Sorry, more questions on palpitations/ectopics

[lass]

Sorry to start yet another topic but I have been reading through loads of posts this morning and not come up with an answer to what I'm looking for. I hope someone here can help.

I've been having heart palpitations for about a month or so now. I find this quite strange as it is during the last month that I have become more relaxed and less anxious, and yet another symptom has started. I assume this is now my subconscious. Anyway, I'm not freaked out by these and I haven't been to see the doctor as I wasn't too worried.

I get them most days when I am relaxing, when I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning. They vary in intensity, sometimes are just in the chest and sometimes in throat and stomach too, if that makes sense. Basically, it is just my heart thumping away like mad in my chest, and sometimes a strong pulse that I can see and feel in my stomach, and a fluttering and pulse in my throat.

But this morning I was filling out a questionnaire that asked me to record my pulse and I found in my pulse that about every 10 or 12 beats I seem to skip and beat, then get a really strong beat, then it goes back to normal. My pulse is much faster than it used to be (it used to be quite slow, around 60ish whereas it is now about 84) - having said that, I haven't measured it for years!

I have taken my pulse now several times over the morning, sitting, standing, after eating, after doing some deep breathing, etc. I wasn't feeling at all stressed when I first took my pulse (in fact I'd not had any palpitations today) although I am pretty stressed now. Nothing has made any change to my pulse.

Should I be concerned about this? Do I need to get it checked out? Can anyone help?

Caroline

[Stress head Rach]

I have had these on and off for 15 years and im still here. . .. the eptopics are normal and 84 bpm is not palpatations that is a normal beat speed some folks resting heart rate is higher or lower than 60. You may think you are in a relaxed state but maybe you have alot of stress in your life at the moment and you dont realize it is effecting you, that is what happened to me 15 yrs ago...thought I was fine when they started but I had just got married , left home and had a baby,was happy but the changes set the palps and abnormal heartbeat off.... the doctor I went to see said it was fine and it will pass.....twoo yrs later it did LOL! but i had a fluttery heart for two years... get them now when i have just had a panic attack and the heart is slowing down it will flutter about a bit. I think you are fine but the more you worry the more they will stay aroung. Try rescue Remedy when they start, drink plenty of water and for some people magnesium tablets can help.

[lass]

Thanks for your reply. The 84 bpm was at normal resting, not when my heart is racing - haven't tried taking my pulse when I'm having palpitations!

I drink loads of water and I take magnesium anyway (didn't know this helped the palpitations, but have found it helps with muscle tension), and I do take rescue remedy when I am feeling anxious.

But the palpitations don't come on for any specific reason - usually just coz I'm not doing anything else!

I do have a lot of stress in my life, or at least I know I'm not coping well with the stresses in my life at present, I guess there are always things on my mind and I have trouble switching off. I wasn't worrying about the palpitations, but the skipped beats have freaked me out a bit. I don't notice these when I'm having palpitations, I only noticed it in my pulse.

Do you think I should mention it to my GP? I'm due to go back next week to discuss some test results (bowel biopsy).

Thanks again, Caroline

[Piglet]

Mention it Caroline only because it is worrying you and you may feel better if you chat it over.

Often I have had some of my most worrying heart sensations when I have thought I am relatively relaxed and not too anxious, so I am convinced our subconcious has a big part to play here too.

I wouldn't worry too much about the irregular spaced pulse beats - they sound like ectopics. Does your pulse always do this or is just at the moment you have noticed it. Also you may find that once you are less anxious subconciously your resting rate will drop of its own accord.

My normal resting rate is about 70 but sometimes can be lower than this and sometimes a tad higher and I certainly remember having a resting one of 84 funnily enough and that it was like that for a few weeks.

It all sounds very much par for the course mate.

Love Piglet x

"Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?" said Piglet.
"Supposing it didn't," said Pooh after careful thought.

[**whenwillthisend**]

my resting pulse is about 85 since having anxiety...years ago it was about 65-70....i seem to be obssessed with checking my pulse lately, and like you have long pauses/gaps like missed beats which they are but not really just irregularly timed..they confuse me.....
anyway i have been getting palps and ectopics, fluttrers ,thuds you name it since january...they wont hurt you and a cardiologist told me to ignore them as they wasnt of no importance...not easy though is it?

mine are more noticable too, when im not doing much, too much time for the mind to wander and dwell-but when im busy im not bothered by them too much...even if you dont feel stressed your subconcious is still working-which will contribute to them
you say you are going to your g.ps next week-mention it, and let him put your mind at rest
good luck

[mia0621]

I have been taking my pulse again a lot. I don't know why this cycle continues. I remember doing the same thing years ago, and everything turned out okay. When I am in a relaxed state of mind, I have no symptoms. It is usually when I am under a great deal of pressure that the symptoms return. That is usually when I become obsessed with the physical symptoms. I am truly amazed that most of us experience the exact same symptoms. I believe anxiety has a pattern, and it only causes certain sensations. I wouldn't be suprised if the sensations are manifested by our own thoughts.

Mia

[mia0621]

Caroline,

You can go to resonancedirect.com. There is a doctor there and he can explain a lot about palpitations and missed beats. He is very reassuring. His name is RLR.

