I have been going back and forth about posting this or not.  But it's on my mind, so obviously it will do me some good to get this out.

Today while on the phone with a client she told me her boss was in the hospital.  I have talked to this man and he is very mean, to the point that he has yelled and screamed at me and her.  At least I am not face to face when he had done it to me.  I always thought, geez, this guy is going to have a heart attack.  

Well, come to find out today that he just had quad bypass surgery.  Now as mean as this man has been, I felt bad for him.  It's not like I was thinking "he deserves it" or anything like that.

Soon after I heard this and found out a bit more info, my heart skips started.  He is 62 and had no symptoms and was in for a routine stress test.

Anyway... I have anxiety and hearing anything about illness are hard for me.  Because my anxiety symptoms are heart related (mostly), these are the illnesses I find hardest to hear without reacting.

So my symptoms were what felt like skipped beats (heart pauses/stopping) followed by a hard beat and fast heart rate.  This went on/off for 30 min or so.  I also felt like my heart was too slow, then too fast, then skipping as I was definitely paying close attention to it and feeling my pulse.  I have had these before, yet always struggle with them if I get more than one or two.  I have been doing so well with not getting them as much lately and just thought I was doing much better in terms of anxiety as well.

So here's my question, aside from hearing from those that can relate and their experiences, RLR - what would warrant a concern from a doctors standpoint when a paitent complains about his heart skips/flutters?  Is an EKG a good enough test?  I had one about two years ago now along with an echocardiogram which both were normal, so  I wonder, should I have another one.  My  husband woke up with flutters the other day (he gets them too from time to time, just handles them better, though they do alarm him too).  I actually printed out the info on this website about them for him to read.  It was bothering him, and reading it made him feel better as he had stomach distress the night before so I told him that may have been his cause for them.  It does help he can relate to what I'm going through.  He just had an EKG about a month ago during a routine yearly physical and the doctor wasn't too concerned when he told him about the skips/flutters.  I was just wondering what would cause the doctor to be concerned to warrant a bunch of tests.  

Also, I was wondering what you thought about magnesium and their relationship to these.  I started taking magensium about a month or so ago and haven't had as many skips.  I just ran out on Friday and waiting for another batch to arrive in the mail (I order from a supplier that uses natural ingredients).  

In addition I have started meditating every day for 15 min to help keep my stress levels down.  

Thank you for your reply.  I really do appreciate everyone's time and always come back here from time to time to help when I get down about these again - most times it helps.  Today I guess I need a little more help.  

Well, to answer your question, it's unfortunately as much a legal response as a healthcare concern when doctors begin ordering tests in response to complaints of arrythmias or chest pain. ECGs and echocardiograms are excellent choices to evaluate the basic heart health of any patient. You have to realize that true heart pathology doesn't hide very well and evidence from a number of sources can readily point to trouble where the heart is concerned.

As I've stated before, simply because you have symptoms associated with your heart, does not suggest that the problem is within the heart and in this case, it is definitely not. The GI tract is the single most offending organ capable of causing inappropriate stimulation of the Vagus nerve, which subsequently imposes a signal upon the heart that you sense as a palpitation. It does not mean there is trouble with your heart, but rather a mere superimposition of a nerve impulse upon the normal sinus rhythm of the heart. Nothing more. Sometimes it occurs in succession and sometimes less forceful, but in all cases we're talking about a mere symptom and not disease of any type. You'll be just fine. . . . so will your husband.

Best regards and Good Health