Hi,
About 10 years ago, when I was 34 years old, I started getting palpitations. On a bad day they'd happen every minute or so.
I got pretty concerned, and was sure I was on my last legs. I could even tell as soon as I woke in the morning if I was going to get them that day...a kind of jittery feeling in the chest. The doctor told me they were nothing to worry about and left me with a feeling I was wasting his time. These went on for about 2 months but eventually they got less frequent and then they totally stopped.
But, came back 5 months ago. Exactly the same symptoms, perhaps even worse. I went on the forums, scared myself and went back to a different doctor.
Perhaps it's because I'm now in my 40's, or just because I found a better doctor, but this time they took it seriously. I even recorded the palpitations using an iphone app and played it to her. At which point she got her colleagues and they all had a listen! I got referred to a specialist (who asked me if I could take his photo while he held my iphone...he said it would be good in a medical publication!) and I had a 24 hour ECG attached to me. Then I had a echocardiogram.
And... all is fine!
The ECG showed the usual ectopic beats, though it was a quiet day and I only had three. The scan showed a normal, healthy heart. The consultant assured me that the palpitations are common, nothing to worry about and have no relation to heart attacks. He also said, if I start have a bad patch of them again, then go to the doctors and get beta blockers.
What a relief!
I know how worrying palpitations are and horrible they feel and just thought would be nice to share a happy ending in case someone is going though a bad patch right now, and is sitting on the forums just like I was!