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Heart Palpitations

SpongeCakeSpongeCake Registered User regular
edited November 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm booking an appointment with my doctor first thing tomorrow, so please none of that pointless "Doctor, now" shit.

Alright, so I'm at work today and all of a sudden my heart starts flipping out and I get this fluttering sensation every 30 seconds or so. I've experienced the feeling before but it only happens once, and even then it's a rare occurrence- once a month maybe. Being terribly British, I don't want to cause a fuss so I stay quiet and after about 2 hours or so it stops, there's no pain, just this fluttering feeling and a general queasiness - I put it down to lack of sleep or some hypochondriac, psychosomatic bullshit.
A few hours later, on my way home I get another "attack", same symptoms. At this point, a GP appointment is certainly in order, but I want to know how freaked out I should be, and if there's anything I can do in the short term to cut this shit out - it's pretty annoying.

I'm in the "Ideal" BMI range, I do a fair amount of exercise, I don't take any medication or drugs, I'm not drinking any more coffee than normal and I have no known medical conditions.
What the hell is going on here dudes?

Edit: For added comedy value, I just read today's Toothpastefordinner.

SpongeCake on

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    rfaliasrfalias Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    Did you feel any other symptoms? Or you were just aware that your heart was doing something weird?

    rfalias on
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    SpongeCakeSpongeCake Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    Pretty much just the freaky heart. There was a slight feeling of nausea but I'm assuming that's just because my heart was pretending I was riding a roller-coaster.

    SpongeCake on
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    DoxaDoxa Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    My sister experiences this about once a season, sometimes it would make her faint. she has been to the doctor, a specialist and a ton of shit, it was really hard for them to nail it down. Eventually I think it was a respiratory problem and she was given an inhaler of some sort.

    Doxa on
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    DjiemDjiem Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    Sounds like Cardiac arrhythmia to me.

    Did it stop by itself? Because whenever this happens to me, I gotta go to the hospital, usually get some Sotalol under controlled environment until it stops (then again, I have a heart malformation so my case is more delicate).

    Djiem on
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    oncelingonceling Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    Heart problems aside, this could be panic attacks. Some people don't identify particular triggers for panic attacks. You may want to try common relaxation techniques before you get to the doctor tomorrow. The usual - eat a healthy meal, get some rest, massage, watch a light movie.

    Assuming you are under 35, it's unlikely that you have some kind of heart problem from the description you give. If you do, it would be genetic rather than caused by poor health.

    onceling on
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    SpongeCakeSpongeCake Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    Djiem wrote: »
    Sounds like Cardiac arrhythmia to me.

    Did it stop by itself? Because whenever this happens to me, I gotta go to the hospital, usually get some Sotalol under controlled environment until it stops (then again, I have a heart malformation so my case is more delicate).

    Yeah, after a couple of hours it just cut out. The thing that has me most confused is the speed of the thing - I could understand if I'd gradually experienced it more and more over time, but this is from once a month to hundreds of times in a single day.

    SpongeCake on
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    rfaliasrfalias Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    It's pretty hard to identify specifically, but I'm sure the MD will do an EKG. Though I'm not really sure how much it can tell if the symptoms aren't happening while on the EKG. Maybe some stress test will be involved too.

    But there are so many different types of palpitations you'd have to really pay attention or know what you were feeling to be super specific what with all of the Atrial and Ventricular, Tachy's and Brachy's, Fibrillation, Flutter's and what have you... It would almost certainly be impossible to say one thing or another with any sort of accuracy.

    Hopefully it was nothing, but it can be anything from stress or deficiencies of some kind to Heart Disease.

    Not sure how much that helps but it is a pretty broad subject, the heart.

    rfalias on
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    PulvaanPulvaan Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    maybe try drinking some pedialyte or gatorade. it might be an electrolyte imbalance.

    Pulvaan on
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    Nova_CNova_C I have the need The need for speedRegistered User regular
    edited November 2008
    Well, getting checked out is definitely good, but relax.

    I'm going through some pretty hefty heart .... episodes lately. I get palpitations, chest pain and on Friday night, my arm went numb. I ended up going to emergency, but it turns out I wasn't in any danger. My heart was doing about 120 bpm and it was hard beats, like every heartbeat could be felt throughout my body. Sucks ass and is pretty terrifying.

    Anyway, after numerous tests, the doctor told me it's something called a sinus rhythm and won't harm me. I'm hooked up to a portable monitor right now for 24 hours so they can review a longer term ECG and I'll be going in for more tests, but it's probably related to sleep apnea (Possibly, I'm being oxygen deprived at night, which is making my heart run hotter during the day).

    Anyway, my point is that it could be anything, palpitations aren't necessarily a sign of something worse and lots of people experience frequent chest pain with nothing really wrong with them. So stay calm, think happy thoughts, and get it checked out.

    Nova_C on
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    SpongeCakeSpongeCake Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    That's all pretty good to hear, thanks guys.

    SpongeCake on
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    DocDoc Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited November 2008
    Some people (myself included) get those from too much caffeine.

    Doc on
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    SpongeCakeSpongeCake Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    I was concerned about that, yeah. They started half way into my second cup of the day, which I promptly stopped drinking, and after four days of no caffeine at all. I'm going to try and cut back though, just in case.

    SpongeCake on
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    rfaliasrfalias Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    Yeah, that happens to my mom too.
    She used to be able to have caffeine, but now anything like chocolate or the sort will throw her heart all out of sorts. I'm sure the Dr. will have more insight after hearing whats up.

    rfalias on
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    LukinLukin Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    I went to the doctor for this about ten years ago. He told me it happens to everybody once in a while and it's nothing to get bent out of shape over, so long as it's not accompanied by pain or lightheadedness. He gave me an ECG and a chest x-ray just to be safe and everything was cool.

    Lukin on
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    LewieP's MummyLewieP's Mummy Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    I get very rapid heartbeats several times a week 0 its part of having CFS, I've just got used to it.

    LewieP's Mummy on
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    CelestialBadgerCelestialBadger Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    You could always phone NHS Direct and ask them.

    CelestialBadger on
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    KingsRuleKingsRule Registered User new member
    edited November 2008
    I have also had this issue. I was at work and my heart went CRAZY. I rushed to the ER as my family has a history of heart problems and after hours of tests and monitoring and countless shots, it was determined that I had high anxiety. It was a panic attack. I have since been able to control them better and not let it get as bad as it did that day, but still scary when it happens.

    Monitor your caffeine intake CAREFULLY and hope for the best. I will be interested to hear what you find out from the doctor.

    Good Luck

    KingsRule on
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    HeirHeir Ausitn, TXRegistered User regular
    edited November 2008
    Doc wrote: »
    Some people (myself included) get those from too much caffeine.

    Me too. Now that I have pretty much cut out caffeine altogether, I can really notice it if I have a diet coke at lunch or something.

    Heir on
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    rfaliasrfalias Registered User regular
    edited November 2008
    Oh make sure you update us, OR ELSE!!!! :)

    rfalias on
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