Would you be worried?

Chrissy

Ok,

I know this is NOT a medical forum, so I'm not looking for medical advice, just opinions.

For possibly 3 years now, I've been getting (what I'd call) heart palpatations.
Like, I can be lying in bed falling asleep, or sitting watching telly, completely relaxed, not even noticing my heartbeat, then suddenly it will be as if I'm after getting the biggest fright of my life & my heart starts thumping really hard & fast, yet I'm haven't been frightened. This occurs V irregular. Might get it nearly every day for 2 weeks, then not again for 3 months.

Anyway, about 1.5 years ago I said this can't be normal, so I went to the Doc, who referred me to the cardio clinic in the hospital. I got numerous tests done, the names of which I can't really remember:- I think one was an ECG test, an echo test, & one where I wore a heart monitor for 24 hrs (some of those may have been the same thing) I described in detail my symptoms, they took bloods & tested for everything, blood pressure, etc....

So, after a few months of tests they told me everything was absolutely normal, my heart was V healthy & not to worry about it.

I still get palpatations on & off but decided they're just part of my quirky body.

The reason this has all sparked off in my mind again is bacause I went to donate blood last night & I decided just in case that I'd tell them about it but tell them I was told all was normal.
They said no way could that be normal, thought it V strange that I'd be told such a thing at the clinic & said there's no way they'd take blood from me having a condition like that.

They seemed V alarmed!!! I'm in my early 20's & am (if anything) on the light side of normal weight for my height & lead a healthy lifestyle.

Like I said, I'm not asking for you to tell me I need this & that tested....

I'm just wondering, would you go with what the docs & tests said, or do I listen to what the nurses said last night?
Do any of you have 'normal' palpatations, or would you look for a 2nd opinion?

^CwAzY^

Go to another doctor, who will hopefully refer you to a different cardiologist, it's always worth getting a second opinion.

galwaydude

Go to another doctor asap if your very worried about your condition.Its not worth it taking a chance.As the saying goes your health is your wealth.

unklefiction

I have personnally suffered from this myself for a while. Can I ask you is there anything going on in your life that would make you feel anxious? Do you drink a large amount of coffee everyday.

I am not a doctor but what you are describing sounds like anxiety attacks. That's when you get stressed and your body produces adrenaline and you are not in the correct fram eof mind to realise that it is this that causes your heart to palpitate and you automaticallly do the hypocondriac(sp?) thing and think that it is some medical issue. I know you said it can happen when you are relaxed, but they can be triggerred very suddenly with just a quick flash of a memory or some sound or picture that reminds you of something.

Plus don't feel bad about the hypochondria everyone is to some extent.

I mention the coffee because coffee is proven to harden your arteries as soon as it enters your blood stream, I sufferred anxiety attacks which when left without getting some treatment turned into panic attacks and left me utterly disabled at normal life, I was afraid of my own shadow at one stage.

One of the things that helped were to cut out my coffee and alcohol intake and started taking B vitamin supplements(v. good). And had a good detox of my whole body and took time to find someone to talk about things that were on my mind. I was lucky my mam helped me through the lot of it.

The other thing is to keep yourself busy, work hard and find interesting hobbies and past-times.

This all may have nothing to do with what is happening to you, but it just sounds similar to myself, I did the whole doctor thing in the beginning and they said "your blood pressure is exactly correct for your age and height, in fact it is nearly exactly the same as the time you came in two months ago which in itself is abnormally good"
Do you Toke?( another thing I gave up for six months and the problem sorted itself after that)

So who knows?
I hope it sorts itself for you.

Chrissy

Unklefiction:
Thanks for your long reply:
Toke? What does that mean? Smoke??
I don't smoke, never have, don't drink tea, don't drink coffee. Don't overeat, generally, don't eat sugary or V salty foods, go to the gym, etc, etc, etc.
On a text book, I'm a V healthy person.

I live a V carefree life, no stresses, no pressures, no worries, etc.

