Palpitations

[KarenCh]

Ive had palpitations for years but recently getting mor with big lurches too. Had a 24 hour monitor on last month it didn’t show much as typical not a bad day. Other days are really bad it’s giving me anxiety as it frightens the life out of me. Doctors say it’s normal!? ?

[CDreamer]

And your heart rhythm and rate may very well be normal. Do you know what your heart rate is? Is your pulse regular or irregular? Do you know how to take your pulse?

May I suggest you do a little research and learn to ask pertinent questions - don’t just settle for - looks normal.

Palpitations is just a catch all phrase to describe the sensations you feel. Most palpitations are ectopic or skipped beats which everyone experiences everyday but when they come in groups can make you feel horrible and are scary if you don’t know what they are or what is happening.

Trouble is with short term mobile monitors they will often miss paroxysmal (episodes which come and go) arrythmias.

If they continue and they bother you persist and keep going back to your GP, especially if you are symptomatic and/or look at purchasing a Kardia device which you can use wherever you are to record a limited, 1 lead ECG - then you can take it to someone who can interpret and explain for you exactly what is happening and suggest possible treatments and coping strategies - one of the most basic but most useful is Breathing Techniques - focussing on taking deep, deliberate, slow breaths and saying to yourself Calm repeatedly can’t really help.

Best wishes CD

[BobD Volunteer]

Palpitations is just a term which means that somebody is aware of their heart. What is causing that may be hard to find. If your heart rate is an irregular irregularity it may be AF but it could just be missed beats (ectopics) which are a normal function for all of us and generally benign. Worry will just exacerbate the issue but I do know how easy it is for this situation to escalate and take over your life if not careful.

There are lots of things than can casue paliptations including thyroid issues and beleive it or not digestsive ones too

Whilst I hesitate to suggest something which may increase awareness look up Kardia which is a small hand held single lead ecg device which can be linked to a mobile phone or tablet and may enable you to capture what you are feeling to show your doctor.

[Hidden]

Hi,

I had palpitations, almost daily, from 2007 to late December 2009 .......... then on 6 January 2010 AF mugged me.

That January day my symptoms were initially feeling as if I was going down with 'flu. Then came erratic blood pressure which ended up down at 76/50, then by early evening I was in A & E then diagnosed with AF.

My palpitations were horrible ..... a massive thump in the chest, like a mule had kicked me top left side of chest, then an incredible few second burst of heat all over the top of my head with a tingling feeling, then a surreal feeling like I wasn't on this planet at all. Then all normal. Matter of seconds from start to stop.

No changes to vision, no feeling faint, no feeling hot and/or cold - nothing untoward at all.

Was never given a monitor, constantly presented myself at GP for an ECG but nothing ever picked up......until I got mugged.

Well, with the benefit of hindsight I wouldn't call it normal. Equally though don't stress out over it , it will make things worse.

There are many expensive devices around that can be used to try and capture these events but they're no good if you aren't at home.

The catalyst for me, on the 6 January (when I was at home) was to record my erratic BP behaviour and go and see my GP with my print out. GP's being science based, love real evidence. It was this meeting with my GP that got me into A & E, then into the cardiac unit and the rest is history.

John

[CDreamer in reply to Hidden]

John the Kardia can be carried in your pocket - don’t need to be at home - it’s matchbox size - but you do need a smart phone to use.

[Finvola in reply to CDreamer]

Or an ipad, CD - but more awkward to carry.

[baba in reply to Finvola]

Or android tablet computer - cheaper than iPad.

[Ppiman]

As a sufferer for years from this, I can fully sympathise If you are struggling with the anxiety these palpitations can cause, then I would ask your GP to carry out an echo cardiogram of your heart. That would uncover extra detail and will, I’m sure, along with the ECG, reassure you fully that your doctor’s diagnosis is right. If he won’t go to the extra cost of this, then ask him why - he’ll have a good reason and that in itself might well also reassure you sufficiently.

My advice is always to trust your GP whose training and direct experience of you and others similar to you, have provided him or her with unique insights into your health - far more accurate, focused and personal than any amount of well-intentioned, but necessarily general, advice found on the Internet.

Best of luck. Anxiety is a nasty feeling.

Steve

[cycleman73]

Hi Karen, Just to be on the safe side I would recommend you had your ticker checked.

Four years ago I too had pretty strong palpitations and after a thorough check was diagnosed with aortic stenosis. So my aortic valve had calcified causing the palpitations.

The old valve was extracted and a new porcine valve fitted. Look after yourself and

Merry Christmas.

