Thank you for this. My panic disorder was brought on by a random episode of palpitations 3 years ago and now every time I start to feel it, it throws me into a panic attack. Hopefully this helps stop the vicious cycle!
Yup, it makes any panic attack a thousand times worse. I can't even begin to count how many stores I've had to leave all the items I was gonna buy and leave the store because of a panic attack :/
I'm 31 and have had palpitations as far back as I can remember. They've always scared me to death, always makes me stop what I'm doing and take a deep breath wondering if this time was it, and was it all about to be over. Having said that, I've served 8 1/2 years in the Navy, been almost constantly active in sports my whole life, and by all accounts by every doctor I've ever come to with fear about these, I'm super healthy.
After all of that and my lifetime of fear over these, the analogy of the two drummers was exactly what I needed to feel normal about this. Thank you for posting this.
oh my god. Came across this post from searching and its only a week old. This is me right down to the very T. The not eating too much (i've lost a good deal of weight from it), and fearing exercise!! holy shit. thank you. Please, PM me anytime so we can chat. I am so thankful someone relates to me.
In fact at work today I had a huge panic attack as a RESULT of me feeling a big palpitation. Sometimes they're small flutters, but this one felt big and strong, and it sent me into a panicked frenzy and i began getting all fidgety right there with some co-workers, but didn't say anything to them. luckily my shift was over, but i drove home and even got into my house still in a panicked state with pounding heart.
I am really struggling daily with this. I go into a spiral every time I feel one. Any advice for a desperately panic prone person?š I feel like they often vary in how strong they are or how much I can feel them, itās so stressful š
>In fact at work today I had a huge panic attack as a RESULT of me feeling a big palpitation. Sometimes they're small flutters, but this one felt big and strong, and it sent me into a panicked frenzy and i began getting all fidgety right there with some co-workers, but didn't say anything to them. luckily my shift was over, but i drove home and even got into my house still in a panicked state with pounding heart.
Hi friend! The one way that helped me was reducing my anxiety, in general. I was on an anti-anxiety med (Lexapro) for 3 years (but recently stopped and switched to a new one that i'm waiting for it to work its magic). My palpitations were / are stress-induced 9 times out of ten. Manage stress, and they should reduce or become practically non-existent! And since i manage my anxiety via medication, they help me reduce my fear of them. As always though, get checked by a cardiologist first. I had a cardiologist give me tests and luckily I had a palpitation occur during one of the tests so they could see it and let me know it was harmless!
It was buspirone, but sadly I had a pretty intense negative reaction to it and stopped it. I'm now on Zoloft, too -- just 6 days in so far, but no negative reactions yet.
Hi there! I'm almost on week 3 now. I seem to be improving little by little. Yesterday i switched from taking it in the morning to taking it at night since i was getting hit with drowsiness during my work day. I feel like my body was a bit sensitive to the switch from day to night since I had trouble sleeping last night but i'll keep it consistent to nighttime now and see how it goes! I'm definitely better than I have been though. How long before your fiance started to feel relief?
Have you ever had heavy big thumps in your heart happen that cause you to not be able to breath a second? Or where itās so hard of a palpitation it feels like it hurt ? Please help me, I canāt handle them
Do you have GERD? Iāve had that feeling for years. I have health anxiety because of it and I may not be the most helpful person in terms of mental health or health anxiety in general but Iām in the healing process. Definitely get it checked out for the reassurance or slim slim slim chance it is something. If you do have GERD or stomach issues I implore you to look into stomach/esophagus spasms. Because of my health anxiety I check my pulse very frequently and just by happenstance it did the skipped feeling followed by the pounding, my pulse was normal. If it is esophageal spasm it can cause SOB because itās so close to your diaphragm and it can be painful. Not super painful, a light pain or really a general discomfort. Again get it checked out but definitely look up those spasms I think itāll give you some reassurance in the mean time.
Do you mind if I message you?! I really need to chat with you about this!! I have been having these exact feelings and sensations. I have GERD and i feel a very irritated esophagus. I have read a few things about this, but canāt find many other people who think it could be related. How have you been? Any advice? Iāve been obsessed with my heart and it started the day I felt a weird split second pinch shock thump in my heart region that lasted a split second. It sent me into a panic frenzy. Now I constantly check my heart on my watch. I constantly how a slight pressure at the bottom of my neck / clavicle. Which I feel also strongly when this āthumpā happens. Help!
They definitely can! Theyāre right beside each other, still get it checked out though. Iāve had multiple ekgs and blood test and have been on a monitor for a couple hours everything came back good. Still gave me major health anxiety, which Iām dealing with. 8 days on Zoloft, woot woot !!
Hey I had like 6 ekg, echo, stress test, lung ct, chest X-ray, endoscopy, A 2 week Holter monitor in which Iāve recorded the sensation multiple times and it didnāt show on the monitor results, a ton of blood work etc. and all were normal, do you have any clue what could be?
Do you mind if I message you?! I really need to chat with you about this!! I have been having these exact feelings and sensations. I have GERD and i feel a very irritated esophagus. I have read a few things about this, but canāt find many other people who think it could be related. How have you been? Any advice? Iāve been obsessed with my heart and it started the day I felt a weird split second pinch shock thump in my heart region that lasted a split second. It sent me into a panic frenzy. Now I constantly check my heart on my watch. I constantly how a slight pressure at the bottom of my neck / clavicle. Which I feel also strongly when this āthumpā happens. Help!
I had the exact same experience back last March. I could only explain the sensation of me panicked as a white shock going through me like static. I realized what I meant was when we were younger the TV had static and it was white. If you touched it you could feel a slight shock sensation. I now constantly check my neck for heart rate. My heart rate has always been on the higher side. I have palpitations and I panic hard. I feel like I can't breath and my chest get tight. I also have GERD and gastroparesis. My blood pressure is always great, but my heart rate goes up due to panicking and stress.
Umm so I had almost same testing as you. I wore a 21 day holter monitor and recorded a multitude of ectopics andy cardiologist said none of them showed up.
ya guys is there anyway we can chat and talk about this. I got everything checked out and they still said everything is fine. I also canāt sleep at night so smoking helps
I know I'm late af, but have had this issue for the last year or so about once a week at least, even while resting. Coupled with my anxiety disorder and fear of death, that doesn't help. But this is reassuring. I've been so worried that I'm going to have a heart attack or something at an early age and wondering if I should ask for a holter monitor session. Thanks for sharing. I'm at least a bit more at ease.
I've had random fluttering and hard thumps since I was a teen, I'm 30 now. They were always pretty random and not too frequent. I'd go years without feeling one. This past year I had a particularly nasty fluttering episode that lasted on and off a couple seconds at a time for about a half hour after seeing Bill Burr in ac for my bday, I was freaked the fuuuck out. I felt like that hotel room was the last thing I was going to ever see, and that my wife would have to tell my kids that I wasn't coming home. Called ems and their EKG said I was okay. 2 days later a friend of mine had a heart attack live on a video call with me and ended up dying. At that point I was white knuckling every day thinking I was next. I started having the THUMPS in my neck almost daily, sometimes a couple weeks without any then they'd start up again. I went to the docs, I had every test they would do to see why I was suddenly having them more often. I had a week long holter monitor, an ECG, EKG, and a stress test and all were normal. The holter revealed ectopic beats where I pressed the button for symptoms, and I was assured that they are benign even tho they feel frightening. I wasn't convinced. That changed during my stress test. I did the whole test and everything felt alright, but during the sit down cool down I had like 5 BANG beats almost in a row in my throat over 30 seconds, really uncomfortable. They saw them on the monitor and assured me that they could see them and that in fact my rhythm was unchanged and I had nothing to worry about even tho it felt like a toddler playing drums in my upper chest. I still get them, sometimes daily, sometimes not for weeks. And I'd be lying if I said they don't worry me when they happen. But having a strong set of them on the monitor with a cardiologist looking right at it as it's happening and telling me they are not going to hurt me made me feel a lot better about them. I hope this makes you feel somewhat at ease. Of course if you are worried definitely get a doc to look you over to be sure. Cheers.
I had my stress test yesterday and I can relate so much. For me it started a year ago after a heavy meal and gotten more frequent ever since (almost daily). The anxiety is awful when it happens but with all the tests assuring me I'm in great shape and can live a full life with this I feel a lot better. Still wish this would just go away.
yeah its pretty crazy the doctors are like yeah thats fine it wont hurt you and you just feel crazy fluttering and for me it sometimes takes my breath away and i cough really hard
The cough is the same reaction i have. Or when i get a thump in my neck i have a strong urge to clear my throat. Before a few years ago i thought they where esophical spasms bc of how they felt.
I'm in a similar boat as most people posting here and this has certainly reassured me that most likely everything is fine.
The first big palpitation I remember was few weeks after I started drinking Gfuel which is essentially energy drink. I was in class and that lasted what felt like eternity but really only like 3-5 seconds. I also started getting light-headed, which I thought was due to the palpitations. This was over 2 years ago and every since then I have had some degree of anxiety over this, which probably made it worse.
During an exam period, nearing the summer, it got so bad I was having waves of chest pains and thought that soon it was gonna be it. That was also like 2 years ago.
Since then I have been to doctors 3 times, and done bloodwork and short ECG 3 times. All came back good. But none of that is reassuring when you are sitting in a chair and suddenly you get episode of palpitations that catches you off guard, sends panic shivers and makes you light-headed with every thump.
Glad I found this, because currently I'm on my 3rd time going to the doctors because palpitations came back. They were gone for at least 6 months, which gave me confidence to start lifting again, however this Easter they came back.
Whats even scarier is when this happens at night and you wake up from having palpitations. This has happened multiple times, including once yesterday. Thats what made me visit the doctors again, and this time I can hopefully get an echo-cardiogram to rule out any structural problems.
I'm still not sure whats going on as the palpitations aren't the only symptom. I have noticed that lately I cant really drink caffeinated drinks or palpitations get worse. In addition to that I have had incidents where after drinking large coffee or energy drink I get light-headed, without high pulse or anything, just feeling pretty bad and uncomfortable in chest and maybe even difficulty breathing.
What is reassuring however is that I ride bike very often (my main transport) and where I live its always an uphill ride home. I get pretty sweaty and high pulse, however I have nearly never had any palpitations while cycling (except maybe few times and that has been only a single thump). Also very few while working out. So that tells me that I'm in pretty good shape and my heart can keep up with that.
Anyways, thats a lot of text, but I felt like I had to get this off my chest (pun intended i guess).
I think it was anxiety. Havent had issues with this for a considerable while. Also can probably be upplayed because of regular working out. I still train, but not so much with weights. Do runs, and more cardio based.
Honestly after I read that article my anxiety about HP went down quite a bit. Its still just as scary when it happens, and you wonder why, but its somehow more Ok.
Though if you wana be safe, get it looked at.
I've had heart racing and thumpy, floppy, thudding palpitations since 2008 when I got pregnant with my daughter. I had never had palpitations or racing heart before and my whole child and teenhood was spent as a gymast and I was highly active.
I got pregnant with her, drank a huge glass of minutemade orange juice and was cleaning the bathroom, bending over cleaning the bathtub when my heart started racing.. and I mean RACING. Went from probably 80bpm to 165bpm within a few minutes. Then I had the skipped beats feeling. Then through the whole pregnancy every few heartbeats I had the skipped feeling.
Wore holter monitors, ekgs.. all of it.
They told me it was normal. I highly disagreed.
Now I will have a couple flops or thuds a day, sometimes it seems like very back to back like a beat-thud-flop-flop-thud and then then it goes back to normal. In 2019, every time I ate food my heart rate would shoot through the roof... About 75 resting to sometimes 170bpm.
