So carrying on from my frequent palpitations, today I had one which made my cheat go funny and then 'pain' went up into my jaw. It was only a couple of seconds but has scared me so much I an really frightened now that there is something sinister going on.

I had a clear ECG last week but gave been getting frequent palpitations along with twinges in my heart every so often with them.

I'm totally at my whits end now thinking I am not going to see the end of this pregnancy. and it is spoiling my whole experience

It's the 'pain' up the front of my neck and jaw that's scared me now. I thought I'd experienced pains before but nothing like this. Every time I have a palpitation now I get a twinge with it. Sometimes they're centre of chest sometimes just to the left. I'm paranoid now of just dropping down one day.

Thank you for your reply

Well my goodness, you need to take a breath and relax. I certainly understand how frightening palpitations can be, but you're allowing your fears to run away with you. There is nothing actually wrong with your heart at all and you're not going to suffer any type of cardiac event whatsoever.

Realize that this type of disturbance does not originate from within the heart at all, but occurs merely as a result of vagus nerve stimulation. It is the very same occurrence that many people experience when suddenly startled or frightened. Surely you're heard people who have been suddenly frightened exclaim "That made my heart leap out of my chest!" or "That made my heart skip a beat!" These are but just two examples of the many exclamations made by persons experiencing benign palpitation events. It is the consequence of a parasympathetic nervous response.

Many, many pregnant women experience benign palpitations due to hormonal changes that induce stress on the body, as well as the physical re-arrangement of space downstairs that produces compression against the diaphragm and subsequently, the vagus nerve. The GI tract is also innervated by the vagus nerve, termed the pneumogastric nerve at that level and any GI disturbance is capable of producing an evoked potential, or nerve impulse, which travels upward along the vagus nerve proper until it reaches the terminal endings of the nerve, one of which is naturally the heart. Understand that the heart muscle is merely responding to the nerve impulse, much like a muscle twitch experienced elsewhere in the body.

It's critical to understand that these events do not affect or influence your heart health or performance in any manner. This type of palpitation event is entirely incapable of causing your heart to suddenly run wild or become incapable of producing normal, steady sinus rhythm. It doesn't work like that and I'll tell you here as I've stated many times before, in more than 40 years of practice as a physician and specialist, I never once even heard of a case wherein a patient experiencing benign palpitations suffered any type of catastrophic event of any type at all. I followed many patients throughout their entire adult lifespan and those experiencing the very same type of palpitations you are now experiencing didn't shorten their life by even as much as a second in time.

The problem for most persons experiencing these symptoms is that they are plagued by irrational fears that something hidden is lurking and unless they stay close to help, their life could suddenly end. Again, the nature of these events is not related to the heart at all and is nothing more than a muscle twitch, albeit one that is quite frightening.

A very broad array of symptoms can arise coincidental to benign palpitations, such as pain radiating elsewhere in the body. Remember that it is a wayward nerve impulse which produces the palpitation, so it's not uncommon at all to experience shooting pains upward along the neck or even down the arms, a scenario which incidentally is quite different from characteristics demonstrated in an infarct or heart attack.

You're going to be just fine and if you'll look around very carefully on the forum, you'll find that you are in the company of many people who experience the very same symptoms and not a one of them has ever actually come up against any true threat to their heart or health in general. It is only the fear that something is potentially disturbing your heart, the pump that runs everything and keeps you alive, which produces the feeling that something dreadful and imminent is lurking.

This is purely irrational fear based upon subjective beliefs and not medical facts. Again, take a deep breath and relax. You're going to live a full and normal life, watching your children grow and have families of their own. I promise.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)