ROTY

Nicolette,
I experience the same type of anxiety when I have skipped beats. I will actually have to talk myself down and say that I have had them before and they will happen again, and that everything about me is normal.

So when you have them, just try to stay calm and relax.

About the worry over whether or not damage is being done to your heart, anything and everything we do can damage the heart. If you excercise, eat properly, live a good healthy life, and keep at least yearly check ups with the doc then you should keep a very healthy and normal heart for many years to come. If something does come up, and you visit the doctor it can then be fixed.

I also have to question you on the racing feeling of your heart at night or when you are asleep. When I first started monitering my heart, I thought it raced all the time. What I did not take into account that the traditional heart rate of the average person varies from 60-100. What initially felt like racing (85-90) was actually just me going a little above average.

During your racing spells try to check your heart rate and see if they fall between 60-100. I would also suggest over the next few months, check your pulse at random times of the day and keep it charted to get a pretty good idea of where your heart rate falls on average. However, when doing this, do not get upset or uptight if you feel a skipped beat occur. If that happens, just stay calm, keep counting, and put a note of it next to your heart rate.

If nothing else, this chart will aid your doctor in telling you more information on your skipping heart beat.

Lastly, stress will effect your heart rate. When you feel a skipped beat and it bothers you, that begins to effect your heart as well and could cause that racing sensation you describe, even if it is a few beats above average.

The gist of this long novel is that you should stay calm, and not worry over damage being done to your heart by this stuff. Just try to stay healthy in general.