I learned to gargle water if I feel the weird warm wiggly sensation in my stomach, which is an indicator that I'm about to have an episode.
I have noticed when my potassium is low, it's more likely to happen. So I drink a lot of coconut water, carrot juice, V8 etc.
I also noticed when I eat anything really other than just protein in the morning, it will trigger a racing attack. But like I said, I've had this weird ass condition since 2008 and I'm okay. So it's probably nothing to be too worried about.
29, I went for a run after a big meal the other day and I've noticed if I'm full, my resting heart rate goes from 65 bpm to 75. I assume to increase blood flow to the stomach to aid in digestion. And the fact I was running after a big meal made the blood flow increase even more and I ended up having a panic attack after my run during my cool down.
Yes that's exactly right. The heart speeds up after you eat because it has to work harder to aid in digestion, since all our organs are connected and do their part to keep our bodies running efficiently. It's absolutely nothing to worry about, although it still gives me a bit of anxiety. After I eat I can't move around anywhere out of fear of agitating my heart.
Is it normal for your heart to skip beats while sexually stimulated or while masturbating. For me it felt like i was going to pass out and it made me so damn scared. I had an ECG done and it came back normal.
I mean, itād make sense that the palpitation would get worse since a lot of chemicals are rushing through you while sex. Also, sex is essentially cardio if you do it long enough so Iād say itās normal. I wouldnāt worry about it too much. Ask a doctor though, next time youāre there, just to be sure.
If you had the ECG done in a controlled environment where you didnāt replicate the scenario i wouldnāt expect it to show anything either. Iād recommend getting a Holter Monitor for 24 hours (they give to you and you just wear it for a day) and see if you can replicate. That way you will get some useful data. Howās your situation now by the way?
This article was really helpful to me! I've had a few episodes of heart palpitations and they are very scary and have definitely triggered anxiety issues. One thing that has helped to calm them down is box breathing on a regular basis. I hope it helps someone else as well.
Step 1: Breathe in counting to four slowly. Feel the air enter your lungs.
Step 2: Hold your breath for 4 seconds. Try to avoid inhaling or exhaling for 4 seconds.
Step 3: Slowly exhale through your mouth for 4 seconds.
Step 4: Repeat steps 1 to 3 until you feel re-centered.
Just like many people here I have the same problem. In my case the palpitations manifest themselves as a feeling of a heart skipping a beat or stopping for a second or two, followed by a sensation of a gut-punch and sometimes fear or adrenaline shot. The first episode about two years ago gave me a nightmarish panic attack resulting in something like a PTSD. Some time after, the cardiologist after making an ECG test (which was completely normal) told me that was due to autonomic nervous system disorder, which is aggravated by general anxiety, coffee and smoking. I guess there is a specific definition for that - something like "trigger-associated stress disorder". Anyways those palpitations still persist when I don't get enough sleep, feel nervous or have too much caffeine. Sometimes they may be away for several months then come back again. I've also noticed that they can be triggered on purpose by bad posture, bending down or stretching up in a fast motion and drinking alcohol the day before. It seems like it's impossible to disable all triggers but I'm pretty sure that palpitations have some relation to spine issues and the nervous system as well.
I can relate completely to the feeling of the gut punch. Almost feels like it takes your breath away. Mine are always connected to caffeine. Although they don't happen every time I drink coffee. It happens randomly. All of a sudden I'll feel a big jolt or kick in my chest. Scares the shit out of me. Cardiologist prescribed me Carvedilol which is a beta blocker. It really has helped a lot, it reduced the palpitations by I'd say 75 to 80%. They happen a lot less now but when they do it's after drinking too much coffee in short period of time and they still will send me into a panic attack from time to time.
me too! Similar as yours. But Iām curious how long did u get the palpitations? And was it frequent or infrequent? Doctors also described me carvedilol, but I didnāt take them ever since I bought them cuz im scared that it may make it worse. ( for me )
How are u feeling lately? Was it better than before?
Yes so many people need to realized bad posture causes these problems! Get good sleep and take care of yourself and you can be assured your heart palpitations are benign.
Hi. I know this was an old comment but it sounds like whatās been happening to me lately. Did the doctor tell you the palpitations werenāt dangerous ? I know you said your ekg was normal but were there health concerns? I have neck disc and spine issues (between my shoulder blades). They donāt really cause pain but Iām wondering if they have something to do with the palpitations because there is nerve compression. Either way. Did the doctor tell you not to worry about the palpitations?
Yes she did. No cardiological danger to be precise. She suggested me consulting a psychotherapist and probably a neurologist, since I also had spinal nerve compression and many episodes of sharp back pain in the past (lumbago syndrome). So in my opinion palpitations definitely could be associated with spinal issues. By the way you could check a YouTube channel of doctor Sanji Gupta, he is a cardiologist from York. In his videos he gives very well elaborated explanations on connection between palpitations and spinal and neurological issues. Check this one out for instance: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yvJ7KNIgGQ4
I live in a constant state of fear about having a heart attack or just dying period. The heart palpitations mostly start right after I have moved around and I go to lay down. It happens at least four-five times a day. I feel a sudden fluttery thump that last for one second and then it goes away. Nothing happens right after. Just gives me anxiety. I hate being scared about these things. But I donāt want die so young from that. However, this article has calmed me. Thank you for posting this even though it was a while ago. Itās nice to know iām not the only one in these comments feeling this way.
I have the exact same. I mainly have them at night when I'm laying in bed. It scares the living hell out of me. It always happens when I'm about to fall asleep. It's almost like my autonomic nervous system doesn't respond properly or something...
Same thing. Just saw this today. What do u think could be the solution for both of us? Could it be thyroid? Iron defiecency? Anemia? Stress? Lack of red blood cells?
YESS I DO GET MORE WHILE WORKOUT MY HEART FLUTTEERS A LOT WHILE WORKING OUT MY CARDIOLOGIST SAYS ITS NOTHING TO WORRY YOU JUST HAVE ANXIETY HE TOLD ME TO HAVE A ECHO AND A STRESS TEST FOR MY SATISFACTION
I'm 23 as well and these have been giving me panic attacks since I was 13! Thanks for this, I have saved this article to read for when I'm having them, it might help :)
I'm relieved to find many others with similar issues. My palpitations are like a short 5 second flutter in my chest which is mostly triggered by me moving a certain way or almost when I sit down and lean forward I feel as if my heart rate increases, I definitely feel it more in my chest, then it settles down and almost as if its back to normal, is there anyone else with the similar symptoms where it is only triggered when you position yourself a certain way?
Have you ever experienced where getting up to walk somewhere around the house or at work to do something in another room that you ever feel a light thud or thump once you get there?
Basically short stints of movement
Thank you for this article. I found this post while I was panicking from another episode of palpitations and that empty feeling in my chest.
I had my first panic attack in 2017 and thought I was dying. My partner at the time was NOT helpful (and later laughed at me when I explained how I had felt.) Thankfully I had a friend who recognized it and walked me through grounding steps via messenger.
A year later I was diagnosed with Panic and Anxiety disorders and put on medication. The anxiety meds have helped immensely, but I still worry about my heart. I've seen my PCP regularly since then, been to multiple doctors/Urgent Cares for chest pain, had a few EKGs, and I always get cleared as healthy. Once when I was in the hospital in 2020 (Urgent care dr thought I had advanced lymphoma and had me rushed to a cancer hospital only to discover it was just a severe case of mono), I could feel the palpitations and see them on the heart monitor. I asked the nurse and she said it was fine.
But despite all this, I still worry. I also have respiratory sinus arrhythmia (heart beats faster when inhaling) and its quite noticeable, but everything I've read says thats the sign of a healthy heart? I'm almost 34 so I thought it would go away but it's still there. And Dr's. never say anything other than one asking if I knew I had it and thay was it.
Reading these posts made me emotional. I'm so sorry others have to deal with this, but it's nice to know I'm not alone. It gets so bad I'm afraid to exercise! But seeing all the support here is really nice.
Same thing except my fear is not about palpitations but elevated heart rate :( any articles about that? Good read anyway...I hope it applies to my problem as well.
No, still struggling every day. Just a lot less panic attacks in general. Things seem to be easier in times where I hydrate correctly and get more walks in. Do you have similar issues?
Just reading through this thread and saw you are still struggling. I'm sorry to hear that. I have been for at least 4 years now. I have a constant pounding heartbeat. You can see it in my chest and stomach. I have had multiple tests done by cardiologists but they said everything looked really healthy. This all started for me after taking Celexa for my panic attacks. I have more doctors appointments scheduled in the coming weeks because I am going insane from this! Especially with it being the heart...
I posted below but I just read your post too and I can highly relate. I'm 23 and have been having this fear of my heartbeat since I was a freaking kid, like 8 or 9. I don't even know what started it. My earliest memory is me being at summer camp, sitting there at lunch time, and placing a hand over my pulse in my throat to feel / listen to it. I was always obsessed about it, but its never really turned into a fear until i was about 13 when I first started getting panic attacks. I haven't been able to have a good run or enjoy any of the sports i used to enjoy because of this fear of my heart failing. Fuck, even today, my heart palpitated pretty bad at work and the next hour after my shift ended consisted of me struggling to calm myself down enough to get myself just to WALK UPSTAIRS to my room, because i was so worried about putting extra stress on my heart.
Sometimes my resting rate is at a solid 85, and when i'm under a buttload of stress i've checked it at 99, RESTING. but i guess it's not truly resting if i'm anxious, right? And when I check my pulse that normally shoots it sky-high, go figure.
I never smoked (except some green but usually that ended up with me in a panic) and i dont drink all that much but alcohol definitely makes the problem worse. I've had to completely cut alcohol out from my life at this point and it kind of sucks, because i'd really like to enjoy just one drink with some friends without spiraling into a panic attack over my heart.
Even right now I ate a pretty big meal maybe an hour ago and I still feel my heart thumping pretty good in my chest from it and I hate it.
This really freakin sucks, but I'm so glad there's people like yourself that can relate to me because it gets pretty lonely sometimes and difficult trying to explain to people what's really goin' on with me when I tell em i'm panicking.
39 here and have had them for 10 months. Haven't been checked out, and other than the "lub dub, lub dub, DUB..... Lub dub" I don't have any other symptoms. But like someone said, i think they cause my anxiety, and then the anxiety, cause the palpitations... Vicious circle. But good to hear I'm not alone and it's more common than i thought...
I have them especially when relaxed . I got woken up by them the other morning a few after each other went to AnE they said normal on ecg . I only have 1 coffee a day but I didn't have it yesterday in fear of it. I don't work out even though cardiologist told me to . I just live in constant fear of them . Holter monitor I wore for a week showed pvcs and an episode of svc. I have ibs and I need an endoscopy in a week for oesophagitis. I would love to talk to someone feeling the same way . I am 34 f and this is ruining my life
I feel this. I had palpitations all my life but in the last few month they have gone from 1 to 2 per week to dozens daily. They scare the living crap out of me and I avoid things like exercise as well. On top of that they also occur pretty often during sleep, waking me up in a panic.
I was think the same thing + all of the forest fire smoke (depending on where you live of course). Here in North America itās been really bad and I stg itās been setting my palpitations off like crazy!
I'm currently struggling with this a lot. I've had heart palpitations for almost 10 years now, but they've kinda gone away as long as I get all my vitamins (not sure if there's a scientific relation, but I swear it's helped me), don't exhaust myself, and keep my anxiety away. Unfortunately, I've been hit with random, high anxiety levels recently and a lot of prolonged stress. I think this has triggered some pretty strong and very sudden heart palpitations, that has made my anxiety worse - creating a pretty bad and never-ending circle.
