Heart anxiety, flutters and ectopic beats - 18 years old :(

[alexandral7]

Hello everyone, this is my first post on here and I was just wondering if anybody had the same experience as me - I will try and keep the story concise, but any advice/comments would really be appreciated!I'm 18 years old and just finished my A levels - since November last year i would occasionally (once or twice a month) get heart palpitations which felt like heart flutters/a sensation that my heart was dropping. I thought nothing of these as the first time was just after a gym class and the other I figured was anxiety. Until just after Christmas I had drank quite a bit one night and the following night I had these continuous palpitations or ectopic beats which after about 11 hours suddenly just went. (I have not had them like this since). I started to get really worried as I am a hypochondriac and asked my mum to get an appointment with my GP (who is really nice). After visiting him he explained that loads of people my age get them and not to worry and said he would give me an ECG and blood test just incase. Both came back normal except my bloods showed I was deficient in Vitamin D and was prescribed high dose supplements. In late January I began to try drinking normally again and at first I had a few odd beats but these subsided - I did not have any palpitations/ectopic beats for about 5 months (maybe one here or there) and figured it was all due to my deficiency and it was great. Fast forward up until about late June I was days away from my last exam and chilling at my boyfriends house after a really hot day - we were watching a film and all of a sudden I had a cluster of heart flutters that lasted about 3 seconds but really really made me anxious and upset. But again I tried to find reasoning and thought it was just stress of exams/having finished my vitamin d supplements. My boyfriend also occasionally gets them too which helps reassure me they are normal. I seem to link them to alcohol but I'm not sure why. This is when my anxiety started getting really bad - a week later I was about to go on my first girls holiday with 2 friends and I had another ectopic beat while we were in duty free, I was really upset and afraid that I felt I couldn't drink as much as them or enjoy the holiday cause my mind was overtaken by this heart anxiety that something was wrong. I was not drinking any alcohol and when I did it was very little/ not as much as them. On about the 5th day I had a small ectopic beat which lead into a full panic attack as I was really worried and upset and we were supposed to be there for another 2 nights. Unfortunately, my anxiety got so bad I figured I would be better getting an early flight home to go see my GP again, get reassurance and work on my anxiety around this. I felt so upset that I had ruined the holiday for them but on the other hand I didn't want to stay and just be anxious even more.I saw my GP about 2 weeks after this is which he reassured me nothing was wrong and explained how ectopic beats are just a misfired electrical signal and not helped by adrenaline. He diagnosed me with episodic anxiety and offered me another ECG to calm my nerves. It is now a month later and he has prescribed me with propranolol which I have yet to try, I have been taking the Magnesium Taurate (with his approval) for about 5 days and it is hard to tell whether it has been beneficial yet but we will see hopefully. This is really starting to affect my mental health as I feel I should be having the best summer of my life but I'm just always anticipating the next ectopic beat or too scared to drink alcohol like I used too. Another main factor in this is that I am going to university in September and that is full of drinking and partying and I am afraid I will be made fun of for not drinking as much like other people. It really is making me upset and I really want to see a cardiologist just to reassure me it is nothing structural etc. as I think this would benefit me. I also feel like my heart beats really fast after I eat, and I can sometimes feel small ectopics when I bend over quickly. Sometimes the ectopic feels like a skipped beat and other times they feel like flutters. I have had flutters or what feels like my heart doing lots of quivering ish irregular beats (this is the best way I can describe it I think it is heart flutters) for a couple seconds once today and once the other day. But I think I get smaller ones almost once everyday. I feel like I am constantly feeling my pulse. But I do not know why these are happening but my anxiety will not let me believe it is the anxiety itself!This is just taking over my life and I want it to be normal again, is this how my new life is going to be?Any advice would be really helpful and sorry for the long story!  What bugs me most is I don’t just get them when anxious, I get them at rest randomly and this sends me into a panic 😢

[Hidden]

