Palpitations/flutters

[LizH1972]

I have had palpitations on and off for a few years but in the last month or do they have got far worse. I have had ECGs and a treadmill test a few years ago, everything came back negative. Even though various doctors have told me not to worry I find it incredibly hard not it as it is such an unpleasant feeling. Today I have been having flutters/palpitations all day on and off and it's really getting to me 😞

[Catherine S]

Hi Liz, a lot of us get them including me (and my doctor too actually so he knows the feeling fortunately). I'm always reluctant to tell people on the forum that I've suffered with them off and on for many years, through 4 pregnancies and the peri-menopause, because they prob don't want to her that they can become part of your life and its about finding ways of coping with them. The thing about them is that everyone gets them but not everyone can feel them...like my lucky hubby! I take beta-blockers for them, as does my doctor and find that although it doesn't make them disappear completely it stops them going on and on, as they could do before. They are, in my opinion, the scariest sensation of all the symptoms...we just don't want to feel our hearts out of step. There are various reasons for them, from eating or drinking things that irritate to hormones and lack of vits and mins, to tense breathing.

---------- Post added at 20:36 ---------- Previous post was at 20:21 ----------

I just think that there's a lot more to the missed beats and flutters than just anxiety. I know you can get them in certain emotional situations, hence the romantic novels saying "her heart missed a beat when she saw him". But I'm equally convinced that with me anyway, the anxiety came after the palps first started.

[LizH1972]

Thanks for your reply, it really helps to hers someone with a similar situation and kind of reassures me in a way. My doctor prescribed antidepressants for my anxiety but id like to come off those really, the only thing making me anxious at the moment is the palps which just happen any time for no reason!

---------- Post added at 21:23 ---------- Previous post was at 21:16 ----------

Even though I'm still sitting on my bed worrying that something dreadful will happen ��

[AlexandriaUK]

have you tried coughing sounds weird but a consultant told me to do just that and It helps to stop the run of them.

[Catherine S]

Oh, what I wouldn't give to get rid of missed beats with just a cough! If it was that simple there wouldn't be any of us here talking about them. All you palps sufferers out there, on the count of 3....cough! Over 30 years of living with them and all I had to do was cough? Who knew?

[LizH1972]

Thanks Alexandria but coughing doesn't seem to help me 😞

---------- Post added at 10:00 ---------- Previous post was at 07:58 ----------

I STILL BELIEVE do you get palps often or occasionally?

[sophrbk]

Try not to worry about them too much. I've had them for quite a while and, like you, I went into hospital for various tests (I had 24-hr and 7-day heart monitors) before recently going back to my doctor and being diagnosed with general anxiety disorder.

The worst part for me is that the palpitations frighten me, which makes me worry more, which makes the palpitations worse. I was actually eventually prescribed Propanolol to deal with the symptoms which helped quite a lot, though I know meds might not be for everyone. Try reading the stuff about symptoms on the left hand side to set your mind at rest :)

[LizH1972]

I was prescribed citalopram but I really would like to come off them and maybe try something else

[Catherine S]

Liz, I get them daily but they are much milder and further apart than they used to be. I don't seem to get so many of the longer episodes now either, when they could go on for days and brought me to my knees. This happens around once or twice a year now thankfully. Maybe as my oestrogen levels have dropped since the menopause? Who knows.

[LizH1972]

I know it's not nice to say this but I'm so much happier hearing that you get them daily as that's when u get them

---------- Post added at 20:31 ---------- Previous post was at 20:02 ----------

When I get them!

[cloudbusting]

I'm having them right now, they have been pretty bad for a few days now.
I wonder too about the connection with perimenopause, I am fairly certain that I could be starting this, my age plus other symptoms. I have asked two different Drs now if they can offer me anything to help in anyway but I just got brushed off :blush: I can't stand the thought of having this for a few years until my periods stop, they scare me too.
Lisa x

[Catherine S]

No problem Liz, I understand completely.

Lisa, yes the are scary but having them for so many years with all tests being negative I've kind of learned to accept them. It also helps that my doctor can feel them too and takes meds for them as do I, this kind of reassures me that if my doctor can get them daily and knows there is nothing bad happening then I can too. Hard when they go on and on though I know!