I notice the problem mostly when I'm resting as there's nothing else occuring around me, but it does also happen when I'm working.

I really don't think it's panic attacks. If it happened once or twice then maybe, but it's the fact that it's been occuring for atleast 3 years.

I'm not a nervous person, take everything in my stride & most times let nothing get to me.

It almost feels sometimes like my heart is holding it's breath for as long as it can, then it gasps for breath (If you can imagine what I'm talking about) It beats, then there is a longer pause before the next beat, & that beat is an almighty thump & it races then because of that.

you may still be right, but I don't think so.
But if you are wrong, can what I'm experiencing be normal?

Dave

It used to happen to me when I started smoking "contraband" but not anymore. They just disappeared for me.

Mr Magnolia

My wife suffers from the same symptoms. She went to several specialists, had x-rays, scans, ECG's, Blood works, the lot, even wore a monitor for 2 weeks. Nothing unusual could be found. It's worrying for us, but what can we do.

I think it's possibly anxiety, even if it's sub-conscious. Love to be able to lay it to bed..

el tel

Chrissy wrote:

The reason this has all sparked off in my mind again is bacause I went to donate blood last night & I decided just in case that I'd tell them about it but tell them I was told all was normal.
They said no way could that be normal, thought it V strange that I'd be told such a thing at the clinic & said there's no way they'd take blood from me having a condition like that.

They seemed V alarmed!!! I'm in my early 20's & am (if anything) on the light side of normal weight for my height & lead a healthy lifestyle.

Do any of you have 'normal' palpatations, or would you look for a 2nd opinion?

With all due respect to the blood donor people, they are not necessarily qualified to give medical opinions any more than anyone else. They won't know your full medical history are more than likely not even doctors.

If you are still worried get referred to a cardiologist again or go to the hospital if you are getting feelings of lightheadedness, fainting or chest pain.
To quell your fears a little, most people have palpatations at some time or another.

LegacyUser

I experience the same pulpetations I'm only 18 and am quite worried I have consulted a doctor who told me everything was fine but I decided that I wanted to see a specialist as this still effects me quite often. So my doctor refered me to the mater hospital where i have an appointment with an echocardiologist in two weeks time. In relation to the condition described by origional posted, I experience pulpetations similar to yourself while relaxing at night or just in general and then it might not happen again for a couple of weeks or months. Sometimes I can't sleep because of it however it never bothers me shile training or playing sport. I would drink heavily maybe twice per week and enjoy the odd fag but could this be the problem I mean so do alot of people?

Capt'n Midnight

I get them at night if I have a lot of caffine in the afternoon. So I just switch to decaf after lunch. MSG which is in a lot of fast food and soups may also cause them.

So it may be diet / lifestyle related. You could get a diary and see if there is any cause/effect.

bada_bing

Chrissy wrote:

Unklefiction:

It almost feels sometimes like my heart is holding it's breath for as long as it can, then it gasps for breath (If you can imagine what I'm talking about) It beats, then there is a longer pause before the next beat, & that beat is an almighty thump & it races then because of that.

i experienced some bouts of palpitations about 2 years ago and they disappeared completely after a short while but then i also endured the above feeling regularly (heart gasping for breath) almost every day for the next 6 months after that but thankfully that has also stopped and i know it's a very unpleasant thing to go through, it used frighten me every time it happened. The only reason i can think the whole thing went away is when i started to analyse and eliminate things that were stressing me out at the time such as being in a relationship that i felt was going nowhere and financial issues etc.. Maybe it might be a good idea to list all the little things in your life that seem to upset you or stress you out a little and try to tackle each thing one at time so that you can make list smaller. This worked well for me and i found that my heart problems went away within a few months. Also if you lead a hectic lifestyle such as going to the gym, working long hours and partying hard then you should attempt to cut down on those things and make some time for yourself during the week or weekend so that you can chill out and relax......

spurious

I would look for a second opinion and another set of bloods, including the thyroid panel.

Gordon

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