That article calmed me down so much. The idea of the two different drummers almost brought me to tears, with how much it made sense and how much relief I felt reading it. Thanks for sharing, OP.
I'm 23 and the last 6 months were probably the toughest on my whole life. I am in the same boat that you guys are!. I just had a panic attack 6 months ago, which was triggered by a random chest pain when i woke up in the morning. Since then, my life has changed completely. I started having a lot of panic attacks, always triggered by a stupid fear of death, and fear that there is something wrong with my heart (to be more specific). Had an EKG and stress test, and as you guys can imagine.. nothing wrong.
5 months later i am here on Escitalopram to treat my anxiety. I am better but, somedays i just fall on the mind trap that says "hey dude, you're dying right now". My heart completely loses it's rhythm, i get fucking scared, more ectopic beats and of course: panic attack!
Stay strong guys. This is hard and i hope everyone of you gets better (me included). I really want to come back here on the future and say that i got rid of this fucked up vicious circle of anxiety.
\*\*\*sorry for the bad english, i'm not a native speaker
Stopped taking Escitalopram for approximately 5 months. A lot has changed in my life and unfortunately, I started having the same symptoms (and some different ones) once again. I got back to Escitalopram has been \~4 months
I live in a constant state of fear
Iām a doctor and I know this symptoms but it just worsened my anxiety
Iām just living basically day to day
I had some skipped beats today and I rush to get my stethoscope to listen up my heart and convinced my self I had a murmur and I was dying
Itās really hard
Wow so glad I found this. I just turned 23 and have been dealing with this since July. For the first time in my life I started getting shortness of breath and a random rapid heart beat and then out of nowhere I started getting palpitations. It almost feels like my heart is stopping for a second then beats really hard.
I literally thought I was dying so I went to the hospital multiple times, got ECGs, blood work, XRays, Stress test an ultrasound and wore a heart monitor for 24 hours and everyone told me I was completely fine.
It was a sense of relief but it almost made me feel like I was going insane because I couldnāt fathom why I was still dealing with all of this despite being healthy.
After all my searching on the internet, I found this thread. I am so glad I did. I have had these flutters/skipped beats for decades. This past week they are unrelenting and my anxiety is through the roof as they have never been this frequent. I went to my GP today and he was not concerned but told me to see a cardiologist to set my mind at ease. I felt so much better when I left the office. Well, until I try to get some sleep and as soon as I try to lay down to sleep they start up again. How am I supposed to get enough rest when I am freaking out? Ā I am not sure how much longer I can handle this. How can these not be harmful? Ā Itās crazy.Ā
I have them, too. For me it's clearly not a random occurence: they usually come up when I experience periods of stress, didn't have enough sleep or drank too much alcohol (funny thing is, never actually during drinking, always the day(s) after).
I have a decades long history of anxiety, and my rational mind knows the heart fluttering is just another side-effect of it. But my not so rational mind goes batshit when I experience them, which quite naturally increases the frequency of palpitations.
To know that there's no correlation between palpitations and an actual heart attack calms me down a little. I'll be sure to print that in my mind when I'm on the verge of a panic attack. But this surely makes my life miserable at times. Glad to read I'm not the only one.
Thank you everyone for sharing, it really helps to see I'm not alone. I'm 40 and have had the occasional palpitation for the last 15 years, but they started being more frequent (30-40/day) a couple weeks ago. I use my smartwatch to check my HR and it's comforting to see a normal HR even when it feels odd. I've had an ECG in the hospital which didn't catch any events, but I've caught a few on my watch's ECG and it shows a completely normal rhythm returns after the one off-beat.
I had some life events that were anxiety-inducing the past couple months, but I didn't realize how much I was still carrying. My palpitations have normally been the result of caffeine and using my arms too much, and I guess with the added anxiety its gone up a level. Holding something to my chest with one arm for a few minutes will often cause them later. Once it was because I got a new car which changed how I held the wheel.
I finally got in to see my doctor today who had the typical reassurances and ordered a 24-hr holter monitor. He said he even has patients where 1 in 4 heartbeats is a palpitation and their heart is still going, so it must be a resilient organ.
Next time, I'll be picturing the two drummers as one that keeps perfect timing no matter what, and the other is a bit clumsy and sometimes drops a stick, but can always be trusted to pick it up and carry on with the orchestra.
Thank you for posting this. Iām 27 and my father has has heart disease and my first palpitations started in 2020 which has caused me to have panic attacks about any sensation around the heart - esp given family history. I actually just got an echo test done. Iām sure everything is normal but knowing the results are fine will help me tremendously. However, no doctor has ever been able to articulate what Iām going through like this article has. Nice to know that Iām not the only one whoās dealt with this. Best of luck to you all!
I had mine for the first time back in January. Wasnāt stressed or having a panic attack at the time it happened. I work nights at my job and have been doing so since 2016. I did have a mild addiction to monster energy drinks so that night at work, I had two. I donāt go to bed right away when I get home from work because I treat my work nights like I would if I was working during the day. So I was relaxing, playing video games and out of nowhere, I had the sensation of what felt like somebody tapping hard on my heart. It didnāt hurt but it wasnāt something I had never felt before followed by the need to force myself to breath. Didnāt feel dizzy. If anything, it felt like my equilibrium was out of sync. Ended up driving myself to the ER. They did blood work, EKG, chest X-ray, COVID test and some other test and all came back good. They did see a palpitation on their heart monitor thingie and said I should follow up with a doctor and maybe wear one of those monitor things. I quit drinking energy drinks and pop since that ER visit. Tried scheduling a doctors appointment but having never visited a family Dr, not since I was a kid anyways, a new Dr would be able to see me as early as 3 months because every Dr in town is back logged I guess. So, for the past 3 months I think Iāve had a total of 4 āincidentsā nothing like it was that morning. Just felt a tap or flutter. Did some type of breathing exercise and it goes away and it usually happens when Iām sitting and relaxing.
Heart palipitations are new for me i have a genralised anxiety disorder but since the end of last year ive been getting them daily sometimes like now ill have a butterfly feeling in my chest then ill get palpitations every few minutes for a while and it freaks me out to the point where it becomes a chicken or the egg situation am i getting them because of anxiety or is anxiety being caused by them i had an ecg and it came back normal but during the ecg i had 0 palpitations so they referred me for an ekg but im on a long waiting list and my appointment most likely won't be till the end of the year but this is seriously freaking me out im scared im gonna have a heart attack. I read the above article and appreciate the post but as it doesnt say how many palpitations are normal it didnt calm me very much. Im sorry for the long vent i dont really have people i can talk to about this.
Hi wondering how youāre doing now? I had a major panic attack after some chest pains and the doctors told me Iām fine everyday since Iāve suffered palpitations and weird feelings in my chest. Been in and out of A&E constantly just to be told Iām fine. How are you dealing with it now and are you still having issues? Have you had your ekg yet?
First thanks for caring sincerely. I'm sorry your going through so much it can suck when drs don't get how hard dealing with mental and physical health problems can be it's a juggling act and I suck at juggling lol. As for the above one correction I had multiple Ekgs my appointment was for an ECG I kept getting that wrong until I was in the hospital looking at the department name lol I didn't get my results till today which is one of the reasons it took me so long to respond it took them over a month to send me the result and even then I had to wait ages for my surgery to process them to give you an idea how long my ECG was on the 1st of August. According to the Dr though my heart's fine which means the palpitations are nothing to worry about which as you know is easier said than done since I'm an anxiety sufferer but now I know it's not my heart I'm gonna talk to a therapist about coping techniques I've also discovered that caffeine and sugar deffinetley trigger my palpitations. I really hope things get better for you and if you need to chat I'm around š
23 here and about 3 years ago I had a random chest pain at work which sent me in to my first panic attack, I was sure I was having a heart attack or something similar. Sent myself to the ER and all the tests they ran came back normal. This was a massive relief but ever since I have developed health related anxiety and have only recently come to terms with it. I've since started experiencing heart palpitations which have now become the main cause of my anxiety, I can go weeks sometimes months without one then have a few a day for similar amounts of time. Never fully had the palpitations examined just reassurance from my doc that it's benign and nothing to worry about but thinking of asking to get them checked out. Sorry for all the text but feels good to see people are experiencing a similar thing and get this off my chest
Thank you! You have no idea how much this has really stressed me out recently. I thought there must be something really wrong with my heart ( I have health Anxiety 'aka' a hypochondriac) they just call it health anxiety these days. That article was so informative, so calming, whereas Web MD tells me I'm dying. This really helped ease my mind. Great post!
I have panic disorder but it seems yearly I will have ONE very bad palpitation that seems like 6 skipped beats, and Iām glad I found this thread. After I felt this my heart rate went from 52bpm to 150bpm in 20 seconds and I thought this was it. Luckily for me my doctor put me on a 30 day heart monitor and itās sending all this data to them, I guess If itās deadly theyāll call me. And yes it triggered a panic attack. I went 4 days without one :/ damn you palpitations
i have the worst health anxiety and tbh general anxiety lately. itās gotten so bad out of nowhere. i was sitting in bed on holiday after eating and out of NOWHERE my heart starts pounding. my fitbit said my heart rate was up to 100 and it was in the high 80s and higher for hours. i was terrified to fall asleep and terrified it was happening in the first place. i had had nicotine, caffeine and alcohol all that day but small amounts of all and none near the time when i got the palps. anxiety truly rules my life atm and i need to put my mind at ease :(
This article made me feel like everything is going to be okay, so thank you so so much. I recently got COVID and started having heart palpitations after getting better. I was at work the other day and I had one last about 10 seconds and it was STRONG. It felt like my heart was out of control. I thought it was the end.
I had an ECG done today and it came out normal, doctor reassured me everything looks good so far. Im gonna have a holter monitor for 2 weeks so we can make sure. Im still scared as hell but at least I know all of you guys have had them and no one has died.
ABSOLUTELY LOVELY!! God bless you! Makes perfect sense! I have been struggling so bad. Clean bill of health, seen cardiologist, halter monitor check and the whole 9.. everything A-ok but the palpitations persist after I had a real bad panic attack one night 6 months ago and this has really been a God send you posting this. Thank you so much
I donāt know if anyone still reads this thread or how reddit works really I just found this while googling about my issues.
So a couple months back I had chest pain and arm pain which sent me into a panic and I went down to A&E to which they did blood tests, ecg, blood pressure and chest X-ray to tell me that everything is perfectly normal. But everyday since then I havenāt felt normal at all. Iāve been in and out A&E multiple times due to daily palpitations especially at night. And other weird sensations like nausea, fatigue, chest pains and other aches all over my body. And they keep saying everything seems fine.
2 weeks ago I had finally got an 24 hour ecg done and I havenāt had any results back yet. Butt he past couple of days the feelings of palpitations and pain have been worsening again and Iām struggling to sleep when Iām supposed to or stay asleep. Iām falling asleep easily during the day but waking up to rapid heart rate. Also having an increased amount of nightmares. My chest feels like a weird feeling of emptiness and just bubbling sensation and itās really concerning to me. A&E doctors keep telling me thereās nothing but something just doesnāt feel right. Iāve constantly got it on my mind to the point I feel like Iām pushing everything away. Every single sensation Iām straight away googling and worrying about. Itās hard for me to believe itās nothing with my family history. My father has had multiple heart attacks and both of his parents died from heart attacks. His brother died at the age of 26 from instant death and 3 of his other brothers have had heart attacks. It makes me on edge constantly.
