its nearly 11pm here and i have had bad night with skipped beats. otherwise had felt ok all day and even during them. went to bed and read then hubby came to bed in bad mood then went to sleep in other room. i got up and went after him to make peace then noticed heart was racing. when i went back to bed (alone) it was worse and this kept up for about 3 minutes. no chest pain etc just head felt tingly,. he told me to relax and promptly he fell asleep. so i am up on the computer feeling bit worried. trying to relax and ignore it..the heart has slowed to nearly normal (prob around 75 now normal for me is high 50s) but skipped beats continue.
i am trying to decide if i should go to hospital or not. i feel nervous that i wont sleep...too scared to lie down or go to sleep/bed etc, but also know that hospital scares me too in some ways...those monitors etc make me feel MORE like i am really in trouble etc
please if anyone is reading this can you advise. i have been eating healthy, well hydrated, did usual 3-4mile walk today no trouble, had electrolytes done on sat were all fine.
HELP!
i am seeing cardiologist at end month...can i/should i demand an echocardiogram. i had a holter in oct he never told me results he said he would either way, so hence i made another appt to go back and in interim have gotten more episodes of skips etc

Try to relax--I know that's hard with the skipping and racing. I've been there.
Since you're seeing a Cardiologist soon, I won't say see a doctor. Just be clear in your description of your symptoms and also mention the obvious 'stress' you're under. Having a wife or husband who isn't sympathetic doesn't help. Perhaps he thinks if he doesn't make too much of it, you'll calm down. Try deep breathing and 'straining really hard' like you're going to have a bowel movement--I know--that's not the best subject, but it's advised by doctors too. This can break the cycle of rapid and skipped beats. I also take a half of a Xanax (its' a 5 mg. and I take half) and after about 10 mins. I relax and the symptoms go away. Not always. If you get a 'clean bill of health' except for the PVC's, you'll have to do as I was told, try to ignore them. A cardiologist told me, I won't die from them. I was put on meds to help and they have helped. Also, have your potassium level checked. That could be too high or low, and that affects your heart rhythm too. Good luck.
Let us hear from you.
yanksgirl

Gosh do I feel for you! I have spent many nights worrying about my heart pauses. I was afraid to go to sleep too! My Cardiologist promised me I wouldn't die from them, they're fairly common but I suppose your Doctor will let you now the reasons why you may be having them. I tended to notice them more around my cycle, I too had a tests to confirm my iron and mineral levels and also was told they're within "normal" ranges and shouldn't cause me concern. My Cardiologist suggested meditation but I just haven't been able to relax enough to meditate! They haven't been too bad in the last 3 months or so, I have been taking mineral vitamins and from what I've been reading this may reduce the heart pauses, seems to have helped me. You're not alone...........sending hugs your way. Hang in there!

Take some magnesium supplementation every day.

Magnesium is said to help, but with some people it makes the symptoms worse, and of course I would have to be one of those people, so I had to stop taking it. I hope it works for you tho. :)

i alreaedy take mag have done for ages so that isnt a new trigger or help either

do you take any bp meds like atenolol? My dr doubled my dosage and that helped alot!

no my bp is normal to low

I used to have this problem... but corrected it with diet change.

I've had this for years... and once at the Dr office I got lucky, it was happening while I was there. I was able to get someone to listen to it as it was happening.

This is what I would feel... It would feel like my heart stopped for about 5 seconds... then I would get a large hard heart beat... kinda felt like taking a large gulp of water. Heart felt as if pumping a large gulp of blood.

I was getting micro beats... I would get 3 very rapid heart beats within a second or so... this was the fluttering feeling in my chest, the gulp feeling was the blood backing up from the pressure of the very fast beats, then the pause (or skip) was the hearts normal time for 3 beats... results in the same pulse per minute.

I eliminated all sources of caffine.. Coffee, Tea (with caffine), chocolate. Through experimenting I found that some BBQ sauces, BBQ chips also caused this to happen with me. Caffine withdrawls causes headaches for about 2 weeks (it is an addictive substance).

I have learned how much caffine and chips I can get away with over the years. Doc says this type of skipped beat is not harmful and many people have it.

I hope this helps.. I was Soooo releived when I learned that I have the power to eliminate this issue from my life.