Hi,

I've suffered from strong palpitations for the past 6 months now, which I am told could be the result of high anxiety and panic.

I'm worried about Ventricular Tachycardia, a few weeks ago I had what felt like strong ectopics, one every few seconds. I felt my pulse and it wasn't in rhythm at all. This lasted for a few minutes then went back into rhythm but left me worried as I never felt an irregular pulse before.

I went to the hospital that day and had an ECG, it came back normal.

I have previously had many ECG's (more than 30), an Echocardiogram, a 24 hour holter monitor, multiple chest x-ray's, Blood tests, tyroid function test etc. Eveything came back fine.

I worry that I suffer from VT when I have these palpitations. The first time I had them I almost fainted, felt dizzy, scared etc.

My main questions are:

If I had VT would it have been picked up by now on the tests that I had?

I heard it can happen in normal hearts without heart disease, how true is this?

Can people have VT without any structural problems with the heart?

I'm 21, have no history of heart problems prior to this. Have no family history of heart problems.

Thank you in advance.  

This is not ventricular tachycardia and you're way too young for that sort of thing. The palpitations you are experiencing are not originating from within the heart at all, but rather from vagus nerve stimulation as a consequence of certain levels of stress and or anxiety. They are incapable of producing any type of cardiac event or damage to the heart muscle in any fashion.

Also realize that this particular type of disturbance can present itself in a broad variety of forms due to the precise moment that the signals reach the heart during the normal cardiac cycle, from light fluttering sensations to strong thumps and even the sensation of absence of beats, all of which are entirely normal.

The palpitations can also produce a momentary but harmless mild drop in blood pressure on occasion and combined with fear during the event, vagal tone is reduced and the patient may experience lightheadedness and even nausea. Again, this is common and does not constitute a warning sign of an impending cardiac event.

GI problems can sometimes be the culprit for extended runs of palpitations of this type and if indigestion is present, a change in body position or the relief of indigestion through belching typically diminishes or halts the palpitation frequency.

You'll be fine.

Best regards and Good Health