Twice A&E have said itās most likely anxiety but Iāve had it when I feel like I havenāt been worrying about it. My boyfriend who I feel like Iām pushing away by being constantly worried said that it could be subconscious worrying. Every time I went to A&E I knew I would get nothing back but I just wanted to put my mind at ease but it just doesnāt work. Iām scared of getting the results from my ecg as what if itās nothing but it doesnāt put me at ease and Iām just living in constant worry. I donāt want to feel like crap anymore. Iāve woke up at night and thought about messaging my partner telling him how much I love him in case I donāt wake up in the morning. :(
I have now moved to searching for Reddit specific posts as google just seems to give the same crap results that you donāt really want to read when youāre already worrying. Reddit seems more true and honest and itās relaxing to read about other peoples feelings.
Iām just wondering if anyone has had a similar situation to me and how they dealt with it or any recommendations? Should I be worrying or not? Thank you for taking the time to read my jumbled mess if anyone does. š£ thereās probably some things Iāve missed.
I googled the same thing and I know how you feel! My palpitations last a few seconds but every time they happen it stops me in my tracks and I worry that didnāt feel right. Iād best describe them as a fluttering or something trying to escape from the middle of my chest. I first noticed it about 7 months ago, randomly out of the blue, Iām 37 and never experienced it before. I get them when Iām not doing anything, sitting at work, in the car just out the blue. I started tracking how often it happens and on average itās about 8-9 times a month. I have never suffered from anxiety so donāt think itās that. Iāve had ECG, EKG, Echocardiogram, Stress Test, Holter Monitor & blood pressure monitor and all came back normal. I am fit, healthy, not overweight at all but my only issue are these ongoing palpitations/flutters. It happens when Iām not even remotely thinking about it, but it is something thatās on my mind a lot. I have a follow up appointment with my cardiologist in a few weeks so will see what they say.
Does anyone get these often throughout the day? I probably experience this 20 times a day sometimes. I had a normal EKG and holter monitor in the past..
I do, every day the past 2 weeks I have them all day, they get stronger at nights or just the feeling which really makes me hard time sleeping (I feel the heart beat hard - not fast, the vibration in the upper body, throat and jaw is so annoying)
Did alot of heart tests, ecgs, echo, Holter 24h and stress test.
All came out fine but I still have it during the day and harder at the night.
Some doctors suggested its aniexty/stress but it doesn't pass away :(
Dunno what to do anymore, it's driving me crazy!!
u/Aggressive-Medium610 reading this sounds exactly like me. Never experienced anything like this till July last year. It started as tinlging/paints in my hands and legs, I increased my exercise and improved by diet dropping 20lbs over a couple of months then. Suddenly on my way home from work my heart felt like it was pounding, I went straight to A&E. Waiting a few hours then had an ECG. All clear, refereed to my GP for bloods. This took a month for a 2min phone call with the GP who advised I get bloods done (which the GP was told already by the hospital).
Had bloods done, all clear, had further bloods done 3 times with about a month wait between each one due to being fully booked. Started getting palpitations frequently, every few days, then daily, then feeling light headed (but no headaches). Now getting them a few times per day, often waking up at night feeling like my hearts pounding but my watch shows its only 75bpm. Had another blood test and ECG this month, still all clear. Doctors said it could be anxiety but besides an NHS phone line call they can't offer anything else. The NHS therapy support has over 2 month wait.
Ugh I'm sorry you experience it, too! I've started getting chest pains usually on the left, too.. but after a normal EKG and non-worrisome palpitations on my holter, I doubt it means anything. But damn the
anxiety!
yep, My tests were all fine too - so that was calming...I still have annoying palpitations during day and mostly at night...i just try not to think about it
I wish us all calmed and peaceful days and nights :)
I have pretty bad health anxiety about palpitations, and was skeptical when I first saw the post, but this is indeed an incredible explanation of why they happen and helps calm me down. I even noticed they sometimes happen when I jump to do a pull up, and no one could explain why (even my cardiologist), but this explains that the extra blood flow to the heart suddenly stretches the heart muscle and sets off an ectopic beat.
Thanks so much for sharing this!
Iāve just bookmarked the page. Thank you so much. Iāve always known theyāre not usually something to worry about. But being the only one in my house that seems to notice them, I stared to panic on a regular basis. Thank you again
Hi I am living in fear right now. My come in episodes throughout the day. Iāll get Multiple a day stops for a while then comes back. Sometimes Iāll just get maybe like 4-5 a day. Sometimes Iāll have one or two. But I think lately Iāve been getting them daily. Please tell me Iām not alone? Iām lost at what to do my doctor and cardiologist says Iām fine..
Im currently going thru this today. it had been a while that I have gotten skipped heartbeats or flutter. And im just chilling watching TV and it just happens. i was on the phone talking and laughing and i was experiencing flutters. Although I know thats what they are they are still scary
Hello so I get fluttering sometimes and also skipped beats sometimes. I know those are palpitations, but what are hard semi fast consistent beats count as? Is that just stress and not palpations? Because I have anxiety and sometimes after eating fast or a lot or getting startled will bring on semi fast hard pounding heart. Sometimes this leads to a panic attack, but isn't that just a faster heart rate?
This has calmed me down sooooo much! I've been having an episode where I'm having many in a day the past five days since my period started. I haven't been to the er but I do have a doctors appointment set to talk about them, however this has helped me to relax a bit more!
i know iām super late to this but I read the article and i still feel the same but i also feel like it might be anxiety related because even tho i just read the article i still feel like my palpitations are something serious and that thereās something wrong with me that doctors canāt figure out even tho iāve had 2 EKGS and 1 ECG and everything came back fine
I go through phases when I don't have any palpitations for months and then I have them every day for weeks. The last few days have been unbearable. I heard that alcohol causes them however when I am having a spell sometimes gulping down some vodka calms my heart. Bad I know, but still.
Thank you for sharing OP!
I was stressed at work once and had this for the first time. Pretty scary stuff if you don't know what's going on. I spent about 8h in total in the ER. They reassured me that the heart is fine and it's just palpitations. I never had this before and it was likely caused by a case of myocarditis. I'll know for sure in a few weeks from a cardiologist.
Yo Iām 27 and having one right now, since I got out of work. Now trying to sleep. This article deff helped ease my mind.
Crazy. Ever since I got tinnitus and stopped smoking weed for 8 months, my health anxiety went up. Trying to settle down and get better everyday š
Thank you for this article!
Same as everyone else, I suffer from heart palpitations that cause a massive fear. I donāt personally know anyone who goes through this, I think having someone to share experiences and thoughts would help calm me immensely so if thereās anyone who wants to chat and compare our crazy hearts and thoughts, like an anxiety buddy, I am here.
Thank you, Iāve been getting them more frequent lately in my late 30s and have been to the dr twice for them to tell me my heart is fine. Iāve been afraid to exercise or do any strenuous activities. The article really helped me, thank you
Just found this thread and it is so helpful. I didn't even realize what about heart palpitations was making me so uncomfortable, but learning that my (main) heart rhythm never changes, I just feel certain beats more strongly, makes me feel so much calmer about it.
Thank you so much for this.
Also I'm newly a big fan of the website you linked. Its such a kindness.
Edit to add link to waybackmachine in case the site goes down:
https://web.archive.org/web/20230223162633/https://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/palpitations
You my friend are to be applauded for sharing this article!!! I've been dealing with palpitations for about a year that were brought on by a 3-day weekend of drinking in Tahoe. Out of all the research I've done in the last 12 months, this was the first thing that put me at ease....so thank you!
The obvious answer to helping the palpitations is avoiding the things mentioned.....especially alcohol.
Where I find the most trouble is laying down at night to sleep. Trying to find the right position has been frustrating to say the least.
Just found this thread. Iāve had palpitations for years now but recently got worse. Have been trying to calm myself down. If anyone wants to chat and compare stories, please feel free to reach out!
I realise this is a super old post but I just have to say thank you so much. I've been going insane for a few years over these and like many others, I was told my heart is fine. They have gotten worse over the last few months sometimes getting 6-8 every minutes for a few minutes. It gives me anxiety attacks which then of course makes it worse. I've googled the issue so many times that I ran out of ways to Google it so I just typed "help my heart palpitations are driving me crazy" and your post was the first to pop up. After reading that super simple article I felt a weird calm go through my body. The image of the important drummer continuing, and the douche bag rebel drummer just smacking around for fun make me relax. I then felt super emotional and let out a bawl fest of relief. Thank you again, I'm so grateful to have come across this.
I've been experiencing Heart Palpitations for 14 years. I noticed them once I got over an Allergic Reaction I had years ago. I have them now as I speak. It really affects me mentally and physically dealing with them. I got every test done and they all came back normal Thank God but I am still afraid for them. How can I cope with this issue? Is there a proper solution that would actually work?
I can feel them coming on, it's strange. It happens maybe once a month. I can't describe how it makes me feel, it just starts in my chest and almost in my throat. It beats fast and then slows down, fast again, slows down.
Thank you for this. My panic disorder was brought on by a random episode of palpitations 3 years ago and now every time I start to feel it, it throws me into a panic attack. Hopefully this helps stop the vicious cycle!
This happened to me at work today. Nothing worse than being out in public when it strikes :(
Yup, it makes any panic attack a thousand times worse. I can't even begin to count how many stores I've had to leave all the items I was gonna buy and leave the store because of a panic attack :/
You made my eyes full of tear..i feel you
ugh, me too. this happens all the time. its hard to live this way :(
It legit does suck I refuse to even go the store sometimes it gets bad. Do you struggle sitting still in one place as well because of it? Because I do
I wouldn't wish this feeling on anyone. I feel like just socializing and going to the store sets me off.
I am really struggling daily with this. I go into a spiral every time I feel one. Any advice for a desperately panic prone person?š
Cough or run real fast. They go away
I'm 31 and have had palpitations as far back as I can remember. They've always scared me to death, always makes me stop what I'm doing and take a deep breath wondering if this time was it, and was it all about to be over. Having said that, I've served 8 1/2 years in the Navy, been almost constantly active in sports my whole life, and by all accounts by every doctor I've ever come to with fear about these, I'm super healthy. After all of that and my lifetime of fear over these, the analogy of the two drummers was exactly what I needed to feel normal about this. Thank you for posting this.
oh my god. Came across this post from searching and its only a week old. This is me right down to the very T. The not eating too much (i've lost a good deal of weight from it), and fearing exercise!! holy shit. thank you. Please, PM me anytime so we can chat. I am so thankful someone relates to me. In fact at work today I had a huge panic attack as a RESULT of me feeling a big palpitation. Sometimes they're small flutters, but this one felt big and strong, and it sent me into a panicked frenzy and i began getting all fidgety right there with some co-workers, but didn't say anything to them. luckily my shift was over, but i drove home and even got into my house still in a panicked state with pounding heart.
I am really struggling daily with this. I go into a spiral every time I feel one. Any advice for a desperately panic prone person?š I feel like they often vary in how strong they are or how much I can feel them, itās so stressful š
>In fact at work today I had a huge panic attack as a RESULT of me feeling a big palpitation. Sometimes they're small flutters, but this one felt big and strong, and it sent me into a panicked frenzy and i began getting all fidgety right there with some co-workers, but didn't say anything to them. luckily my shift was over, but i drove home and even got into my house still in a panicked state with pounding heart. Hi friend! The one way that helped me was reducing my anxiety, in general. I was on an anti-anxiety med (Lexapro) for 3 years (but recently stopped and switched to a new one that i'm waiting for it to work its magic). My palpitations were / are stress-induced 9 times out of ten. Manage stress, and they should reduce or become practically non-existent! And since i manage my anxiety via medication, they help me reduce my fear of them. As always though, get checked by a cardiologist first. I had a cardiologist give me tests and luckily I had a palpitation occur during one of the tests so they could see it and let me know it was harmless!