Hello & Welcome

Anxiety can give heart flutters and lot's of people get them

Alcohol can also add to having them to so watching your intake would be a good idea or if you do have one extra know that you might get them

I would try the medication you have been prescribed and as you have been checked out and they are happy there is nothing wrong with your heart it sounds like you have health anxiety and it has picked your heart to focus this fear you have on which health anxiety does that

Some Counselling to get this Health anxiety in check might be something that will help you the most as I have always suffered with it and I could be your Grandma but even though I did not know when I was your age what I know now if you do not get help with it then it will stay with you and even get worse so maybe look into getting some Counselling you have a whole life to live and enjoy if you get the help you need now x

[Anon2023]

Hi. My son is 22 and gets Eptopic beats regularly, particularly when he is stressed or after he has been to the gym. He started noticing them when he wa doing his gcse”s and he had to leave exams midway through because he felt faint. He’s just finished uni. We saw the doctor loads of times and had tests but everything was normal. He was referred to neurology because he got migraines too. They said everything was normal. Like you, his ecgs and blood tests are normal. . He understands that Eptopic beats are harmless and everybody has them but now that he’s aware of them he feels them more often and this makes him more anxious. He’s quite sociable and likes to drink with his friends but I think the Eptopics are triggered by drinking. I think you’ve got to make a. decision about whether you want to drink or not, knowing that it might trigger your runs of Eptopic beats. Nobody should judge you if you don’t want to drink but if they do, then they are not worth knowing anyway. Don’t feel pressured to fit in, do what is right for you and you’ll be fine. X

[Captain_Birdseye]

Hiya,

I don't have a lot of advice on the medication side of things as that is very much between you and your doctor, but I wanted to share some experience I had as nervous girl heading to uni.

I remember being in my teens and early 20s and occasionally feeling flutters and palpitations - and I remember being very worried about them as well. The GPs gave me various tests and said there was nothing wrong with my heart, but I was put on anti-anxiety medication as it was affecting me. I'm not saying that this is the way forward, it's only my experience. This was 20 years ago and I like to think that this wouldn't be the first option for someone now - however if you feel your mental health is suffering, it may be worth having a discussion around how to handle this.

In terms of going to uni - a lot of universities are converting their bars/unions to move more away from a drinking culture. Bars are also offering more choice in low/no alcohol drinks. Even when I was at uni, there were people that just didn't drink, I don't remember anyone getting a hard time for it, they often got asked why but it was always left at that, and it never stopped them from hanging out or going out to the clubs if they wanted to. Please don't worry about this side of things as you will find your people and you'll have fun with whatever you choose to do

Universities also tend to have really good support structures in place for their students, like mentoring groups and counselling and health support, as well as a variety of sports and other clubs to join with like minded people - check out the fresher's fayre when you go! Or contact them in advance to see what is available to you.

I hope this all works out for you - lean on the support that you have (GP/Friends/family), and look to see what you can do as part of the student experience - about 90% of the experience is outside the lecture hall - make it what you want it to be

[Hidden]

With the caveat that I’m not remotely medically qualified. Ectopic beats, or premature contractions, are extremely common. Recent research suggests that almost everyone gets them, but it’s a minority that are actually aware of having them. We also know that once you become aware of having them, the body becomes attuned to noticing them, so you tend to notice even more, which can lead to a bit of a vicious cycle. They can originate from the top two chambers of the heart, in which case they’re premature atrial contractions (PACs), or they can originate from the bottom two chambers, in which case they’re premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). Some people only experience one or the other, some people will experience both. Some people will notice having them every day, others might be having them every day but only notice them every once in a while, some might only have them occasionally. They can feel like a variety of things including flutters, sudden hard thumps, or pauses or skipped beats, although they’re not skipped beats at all. Ectopics are called premature contractions precisely because the beat comes early: the pause or skipped sensation arises out of the body noticing the early beat and the longer wait for the next ‘on time’ contraction.

