Thread: Heart palpations (or something)

Soo.

Noticed for last half a year or something that my heart misses a beat once in a while. Like,doesn´t feel too awkward or uncomfortable, but still.

I had some palpations (is even the right word,dont know) when i was younger and i trained quite heavily for xc skiing. I havent had anything since but now in this spring they kind of came back.

Started training more regulary this spring (3xweek running+climbing+gym+etc..)

After a week of skiing up north in may (i was healthy,no fever or anything) they appeared again. The usuall skipped beat and after that the funny feeling.
They vanished in couple of weeks, no prob. Now after comming back from argentina in august,they appeared again and now i have had them on and off for a time. Again nothing serius, something you just feel couple times a day, especially when you are lying/trying to sleep.

I am lean,mean and fit. Enjoys a drink or two,smokes occasional cigarettes (not a smoker),am self employed,not a stresser, and no histories of heart conditions in the family (fathers father died of a heart attack at 47 though..), etc.

Visiting a doctor for some mole removals in few weeks and i am gonna ask about this,so dont worry.

But, intrested to hear if people have had them etcetera...


Ps. Is it a co-incidence that they started right after i went to a dentist to remove perionditis? Like, a dentist friend (ha-haa) talked about some correlation about inflammation-heart-something that i didnt get.
Just as a curiosity.


hmm...i think i posted half of my medical history there...

the heart inflammation that sometimes occurs after dental procedures is called pericarditis. The pericardium is the SAC the surrounds the heart. It is usually a bacterial infection I think. So if you aren't having a high fever associated with this I dount that is what you have. But, I am not a cardiologist of even a doctor for that matter.

it is good that you are getting it checked to be safe.

MH,

Knowing a thing or two about cardiology I thought I'd give you a bit of advice. Also, several items in your history are curious.

1. First, not to nitpick, but "smokes occasional cigarettes (not a smoker)"? Do not fool yourself. Out of genuine compassion I urge you to stop. Your grandfather died of an MI before age 50 (sorry about that), so you DO have a family history. Even minute amounts of smoking with a positive family history can place your risk much higher than someone without those factors.

2. "Skipped beats" are usually premature beats that result in a longer pause before the next beat as a compensation mechanism that resets the heart's electrical rhythm. The medical terms are premature atrial depolarizations or premature ventricular depolarizations, depending on which chamber of the heart in which it originates. These are usually harmless and nothing to worry about.

3. Asking a dermatologist will yield this response: "You should probably get it checked out". Guaranteed.

4. The cardinal symptom of pericarditis is chest pain so that is unlikely.

5. Finally, and most importantly: dental procedures are considered high-risk procedures for the development of endocarditis (usually only worrisome in people with histories of endocarditis). The fact that you are not otherwise ill is not inconsistent with the indolent course of subacute bacterial endocarditis. Obviously, this is not a common consequence of seeing the dentist. I only mention it because you mentioned it.

Your best bet is to get it looked into. I don't mean to alarm you, just educate you. Making an appointment with your primary care provider may be the best first step. If you have a relationship with a provider you may be able to bypass this step and get a cardiology referral. If you live in Utah I may be able to help steer you in the right direction, PM me. It is most likely nothing more premature beats that you notice only because you are an athlete and body-aware. Good luck.

Originally Posted by powderdave

2. "Skipped beats" are usually premature beats that result in a longer pause before the next beat as a compensation mechanism that resets the heart's electrical rhythm. The medical terms are premature atrial depolarizations or premature ventricular depolarizations, depending on which chamber of the heart in which it originates. These are usually harmless and nothing to worry about.

Your best bet is to get it looked into. I don't mean to alarm you, just educate you. Making an appointment with your primary care provider may be the best first step. If you have a relationship with a provider you may be able to bypass this step and get a cardiology referral. If you live in Utah I may be able to help steer you in the right direction, PM me. It is most likely nothing more premature beats that you notice only because you are an athlete and body-aware. Good luck.

Sound advice.

It sounds like you're having PVC's or PAC's, like Dave mentioned. One of the cardiologists I've worked with gives this advice to his patients: most people during their lifetime will have abnormal heartbeats. Generally these seldomly occuring beats are benign.