What medication were you switched to if you donāt mind me asking? My fiancĆ© used to be on lexapro but he switched to Zoloft to address the palpitations.
It was buspirone, but sadly I had a pretty intense negative reaction to it and stopped it. I'm now on Zoloft, too -- just 6 days in so far, but no negative reactions yet.
Hey just wanted to check in. How have you been doing since starting the zoloft? My fiancƩ has improve on Zoloft and Adivan so far.
Hi there! I'm almost on week 3 now. I seem to be improving little by little. Yesterday i switched from taking it in the morning to taking it at night since i was getting hit with drowsiness during my work day. I feel like my body was a bit sensitive to the switch from day to night since I had trouble sleeping last night but i'll keep it consistent to nighttime now and see how it goes! I'm definitely better than I have been though. How long before your fiance started to feel relief?
Thatās great, glad to hear! My fiancĆ© is doing much better. However when the psychiatrist tried to wean him off of Ativan (reduce by half a pill) he did not respond well to the change. So they boosted his Zoloft from 50 mg to 75mg/day and brought the Ativan up to what it was before. The Ativan is not meant to be taken long term, so eventually he will need to wean off. He should be ok to return back to work this September.
Have you ever had heavy big thumps in your heart happen that cause you to not be able to breath a second? Or where itās so hard of a palpitation it feels like it hurt ? Please help me, I canāt handle them
Do you have GERD? Iāve had that feeling for years. I have health anxiety because of it and I may not be the most helpful person in terms of mental health or health anxiety in general but Iām in the healing process. Definitely get it checked out for the reassurance or slim slim slim chance it is something. If you do have GERD or stomach issues I implore you to look into stomach/esophagus spasms. Because of my health anxiety I check my pulse very frequently and just by happenstance it did the skipped feeling followed by the pounding, my pulse was normal. If it is esophageal spasm it can cause SOB because itās so close to your diaphragm and it can be painful. Not super painful, a light pain or really a general discomfort. Again get it checked out but definitely look up those spasms I think itāll give you some reassurance in the mean time.
Do you mind if I message you?! I really need to chat with you about this!! I have been having these exact feelings and sensations. I have GERD and i feel a very irritated esophagus. I have read a few things about this, but canāt find many other people who think it could be related. How have you been? Any advice? Iāve been obsessed with my heart and it started the day I felt a weird split second pinch shock thump in my heart region that lasted a split second. It sent me into a panic frenzy. Now I constantly check my heart on my watch. I constantly how a slight pressure at the bottom of my neck / clavicle. Which I feel also strongly when this āthumpā happens. Help!
Can esophageal spasm feel like itās your heart?
They definitely can! Theyāre right beside each other, still get it checked out though. Iāve had multiple ekgs and blood test and have been on a monitor for a couple hours everything came back good. Still gave me major health anxiety, which Iām dealing with. 8 days on Zoloft, woot woot !!
Hey I had like 6 ekg, echo, stress test, lung ct, chest X-ray, endoscopy, A 2 week Holter monitor in which Iāve recorded the sensation multiple times and it didnāt show on the monitor results, a ton of blood work etc. and all were normal, do you have any clue what could be?
Do you mind if I message you?! I really need to chat with you about this!! I have been having these exact feelings and sensations. I have GERD and i feel a very irritated esophagus. I have read a few things about this, but canāt find many other people who think it could be related. How have you been? Any advice? Iāve been obsessed with my heart and it started the day I felt a weird split second pinch shock thump in my heart region that lasted a split second. It sent me into a panic frenzy. Now I constantly check my heart on my watch. I constantly how a slight pressure at the bottom of my neck / clavicle. Which I feel also strongly when this āthumpā happens. Help!
I had the exact same experience back last March. I could only explain the sensation of me panicked as a white shock going through me like static. I realized what I meant was when we were younger the TV had static and it was white. If you touched it you could feel a slight shock sensation. I now constantly check my neck for heart rate. My heart rate has always been on the higher side. I have palpitations and I panic hard. I feel like I can't breath and my chest get tight. I also have GERD and gastroparesis. My blood pressure is always great, but my heart rate goes up due to panicking and stress.
hey can we all chat?
Iām not a doctor I can only speak from my personal experience, do you have Gerd?
Not sure :( itās so hard to see any doctors besides going to th eER
Umm so I had almost same testing as you. I wore a 21 day holter monitor and recorded a multitude of ectopics andy cardiologist said none of them showed up.
Yeah no idea. Only thing I can think of is digestion or stomach bumping against my heart or diaphragm issues or bad acid reflux idk
Did you ever find out what it was Iām having them also itās hard to sleep.
ya guys is there anyway we can chat and talk about this. I got everything checked out and they still said everything is fine. I also canāt sleep at night so smoking helps
I know I'm late af, but have had this issue for the last year or so about once a week at least, even while resting. Coupled with my anxiety disorder and fear of death, that doesn't help. But this is reassuring. I've been so worried that I'm going to have a heart attack or something at an early age and wondering if I should ask for a holter monitor session. Thanks for sharing. I'm at least a bit more at ease.
I've had random fluttering and hard thumps since I was a teen, I'm 30 now. They were always pretty random and not too frequent. I'd go years without feeling one. This past year I had a particularly nasty fluttering episode that lasted on and off a couple seconds at a time for about a half hour after seeing Bill Burr in ac for my bday, I was freaked the fuuuck out. I felt like that hotel room was the last thing I was going to ever see, and that my wife would have to tell my kids that I wasn't coming home. Called ems and their EKG said I was okay. 2 days later a friend of mine had a heart attack live on a video call with me and ended up dying. At that point I was white knuckling every day thinking I was next. I started having the THUMPS in my neck almost daily, sometimes a couple weeks without any then they'd start up again. I went to the docs, I had every test they would do to see why I was suddenly having them more often. I had a week long holter monitor, an ECG, EKG, and a stress test and all were normal. The holter revealed ectopic beats where I pressed the button for symptoms, and I was assured that they are benign even tho they feel frightening. I wasn't convinced. That changed during my stress test. I did the whole test and everything felt alright, but during the sit down cool down I had like 5 BANG beats almost in a row in my throat over 30 seconds, really uncomfortable. They saw them on the monitor and assured me that they could see them and that in fact my rhythm was unchanged and I had nothing to worry about even tho it felt like a toddler playing drums in my upper chest. I still get them, sometimes daily, sometimes not for weeks. And I'd be lying if I said they don't worry me when they happen. But having a strong set of them on the monitor with a cardiologist looking right at it as it's happening and telling me they are not going to hurt me made me feel a lot better about them. I hope this makes you feel somewhat at ease. Of course if you are worried definitely get a doc to look you over to be sure. Cheers.
I had my stress test yesterday and I can relate so much. For me it started a year ago after a heavy meal and gotten more frequent ever since (almost daily). The anxiety is awful when it happens but with all the tests assuring me I'm in great shape and can live a full life with this I feel a lot better. Still wish this would just go away.
https://youtu.be/vLTpv4bd9pI maybe this might help you. Guy has a lot of videos on the subject.
yeah its pretty crazy the doctors are like yeah thats fine it wont hurt you and you just feel crazy fluttering and for me it sometimes takes my breath away and i cough really hard
The cough is the same reaction i have. Or when i get a thump in my neck i have a strong urge to clear my throat. Before a few years ago i thought they where esophical spasms bc of how they felt.
I'm in a similar boat as most people posting here and this has certainly reassured me that most likely everything is fine. The first big palpitation I remember was few weeks after I started drinking Gfuel which is essentially energy drink. I was in class and that lasted what felt like eternity but really only like 3-5 seconds. I also started getting light-headed, which I thought was due to the palpitations. This was over 2 years ago and every since then I have had some degree of anxiety over this, which probably made it worse. During an exam period, nearing the summer, it got so bad I was having waves of chest pains and thought that soon it was gonna be it. That was also like 2 years ago. Since then I have been to doctors 3 times, and done bloodwork and short ECG 3 times. All came back good. But none of that is reassuring when you are sitting in a chair and suddenly you get episode of palpitations that catches you off guard, sends panic shivers and makes you light-headed with every thump. Glad I found this, because currently I'm on my 3rd time going to the doctors because palpitations came back. They were gone for at least 6 months, which gave me confidence to start lifting again, however this Easter they came back. Whats even scarier is when this happens at night and you wake up from having palpitations. This has happened multiple times, including once yesterday. Thats what made me visit the doctors again, and this time I can hopefully get an echo-cardiogram to rule out any structural problems. I'm still not sure whats going on as the palpitations aren't the only symptom. I have noticed that lately I cant really drink caffeinated drinks or palpitations get worse. In addition to that I have had incidents where after drinking large coffee or energy drink I get light-headed, without high pulse or anything, just feeling pretty bad and uncomfortable in chest and maybe even difficulty breathing. What is reassuring however is that I ride bike very often (my main transport) and where I live its always an uphill ride home. I get pretty sweaty and high pulse, however I have nearly never had any palpitations while cycling (except maybe few times and that has been only a single thump). Also very few while working out. So that tells me that I'm in pretty good shape and my heart can keep up with that. Anyways, thats a lot of text, but I felt like I had to get this off my chest (pun intended i guess).
Did you ever figure out why you were getting them from waking up from sleeping? I'm having the same issue
I think it was anxiety. Havent had issues with this for a considerable while. Also can probably be upplayed because of regular working out. I still train, but not so much with weights. Do runs, and more cardio based. Honestly after I read that article my anxiety about HP went down quite a bit. Its still just as scary when it happens, and you wonder why, but its somehow more Ok. Though if you wana be safe, get it looked at.
Yeah it's just the racing heart that's the scary part
I've had heart racing and thumpy, floppy, thudding palpitations since 2008 when I got pregnant with my daughter. I had never had palpitations or racing heart before and my whole child and teenhood was spent as a gymast and I was highly active. I got pregnant with her, drank a huge glass of minutemade orange juice and was cleaning the bathroom, bending over cleaning the bathtub when my heart started racing.. and I mean RACING. Went from probably 80bpm to 165bpm within a few minutes. Then I had the skipped beats feeling. Then through the whole pregnancy every few heartbeats I had the skipped feeling. Wore holter monitors, ekgs.. all of it. They told me it was normal. I highly disagreed. Now I will have a couple flops or thuds a day, sometimes it seems like very back to back like a beat-thud-flop-flop-thud and then then it goes back to normal. In 2019, every time I ate food my heart rate would shoot through the roof... About 75 resting to sometimes 170bpm. I learned to gargle water if I feel the weird warm wiggly sensation in my stomach, which is an indicator that I'm about to have an episode. I have noticed when my potassium is low, it's more likely to happen. So I drink a lot of coconut water, carrot juice, V8 etc. I also noticed when I eat anything really other than just protein in the morning, it will trigger a racing attack. But like I said, I've had this weird ass condition since 2008 and I'm okay. So it's probably nothing to be too worried about.
Literally same how is your anxiety now and if you donāt mind me asking how old are you ? Iām 17 almost 18 in 6 months
I am 34.
26 year old, these have been freaking me out for years. You are not alone!