Mia:)

[lass]

Thanks everyone, your comments have helped a great deal :-)

I just wish I'd never filled out this questionnaire this morning - then I wouldn't have taken my pulse - then I wouldn't have found this! I haven't taken my pulse for years so don't know what my "normal" is. I just remember the last time it was taken I was told I had an athletic pulse(slow resting), which is surprising as I'm in no way athletic!

I will mention it to my GP, but I'm so keen NOT to take any medication unless absolutely necessary that I hate to tell her my symptoms are getting worse. She has twice tried me on different antidepressents which I haven't stuck with for more than a few days and I feel a bit like there's no alternative. Having said that, I am having counselling now via my GP and I think this will help.

Anyway, thanks again everyone, I feel more reassured now.

Caroline
xx

[Stress head Rach]

Oh ... bless you ... you will be OK.... glad you feel more at ease xx

[richard sharp]

i was out doing some heavy digging and felt what was missed beats and i also had the same a couple of days ago when wallpapering. i feel it in my chest, pulse or throat. last year i had a 24 hour tape and the gp noted the beats but said it was nothing to be concerned with and when i asked if it was ectopic he said it was similar and not to worry. i am on beta blockers for bp. how can you not worry when these things are happening and do you think me getting anxious makes them more likely to happen?

[jmcb]

Hi everyone and thank you all for saving my sanity this evening. I started suffering ectopics (without realised what they were) about 12 years ago. Like many others this occured not long after the sudden death of my mother. My father had died three years previously from a coronary and I too convinced myself that it was going to happen to me. I moved country for work reasons and started developing panic/anxiety episodes but would not say that I have ever really suffered from full blown panic attacks (thank God). These flutters and missed (actually too many( heartbeats disappeared for many years up until about 2 years ago. I think I drove my GP around the twist and was sent to a leading Heart Specialist here in Dublin and had every test under the sun - heart scans, holters, stress tests, ecg, etc. I am also about 2 stone overweight but exercise regularly. Like almost everyone else the buggers disappear as soon as you do the tests but they eventually came up on the holter and I was told they were normal. I do all the same things as others - feel my pulse every 5 minutes, watch it jumping up and down in my stomach and think I am gonna die any second! This spirals me into panic and I get very tearful. I think the throat constriction is the worst! HOwever...... they did disappear for about 9 months and just returned about two weeks ago - why? well, over the summer months I have been on quite a few breaks, my exercise regime sort of went out the window and I have been known to partake of a few glasses of white wine of an evening!! I am also just back to work after a number of years of bringing up the kids and we are about to undertake major construction work to our house !! These dammed things are definitely stress and anxiety related. They scare the bejesus out of me and I was at such a low ebb today that I googled 'missed heartbeats' just to see what would happen and hey presto this website. I read Piglet, Meath Girl, Coni and Rosekays previous postings and actually started crying!! They are me!! I know that when I stop writing and go off to make the kids tea these things are not gonna go away immediately but I played tennis this morning and will go walking tonight. Perversely exercise really helps but more importantly just 'talking' with all you guys on this site has been the best medicine. Thank you all.

J

ps sorry for this missive!!! next time I promise to write less

[nickyg]

Hi there I'm a new member. I found this site looking for info on ectopic heartbeat (thank god). Its great to hear that there are people out that suffering like me. I have had my ectopics for 3 weeks and they are horrible. Have had an ECG which showed I was having them, have had blood tests too and all okay. My GP says that they are common and I'm not to worry but I wish they would go away as they feel awful.

I too have noticed that my pulse is faster and will speed up sometimes even if I'm watching tv and resting. I just wondered if anyone can reassure me - will they go away? Have you had them for months or years? Do they come and go? Has anyone tried any medication for them or homeopathic remedies? I would be really grateful for any help and advice. Have anyones actually gone now for good?

Thanks so much.

[cazza]

Hi just to say i have them all the time and had an echocardiogram and they say its fine! Today my doctor says everyone has them but most people dont notice them and because we get a lot we are just more tuned into our hearts! Makes sense i suppose but still scary! I have just started taking st johns wort to try and help the worry of them we will see

[richard sharp]

have been having what i think are ectopics for some time. the doc says not to worry as anything im having are benign[had 24 hour tape etc] but it still worries me. ive recently come off 10mg citalopram and seem to be getting more ectopics. has anybody experienced this reaction?

[richard sharp]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">Hi there I'm a new member. I found this site looking for info on ectopic heartbeat (thank god). Its great to hear that there are people out that suffering like me. I have had my ectopics for 3 weeks and they are horrible. Have had an ECG which showed I was having them, have had blood tests too and all okay. My GP says that they are common and I'm not to worry but I wish they would go away as they feel awful.

I too have noticed that my pulse is faster and will speed up sometimes even if I'm watching tv and resting. I just wondered if anyone can reassure me - will they go away? Have you had them for months or years? Do they come and go? Has anyone tried any medication for them or homeopathic remedies? I would be really grateful for any help and advice. Have anyones actually gone now for good?

Thanks so much.

<div align="right">Originally posted by nickyg - 05 September 2006 : 21:56:31</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

[richard sharp]

whoops pressed the wrong button. was going to say ive had these things for a couple of years and am on beta-blockers for bp but the gp says they are also used for ectopics etc and its benign but its very worrying when it happens. ive also been trying to get off 10mg citalopram for about 6 weeks but they seem to have increased. is it a side effect or is it more noticable because the anti depressant subdues it?