Hi mikey
Welcome. I hope you can find some support and reassurance and help here.

Well, it does sound exactly what a lot of us suffer from - it sounds like you are having ectopics (extra beats which = palpitations). They may feel like you are missing a beat but in reality your heart has not missed a beat it has thrown in an extra one or two in between your normal sinus rhythm. sometimes you may not feel these so you might feel as if you have skipped a beat, othertimes you might feel them as flutters, other times you might feel it as a harder beat. All of these are the same thing really.

Just make sure you are checked out properly by your GP.

Yes, the ECG thing... unless you are having ectopic beats every few beats then they probably won't be picked up on an ecg (mine are so frequent they are often picked up in a 15 second ecg.) But apparently GPs are not really interested because if the ecg shows as otherwise normal, they are not a big deal to the doctor. They might be for you - but that is another story... and why this forum exists  

Many of us here have weird things that happen to our hearts every day - mine has been going on for about a year and a half now. I get thousands of ectopics per day and other weird happenings. Drives me mad, but the doctors say it is not dangerous so there is nothing they can / will do.

Just stay as healthy as you can and try to be relaxed about them - easier said than done.

I wish I could tell you how to get rid of them - I have tried all sorts - yoga, relaxation, antidepressants, no caffeine or alcohol, beta blockers, CBT. All of these things - nothing has worked. I am now getting fit and on a gym program (3 months so far) - purely for heart and lung fitness as I have no weight to lose, so it's ongoing and may show some benefit at some point in the future.

bead x

Hi
I also have two young kids so life can not be stress-free. And you are in a pressurised job no doubt. I think any kind of stress or rushing around can make them worse so trying to remain calm is key. (Easier said than done, I know.)

I also hear what you are saying - yes I do think that when we worry about our palpitations it adds to them. In fact that was the only help my cardiologist could give - he says he doesn't know why I have them but that anxiety about them will only make them worse. It is hard not to worry.

And I do feel my anxiety is now only about the palpitations too - nothing else bothers me now (unless it is subconscious and I don't know I am worrying about it - I do seem to get major symptoms in social situations, so I guess there is some added anxiety there.) I get the palpitations and then I worry about those and think how uncomfortable I am - all negative thought patterns that don't help me, I suppose.

I have done everything I have heard to try and make them better.

Currently I am trying taking a magnesium supplement as I read there is some anectodal evidence this has helped a few people. I thought it's worth a go. But I haven't done very well remembering to take it every evening. I have said I will report on it if I can get into the habit of taking it every day for a month and see what happens...

Alcohol makes my palpitations worse, so I don't drink, but not drinking has not got rid of them. Likewise caffeine, cutting out all caffeine has not got rid of them but it can make them worse. So that's a little help but not a cure.

I had some relief with a specialist therapeutic yoga class which focused on relaxing and stretching the chest muscles, which helps to improve the posture and some positions which focused on calming anxiety.  I had some success with that. But when I tried to go into a regular yoga class I found that some positions triggered rapid heartbeats with ectopics on top - which through me into total panic. so I have left that for the time being. There is good information about trying to help palpitations in Iyengar Yoga but you need to find a really knowledgable tutor who specialises in the therapy side. I am lucky I have a friend who is a senior tutor.

It would be interesting to see if anyone else has tried anything that has worked. I know a lot of people on here have stomach problems that are related to their palpitations. So if that is an issue for you then that is something to consider...

Good luck at your doctors appointment

bead

Hi Mike
No I am not in California - I am England. I wish I was in California though what with wet weather we have had for weeks here. I bet it's nicer there.

Anyway, there are a few men on here - but they haven't been posting so often lately, but they are all very friendly. There is Dickyboy and Stu M, who are on here sometimes. And there is a doctor from the States - called RLR - who posts regularly to allay our fears. I am sure you will come across him soon and he may reply to your post to reassure you. I think there are some other folks from the US too.

My kids are 6 and 3 - but I have had severe anxiety and panic for over two years (but much much better now - just underlying problems now) and palpitations for about a year and a half. I think having kids has been too stressful for me to deal with (even though they are so great - they are so demanding, and dealing with two fighting little boys all the time is very wearing). It's probably one of those life periods when this can be brought on.

I would give anything for the palpitations to go away too as they feel so horrible - but I think we are all working together on this forum to help each other out.

And I do know what you mean about feeling your heartbeat all the time - I am aware of mine always too. I don't know why this is.

Glad the doctor told you you have nothing to worry about. This is very good news - it just means you have to get your head round it (like the rest of us!)

bead x

Hello

Welcome to the site, (A bit of a delayed post).

It is very scary when you first notice your heart going a bit what you think isn't "normal", I had palps, missed beats, for the past 6+ years, but as you learn to accept them and change your life style they do calm down.  Try not to stress, I have 3 children, a husband, a job and volunteer roles.  But a year or more ago, I didn't want to move from the armchair, as my heart would go funny and I would panic! - Poor RLR at the time!  

