Weird feeling in chest NOT palpitations

[seasalt]

I'm wondering if anyone can relate to having a weird sensation in the chest that isn't heart palpitations. I get palpitations and with those I can feel a fast beat or a skipped beat etc. The symptom I'm talking about isn't an actual feeling (like I can't *feel* twitching or fluttering or anything like that) but it's just a sensation of... lightness? emptiness? I don't really know.

It almost feels like I've had a ton of caffeine (I haven't) but my heart isn't actually beating fast, skipping beats etc. My heart rate is normal and steady. It almost feels like a breathlessness. It's such a strange sensation and when I try to look into it, everything is about palpitations. But again, I have actual palpitations and this isn't that.

I've had a full cardiac workup over the past 5 years - echo, stress test, Holter monitor etc and aside from benign palpitations they've found nothing wrong. But this sensation continues to cause me anxiety. When I have "flares" of it, it lasts for days. When I'm preoccupied, I don't notice it but when I am focused on it, it drives me insane and continues the anxiety cycle.

I do have reflux and I tend to think it relates in some way to that but it's definitely not heartburn or throat twitching/spasms (which I've also had).

It freaks me out that I have some kind of arrhythmia or something, but I'm sure it's more likely anxiety. Just curious if anyone has experienced something similar?

[RadioGaGa]

This could be sudden, unprovoked releases of adrenaline (e.g. adrenaline rush) that us folk with anxiety are so prone to.

Don't think this is anything worth worrying over, but an excellent way to confirm this would be a holter monitor. Then you'd either press a button or write down the time when you had this sensation. They could then look at the tape and see if there were any ectopics etc etc.

But that's only if you want reassurance.

Good luck

[seasalt]

This could be sudden, unprovoked releases of adrenaline (e.g. adrenaline rush) that us folk with anxiety are so prone to.

Don't think this is anything worth worrying over, but an excellent way to confirm this would be a holter monitor. Then you'd either press a button or write down the time when you had this sensation. They could then look at the tape and see if there were any ectopics etc etc.

But that's only if you want reassurance.

Good luck

Thank you! I last had a holter monitor 3 or 4 years ago and they didn't find anything other than benign palpitations. I can't remember if I was having a "episode" of this at the time, but I've had at least 3 holter monitor tests over the past decade for palpitations and weird feelings and nothing remarkable has ever come up. So it's probably adrenaline as you say. I know that the more I focus on it, the worse it gets. And it does kind of feel like a sensation I might get when I'm super excited or nervous about something... but without the excitement or blatant nervousness.