeine, symptoms of dizzyness, etc.
If you give a doctor a history like that then they are going to assume that its normal and you are just overreacting. Remember that your heart is constantly being modulated by several different neurological and endocrine pathways. A sudden emotional stimuli, such as believing that your heart isn’t beating right, can cause a temporary increase in vagal tone and decrease your heart rate dramatically for a few moments. If this takes place over a long enough period, you faint. You don’t even need to have an emotional stimuli. Simply inhaling deeply, holding it, and then exhaling can cause an increase and subsequent decrease in heart rate. By measuring the changes in heart rate, you can obtain a measure of vagal tone. People who are prone to fainting often have high vagal tones, and will demonstrate a widened discrepancy in heart rate while inhaling and exhaling.
If you aren’t having any actual symptoms, such as syncope (fainting), dyspnea on exertion, orthopnea, peripheral edema, or orthostatic hypotension, then all is well.
Still, if you are concerned then by all means go see a doctor. He’s just gonna review your records, listen to your heart to try and detect arrhythmias or murmurs, maybe order an EKG, and treat any hypertension or dislipidemia you might have. If you are really worried about this, he’ll order a 24 hour EKG called a holter monitor, which will probably come up normal given your description.
Definite signs of trouble would be a heart rate that is constantly changing erratically, or one that beats irregularly. Something that happens once a month isn’t a big deal.
So yeah, you are fine and are just noticing your normal homeostasis at work. Go see a doctor if you are worried, or if its time for your normal checkup.
Ask the doctor for a stress test EKG. I know of several people who had normal EKGs and then something was found on the stress tesk EKG, you know the one they take on the treadmill.
To the OP, don’t worry these people were over 55 and all were overweight and had were basically a heart attack waiting to happen. Thank goodness they got this test and had the problem fixed before any damage happened.
Lots of people get palpatations. My former boss had them and had to wear a 48 hour halter monitor. This records the heart for 48 hours. In his case it turns out it was the caffeine. He was drinking way too much coffee
I have had irregular heartbeats, or palpitations, since I was in my teens. I’ve gone through all the tests, including stress, holter and EKG and others because it really worried me. The holter monitor did indeed catch abnormal beats, but apparently, in my case, that is not unusual.
Every doctor has told me not to worry about it.
Nonetheless, go see a doctor. It probably will set your mind at rest.
I have similar palpitations that began in my teens and initially were infrequent but about a year ago advanced to daily occurrences from a few to multiple occurrences each day. I made an appointment with my doctor but in the meantime researched as much as possible online. Long story short, by reducing my sodium intake I eliminated over 95% of these events.
My diagnosis revealed a minor leak in my mitral valve that fortunately requires no medication and only a minor change in my diet.
The thing is, although this can be caused by anxiety, one of the ways to help that anxiety is to get reassured that everything is fine. Reassurance over benign medical symptoms only becomes a problem if you constantly need it.
I had the same experience for a long time, but I had no idea that they were heart palpitations until a doctor noticed them. I didn’t think much of it because I ate right, didn’t smoke, exercised regularly, and was generally healthy as a horse as far as I knew. Not to scare you, but mine turned out to be a symptom of a more serious (but completely treatable) problem. See a doctor, for peace of mind if nothing else.
I have held off posting because of the medical advice prohibition, but can’t bite my tongue any longer.
Infrequent palpitations, especially those that are of very brief duration when they occur, and certainly those not associated with any other symptoms such as fainting, lightheadness, breathing trouble, or chest pain, need not be investigated by anything more than a standard ECG. To do more is to waste money and cause unnecessary concern.
An exercise stress test in an asymptomatic 32-year-old with no risk factors, if positive, is much more likely to be a false positive than true positive. As a result, the follow-up testing such a result would engender is also more likely to be money unwisely spent and even potentially dangerous (i.e. angiography has its complications and could follow from a positive stress test).
I donate blood, and one day I got rejected for an irregular pulse. Every so often I had felt the kind of symptoms mentioned in the OP, but I had no other symptoms - I never was short of breath, never blacked out, etc. I also have excellent blood pressure.
While I was sure that the cause of my problem was drinking too much Mountain Dew for lunch, I went to the doctor in order to get clearance to donate again. It turned out I had a case of atrial fibrillation. The danger here is that blood can pool in a lower chamber and cause a potentially life-threatening stroke. An attempt to reboot my heart failed, and some medicine my cardiologist put me on fixed the problem before the next attempt. I am now on a few drugs, most notably Warfarin (Coumadin) to keep my blood thin.
Being asymptomatic is not guarantee that there is no problem. The only night I’ve ever stayed in a hospital for me (and I’m 59 this Sunday) was from a thyroid problem which also never bothered me.
It may be totally trivial, but don’t bet your life on it.
No, he should see a doc if he’s at all concerned (or even curious, I suppose). But I would suggest nothing but the most basic investigation (assuming we have all the relevant info at hand in this thread).
ETA: By the way, I base my comments on consensus guidelines and “expert” opinion, i.e. this is not my take so much as it is what is recommended in this type of situation for docs to do by other (more knowledgeable) docs
And please note that the ECG I recommend would have picked up the atrial fibrillation in your case.