There are alot of things you can do to help calm them, eat 6 small meals a day instead of 3 larger ones, try and make sure you are sitting whilst you eat, Reduce your caffine intake and try and get enough sleep.  If's simply finding what works for you, keep a diary of what you eat and how you are feeling (stressed, upset, happy etc) then it will be easier to work out what is making them worse.  Unfortunately mine are irritated by my hormones sometimes, some months I get very grumpy, have headaches and a little irritation to my heart and the next BAM missed beats etc...  But the biggest factor is stress and how you deal with it.

This is a great site with lots of very supportive members, you have come to the right place.

Kath x

Hi Mike,

Indeed body position and effects of gravity can work together with or without indigestion to create the potential for palpitations of the type you are experiencing to occur. The GI tract, combined with the presence of anxiety, is typically the underlying cause.

The Vagus nerve innervates the GI tract as the gastric nerve and you can sort of think about what happens as analogous to someone making the wrong call on a telephone. When you dial a number, an electronic signal is sent to a certain receiver and regardless of whether the call was intended or not, the signal will nevertheless reach its destination. And simply because the recipient on the other end answers the call, doesn't cause damage to the equipment. It's merely a wrong call due to an incorrect electrical impulse.

Well the same is sort of true with the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve can be stimulated by the presence of trapped air in the lumen of the intestines and when you bend over, you're compressing the area even further. Excitation of the vagus nerve can result from this compression and acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that is triggered and moves along the vagus nerve, the largest mixed nerve in the body.

When it reaches the heart, it does what it normally does in cases where you have experienced elevated heart rate from something frightening or that startled you. But in this case, the heart is receiving the signal to slow down when it is not in a state of elevated heart rate.

Thus, patients describe sensations of a thump, a flutter and even the perceived absence of a heart beat as the vagus impulse acts upon the heart. You have to remember that this is a normal physiological process taking place at an inappropriate time, caused by some type of stimulus. It doesn't damage the heart in any way and you'll never suffer a cardiac event as a consequence. I've been practicing more than 40 years and never once heard of such an instance. Surely you've heard people describe events after being scared or startled, such as "my heart just skipped a beat" or "My heart stopped" or "I could feel my heart in my throat." Sound familiar? It's the very same thing happening except without the presence of an external event to cause it. Make sense?

So you can take a breath and relax. If you're experiencing GI trouble from stress, etc then taking measures to settle things down in that regard will bring about a corresponding relief from the frequency of palpitations experienced.

You'll be just fine.

Best regards and Good Health

Your description of the problem is a very common theme among persons with anxiety. Realize that there is a rather paradoxical effect associated with anxiety once it begins to express somatic or physical symptoms.

To the affected person, they experience an increase in physical symptoms with what seems to be a corresponding decrease in the typical sensations of anxiety. What's taking place in most cases is that initial anxiety invokes the sympathetic nervous system due to anxiety and vigilence is increased with a sense of undirected fear or apprehension, together with heart rate, respiration, tremulousness, perspiration and other symptomatic features. These are the characteristics that people normally associate with anxiety.

At points along this continuum, the parasympathetic nervous system intervenes to try and bring these physiological manifestations back to baseline by lowering the heart rate, respiration and so forther.  In the presence of chronic anxiety, people begin to misinterpret these functions as symptoms of possible disease because they are occurring in the total absence of anything which would otherwise invoke true fear. In other words, anxiety and panic disorder are about unregulated fears whose origins cannot be identified by the affected individual but are extremely real. The body is simply responding as it would otherwise to the presence of fear. The conflict is that since the fear cannot be directly identified, then the physiological symptoms do not make corresponding sense and therefore, are construed to be indications that something physical is wrong. Does that make sense?

Anxiety is an extremely dynamic process and can fluctuate widely based upon a person's exposure to various stimuli during the day.

It is not uncommon for people to argue that their symptoms are felt to be the consequence of something else rather than anxiety because they commonly state that they "don't feel anxious." You have to realize that once the features of anxiety induce physical symptoms, the body takes steps to try and control them in such a manner that sometimes your heart races and sometimes it is rather slow, even normal during periods. This is the effect of the nervous system fluctuating in response to anxious stimuli. Nothing more.

The palpitations will never harm you in any manner. They are the consequence of vagal nerve stimulation from outside the heart and it does not mean in any way that you will be harmed by it. Always just take regular, deep breaths and relax. The symptoms will pass. But in all cases, nothing will ever happen to you in the way of a cardiac event or the palpitations causing heart damage. It's not the case at all.

You're going to be just fine.

Best regards and Good Health

I have had mine for 1 1/2 years, with maybe 10 days in between that I have felt none.  When they first started I was having 1500 a day, now I probably average betwen 10-200 a day and I am OK with that. The 1500 was difficult but luckily it has not gone back to that.  When I get one I usually get a flip flop in my throat, a missed beat in my pulse (have felt the miss many times in my pulse) then the thud in center of my chest.  Sometimetimes I also feel some weird twitches in my chest just left of center and have a few times when I have felt the flip flop several beats in a row which still freaks me but happens infrequently.  Mine seem to be linked to anxiety, and some trapped air(burping).  Best thing is to get back to excercise and try and forget about them!!  I also find if I am busy the end of the day comes and I think, wow I hardly felt any today, then I lie down to go to sleep, thinking about that and they start!! They are so annoying!!