I am a 29 yo female, avg weight, and nonsmoker. I have been having palpitations for several years. 2 years ago I had an EKG, echo, and event monitor which was essentially normal. My PCP told me that I have a murmur and mild MVP but the cardiologist said I was fine. I have recently been having increased heart rate up to 150 and at night my heart rate has been dropping into the 40's and 50's. Several times during the night when I am sleeping I am jolted awake and feel like I am gasping for air. I saw my PCP and he listened to my heart and said he heard PVC's. I just finished with a 2 day holter monitor with no results yet. I was just wondering if anyone knows if the episodes when I sleep sound like PVC's or if my heart is stopping for a few seconds. I am a nursing student and am well educated on the heart but have not been able to determine what is causing the episodes when I sleep. Thanks in advance for any advice.
HI there guys ok I have had heart palpitations on and off through my life well since early teens (im now 27) in when I had them but did not know what they were. I’m a high active guy, hyperactive allot of the time and easily a rather anxious sort of person when it comes to my health and the thought of my tinker packing in. I do allot of weight training and through the course of the last 5 years ive had some horrible moments where by ive been to the doctors thought I was going to pass out , pretty much thought I was going to die and would panic feel all numb could swear I could not feel a pulse and then it would kind of pass, but then I would be worried about the next one. They put me on an ECG and everything was fine it would never seem to happen when I wanted it to or needed it to if you know what I mean, so I accepted it and though well at least my hearts ok, I packed in all the supplements I was talking for weight training i.e. protein , creatine etc , all natural stuff, and I found it seemed to disappear. So I got to wondering I wonder if it was something that I was taking that caused this so I read up about all the stuff I was taking and if there were any recorded side effects like I was describing none. However I remembered reading a doc on Aspartame in food causing lots of problems! So I wondered if any of the supplements I was taking had that in it, I yip the protein did. So I continued to stay off it, but the I really wanted the protein so I tried it again after about 1 week the palpitations were back, so I stopped , again after 1-2 weeks they seemed to have gone again, and then I started noticing that now and aging I would get them , without the protein and then I realised it was fizzy drinks cans I was having and funny enough with the can its seemed almost straight away !, within say 2-4 hrs id get them, horrible feeling, I think I made it worse as it made you panic, but anyways ive am positive now that the only tie I get palpitations is when I eat or drink some thing with aspartame in it , I now very rarely get them as a result still have the odd can and I get few hours where my heart skips , but I know its only cause I had a can. in a way I cant believe it , I would just be very curious now to re-enforce my finding to see if all you people out there that get palpitations to start looking at what your drinking and eating ( mainly sweats have aspartame or diet supplements_) if you look at all the stuff your eating and notice there’s aspartame in it , stop taking it and see if it stops for you I feel in myself im positive this is the cause but like I said would love for other people that have the same problem to let me know if they have found this.
Hey guys! I haven't heard from my doctor yet on the results of the holter monitor, but I did have 2 episodes in the middle of the night while I was wearing the monitor so hopefully I will get an answer as to what it was. I think it is pretty interesting about the aspartame post. I do drink diet soda (2-3 sodas per day) so I think I will try not to drink any and see what happens. As soon as I hear from the doctor I will post again. And if anyone finds out any info let us know! Thanks and Happy New Year!!
OMG Darren that is so interesting!!! I watch my weight but love sweets and soda so I drink diet coke/pepsi and I add sweetner to my coffee or tea. I have had these palpitations for the last 4 years or so and I had to wear halter monitors, had echocardiogram done and endless ekg's. I smoke socially am 30 years old an am in really good shape, so I didn't know what the heck was going on. I am going to do an experiment and see if it works try to kick the aspartame habit-it's bad for us anyway right?
Also noticed really bad palpitations with Slimfast ( really severe ) I wish I had some around to see what the ingredients were -- there must ne aspartame in there too!
To the ladies--I know what you mean I have been awoken in the middle of the night by my palpitations and it has got to be the scariest thing in the world. Sometimes I'm afraid to go back to sleep for fear of dying in my sleep. Heaven help us---this really sucks!!!!
Please all of you let us know if you learn anything.............HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!
My report showed only 2 pvc's in 48 hours, but showed 5 episodes of sustained tachycardia of over 160. My PCP referred me to a cardiologist, he thinks that I have an arrythmia an suggested that I try Toprol XL 25mg once a day to see if that helps. I just started it so we will see. He said that eventually I may need a cardiac cath to investigate it further but I am not up for anything invasive at this point. I have also had some problems with my thyroid. I have hypothyroidism and have been feeling kind of off. I asked my PCP to check my level and just found out 2 days ago that I am a little hyperthyroid right now and that can cause some tachycardia and arrythmia so I am wondering if all of this is caused from my thyroid. I go back to the cardiologist in 2 weeks and I will discuss it with him then. Thanks for the concern! Let me know if you have any other questions?
Hi Jenny, I have PVC's and take 37mg of Toprol XL daily and it has helped me tremendously. At first, the cold hands and feet bothered me but it's not a problem any more. I have cut way back on caffeine and that has made a difference too. Every now and then I get carried away on a business trip and drink too much regular coffee, and, when that happens, I notice a higher frequency of PVC's. Hope your visit to the cardiologist goes well. Keep in touch and best of luck to you.
