Welcome to the forum and I've read your posting and concerns.

Palpitations of the type being described are indeed both common and harmless. They actually originate from outside, rather than within, the heart and are the result of inappropriate evoked potentials or nerve impulses occurring at the vagus nerve. The events are more akin to a muscle twitch than any type of arrhythmia and they are incapable of inducing any type of cardiac event or transforming normal sinus rhythm into something pathological.

The events are most commonly observed in persons with significant anxiety but can also be demonstrated in individuals experiencing significant GI distress. This is due to the fact that the vagus nerve innervates the GI tract as the pneumogastric nerve.

Although the events can occur at any given time, they are most frequent whenever the parasympathetic nervous system is dominant, ie at rest.

You'll be fine. Regardless of their presentation, they are incapable of harming you or placing you at risk. Again, it's important to remember that the heart is as much a muscle as it is an organ and like other muscles, will respond accordingly to electrical impulses whether from within the heart or from external origin.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)