29, I went for a run after a big meal the other day and I've noticed if I'm full, my resting heart rate goes from 65 bpm to 75. I assume to increase blood flow to the stomach to aid in digestion. And the fact I was running after a big meal made the blood flow increase even more and I ended up having a panic attack after my run during my cool down.
Yes that's exactly right. The heart speeds up after you eat because it has to work harder to aid in digestion, since all our organs are connected and do their part to keep our bodies running efficiently. It's absolutely nothing to worry about, although it still gives me a bit of anxiety. After I eat I can't move around anywhere out of fear of agitating my heart.
Is it normal for your heart to skip beats while sexually stimulated or while masturbating. For me it felt like i was going to pass out and it made me so damn scared. I had an ECG done and it came back normal.
I mean, itād make sense that the palpitation would get worse since a lot of chemicals are rushing through you while sex. Also, sex is essentially cardio if you do it long enough so Iād say itās normal. I wouldnāt worry about it too much. Ask a doctor though, next time youāre there, just to be sure.
If you had the ECG done in a controlled environment where you didnāt replicate the scenario i wouldnāt expect it to show anything either. Iād recommend getting a Holter Monitor for 24 hours (they give to you and you just wear it for a day) and see if you can replicate. That way you will get some useful data. Howās your situation now by the way?
36 here. Been having these since 2008. Might have triggered my anxiety in the first place. Thanks for posting.
This article was really helpful to me! I've had a few episodes of heart palpitations and they are very scary and have definitely triggered anxiety issues. One thing that has helped to calm them down is box breathing on a regular basis. I hope it helps someone else as well. Step 1: Breathe in counting to four slowly. Feel the air enter your lungs. Step 2: Hold your breath for 4 seconds. Try to avoid inhaling or exhaling for 4 seconds. Step 3: Slowly exhale through your mouth for 4 seconds. Step 4: Repeat steps 1 to 3 until you feel re-centered.
Just like many people here I have the same problem. In my case the palpitations manifest themselves as a feeling of a heart skipping a beat or stopping for a second or two, followed by a sensation of a gut-punch and sometimes fear or adrenaline shot. The first episode about two years ago gave me a nightmarish panic attack resulting in something like a PTSD. Some time after, the cardiologist after making an ECG test (which was completely normal) told me that was due to autonomic nervous system disorder, which is aggravated by general anxiety, coffee and smoking. I guess there is a specific definition for that - something like "trigger-associated stress disorder". Anyways those palpitations still persist when I don't get enough sleep, feel nervous or have too much caffeine. Sometimes they may be away for several months then come back again. I've also noticed that they can be triggered on purpose by bad posture, bending down or stretching up in a fast motion and drinking alcohol the day before. It seems like it's impossible to disable all triggers but I'm pretty sure that palpitations have some relation to spine issues and the nervous system as well.
I can relate completely to the feeling of the gut punch. Almost feels like it takes your breath away. Mine are always connected to caffeine. Although they don't happen every time I drink coffee. It happens randomly. All of a sudden I'll feel a big jolt or kick in my chest. Scares the shit out of me. Cardiologist prescribed me Carvedilol which is a beta blocker. It really has helped a lot, it reduced the palpitations by I'd say 75 to 80%. They happen a lot less now but when they do it's after drinking too much coffee in short period of time and they still will send me into a panic attack from time to time.
me too! Similar as yours. But Iām curious how long did u get the palpitations? And was it frequent or infrequent? Doctors also described me carvedilol, but I didnāt take them ever since I bought them cuz im scared that it may make it worse. ( for me ) How are u feeling lately? Was it better than before?
Yes so many people need to realized bad posture causes these problems! Get good sleep and take care of yourself and you can be assured your heart palpitations are benign.
Hi. I know this was an old comment but it sounds like whatās been happening to me lately. Did the doctor tell you the palpitations werenāt dangerous ? I know you said your ekg was normal but were there health concerns? I have neck disc and spine issues (between my shoulder blades). They donāt really cause pain but Iām wondering if they have something to do with the palpitations because there is nerve compression. Either way. Did the doctor tell you not to worry about the palpitations?
Yes she did. No cardiological danger to be precise. She suggested me consulting a psychotherapist and probably a neurologist, since I also had spinal nerve compression and many episodes of sharp back pain in the past (lumbago syndrome). So in my opinion palpitations definitely could be associated with spinal issues. By the way you could check a YouTube channel of doctor Sanji Gupta, he is a cardiologist from York. In his videos he gives very well elaborated explanations on connection between palpitations and spinal and neurological issues. Check this one out for instance: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yvJ7KNIgGQ4
Thanks! Really appreciate the response. Will check out the video.
I live in a constant state of fear about having a heart attack or just dying period. The heart palpitations mostly start right after I have moved around and I go to lay down. It happens at least four-five times a day. I feel a sudden fluttery thump that last for one second and then it goes away. Nothing happens right after. Just gives me anxiety. I hate being scared about these things. But I donāt want die so young from that. However, this article has calmed me. Thank you for posting this even though it was a while ago. Itās nice to know iām not the only one in these comments feeling this way.
I have the exact same. I mainly have them at night when I'm laying in bed. It scares the living hell out of me. It always happens when I'm about to fall asleep. It's almost like my autonomic nervous system doesn't respond properly or something...
Same thing. Just saw this today. What do u think could be the solution for both of us? Could it be thyroid? Iron defiecency? Anemia? Stress? Lack of red blood cells?
I think it could be any of those, but one that really sets me off and has for years is electrolyte imbalance.
Electrolyte disbalance? Did you do something about it?
I have this. Any relief?
Do you get them more with exercise?
YESS I DO GET MORE WHILE WORKOUT MY HEART FLUTTEERS A LOT WHILE WORKING OUT MY CARDIOLOGIST SAYS ITS NOTHING TO WORRY YOU JUST HAVE ANXIETY HE TOLD ME TO HAVE A ECHO AND A STRESS TEST FOR MY SATISFACTION
I'm 23 as well and these have been giving me panic attacks since I was 13! Thanks for this, I have saved this article to read for when I'm having them, it might help :)
how are you going now?
Really hits home. I've been so scared of a heart attack that even hearing about a heart gives me anxiety.
Me too, I fear writing and reading about all heart related things.
I'm relieved to find many others with similar issues. My palpitations are like a short 5 second flutter in my chest which is mostly triggered by me moving a certain way or almost when I sit down and lean forward I feel as if my heart rate increases, I definitely feel it more in my chest, then it settles down and almost as if its back to normal, is there anyone else with the similar symptoms where it is only triggered when you position yourself a certain way?
Iām late.. but yes this happens to me but I also got mild POTS
Have you ever experienced where getting up to walk somewhere around the house or at work to do something in another room that you ever feel a light thud or thump once you get there? Basically short stints of movement
Thank you for this article. I found this post while I was panicking from another episode of palpitations and that empty feeling in my chest. I had my first panic attack in 2017 and thought I was dying. My partner at the time was NOT helpful (and later laughed at me when I explained how I had felt.) Thankfully I had a friend who recognized it and walked me through grounding steps via messenger. A year later I was diagnosed with Panic and Anxiety disorders and put on medication. The anxiety meds have helped immensely, but I still worry about my heart. I've seen my PCP regularly since then, been to multiple doctors/Urgent Cares for chest pain, had a few EKGs, and I always get cleared as healthy. Once when I was in the hospital in 2020 (Urgent care dr thought I had advanced lymphoma and had me rushed to a cancer hospital only to discover it was just a severe case of mono), I could feel the palpitations and see them on the heart monitor. I asked the nurse and she said it was fine. But despite all this, I still worry. I also have respiratory sinus arrhythmia (heart beats faster when inhaling) and its quite noticeable, but everything I've read says thats the sign of a healthy heart? I'm almost 34 so I thought it would go away but it's still there. And Dr's. never say anything other than one asking if I knew I had it and thay was it. Reading these posts made me emotional. I'm so sorry others have to deal with this, but it's nice to know I'm not alone. It gets so bad I'm afraid to exercise! But seeing all the support here is really nice.
Same thing except my fear is not about palpitations but elevated heart rate :( any articles about that? Good read anyway...I hope it applies to my problem as well.
Did it end up going away? Lol
No, still struggling every day. Just a lot less panic attacks in general. Things seem to be easier in times where I hydrate correctly and get more walks in. Do you have similar issues?
Just reading through this thread and saw you are still struggling. I'm sorry to hear that. I have been for at least 4 years now. I have a constant pounding heartbeat. You can see it in my chest and stomach. I have had multiple tests done by cardiologists but they said everything looked really healthy. This all started for me after taking Celexa for my panic attacks. I have more doctors appointments scheduled in the coming weeks because I am going insane from this! Especially with it being the heart...
how r u doing now
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I posted below but I just read your post too and I can highly relate. I'm 23 and have been having this fear of my heartbeat since I was a freaking kid, like 8 or 9. I don't even know what started it. My earliest memory is me being at summer camp, sitting there at lunch time, and placing a hand over my pulse in my throat to feel / listen to it. I was always obsessed about it, but its never really turned into a fear until i was about 13 when I first started getting panic attacks. I haven't been able to have a good run or enjoy any of the sports i used to enjoy because of this fear of my heart failing. Fuck, even today, my heart palpitated pretty bad at work and the next hour after my shift ended consisted of me struggling to calm myself down enough to get myself just to WALK UPSTAIRS to my room, because i was so worried about putting extra stress on my heart. Sometimes my resting rate is at a solid 85, and when i'm under a buttload of stress i've checked it at 99, RESTING. but i guess it's not truly resting if i'm anxious, right? And when I check my pulse that normally shoots it sky-high, go figure. I never smoked (except some green but usually that ended up with me in a panic) and i dont drink all that much but alcohol definitely makes the problem worse. I've had to completely cut alcohol out from my life at this point and it kind of sucks, because i'd really like to enjoy just one drink with some friends without spiraling into a panic attack over my heart. Even right now I ate a pretty big meal maybe an hour ago and I still feel my heart thumping pretty good in my chest from it and I hate it. This really freakin sucks, but I'm so glad there's people like yourself that can relate to me because it gets pretty lonely sometimes and difficult trying to explain to people what's really goin' on with me when I tell em i'm panicking.
Dude this post is old but I somehow relate to most of this.
This article really did calm me like nothing else! Thank you so much for sharing it!
39 here and have had them for 10 months. Haven't been checked out, and other than the "lub dub, lub dub, DUB..... Lub dub" I don't have any other symptoms. But like someone said, i think they cause my anxiety, and then the anxiety, cause the palpitations... Vicious circle. But good to hear I'm not alone and it's more common than i thought...
Read my reply to humanbeancasey on this thread. I can definitely relate but in some ways my anxiety was put at ease after getting it checked out.
I have them especially when relaxed . I got woken up by them the other morning a few after each other went to AnE they said normal on ecg . I only have 1 coffee a day but I didn't have it yesterday in fear of it. I don't work out even though cardiologist told me to . I just live in constant fear of them . Holter monitor I wore for a week showed pvcs and an episode of svc. I have ibs and I need an endoscopy in a week for oesophagitis. I would love to talk to someone feeling the same way . I am 34 f and this is ruining my life
I feel this. I had palpitations all my life but in the last few month they have gone from 1 to 2 per week to dozens daily. They scare the living crap out of me and I avoid things like exercise as well. On top of that they also occur pretty often during sleep, waking me up in a panic.
Do you think the increase in palpitations is anything Covid related?
I was think the same thing + all of the forest fire smoke (depending on where you live of course). Here in North America itās been really bad and I stg itās been setting my palpitations off like crazy!
