Palpitations - what's normal?

[Daffodil99]

Hi - i'm new here after being on the Fertility group before our happy news...so hello all.

My initial excited did wear off a bit though as have felt pretty ill so far. Nausea and tiredness off the scale. Trying to grin and bear it hoping it will get better after i get past next few weeks. But what is worrying me is palpitations. I know you can get some but i have so many some days that it feels almost constant. Makes me breathless too.

I've gone to GP and been referred for ECG but i'm not sure if i'm overreacting and panicking? Anyone else had anything similar?

Thankyou

[Pupster83]

I have suffered palpitations prior to getting pregnant and have twice had 3 day heart monitors to check why I got them and a number of ECHs. I found it very worrying and you get stuck in a bad spiral where the palpitations made me panic which got me more stressed only made things worse. All my tests came back clear showing I just have an occasional irregular heart beat which generally rectifies itself within a few seconds and I was told loads of the population have it. I am now 32 weeks and I have noticed that I am getting the odd palpitation now more often than I have been in ages. I think if I had never had them before I would be seeing my GP and getting checked but because I am now much more used to them and calmer when I get them I am able to just breath through them and make sure my heart goes back to a normal rhythm. If you feel they are happening all the time I would probably go back to GP and get checked again just to be sure there’s no issue. If you feel that potentially panic is causing as much issue as the actual palpitations I would download and try a relaxation audio. My husband laughs at me as he hates these audios where someone talks to you but I find the voice and the imagery very relaxing so I listen to Dr Stephen Poulter’s - Calmess in a Panic Moment if I feel I need to just calm myself down and by the time the audio has finished my heart rate has generally always gone back to normal.

[Daffodil99 in reply to Pupster83]

Thankyou Pupster. Yes I've always had them so didn't panic to start with -- but they're now so frequent it's starting to worry me. I've gone back to GP to make sure.

And I think the suggestion of relaxation audio is a v good one ....regardless if it helps my palpitations it's something i need x

[DianeArnold Partner]

Hi Daffodil. Only just read this, so by now you will have had your ECG and its results. Hope all went well and it was just you over reacting a little. Always good to get checked out though. Good luck! Diane

[Daffodil99]

Thanks Diane! I did get it checked out -- waiting for few more results but all is looking ok. I had an amazing doctor doing my echo scan who said she had exactly the same issues when she was pregnant and got checked out herself. She reassured me a lot which was fab x