In any case, it wouldn't be a bad idea to follow up with your primary care doctor. Chances are, they'll put you on a Holter monitor, which is a heart monitor you wear for 24+ hours. This way, the electrical activity of your heart can be tracked, and if you've had any abnormal beats, they'll be picked up on the monitor.

Decreasing stress, maintaining a normal body weight, not smoking and getting plenty of rest don't hurt either. Good luck!

I think I have the same thing. I was told not to get super drunk, cut out caffiene, and watch myself doing sports at high altitudes. Something to do with blood not getting to my brain on that skipped beat so I could pass out because of it.

I have ignored this advice and I have never passed out or became dizzy (I rarely get super drunk anyways). If I ever start to pass out, or get light-headed, that means my condition is getting worse and I will quit drinking and caffiene. I mean, I'm not quitting skiing unless it's really bad, ya know?

So far, so good. My EKG print-out is pretty crazy though.

I've spent two years dealing with what you probably have, PVC's, and I can relay some helpful info (my heart is back to normal rhythm now)

#1: although it's expensive, see a cardiologist and have them do a full heart review, to make sure that the structure of the heart is OK.....they first have to rule out structural problems before assessing whether a PVC is the benign kind or not.

In the news recently there have been several young college and pro sports players who dropped dead during workouts, and it's due to structural problems with their heart. PVC's are sometimes a precursor to structural problems, so rule that out first (it's a very low probability, but needs to be addressed up front)

#2 my PVC's went away completely, but I had them for over a year and here's how I got rid of them:

I saw some of the best cardiologists in the Bay area who specialize in heart arrythmia's so I'm well schooled on the causes and possible solutions (anyone with this problem can feel free to PM me if you want to go into more depth)

I'm 110% convinced that my PVC's were triggered by caffeine. When they finally got so bad that I woke up one morning and had 5 second pauses in between heart beats, I went to the emergency room and the nurse on duty's eyes bugged out when she saw my heart pattern (scared the hell out of me)

I was taking green tea extract (pills) as an antioxidant and drinking several cups of regular coffee a day. What I didn't realize is that caffeine accumulates in your body and doesn't just get pissed away like other substances. CAFFEINE is one of the worst things for your heart. avoid it like the plague!

advice for right now: STOP CONSUMING ANY & ALL CAFFEINE - drink decaf coffee, avoid any soda other than ones marked caffeine free. It will take possibly months to get it all out of your system, like it did for me, but the minute I stopped consumiung caffeine, my heart slowly got better each and every day (took 3 months to reset itself!). Drink tons of water to detox your system.

The doctor is right about smoking and also alcohol - stop smoking and cut back on alcohol (especially never drink to the point of getting drunk, just stick with one beer an hour........and for the next month, I would not drink at all if I were you, to give your heart the chance to reset its rhythm)

my cardiologist also said that although the heart feels strange during PVC's (chest thud sensations, skipped beats, etc), that regular exercise helps the heart reset itself......but just be careful about how much you exert yourself initially

for me, it was a combination of ceasing all caffeine, followed by regular exercise that allowed my heart to reseet itself back to normal....and in hindsight, I'm sure I've had a PVC problem for years and didn't know it....it only took a higher consumption of caffeine to really throw it so far off normal rythm that it became so obvious something was wrong

this website has lots of info on the subject

I say PVC's
you said "missed beats"
and "happens when lying/ sitting still"

What?
Basically, to say what every one else has, your ventricles are contracting before they are supposed to, the funny feeling is them contracting before the chambers are filled. Usually this happens because of stress, stimulants and all that jazz. A few cells of your heart muscle might also be slightly irrated for whatever reason. If they contract the electrical signal is sent all around and all the other fibers contract. (your heart is pretty sweet in that it doesnt take much to make the whole thing contract unlike a leg etc.)

So?
For the most part, it shouldn't be a big deal. If you want to get it checked out, go for it. I've had them and they went away. They'll try to change diet and whatnot before they play with meds. (which you want to avoid anyway).

