Well you can take a breath and relax. Nothing is going to happen to you.

The physiological manifestations that you are experiencing are entirely common within the spectrum of significant stress and/or anxiety. The palpitations you are experiencing are actually harmless and arise due to wayward nerve impulses which travel along the vagus nerve, otherwise known as the 10th cranial nerve, and cause the heart muscle tissues to respond in very much the same way that a wayward nerve impulse can cause one's eyelid to twitch.

Just as a twitching eyelid cannot result in blindness, nor can you suffer any type of cardiac event as a result of the heart muscle twitching in response to similar stimulation. It's very important for you to understand that the origin of these events actually arises from outside the heart and do not constitute a warning sign of any type.

The vagus nerve also innervates the lungs among other organs and tissue regions and this is why you experience the sensation that the palpitations take your breath away. Rogue nerve impulses cause all terminal endings of the nerve to respond and the slight interference in tidal respiration invokes the feeling of momentary shortness of breath.

The vagus nerve also innervates the larynx and is responsible for producing the characteristic sensation that something is blocking one's airway or the feeling of a foreign body in the throat. Some patients even cough in response to the nerve stimulation which produces the palpitation and again, this is due to the more broad stimulation which occurs simultaneously.

You're going to be just fine and your tests will reveal nothing other than normal architecture and function of the heart.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)