Skipped heart beat reassurance

[Deepseathree]

So background is ive had anxiety for ever. I had a stress test maybe 4 years ago with normal results. Had numerous EKGs which also resulted in normal readings. I'm a 28 y/o male. Have exercise on and off regularly for ten years. Recently I've been back into it heavily. Yesterday I actually had a checkup and my Bp was 108/70 and HR was 66. So I feel decently healthy. I have been on and off SSRIs for years as well. Recently though I stopped everything and have felt great. Even discussed with my doctor about not have a panic attack for awhile and not really experiencing anxiety. But not even 20 mins ago I felt what I would describe as a skipped beat. Almost like my heart fluttered and then beat real hard which caused a panic attack. How I explain may seem as if I've never experienced one which I don't know. Pretty sure I have but for some reason my brain blocks out a lot of previous panic attacks. I drank coffee this morning for the first time in awhile. That was over 12 hours ago. I drank alcohol also about two hours ago. Not a lot but I hardly drink anymore either. I feel asleep and woke back up and was just hanging around watching TV and it happened. I know there are threads and stickys for these things but I still would like reassurance. That I can get through this without jumping back on Prozac and starting to drop Xanax and that what I experienced is not an emergency problem. My heart rate is still heightened but admittedly I took some Xanax so hopefully that helps.

[WiredIncorrectly]

Almost like my heart fluttered and then beat real hard which caused a panic attack

Was the hard beat like a thump, or a thud? These are common. I had one about 30 minutes ago too. They are the worst.

[Rosanna]

Almost like my heart fluttered and then beat real hard which caused a panic attack.

This sounds like a skipped beat or a few skips, followed by the thud which, far from being a bad thing, is actually the correction. Actually the beats before haven't truly skipped, they've just gone off too early, so they are weaker, not felt, and then the heart has to wait a bit longer to fill properly before beating again, so the result is a stronger beat (which some people describe as a thud).

I'm becoming ok with these now because I understand the mechanism.

I expect the alcohol helped it along, alcohol has a tendency to do that, even a small amount. But if all you're getting is something resembling a skip or two then it's not worrisome.