The reason that they occur more while laying
is that without the blood acting against gravity, more gets returned to the heart. This stretches the heart more than normal causing it to push even harder then a normal beat (frank-starling mechanism) This means your heart can beat slower while still moving enough blood. The slower heartrate gives more time between contractions for another ectopic site (muscle fiber that starts a contraction) to fire causeing the heart to beat too soon.

Thanks a lot all for feedback!

Yeah, as i said,i have a doctors appointment in couple of weeks time and i will bring up the subject up there.

I personally have a hunch that this might be the combination of caffeine,stress and a bit too hard workout rythm in the last few months.
On a usuall day i consume(d) about 4-8 cups of coffee,and sometimes some enegy drinks on the top of that... So... Ehm..

I cut the caffeine two days ago,cutting back on the heavier exercices, taking the next two weeks little easier. Lets see how the body starts to react then.

In the past years i remeber having the "Tensions", well, call it mild autumn blues or something,when all the stress and shit built up.
The pattern was the same then too.
Only to go away when the first snows came and you start skiing and traveling...

Well.

Lets take it easy for a while now and lets see how things turn up.

Thanks again for everyone for the feedback.
Appreciate it a lot.

(Off to get some decaf tea...)

one other thing.....when I was having my PVC's, I used to have a hard time when sleeping

it seems that the more you think about PVC's, the more frequent they can become and when you are most at rest, they feel the strongest

I bought an air purifier (Honeywell) that has a nice soothing humming noise that I would switch on at night to drown out all the other sounds...it makes the mind relax and makes sleep deeper (bigtime R.E.M. sleep enhancer)

it made sleeping so much better and I still use it at night even now that my heart if back to normal

FWIW, the cardiologist I work with drinks 6-7 cups of coffee a day. But things affect people in different ways.

I know a cardiologist that snacks on pats of butter on a saltine cracker, salted.

Does as they say, not as they do.

I had 'em too, a couple of years ago, building over about a six month period when I was running and skiing a lot. They seemed worse the fitter I got, and were triggered by exercise at well below my aerobic threshold (in the backcountry when climbing slowly, easy bike commuting, etc.). I'd feel light headed, but never passed out. My doctor said it was probably not a big deal, and suggested cutting out coffee - she thought tea would be okay. I wasn't a big coffee drinker - 1- 2 cups a day max. She also ordered all sorts of tests, including a 24 hour halter monitor. I cut out coffee right away. By the time of the test, one month later, I was fine.

I still feel them occasionally, when I'm training hard and/or lacking sleep. They showed up last month a few days after I took some cold medication containing ginseng. Won't do that again!

I survived an Ironman triathlon last year, and the heart seemed fine...

Originally Posted by powderdave

I know a cardiologist that snacks on pats of butter on a saltine cracker, salted.

Does as they say, not as they do.

Good point.

Originally Posted by SquawMan

I've spent two years dealing with what you probably have, PVC's, and I can relay some helpful info (my heart is back to normal rhythm now)

#1: although it's expensive, see a cardiologist and have them do a full heart review, to make sure that the structure of the heart is OK.....they first have to rule out structural problems before assessing whether a PVC is the benign kind or not.

In the news recently there have been several young college and pro sports players who dropped dead during workouts, and it's due to structural problems with their heart. PVC's are sometimes a precursor to structural problems, so rule that out first (it's a very low probability, but needs to be addressed up front)

#2 my PVC's went away completely, but I had them for over a year and here's how I got rid of them:

I saw some of the best cardiologists in the Bay area who specialize in heart arrythmia's so I'm well schooled on the causes and possible solutions (anyone with this problem can feel free to PM me if you want to go into more depth)

I'm 110% convinced that my PVC's were triggered by caffeine. When they finally got so bad that I woke up one morning and had 5 second pauses in between heart beats, I went to the emergency room and the nurse on duty's eyes bugged out when she saw my heart pattern (scared the hell out of me)

I was taking green tea extract (pills) as an antioxidant and drinking several cups of regular coffee a day. What I didn't realize is that caffeine accumulates in your body and doesn't just get pissed away like other substances. CAFFEINE is one of the worst things for your heart. avoid it like the plague!

advice for right now: STOP CONSUMING ANY & ALL CAFFEINE - drink decaf coffee, avoid any soda other than ones marked caffeine free. It will take possibly months to get it all out of your system, like it did for me, but the minute I stopped consumiung caffeine, my heart slowly got better each and every day (took 3 months to reset itself!). Drink tons of water to detox your system.