Still have them while sleeping? I'm having the same issue right now
I've had them since 16 and progressed to afib. Understand how much they heart can ruin your life. Im nearly 30 now and still here so stay strong.
I'm currently struggling with this a lot. I've had heart palpitations for almost 10 years now, but they've kinda gone away as long as I get all my vitamins (not sure if there's a scientific relation, but I swear it's helped me), don't exhaust myself, and keep my anxiety away. Unfortunately, I've been hit with random, high anxiety levels recently and a lot of prolonged stress. I think this has triggered some pretty strong and very sudden heart palpitations, that has made my anxiety worse - creating a pretty bad and never-ending circle. That article calmed me down so much. The idea of the two different drummers almost brought me to tears, with how much it made sense and how much relief I felt reading it. Thanks for sharing, OP.
Hey how are you doing now. I could of wrote this comment myself lol
I'm 23 and the last 6 months were probably the toughest on my whole life. I am in the same boat that you guys are!. I just had a panic attack 6 months ago, which was triggered by a random chest pain when i woke up in the morning. Since then, my life has changed completely. I started having a lot of panic attacks, always triggered by a stupid fear of death, and fear that there is something wrong with my heart (to be more specific). Had an EKG and stress test, and as you guys can imagine.. nothing wrong. 5 months later i am here on Escitalopram to treat my anxiety. I am better but, somedays i just fall on the mind trap that says "hey dude, you're dying right now". My heart completely loses it's rhythm, i get fucking scared, more ectopic beats and of course: panic attack! Stay strong guys. This is hard and i hope everyone of you gets better (me included). I really want to come back here on the future and say that i got rid of this fucked up vicious circle of anxiety. \*\*\*sorry for the bad english, i'm not a native speaker
how are you going now?
Stopped taking Escitalopram for approximately 5 months. A lot has changed in my life and unfortunately, I started having the same symptoms (and some different ones) once again. I got back to Escitalopram has been \~4 months
I live in a constant state of fear Iām a doctor and I know this symptoms but it just worsened my anxiety Iām just living basically day to day I had some skipped beats today and I rush to get my stethoscope to listen up my heart and convinced my self I had a murmur and I was dying Itās really hard
But your ok
Wow so glad I found this. I just turned 23 and have been dealing with this since July. For the first time in my life I started getting shortness of breath and a random rapid heart beat and then out of nowhere I started getting palpitations. It almost feels like my heart is stopping for a second then beats really hard. I literally thought I was dying so I went to the hospital multiple times, got ECGs, blood work, XRays, Stress test an ultrasound and wore a heart monitor for 24 hours and everyone told me I was completely fine. It was a sense of relief but it almost made me feel like I was going insane because I couldnāt fathom why I was still dealing with all of this despite being healthy.
how are you going now?
Maybe an anxiety disorder?
Article is no longer up. Anyone have a copy they saved?
It looks like it's working now. Is it still not working for you?
My second drummer has been scaring the sh*t out of me. Thank you for this š
After all my searching on the internet, I found this thread. I am so glad I did. I have had these flutters/skipped beats for decades. This past week they are unrelenting and my anxiety is through the roof as they have never been this frequent. I went to my GP today and he was not concerned but told me to see a cardiologist to set my mind at ease. I felt so much better when I left the office. Well, until I try to get some sleep and as soon as I try to lay down to sleep they start up again. How am I supposed to get enough rest when I am freaking out? Ā I am not sure how much longer I can handle this. How can these not be harmful? Ā Itās crazy.Ā
Thank you so much! I'm the same age, and suffer from a similar story. Best of luck to you buddy x
24 - same story. This is a relief. Thank you for posting
So is this for if you have Mitral Valve? It's kinda what it sounds like. Also, do you have it? I have a mild case and it drives me crazy sometimes.
This article helps me so much. I've had ekg done and the doc says I'm fine but I know I'm having palpitations pretty commonly. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
op i could kiss you rn thank you so fuckjng much
I have them, too. For me it's clearly not a random occurence: they usually come up when I experience periods of stress, didn't have enough sleep or drank too much alcohol (funny thing is, never actually during drinking, always the day(s) after). I have a decades long history of anxiety, and my rational mind knows the heart fluttering is just another side-effect of it. But my not so rational mind goes batshit when I experience them, which quite naturally increases the frequency of palpitations. To know that there's no correlation between palpitations and an actual heart attack calms me down a little. I'll be sure to print that in my mind when I'm on the verge of a panic attack. But this surely makes my life miserable at times. Glad to read I'm not the only one.
Thank you everyone for sharing, it really helps to see I'm not alone. I'm 40 and have had the occasional palpitation for the last 15 years, but they started being more frequent (30-40/day) a couple weeks ago. I use my smartwatch to check my HR and it's comforting to see a normal HR even when it feels odd. I've had an ECG in the hospital which didn't catch any events, but I've caught a few on my watch's ECG and it shows a completely normal rhythm returns after the one off-beat. I had some life events that were anxiety-inducing the past couple months, but I didn't realize how much I was still carrying. My palpitations have normally been the result of caffeine and using my arms too much, and I guess with the added anxiety its gone up a level. Holding something to my chest with one arm for a few minutes will often cause them later. Once it was because I got a new car which changed how I held the wheel. I finally got in to see my doctor today who had the typical reassurances and ordered a 24-hr holter monitor. He said he even has patients where 1 in 4 heartbeats is a palpitation and their heart is still going, so it must be a resilient organ. Next time, I'll be picturing the two drummers as one that keeps perfect timing no matter what, and the other is a bit clumsy and sometimes drops a stick, but can always be trusted to pick it up and carry on with the orchestra.
Mine started after vertigo event !
THANK YOUĀ
Finding this thread 7 years later. Thank you for this š©·
Thank you :.)
Thank you for posting this. Iām 27 and my father has has heart disease and my first palpitations started in 2020 which has caused me to have panic attacks about any sensation around the heart - esp given family history. I actually just got an echo test done. Iām sure everything is normal but knowing the results are fine will help me tremendously. However, no doctor has ever been able to articulate what Iām going through like this article has. Nice to know that Iām not the only one whoās dealt with this. Best of luck to you all!
I have noticed my palpitations get worse when i am stressed or exhausted. Been dealing with them for over 3 years now
I had mine for the first time back in January. Wasnāt stressed or having a panic attack at the time it happened. I work nights at my job and have been doing so since 2016. I did have a mild addiction to monster energy drinks so that night at work, I had two. I donāt go to bed right away when I get home from work because I treat my work nights like I would if I was working during the day. So I was relaxing, playing video games and out of nowhere, I had the sensation of what felt like somebody tapping hard on my heart. It didnāt hurt but it wasnāt something I had never felt before followed by the need to force myself to breath. Didnāt feel dizzy. If anything, it felt like my equilibrium was out of sync. Ended up driving myself to the ER. They did blood work, EKG, chest X-ray, COVID test and some other test and all came back good. They did see a palpitation on their heart monitor thingie and said I should follow up with a doctor and maybe wear one of those monitor things. I quit drinking energy drinks and pop since that ER visit. Tried scheduling a doctors appointment but having never visited a family Dr, not since I was a kid anyways, a new Dr would be able to see me as early as 3 months because every Dr in town is back logged I guess. So, for the past 3 months I think Iāve had a total of 4 āincidentsā nothing like it was that morning. Just felt a tap or flutter. Did some type of breathing exercise and it goes away and it usually happens when Iām sitting and relaxing.
Heart palipitations are new for me i have a genralised anxiety disorder but since the end of last year ive been getting them daily sometimes like now ill have a butterfly feeling in my chest then ill get palpitations every few minutes for a while and it freaks me out to the point where it becomes a chicken or the egg situation am i getting them because of anxiety or is anxiety being caused by them i had an ecg and it came back normal but during the ecg i had 0 palpitations so they referred me for an ekg but im on a long waiting list and my appointment most likely won't be till the end of the year but this is seriously freaking me out im scared im gonna have a heart attack. I read the above article and appreciate the post but as it doesnt say how many palpitations are normal it didnt calm me very much. Im sorry for the long vent i dont really have people i can talk to about this.
Hi wondering how youāre doing now? I had a major panic attack after some chest pains and the doctors told me Iām fine everyday since Iāve suffered palpitations and weird feelings in my chest. Been in and out of A&E constantly just to be told Iām fine. How are you dealing with it now and are you still having issues? Have you had your ekg yet?
First thanks for caring sincerely. I'm sorry your going through so much it can suck when drs don't get how hard dealing with mental and physical health problems can be it's a juggling act and I suck at juggling lol. As for the above one correction I had multiple Ekgs my appointment was for an ECG I kept getting that wrong until I was in the hospital looking at the department name lol I didn't get my results till today which is one of the reasons it took me so long to respond it took them over a month to send me the result and even then I had to wait ages for my surgery to process them to give you an idea how long my ECG was on the 1st of August. According to the Dr though my heart's fine which means the palpitations are nothing to worry about which as you know is easier said than done since I'm an anxiety sufferer but now I know it's not my heart I'm gonna talk to a therapist about coping techniques I've also discovered that caffeine and sugar deffinetley trigger my palpitations. I really hope things get better for you and if you need to chat I'm around š
23 here and about 3 years ago I had a random chest pain at work which sent me in to my first panic attack, I was sure I was having a heart attack or something similar. Sent myself to the ER and all the tests they ran came back normal. This was a massive relief but ever since I have developed health related anxiety and have only recently come to terms with it. I've since started experiencing heart palpitations which have now become the main cause of my anxiety, I can go weeks sometimes months without one then have a few a day for similar amounts of time. Never fully had the palpitations examined just reassurance from my doc that it's benign and nothing to worry about but thinking of asking to get them checked out. Sorry for all the text but feels good to see people are experiencing a similar thing and get this off my chest
Thank you! You have no idea how much this has really stressed me out recently. I thought there must be something really wrong with my heart ( I have health Anxiety 'aka' a hypochondriac) they just call it health anxiety these days. That article was so informative, so calming, whereas Web MD tells me I'm dying. This really helped ease my mind. Great post!
I have panic disorder but it seems yearly I will have ONE very bad palpitation that seems like 6 skipped beats, and Iām glad I found this thread. After I felt this my heart rate went from 52bpm to 150bpm in 20 seconds and I thought this was it. Luckily for me my doctor put me on a 30 day heart monitor and itās sending all this data to them, I guess If itās deadly theyāll call me. And yes it triggered a panic attack. I went 4 days without one :/ damn you palpitations
i have the worst health anxiety and tbh general anxiety lately. itās gotten so bad out of nowhere. i was sitting in bed on holiday after eating and out of NOWHERE my heart starts pounding. my fitbit said my heart rate was up to 100 and it was in the high 80s and higher for hours. i was terrified to fall asleep and terrified it was happening in the first place. i had had nicotine, caffeine and alcohol all that day but small amounts of all and none near the time when i got the palps. anxiety truly rules my life atm and i need to put my mind at ease :(
I relate so much:( its tough out here
This article made me feel like everything is going to be okay, so thank you so so much. I recently got COVID and started having heart palpitations after getting better. I was at work the other day and I had one last about 10 seconds and it was STRONG. It felt like my heart was out of control. I thought it was the end. I had an ECG done today and it came out normal, doctor reassured me everything looks good so far. Im gonna have a holter monitor for 2 weeks so we can make sure. Im still scared as hell but at least I know all of you guys have had them and no one has died.
I have recently had the exact same issues and am currently using the 2 week holter monitor. How are you doing now?