[Hidden]

Not sure if this works for palpitations, but it sure works good to control afib. Try it and see if it does anything for you:

-------------------------------

After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar (and to a lesser degree, salt – i.e. dehydration) was triggering my Afib. Doctors don't want to hear this - there is no money in telling patients to eat less sugar. Each person has a different sugar threshold - and it changes as you get older, so you need to count every gram of sugar you eat every day (including natural sugars in fruits, etc.). My tolerance level was 190 grams of sugar per day 8 years ago, 85 grams a year and a half ago, and 60 grams today, so AFIB episodes are more frequent and last longer (this is why all doctors agree that afib gets worse as you get older). If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again (easier said than done of course). It's not the food - it's the sugar (or salt - see below) IN the food that's causing your problems. Try it and you will see - should only take you 1 or 2 months of trial-and-error to find your threshold level. And for the record - ALL sugars are treated the same (honey, refined, agave, natural sugars in fruits, etc.). I successfully triggered AFIB by eating a bunch of plums and peaches one day just to test it out. In addition, I have noticed that moderate (afternoon) exercise (7-mile bike ride or 5-mile hike in the park) often puts my Afib heart back in to normal rhythm a couple hours later. Don’t know why – perhaps you burn off the excess sugars in your blood/muscles or sweat out excess salt?? I also found that strenuous exercise does no good – perhaps you make yourself dehydrated??

I'm pretty sure that Afib is caused by a gland(s) - like the Pancreas, Thyroid (sends signals to the heart to increase speed or strength of beat), Adrenal Gland (sends signals to increase heart rate), Sympathetic Nerve (increases heart rate) or Vagus Nerve (decreases heart rate), Hypothalamus Gland or others - or an organ that, in our old age, is not working well anymore and excess sugar or dehydration is causing them to send mixed signals to the heart - for example telling the heart to beat fast and slow at the same time - which causes it to skip beats, etc. I can't prove that (and neither can my doctors), but I have a very strong suspicion that that is the root cause of our Afib problems. I am working on this with a Nutritionist and hope to get some definitive proof in a few months.

Also, in addition to sugar, if you are dehydrated - this will trigger AFIB as well. It seems (but I have no proof of this) that a little uptick of salt in your blood is being treated the same as an uptick of sugar - both cause AFIB episodes. (I’m not a doctor – it may be the sugar in your muscles/organs and not in your blood, don’t know). In any case you have to keep hydrated, and not eat too much salt. The root problem is that our bodies are not processing sugar/salt properly and no doctor knows why, but the AFIB seems to be a symptom of this and not the primary problem, but medicine is not advanced enough to know the core reason that causes AFIB at this time. You can have a healthy heart and still have Afib – something inside us is triggering it when we eat too much sugar or get (even a little) dehydrated. Find out the core reason for this and you will be a millionaire and make the cover of Time Magazine! Good luck! - Rick Hyer

PS – there is a study backing up this data you can view at:

https//cardiab.biomedcentral.com/a...

How much sugar do you need to stop your afib? The answer is about 1/2 of what your daily sugar limit (threshold) is. My sugar threshold is about 80 grams a day right now. So if I go over that (and it's sooooo easy to do) my heart will start to afib. Then if I cut back to about 40-45 grams of sugar for one or two days, then the heart goes back to normal rhythm and stays there until I exceed my daily threshold of sugar again. (moderate exercise will shorten that time frame). I have gone 30 days under my sugar threshold with no afib once just to prove it is the sugar. And I have consumed my daily limit of sugar every day after going into afib and it stayed in afib for a week - just to prove that worked. So - as long as you know what your sugar threshold is you can control it, but that takes several weeks of experimenting to figure out. I use the following WEB site to know how much sugar is in different foods:

fatsecret.com/calories-nutr....

If you find that your sugar threshold is lower than 50 grams a day - it's nearly impossible to eat less than that each day, which will keep you in permanent Afib. If this is the case, try going to a Nutrition Response Tester. I am doing this and she has improved my gland processing such that we have increased my sugar threshold from 48 grams a day to about 75, which is high enough to stay under - and keep afib from happening (unless I indulge in a sweet something – which I do too often). I'm hoping we can get my sugar threshold over 100 grams a day, and if so, that would pretty much stop any afib from happening again (assuming I consume less than 100 grams a day which is not too difficult to do). If I have success in achieving this, I will post it on this forum. If you are on any harsh meds they might be altering your metabolism and something else could be causing your afib. In that case, you will have to really listen to your body and experiment to find out what is triggering your afib. I'm pretty sure it's some gland or secretion in the body that results in sending mixed signals to the heart - not the heart itself. Hope this helps.

[Catlady5]

Hi, I’ve suffered for years with PVCs also which have gotten worse over time. I finally got a Holter to catch them and I was having 20,000 plus a day. I was relieved it caught them because it’s frustrating to wear it and it show nothing. My cardiologist sent me to an EP and I had an ablation. Mine were causing symptoms though. They are caused from an electrical problem. IMO no meds or meditation will cure them. I tried it all. My EP was the first doctor who looked at me and said to quit trying to figure it out and continue driving yourself crazy and he could help me. It was such a relief to hear that because all I heard for years was they won’t kill you calm down and live with it. So if yours are causing that much distress, like mine did....you don’t have to live with them. Find the right doctor and don’t accept the standard response. I’m here to tell you there is hope....good luck!!

[Catlady5]

Oh yes I need to add something...lol... I have an Apple Watch that can take recordings also that can be sent to the doctor. I know there are cheaper other devices out there also.

[KarenCh in reply to Catlady5]

Thank you