Skipped Beats question

wr6969

Normally when people mention this, it usually starts with them having felt something in the heart which causes some anxiety. They will probably then visit their doctors who on some occasions will request that they wear a Holter monitor and that's how they can roughly estimate that they may have thousands of skipped beats a day. By the way, these are not really "skipped" beats - they're actually premature beats.

I've been told that the majority of people have "skipped" beats, most never feel them at all, thus they won't be making visits to their doctors to get them checked out! We on this board are the "lucky" ones who can detect any tiny weeny abnormality in our hearts!

Personally, I can feel them - they feel as if there's an "air bubble" rising up my throat - this is due to the next beat after the premature beat being stronger as the heart has had more time to refill and eject the blood!

Palpitations such as these can be caught on the ECG/EKG as well, if they happen when you're hooked up to the machine, but quite a number of people here have mentioned that when they were connected, the palpitations do not seem to occur!

kristinah

I have to say that wr6969's reply is right on with how I experience them. I was lucky enough to have it happen when the doctor was listening to my heart! I was diagnosed with PVC's (pre-ventricular contractions), which is exactly what wr6969 described. I can usually feel them and in fact, they kind of tickle! I remember when I first felt them they really sacred me. I was in a college dorm and I ran next door to ask my friend, who was a nursing major, if "you could still breathe if your heart had stopped". Isn't that ridiculous?! I was just so freaked by the big "thump" in my chest and was worried I had experienced a heart attack or something! Glad it was something benign... now they are just annoying, but not frightening, and sometimes I get several in a row. Boy, that's really fun, lemme tell ya!

heartfreak777

I too have felt these air bubbles coming into my throat. Went to the ER with them once they hooked me up to a cardiac machine but said they didnt show up as anything when I had them and it sounded more like stress and anxiety. I cant afford the doc's anymore and so iam pretty much screwed and living in fear every single day that my heart is gonna out right stop on me.Not sure what to do about them anymore. =-(

wr6969

heartfreak, sorry to hear about your financial predicament. If these palpitations are not accompanied by any physical symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pains, fainting spells, dizziness, etc, I am quite confident in saying that they are probably benign. However, you should get yourself checked out at the earliest possible opportunity, especially when you have a history heart disease in your family. If none of these risk factors are present, try to stop worrying about them when they happen - they're just annoying, and worrying about them makes them worse, and you may get yourself into a vicious anxiety cycle.

There are some "old wives remedies" for this:

(1) blowing out your ears by pinching your nose hard
(2) taking magnesium supplements
(3) drinking water
(4) coughing hard

Some of these "techniques" have been known to stop the palpitations or make them easier to tolerate. Hope this helps