Heart flutter and anxiety

[Turner88]

Hello everyone. This is my 1st post so forgive me if I've put it in the wrong place. I'm a 27yo male,
Around 4 weeks ago (thirsday) I got what I can only describe as a heart flutter almost like normal beat big beat normal beat, at 1st I made nothing of it as I have had it before with a self diagnosis of energy drinks(which I've drank for many years and now just stopped), but then the next day I had another (no panic) then on the sat I had a few of them had a little panic but kept calm. On the Monday I woke to a number of flutter then panic. I called the doctors, had an ecg,blood pressure and blood test all came back normal with no further action required. After another week of getting them some days felt like all day others 1 or 2 I paid private to go see a cardiologist another ecg and blood pressure test, by now my anxiety has got really bad I couldn't remember much of what he said I do know he said somethings g about adrenaline with anxiety, he said the 2 options are to see how I get on in his opinion or an event monitor just for my own piece of mind at £300 a week has passed since I went to he cardiologist I'm very anxious now I constantly feel lightheaded, chest feels almost like an achy feeling, and the flutter is still there. I've only had 1 a day this week since Monday but can't relax and the anxiety just won't let go. I'm driving myself mad. Both my mum and sis suffer from anxiety and keep telling me it's nothing to worry about as they get it when there anxious.
Thank you for reading.

[missyladybug]

Hello
I think that once these palpitations and flutters are set off,it takes a while for the heart to relax again, as the anxiety we feel around them shoots off more adrenaline. I am betting that the energy drinks started it, and then being more aware of it made the flutters continue. My daughter and I both have heart issues, and she was at college and bought a whole punch of Pepsi's on sale and drank them (with caffeine in them) and we had to fly her home to see her cardiologist. It was all the caffeine! Now neither one of us touches caffeine.

If two doctors saw you and reassured you, I would guess that you are just fine. These things feel so obnoxious that it is hard to keep our minds off of it, but I hope you can, and I bet it will all calm down.

[Turner88]

Thanks for your reply. I have wondered about the caffeine my first flutter was around 4/5 days after my last energy drink. Out of the 4 weeks in which I've been getting them it was my 2nd week that felt the worst with flutters. Over the last 2 weeks my appetite is almost non existent my tummy is constantly rumbling and I feel like I have just one big lump of air right at the top of my stomach/bottom of heart area

[missyladybug]

Sometimes the Vagus nerve gets involved and that is the major nerve that lies near the heart and helps with digestion and perstalsis. Sometimes people with heartburn a lot get flutters, or if they have some sort of indigestion, it can irritate that nerve and it can be almost like hiccups of the heart and abdominal area. Not threatening. Just annoying.

[iwantpeace]

Sometimes the Vagus nerve gets involved and that is the major nerve that lies near the heart and helps with digestion and perstalsis. Sometimes people with heartburn a lot get flutters, or if they have some sort of indigestion, it can irritate that nerve and it can be almost like hiccups of the heart and abdominal area. Not threatening. Just annoying.

is that why i get +10bpm after eating a heavy or high carb meal??
from 85 resting heart rate i got to 95 during digestion.

[missyladybug]

iwantpeace
Not sure why your heart rate speeds up but I do know that the digestion process takes energy and blood pumping into the digestive system, so maybe the heart has to work a little over time then? I notice it, too, at times.

[Liz2010]

When you have eaten your heart rate increases this is completely normal! It can increase between 10-20bpm. If it didn't increase then that is when you should worry. A healthy heart is one that reacts to change in stimuli. In other words erratic heat beating is an indication of a healthy heart. When you take a deep breath it should slow, when you go from sitting to standing it should increase. These fluctuations do not happen as much in a deconditioned heart or in elderly people. The younger your heart is the more fluctuations in heart rate.
To the OP the heart flutters are completely normal too. The only thing i would suggest you invest your money in is a heart echo and a normal ecg. Going privately definitely speeds up the process which is important to help gain some confidence back. If the echo and ecg comes back normal then you have nothing to worry about at all.

---------- Post added at 08:40 ---------- Previous post was at 08:25 ----------

Also the theory behind the vagus nerve becoming irritated is 100% accurate. I have had this confirmed by one of the best electrophysiologists in the UK and also by a very good cardiologist. Basically everyone gets ectopics. You have to if you have a normal heart. If you had NO ectopics then your hearts not working properly! Now some people occasionally get more ectopics than others. 3 main reason. Imbalance of electrolytes/vits/mins this is not very common. Second reason: Anxiety makes your heart more irritable to adrenaline which causes an increase in ectopics. But a virus like a cold or dehydration can also make your heart more irritable so it becomes more sensitive to adrenaline. The third reason is irritability of the heart from the vagus nerve. This can be because of heart burn, IBS digestion of food etc. Once again this is all normal and just how the body works. Did you know the normal range of ectopic heart beats for the average healthy heart is in the range of 10-4000. If you get 5000 or 10000 it doesn't mean it's abnormal it means that most likely one of those 3 reasons are the temporary cause. But within 10-4000 is normal and expected as normal activity of the heart anyone and everyone gets them in that range. It's a bit like how many times do you get the hiccups? Some people can go for weeks without any and some get them everyday, everyone's "normal" is different doesn't mean there's an issue.
Like a cardiologist once said it's not your hearts fault your getting anxiety from feeling the normal activity of your heart. Your heart is supposed to do that!

[missyladybug]

Liz2010,
Great post! Very comforting! I appreciate what you wrote! Thanks!

[Turner88]

Hello again everyone. I've been back to the docs today as my anxiety and heart flutter have not improved. He's given me 80mg slow release of propanolol to take once a day but I've looked it up and it says that not to take if you have skipped beats etc I'm now scared to take it. Anyone had this with their heart flutters and anxiety

[trus75]

1-2 ectopics a day is nothing to worry about. I know how bad it can be for anxious people, but believe me, I would be the happiest person in the world if I had, let's say, 15 ectopics a day. Somedays I have none, other days I have 300, 400, 500, more... and I experienced this for the past 20 years (at least)

Try to see them as normal activity, basically everyone gets ectopics once in a while, but 99% of people can't feel them.