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As I mentioned on the old boards, I've been having heart palpitations for a few months. I saw my doctor about it a few weeks ago and had some blood tests done. Those didn't turn up anything abnormal, so now I have to go for an ECG. My dr thinks the short ECG won't turn up anything, and I'll probably have to have one of those 24-hour scans where you have electrodes stuck to your inner boobs and have something like a small fanny pack on your hip all day (sexxay).

I'm trying not to freak out about this, but the palpitations seem to be getting more frequent and noticeable. It's kinda scary. Has anyone else dealt with something like this?

i don't think so, but my chest does sometimes feel tight like someone is pushing in on it.
i hope your doc figures out the cause!

Have you had your iron levels checked?

well, i mean, i can't say anything about your health . . . you will have to wear the sexxay fanny pack for that. but in college my heart started doing weird arrhythmic things--stopping and starting, or suddenly beating fast for a few seconds and then evening out. i noticed that it was worse when i was lying on my back, and sometimes when i bent over at the hip it would stop completely for a second or two and then do a huge jerk and restart. it turned out i have a faulty mitral valve, and sometimes when pressure is unequal in the chambers it can cause the valve to move in directions it shouldn't. like, if i'm dehydrated and my blood pressure is low and i bend over quickly, blood can slosh up against the underside of the valve and cause it to prolapse, and my heart kind of fights against itself until things are back in place. a cardio tech told me that i could be in atrial fibrillation something like 80% of any given day and not even realize it. i don't know if that's true or if he was just a kumquat, but in the end everyone i saw agreed that i could just drink more water and bend at the knee, and things should be fine. ten years later and no tragedies.

I went through the same process, rachell37. The wearable device (which recorded onto cassette tape!) turned up nothing interesting. So I concluded that it was stress. I took up some relaxation techniques, including meditation; took vitamins; ate walnuts; got more sleep; and gave less of a shiitake about my job. I haven't had it recur since, and that was about 3 years ago. Good luck!

The ECG was normal, so I'm going to the doctor again next Monday to sort out the 24-hour monitor. I can seriously feel the palpitations, and it seems like it's happening more often (maybe because having heart palpitations is stressing me out and causing more heart palpitations in a vicious cycle).

von m - They did blood work, but I'm not sure exactly what they checked, but I'm assuming they would've told me if my iron levels were low.

did they check your thyroid? My sons was doing that (freaked me out cause he has diabetes) and that was one of the first things they thought. Turns out he had mono, which was fairly simple compared to what a thyroid condition would be!
I also have the stupid valve thing, found out on a scan when they were checking out something genetic.

i've gone through this too, fanny pack and electrodes and all. nothing ever turned up, and i also concluded that it was stress/anxiety related. it seems to be less frequent when i'm working out regularly and taking care of myself. no real certain conclusion, but i'm still here and no one seems to be too concerned!

The culprits for me were over caffeinating, stress, not enough sleep, and not eating well. Basically, treating myself like shiitake. I went to the ER a few times, certain my life was ending, and I was hooked up to all sorts of machinery and nothing came up. For the most part now I am palpitation-free but I'll still get a couple if I'm over exerting myself with physical activity and I have too much coffee/tea. So I guess my advice is that if nothing comes out of the medical procedures to make applicable lifestyle changes if you share any of my vices.

I hope you feel better soon. I know, palpitations scare the fork out of me, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. And please let us know how it all goes.

Aliks - I know for sure that they checked the thyroid. She said it was on the low side of normal, not low enough to be borderline and need correcting.

I have been eating pretty badly and not really taking care of myself lately. I started taking a multi-vitamin a few weeks ago, but I need to work harder on feeding myself good food and getting enough exercise and sleep.

Thanks for the concern, everyone. It's scary as fork, but my doctor doesn't seem terribly concerned, so hopefully it is just a lifestyle thing.

You may want to ask to just make sure they checked. Last month I was experiencing what felt like heart palpitations, dizziness sometimes. Without going into my recent medical history, I suspected my iron got low, and that is one of the symptoms. The doc has me on mega iron pills right now, and since taking them, I've feel so much better, and haven't had anymore palpitations.

A friend of mine went through this, and the doctors told her that she shouldn't have caffeine anymore, and should get more sleep. She didn't, and after a while, no more palpitations! You definitely aren't dying.

This. I would get it checked for hypo/hyperthyroidism.

I was having heart palpitations a couple of months ago and was convinced I was dying. I saw a doctor about it but he couldn't find anything with an ECG and concluded it was stress, though I wasn't particularly stressed or over-caffeinated. So I stopped taking my hormonal birth control, Yaz, on a whim after reading that a lot of women experienced heart palpitations while on it. And what do you know, about a week and a half after going off Yaz they went away and they haven't come back. My random panic attacks and a strange, scary breast lump also went away. Now I'm back to my regular airplane-related panic attacks and acne festival. Woo?

I get these too and have since high school. My heart will just feel like it's beating REALLY hard for one or two beats and then go back to normal. Sometimes it knocks the wind out of me. I've told my doctor a few times but she doesn't seem to think it's a big deal. I probably need a second opinion.

I've experienced what feels like heart palpitations when I've taken too much caffeine. Combining caffeine with sudafed (before the formula changed) would definitely do that to me!

This happens to me when I'm really stressed out, like my heart beats really fast all of a sudden and my chest feels tight and it's hard to breathe. Then it's just fine. So weird.