Heart fluttering - strange feeling in my chest

[Jam121]

On Friday 03/07/20 was working when I felt my heart fluttering it started in the left side of my chest. It was really strange, could not put it to words how it felt. I was heating up, so I stood up left my desk and laid down on my bed for approximately 20 minutes then after that exact time everything went back to normal. Now I'm so scared so I'm really careful of what I'm eating, drinking or how my daily routine is, it really shook me up. I'm doing breathing exercises, having healthy meals, drinks and in the morning taking my time to get up from bed.

I feel like now it's not as bad as that day but do get an ache or fluttering feeling which subsides.

I have been booked in for ECG and Blood test next week.

Could this be anxiety, stress or something really wrong with my heart?

[Slim2018]

Sounds like my first experience with Atrial Flutter two years ago...but who knows, you are doing the right thing having it checked

[Jam121 in reply to Slim2018]

Thank you for your response. Yes, I need to force myself to get this checked out, as soon as possible. It's just hard to actually pin point what it is. Hopefully I'll find out as soon as they do some tests.

[jeanjeannie50]

Many years ago my younger sister had short episodes like this at work. She chose to ignore them, didn't go to her GP and they totally disappeared. This was probably about 20 years ago. It did re-surface briefly after having an op to remove cancer from one of her lungs about 5 years ago, but again nothing since.

There is really no telling what your symptoms could be. Episodes can be triggered by things like caffeine, alcohol or anything containing artificial additives. These along with sweeteners are a sure trigger for me.

Jean

[Jam121 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thank you jeanjeannie50 for your response and sharing your sisters story of the episodes she had. Really appreciate it.

I was very anxious and excited that week. Felt like the nights before I couldn't sleep properly as I was planning to decorate the whole house. As all the stores were beginning to open up, was thinking about and planning what to buy, how to style the house and how I would fit it around work.

I will make sure not to do that again and always relax, put my feet up and not worry about things too much or get overly excited that I cant sleep or over work myself.

I have and will not drink coffee again. It really shook me up to the point that I went cold Turkey and I was so addicted, I actually worshiped coffee, it was a ritual for me to have my coffee once, twice or even three times a day.

Thinking about it, it was everything at once and the icing on the cake was coffee.

Hope it does forever go away.

Thank you again.

[CDreamer]

As Jean says - you won’t know unless something is picked up with an ECG and it could be stress, posture or other lifestyle factors and you may never experience the like again.

Trouble is that an ECG may not show up anything, especially if you don’t experience symptoms at the precise time you have your ECG - that’s the difficulty in chasing this down which is why mobile gadgets such as the Kardia or the Apple Watch can be so useful and will tell you almost immediately if there is something unusual happening as you can take your own ECG trace.

[Jam121 in reply to CDreamer]

Thank you for your advice, really appreciate it.

I hopefully wish it does not happen again to me or anyone else, as its the worst feeling.

I just looked up the kardia device, never heard of it or seen it before, that is definitely a usefuly device. I will make sure I invest and buy it inroder to track and monitor my heart.

[BobD Volunteer]

Palpitations just means you are aware of your heart and to be honest what you describe sounds quite normal so please don't be surprised if all tests come back normal. It is very common for people to suddenly notice things like that, sometimes linked to blood sugar levels. Good hydration is vital so make sure you drink plenty of water (not tea or coffee and eat small meals at regular times.

There is no point in letting this control your life so please try to continue normally at least until all your tests have come back. We all get a little obsessed with our hearts (after all we only have one) but this really is counter productive as anxiety only increases the chances of palpitations.

[Jam121 in reply to BobD]

Thank you for your response, really do appreciate it.

Yes need to be more careful of what I eat and drink. Since this occurred completely stopped coffee. I was so addicted to coffee, I was drinking 2-3 cups a day constantly without a fail.

Diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart disease run in my family. My mums side majority have high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. My fathers side have heart disease and my father recently had a heart bypass surgery. So it's very scary to know if I do not look after myself I would be more prone or at risk to have those health issues too.

I just hope that it was only anxiety. As I was really anxious prior to that episode. The funny thing was I was anxious about decorating the whole house and thinking long and hard of what to get hahahaha.

I will make sure I dont get too excited, anxious or stressed with things and just take big breath in and out. Yes I will also try to not let this control my life and just live life to the fullest.

Thanks again you have put me at ease.

[wilsond]

I have atrial Flutter and it does feel like you describe. It may not be of course ! If it is that,there are effective drugs which really help me keep it under control.

One good thing it is easily identified by ecg as it has a distinctive saw tooth pattern

Try not to worry too much,easy to say I know... Xx

[Jam121 in reply to wilsond]

Thank you so much for your response, puts me at ease.

[Jam121]

Thank you for your response.

I know what you mean. It's incredibly hard to describe the symptoms to the doctors, without them looking at you like your crazy hahahaha.

It definitely felt like something I never experienced in my whole life, very, very strange.

Hopefully it's not serious and it's nothing to worry about.