heart palpitations after eating [Archive]

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Ethansmom

23-01-17, 15:18

I had a nice evening with the in laws yesterday until dinner time. I admit I ate my meal really fast, and over ate. I then had chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Two minutes after I had an attack of palpitations. My heart was beating fast and skipping. Does anyone get this after eating??
I just had a skipped beat as a typed this ! :(

Catherine S

23-01-17, 15:25

Yes this is really common. It takes more energy to digest a meal so that speeds up your heartrate. The skipped beats may have been the effect of the sugar rush after the cheesecake, or they can happen if your heart speeds up. I usually feel some every day and have done for over 40 years. They're uncomfortable and annoying and sometimes a bit scary, but they are normal. I take a beta blocker called Bisoprolol which reduces the intensity and frequency of them.

ISB :)

Ethansmom

23-01-17, 16:00

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Palpitations of any kind freak me out. I always ask my co workers and friends if they get them and they just look at me like i'm weird. They always say no, which makes me wonder if something is truly going on with me- other than anxiety.:weep:

Gary A

23-01-17, 16:09

Catherine S

23-01-17, 16:26

As Gary said, everyone gets them just not everyone feels them happening. Some of us are more sensitive to feeling them. My husband can't feel his, but he can 'hear' them on my BP machine so that's his only indication that he gets them too! My GP also feels them so he understands how worried they can make people feel, and he prescribed the same beta blockers for me that he takes for himself.

ISB x

---------- Post added at 16:26 ---------- Previous post was at 16:16 ----------

And have just seen that I've already said all of this in one of your other threads dated 19th. Sorry for the repetition in my replies here, but your threads all have different titles even if about the same subject, so its easy to confuse issues.

Ethansmom

23-01-17, 16:58

thank you so much for the reassurance!

davey2k12

23-01-17, 17:35

I get them quite frequently sometimes after eating also. Beta blockers were a god send for me they help a lot hopefully they do the trick for you too good luck and take care :)

Ethansmom

23-01-17, 18:52

what exactly do beta blockers do?? Are they safe to take? I'm currently taking Zoloft (almost two weeks into it). Just wondering if this is something I should look into. thank you!

Catherine S

23-01-17, 19:08

They stop too much adrenaline from irritating your heart, so they slow your heartrate down, which in turn eases the erratic heartbeats. They don't take them away completely, but they lessen the intensity and frequency of them so they become much easier to live with. They are safe to take, they are not mind-altering drugs and can be taken as and when needed if preferred. But check on taking them in combination with other meds.

Like all meds it takes bit of time to find the dose that suits you, and there are different beta blockers out there...Propranolol is probably the best known one but it's also one of the oldest and doesn't suit everybody. I took it for 7 years before changing to another which suits me better.

ISB x

davey2k12

23-01-17, 23:06

I'm quite new to beta blockers but they slow my heart rate down to a healthy level as I was panicking almost all day everyday and the heart was a bit of a problem not sure what other effects they have but I do hear of people taking them before stressful situations like big speeches etc etc

Ethansmom

24-01-17, 15:24

I've had an EKG and it's normal.

Ethansmom

25-01-17, 17:20

Does anyone have any ideas/tips on how to overcome the fear of heart palpitations with skipped beats? I'm sure i'm OCD about this and it's affecting everything I do. I don't know if it's just my anxious thoughts causing me to ruminate on this, or if I have a feeling that I have a serious heart problem? I used to work out (run on the treadmill) several times a week and never once had this problem. This was before anxiety of course. Could some sort of problem developed in the past two years? It's the sense of skipping beats that really terrifies me. I can usually get it stop with a Xanax or deep breathing. I guess i'm just terrified of getting a deadly arrhythmia while getting these fast, skipping beats. I think the skipped beat feelings are actually multiple PVC's. Is this dangerous if it's due to panic?