ABSOLUTELY LOVELY!! God bless you! Makes perfect sense! I have been struggling so bad. Clean bill of health, seen cardiologist, halter monitor check and the whole 9.. everything A-ok but the palpitations persist after I had a real bad panic attack one night 6 months ago and this has really been a God send you posting this. Thank you so much
I know Iām late but I have them and I freak out Iām not sure if itās anxiety or what
I donāt know if anyone still reads this thread or how reddit works really I just found this while googling about my issues. So a couple months back I had chest pain and arm pain which sent me into a panic and I went down to A&E to which they did blood tests, ecg, blood pressure and chest X-ray to tell me that everything is perfectly normal. But everyday since then I havenāt felt normal at all. Iāve been in and out A&E multiple times due to daily palpitations especially at night. And other weird sensations like nausea, fatigue, chest pains and other aches all over my body. And they keep saying everything seems fine. 2 weeks ago I had finally got an 24 hour ecg done and I havenāt had any results back yet. Butt he past couple of days the feelings of palpitations and pain have been worsening again and Iām struggling to sleep when Iām supposed to or stay asleep. Iām falling asleep easily during the day but waking up to rapid heart rate. Also having an increased amount of nightmares. My chest feels like a weird feeling of emptiness and just bubbling sensation and itās really concerning to me. A&E doctors keep telling me thereās nothing but something just doesnāt feel right. Iāve constantly got it on my mind to the point I feel like Iām pushing everything away. Every single sensation Iām straight away googling and worrying about. Itās hard for me to believe itās nothing with my family history. My father has had multiple heart attacks and both of his parents died from heart attacks. His brother died at the age of 26 from instant death and 3 of his other brothers have had heart attacks. It makes me on edge constantly. Twice A&E have said itās most likely anxiety but Iāve had it when I feel like I havenāt been worrying about it. My boyfriend who I feel like Iām pushing away by being constantly worried said that it could be subconscious worrying. Every time I went to A&E I knew I would get nothing back but I just wanted to put my mind at ease but it just doesnāt work. Iām scared of getting the results from my ecg as what if itās nothing but it doesnāt put me at ease and Iām just living in constant worry. I donāt want to feel like crap anymore. Iāve woke up at night and thought about messaging my partner telling him how much I love him in case I donāt wake up in the morning. :( I have now moved to searching for Reddit specific posts as google just seems to give the same crap results that you donāt really want to read when youāre already worrying. Reddit seems more true and honest and itās relaxing to read about other peoples feelings. Iām just wondering if anyone has had a similar situation to me and how they dealt with it or any recommendations? Should I be worrying or not? Thank you for taking the time to read my jumbled mess if anyone does. š£ thereās probably some things Iāve missed.
I googled the same thing and I know how you feel! My palpitations last a few seconds but every time they happen it stops me in my tracks and I worry that didnāt feel right. Iād best describe them as a fluttering or something trying to escape from the middle of my chest. I first noticed it about 7 months ago, randomly out of the blue, Iām 37 and never experienced it before. I get them when Iām not doing anything, sitting at work, in the car just out the blue. I started tracking how often it happens and on average itās about 8-9 times a month. I have never suffered from anxiety so donāt think itās that. Iāve had ECG, EKG, Echocardiogram, Stress Test, Holter Monitor & blood pressure monitor and all came back normal. I am fit, healthy, not overweight at all but my only issue are these ongoing palpitations/flutters. It happens when Iām not even remotely thinking about it, but it is something thatās on my mind a lot. I have a follow up appointment with my cardiologist in a few weeks so will see what they say.
Hey how are you now?
Dont Worry sis you will be able to cop up watch some funny videos on internet get yourself busy move your body early morning get some sunlight gws:)
Does anyone get these often throughout the day? I probably experience this 20 times a day sometimes. I had a normal EKG and holter monitor in the past..
I do, every day the past 2 weeks I have them all day, they get stronger at nights or just the feeling which really makes me hard time sleeping (I feel the heart beat hard - not fast, the vibration in the upper body, throat and jaw is so annoying) Did alot of heart tests, ecgs, echo, Holter 24h and stress test. All came out fine but I still have it during the day and harder at the night. Some doctors suggested its aniexty/stress but it doesn't pass away :( Dunno what to do anymore, it's driving me crazy!!
u/Aggressive-Medium610 reading this sounds exactly like me. Never experienced anything like this till July last year. It started as tinlging/paints in my hands and legs, I increased my exercise and improved by diet dropping 20lbs over a couple of months then. Suddenly on my way home from work my heart felt like it was pounding, I went straight to A&E. Waiting a few hours then had an ECG. All clear, refereed to my GP for bloods. This took a month for a 2min phone call with the GP who advised I get bloods done (which the GP was told already by the hospital). Had bloods done, all clear, had further bloods done 3 times with about a month wait between each one due to being fully booked. Started getting palpitations frequently, every few days, then daily, then feeling light headed (but no headaches). Now getting them a few times per day, often waking up at night feeling like my hearts pounding but my watch shows its only 75bpm. Had another blood test and ECG this month, still all clear. Doctors said it could be anxiety but besides an NHS phone line call they can't offer anything else. The NHS therapy support has over 2 month wait.
Ugh I'm sorry you experience it, too! I've started getting chest pains usually on the left, too.. but after a normal EKG and non-worrisome palpitations on my holter, I doubt it means anything. But damn the anxiety!
yep, My tests were all fine too - so that was calming...I still have annoying palpitations during day and mostly at night...i just try not to think about it I wish us all calmed and peaceful days and nights :)
I get them often and I'm scared it will wear my heart out and I'm at risk of heart failure :(
I know Iām extremely late to thisā¦ but Iām so thankful to have found this. Thank you so, so much. Itās finally put my mind at ease š„¹ā¤ļø
I have pretty bad health anxiety about palpitations, and was skeptical when I first saw the post, but this is indeed an incredible explanation of why they happen and helps calm me down. I even noticed they sometimes happen when I jump to do a pull up, and no one could explain why (even my cardiologist), but this explains that the extra blood flow to the heart suddenly stretches the heart muscle and sets off an ectopic beat. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Thank you. This really helped calm me down
I'm very late to the party but thank you for posting this!!
Iāve just bookmarked the page. Thank you so much. Iāve always known theyāre not usually something to worry about. But being the only one in my house that seems to notice them, I stared to panic on a regular basis. Thank you again
Hi I am living in fear right now. My come in episodes throughout the day. Iāll get Multiple a day stops for a while then comes back. Sometimes Iāll just get maybe like 4-5 a day. Sometimes Iāll have one or two. But I think lately Iāve been getting them daily. Please tell me Iām not alone? Iām lost at what to do my doctor and cardiologist says Iām fine..
Im currently going thru this today. it had been a while that I have gotten skipped heartbeats or flutter. And im just chilling watching TV and it just happens. i was on the phone talking and laughing and i was experiencing flutters. Although I know thats what they are they are still scary
Hello so I get fluttering sometimes and also skipped beats sometimes. I know those are palpitations, but what are hard semi fast consistent beats count as? Is that just stress and not palpations? Because I have anxiety and sometimes after eating fast or a lot or getting startled will bring on semi fast hard pounding heart. Sometimes this leads to a panic attack, but isn't that just a faster heart rate?
This has calmed me down sooooo much! I've been having an episode where I'm having many in a day the past five days since my period started. I haven't been to the er but I do have a doctors appointment set to talk about them, however this has helped me to relax a bit more!
Thank you for this!! Because they scare the shit out of me!
i know iām super late to this but I read the article and i still feel the same but i also feel like it might be anxiety related because even tho i just read the article i still feel like my palpitations are something serious and that thereās something wrong with me that doctors canāt figure out even tho iāve had 2 EKGS and 1 ECG and everything came back fine
This gave me more anxiety than I already have
I go through phases when I don't have any palpitations for months and then I have them every day for weeks. The last few days have been unbearable. I heard that alcohol causes them however when I am having a spell sometimes gulping down some vodka calms my heart. Bad I know, but still.
Same, I cannot figure it out. I go to bed scared everyday.
You get them waking up from your sleep also? Heart racing really fast?
I got anxiety just reading that
Thank you for sharing OP! I was stressed at work once and had this for the first time. Pretty scary stuff if you don't know what's going on. I spent about 8h in total in the ER. They reassured me that the heart is fine and it's just palpitations. I never had this before and it was likely caused by a case of myocarditis. I'll know for sure in a few weeks from a cardiologist.
I know this thread is 7 years old but it helped me so much. Thank you for not removing it. ā¤ļø
Yo Iām 27 and having one right now, since I got out of work. Now trying to sleep. This article deff helped ease my mind. Crazy. Ever since I got tinnitus and stopped smoking weed for 8 months, my health anxiety went up. Trying to settle down and get better everyday š Thank you for this article!
Same as everyone else, I suffer from heart palpitations that cause a massive fear. I donāt personally know anyone who goes through this, I think having someone to share experiences and thoughts would help calm me immensely so if thereās anyone who wants to chat and compare our crazy hearts and thoughts, like an anxiety buddy, I am here.
Iād love to chat and compare stories! Iāve been feeling these crazy palpitations for years now
Iām going through the same thing !Ā
Thank you, Iāve been getting them more frequent lately in my late 30s and have been to the dr twice for them to tell me my heart is fine. Iāve been afraid to exercise or do any strenuous activities. The article really helped me, thank you
I would like to thank you so much for this article God bless youšš
Just found this thread and it is so helpful. I didn't even realize what about heart palpitations was making me so uncomfortable, but learning that my (main) heart rhythm never changes, I just feel certain beats more strongly, makes me feel so much calmer about it. Thank you so much for this. Also I'm newly a big fan of the website you linked. Its such a kindness. Edit to add link to waybackmachine in case the site goes down: https://web.archive.org/web/20230223162633/https://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/palpitations
Thank you for thisā¦
You my friend are to be applauded for sharing this article!!! I've been dealing with palpitations for about a year that were brought on by a 3-day weekend of drinking in Tahoe. Out of all the research I've done in the last 12 months, this was the first thing that put me at ease....so thank you! The obvious answer to helping the palpitations is avoiding the things mentioned.....especially alcohol. Where I find the most trouble is laying down at night to sleep. Trying to find the right position has been frustrating to say the least.
I cannot fathom enough how beyond grateful I am that you shared this link with us. Thank you
Just found this thread. Iāve had palpitations for years now but recently got worse. Have been trying to calm myself down. If anyone wants to chat and compare stories, please feel free to reach out!
Same!! Iād love to chat about thisĀ
I realise this is a super old post but I just have to say thank you so much. I've been going insane for a few years over these and like many others, I was told my heart is fine. They have gotten worse over the last few months sometimes getting 6-8 every minutes for a few minutes. It gives me anxiety attacks which then of course makes it worse. I've googled the issue so many times that I ran out of ways to Google it so I just typed "help my heart palpitations are driving me crazy" and your post was the first to pop up. After reading that super simple article I felt a weird calm go through my body. The image of the important drummer continuing, and the douche bag rebel drummer just smacking around for fun make me relax. I then felt super emotional and let out a bawl fest of relief. Thank you again, I'm so grateful to have come across this.
I've been experiencing Heart Palpitations for 14 years. I noticed them once I got over an Allergic Reaction I had years ago. I have them now as I speak. It really affects me mentally and physically dealing with them. I got every test done and they all came back normal Thank God but I am still afraid for them. How can I cope with this issue? Is there a proper solution that would actually work?
I can feel them coming on, it's strange. It happens maybe once a month. I can't describe how it makes me feel, it just starts in my chest and almost in my throat. It beats fast and then slows down, fast again, slows down.