To the best of our current knowledge, ectopics are often an adrenaline mediated event. This means they tend to occur in response to the release of adrenaline and stress hormones. Sometimes this can seem to happen out of nowhere, but it’s medically proven that they can arise from stress, or anxiety, insufficient sleep, or substances ingested, including alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, some medications, certain foods including dark chocolate, and some recreational drugs. Both the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system can trigger them, meaning that eating anything can be a trigger for some people as it irritates the vagus nerve running past the heart between the stomach and the brain, or drinking cold liquids, or even positional factors, such as bending forward or lying on your left side. For a very small subset of people, exercise can also trigger them, although this is unusual: the working theory behind them is that they tend to occur more when we’re at rest as a lower heart rate allows more ‘space’ for them to occur. Another factor may be hormones, particularly in women. Because they are often quite an unpleasant sensation, it’s not at all uncommon for noticing one to cause a spike of adrenaline, which then sets a pattern into motion of having more because of having the first one, or as a result of heightened adrenaline levels in the hours following whilst ‘waiting’ for the next one to happen.

We don’t understand a huge amount about why they happen, but we’ve studied them enough to understand when they’re of concern. Generally speaking, in and of themselves, ectopics are only considered a problem if you’re experiencing either runs of three or more PVCs without a normal in between, or if the total number of ectopics accounts for more than 10% of your total heartbeats in a day. Assuming an average daily heartbeat of 70bpm, that’s the equivalent of having around 10000 ectopics a day. The only way to establish how many you’re having is to wear a holter monitor for a day or two, which is essentially an ambulatory ecg, and if you live in England, a GP can usually refer you for this.

I say all of this as someone that’s been living with PVCs and PACs for the last 13 years. I was 25 when they started, and have been able to get the number I was having down from several hundred a day to around a dozen by looking at all of the things I mention above. Caffeine turned out to be a big trigger for me, along with dark chocolate, ginger, a particular ingredient in cough and cold meds that’s medically proven to cause them (pseudoephedrine), insufficient sleep, and alcohol. I also have positional PVCs, meaning I can reliably give them to myself by bending forward and down, or lying on my left. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve rolled onto my left in my sleep and been woken by what felt like being punched in the chest. Extremely unpleasant, and usually followed by at least 10 minutes of racing palpitations whilst I recover from the fright.

With specific regards to alcohol, I do still drink occasionally, but it’s with the knowledge that palpitations are a 50/50 chance if I do. That’s the price I have to be willing to pay if I want to drink, and it does sound like alcohol is potentially a trigger for you, too. As someone that didn’t drink at all between the age of 20 and 30 as a result of having gone at it far too hard at uni, I will say that whilst it may seem like the end of the world right now, aside from your health in the longer term, choosing not to drink huge volumes will save you money and memories. There’s also something quite rewarding about being able to tell your mates all the mortifying things they did the night before because you were sober enough to remember them.

Bottom line is that whilst they’re unpleasant, for the vast majority of people ectopics are completely benign and one of those things you learn to live with. The medication you’ve been given can help reduce the number as beta blockers work by blocking the release of adrenaline, so would be worth a go, but I always advocate looking at lifestyle factors, as that can make a huge difference. Medication on its own didn’t work for me.

Hope some of that helps and was useful.

[Miss_Em in reply to Hidden]

Very informative answer I get them all the time & have had numerous tests done with a cardiologist. I still panic when I get them & also experience tachycardia daily but I try to remember that nothing abnormal has been found. I found that lack of sleep was the main cause of mine as I started getting them after giving birth & not sleeping much with little one. Thank you for your reply to this!! X

[Qualipop]

Oh you poor soul suffering from such anxiety so young. Your palpitations are almost certainly caused by anxiety. Listen to your lovely understanding doctor but also ask for some counselling and if possible hypnotherapy which worked wonders for me. You can't ruin your time at Uni by letting anxiety take over. It's a hard road controlling it but it can be done. And by the way, just because everyone else drinks too much at Uni does not mean you have to. My son simply avoided the pub crawls as he doesn't drink but he still made lots of similar friends and had a great time.