i started getting skipped beats early 06 and until now they were only occurring at night and only ten max a day
now for the past four days i have had them almost constantly all day and night. often two or more a minute, and without reprieve

i am well hydrated, electrolytes are good, no caffeine or aspartame etc, i take magnesium and calcium, no other problems. i am 36yo female and breastfeeding so not due for period etc

i think i am going to have a breakdown soon over the stress and worry this is causing. i try hard and mostly do well ignoring them, but the fact they are increasing for no reason is freaking me out

i had a holter in oct which picked up 2 PACs which was all i had mosly back then but now i am scared

help

I don't know if I can help, but I can relate. Recently, I have started having palpitations and I don't know the cause yet. I had an echo and an EKG, but won't know all the results until I go back to the doctor next week. The past few days have been bad and I really know how you are feeling right now. Usually, I can ignore them and go on, but right now I am finding it very hard to do so. I am also taking a magnesium supplement, but so far that is not helping either. I am getting ready to switch medications tomorrow and I am a little nervous about that. I have a fast heart rate anyway, and the last time I switched meds, it cause my heart rate to go up to 140. That's a bad feeling. If you are anything like me, you just wish for one day without worrying what your heart is going to do next. All I want is one day without worry. I just want my life back.

Try getting off the magnesium. I know that I was having skipped beats and I thought taking the magnesium would make them stop..but it only made them worse. It happens to some people. And if you take atenolol or some other bp med try asking your dr to double the dose..it worked for me. :)

How long ago did you give birth? Were you pregnant when the palps started or had you already had your baby?

my youngest was 16 months old i never had anything in any of my pgs

It would be interesting to hear how your PVCs behave once you stop breastfeeding and start menstruating reguarly again, since so many women report that hormonal changes affect their palpitations. It would be great if yours improved.

After the birth of my 3rd child my palps got worse but so did my cycle. I got my Mirena IUD put in when she was 6 months old, i rarely have a period and when i do its for about a day. My palps are almost zero to none now. I may have a few of them a few days before i start but they are managable now. I definatly believe that hormones play a HUGE part in palps. I did not breast feed so i do not have any knowlege on if that might be playing a part in the palps or not.

ok...dont laugh...but come to think of it, I totally agree with hormones causing palps alot of the time. EVERYTIME I take the first bite of a peanut butter cookie, my heart has on skipped beat. I love pb cookies and I guess when I have one it releases the endorphine in me that goes thru my system and causes my heart to skip a beat. Same as when you're stressed or breast feeding. Palps can also be caused by stomach problems. They are annoying and scarey but most times the answer for them can be found. I am not sure why only certain people get them and others dont, but usually thats hereditary.:D

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.

PVCs are fustrating and can impact you emotionally in a major way.........

Your heart is a monitor of everything that comes in your body in the way of chemistry..........the heart is a pump that is controlled by electrical stimulation.........that stimulation is controlled in the body by a balance of chemistry...

When the chemistry is out of balance......the electrical side is effected and the result can be issues with the heart pumping action.

Assuming you have no underlying heart disease (by checking and tests with a cardiologist) or heart condition (like atrial fib) then you must begin systematically looking at what you are putting into your body and changing those variables one at a time and then observing over time if it has an impact on your heart's actions...........this is much easier said than done since in a woman hormones is the variable outside of dietary control in the body.

My suggestion is to eat as healthy and natural whole food diet as possible over a few months and see what impact it has....

Stay away from any junk food, processed instant food...convenience foods...........and try to only drink distilled water for a a month or two and see what impact it makes.........

What out for caffeine, artificial sweeteners........and any popular chemical in foods especially olstra and MSG...they are a no no!

Hope this helps