anxious over heart palps

[Ethansmom]

Every day I get at least one weird (take your breath away for a second) heart palp. They scare the cra** out of me. Any tips on how to over come the fear of them? I just started taking Zoloft and i'm experienced increased anxiety, so I can't rationalize the palps right now!

[bin tenn]

Acknowledge them, accept them, and forget them. I know. I get them like that sometimes, too. They're often sudden, and occasionally one will be quite strong, takes my breath away, and I get a sudden urge to cough. An adrenaline rush usually follows. I've begun accepting them and choosing to not react in any way. I go on about my business.

[Ethansmom]

I had another one of these heart palps. It was so strong-- like take your breath away for a second followed by a huge adrenaline rush to the head. They scare me! Could they be caused by something I ate, or does it seem more anxiety related? Anyone?

[AnxietyKillinMe]

Hey.

Yes I have skipped beats alll the time along with some episodes of SVT where my heart rate goes up into the 180's and stays there for 2-3 minutes, talk about feeling like you're going to die! Nowadays i welcome the small thuds instead of the prolonged insanely fast heart rate that all I can do is sit through and wait for it to end, not fun. Skipped beats are a normal part of the hearts function. Our heart itself is made up of two parts, in essence. The heart itself is a pump and the doctors who are "plumbers" of the heart are called cardiologists. These doctors, while knowledgeable about all of the hearts functions, focus on the literal plumbing of the heart and how it's functioning as a muscle. Secondly, the heart is nothing but a muscle without its ever so important counterpart, the electrical system. Doctors who act as "electricians" are called electrophysiologists. These doctors focus on the literal electrical system of the heart and how it's functioning as an electrical system. It's gets very complicated beyond that with all the different nodes of the heart. Just know that the heart is an amazing thing and it takes A LOT to stop your heart. Most causes of heart attacks are related to plumbing issues, not electrical. Even with major plumbing issues, the body is an amazing healer. I've personally cared for patients who have completely 100% occluded arteries that should've caused a heart attack that killer them that didn't because the heart was able to self heal to a point and bypass blood flow around the blockage on its own. Amazing.

To get to my point, small electrical misfires happen occasionally within our hearts and that's perfectly fine and normal. It's as if we lose a bar of our wifi signal for only a moment and it resets moments later. These skipped beats are both PAC's and PVC's. PAC stands for premature atrial contraction an PVC stands for premature ventricular contraction. If you think about it, that's what it feel like too right? A premature contraction that your heart wasn't ready for, hence premature. Neither one is truly that much more significant than the other. They can both be caused by fatigue, stress, dehydration, some medications, among others. Think of it as just briefly losing a bar on your wifi signal for a moment. I've taken care of patients who every other beat is a pvc and they don't even notice. You might be like me and have PAC's with every breath you take, this is normal too. It's called sinus arrhythmia and your heart rate increases when you take a breath and decreases as you exhale. It's not a constant thing that happens but I notice sometimes more than others. Even when I had my episodes of SVT I eventually learned to sit through it no matter how uncomfortable becsuse SVT doesn't kill you, and neither will a couple of skipped beats here and there. Our wifi signals can't always be at full bars, sometimes we need a little reset and that's all it is. Of course if you were to have any worrying symptoms with it such as chest pain, nausea, shortness of breath, pain in the jaw or arm, ya know..the usual heart attack symptoms then don't be afraid to seek treatment but trust me if you're having a heart attack it won't be a question as to whether or not something is wrong you'll know. The best thing you can do is to avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, keep a good diet, get good sleep, keep well hydrated because the electrical system can be thrown way into whack if you're potassium or magnesium levels are low. That's not to say you need to supplement them with, well supplements, because you don't and too much of either could equally cause a problem but simply staying hydrated and eating well will do the trick. Try to keep stress levels low and allow time for yourself. This, of course, is not substitute for any true medical advice. I am a registered nurse but I am not a doctor and i am certainly not YOUR doctor, I just play one on tv. Never susbstitue advice from online forums for seeking out medical advice from your GP, EVER. I will give you common knowledge information that might be able to help you understand things better but I am certainly not giving you medical advice, to be clear.

Take care,

AKM

[Ethansmom]

Thank you for your thoughtful, detailed response! You have made me feel a bit better.

[bin tenn]

I had another one of these heart palps. It was so strong-- like take your breath away for a second followed by a huge adrenaline rush to the head. They scare me! Could they be caused by something I ate, or does it seem more anxiety related? Anyone?

Certain foods/drinks can certainly contribute. Obviously anxiety can. Do you consume a lot of caffeine (tea, coffee, chocolate, energy drinks, etc)? Do you sleep well? How much water do you drink in a day?

[GadGirl]

I have heart palpitations episodes pretty much everyday I also have SVt and ectopic beats my hearts having a right party in there, I notice that lack of sleep, caffeine (which I now avoid) stress and chocolate or heavy food seems to have an impact

[Ethansmom]

Yes, i do drink caffeine. Not a ton, though.
Is it normal for a heart palp to feel like it knocked the wind out of you? I then had a huge adreneline rush to the head which worried me. Maybe i got scared, which caused the huge adreneline rush? I've had these once or twice before, but it seems like they are occurring more now that i've started zoloft. Ugh. i just pray that they go away. I don't want to worry about this. If it's not one thing it's another. I hope the meds and therapy will help me!

[Ethansmom]

Update: I did not have one "take my breath away heart palp" the day I stopped Zoloft. I think the Zoloft was causing them. wasn't the Zoloft still in my system though??

[bin tenn]

Heart palpitations are relatively common for any SSRI, so yes, it's possible Zoloft either caused or exacerbated them. What is "not a ton" of caffeine?