Can anyone answer this question? - Heart Disorders Message Board

pixiedust71 · 03-18-2004, 04:38 PM

what does it mean when your heart skips a beat, alot of times throughout the day? i've had chest pains and went to the cardiologist. had ekg, stress test, sonagram, and 24 hour holter monitor. the doc says my heart is in good shape. all my blood test came back good. these pains and these skips are giving me panic attacks. the doc says i'm okay, but when my heart starts skipping beats alot of times a day, it really scares me. does anyone know anything about these? Thanks

yugokid · 03-18-2004, 10:51 PM

well i'll tell you what i went through, i had the same thing your talking about for around 5 years, I JUST went to see my doc. he took a EKg and said that there was nothing wrong from what he saw, he said that i was having extra heart beats, which if you take your pulse, it feels like a skiped beat, but if you feel your heart, you will feel a extra beat, then a long pause, which it really is a longer pause. he told me to start taking beta blockers, which are working great, i used to have anywhere from 10,000 to 18,000 "skipped beats" a day, and with the BB, they have Cut in half! Now are you having a lot like im having alot, or just a few every hour or so. But if your Doc said you were fine, he prolly means that you have a simple PVC thats not harmful, just relax, and talk to your doctor about your anxioty and see if he gives you something. take care!

pixiedust71 · 03-19-2004, 06:21 AM

thanks for replying yugokid, i appreciate the help. i don't have that many a day, but i will have like 20 or more in an couple of hours or so, then they'll stop and then start again. once i clocked them and it was 7-9 in 5 min. and they don't happen everyday, it's on and off. do you know if they are life threatening or not? Thanks

wr6969 · 03-19-2004, 08:45 AM

If the blood test and all the other tests you've mentioned came back OK, then I would be inclined to believe your doctor (is he/she a doctor or a cardiologist?)

Skipped or premature beats are supposedly common in all adults; the only difference is that for the majority of people, they don't/can't feel them, and yet we're one of the "lucky" few who can. Unfortunately once you've developed this "vigilance" about your cardiac system, anything out of the ordinary in the future, no matter how small, will be amplified in terms of its effects and will have you unduly worried!

My cardiologist told me to live with them after I started having them about 3 months ago. Since then, I'm slowly learning to manage my stress/worry/anxiety about having them and living with them, as well as taking supplements like magnesium which has been shown to work for many people in terms of reducing the frequency of these palpitations. Both approaches have certainly helped me, and as a result, I went from having anywhere between 20-30 an hour to having maybe 10 a day now! They seem to reduce in frequency when I am more relaxed and not thinking about them at all! While you're learning how to live with them, do a search on these boards for some medically unverified ways on how to reduce them - they've been discussed many times on these boards!

Beta blockers have been known to be prescribed to manage these, but if your resting heart rate is already low (in the region of low 70s/60s) you may not be prescribed them as they will slow the heart rate down, making you calmer and hence not thinking and worrying about the palpitations so much. I don't advocate taking drugs as a first resort, on the contrary, you should try other "natural" methods to manage this before you have to resort to taking medications as once you go on certain meds, you'll probably have to go on them for life!

pixiedust71 · 03-19-2004, 09:13 AM

thank you wr6969, i seen a cardiologist, and i have an appt. at 12 to see him again. thanks for the insight it helped alot!