The doctor is right about smoking and also alcohol - stop smoking and cut back on alcohol (especially never drink to the point of getting drunk, just stick with one beer an hour........and for the next month, I would not drink at all if I were you, to give your heart the chance to reset its rhythm)

my cardiologist also said that although the heart feels strange during PVC's (chest thud sensations, skipped beats, etc), that regular exercise helps the heart reset itself......but just be careful about how much you exert yourself initially

for me, it was a combination of ceasing all caffeine, followed by regular exercise that allowed my heart to reseet itself back to normal....and in hindsight, I'm sure I've had a PVC problem for years and didn't know it....it only took a higher consumption of caffeine to really throw it so far off normal rythm that it became so obvious something was wrong

this website has lots of info on the subject

i read your message and i loved it. i bitch and moan all the time about my pvc's but i actually never did any thing to help them. i do smoke and i do drink on the weekends but i think now i have to step up and do something because i feel like they are going to kill me i didnt know caffine stayed in your body for that amount of time that really helped. now all i have to do is get rid of my anxiety but i think once my pvc's go away i will be back to my old self again, at least i hope so

Originally Posted by colly

i read your message and i loved it. i bitch and moan all the time about my pvc's but i actually never did any thing to help them. i do smoke and i do drink on the weekends but i think now i have to step up and do something because i feel like they are going to kill me i didnt know caffine stayed in your body for that amount of time that really helped. now all i have to do is get rid of my anxiety but i think once my pvc's go away i will be back to my old self again, at least i hope so

Hi,

I am 30 yrs old male, starting having "missed" heart beats 3 days back.. Today they got real bad so I went to Urgent care. the doctors took the ecg, caught couple of the beats and basically said they are harmless. He did see the my magnesium was 1.9mg/dL (normal is 1.8-2.4) and prescribed mg supplements. He said sometimes, that helps. I do smoke(1-2 a day), almost everyday have 2 beers and have 3-4 cups of coffee. After reading the posts here, I am motivated to give up all, specially the coffee.

Colly, I wanted to know, if PVC for you went away after giving up the coffee?

thanks.

Originally Posted by bets

I had 'em too, a couple of years ago, building over about a six month period when I was running and skiing a lot. They seemed worse the fitter I got, and were triggered by exercise at well below my aerobic threshold (in the backcountry when climbing slowly, easy bike commuting, etc.). I'd feel light headed, but never passed out. My doctor said it was probably not a big deal, and suggested cutting out coffee - she thought tea would be okay. I wasn't a big coffee drinker - 1- 2 cups a day max. She also ordered all sorts of tests, including a 24 hour halter monitor. I cut out coffee right away. By the time of the test, one month later, I was fine.

I still feel them occasionally, when I'm training hard and/or lacking sleep. They showed up last month a few days after I took some cold medication containing ginseng. Won't do that again!

I survived an Ironman triathlon last year, and the heart seemed fine...

this is seen a lot with "atheletic heart syndrome." especially with your feeling lightheaded i'm hoping they ran a stress test?

lots of great info floating around here but surprised noone mentioned that often the #1 cause of PVCs = dehydration. so drink up~!

Hello,
My name is Shea and I would like to inform everyone about my website. I made a support community for people with palpitations and arrhythmia’s. The website has forums and a chat room. I my self have palpitations and arrhythmia's. I started experiencing my symptoms when I was just 22 years old. I couldn't find a doctor who would take me seriously. It took almost 2 years before I had full cardio work up. To this day I don't know what is causing my symptoms. Ironically, I was a health care specialist in the army and now work as an EMS provider for a 911 service. There have even been times where I have treated a pt for SVT, Afib, and other arrhythmia's, all the while, my cardiac symptoms were worse than my patients. If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them to the best of my knowledge.
Check my site out at www.heart4pvc.webs.com