Palpatations again!

[triplets]

Hi,
I know I have been on here before about this, but hoping for some reassurance. Last night at 9pm I suffred the most frightening attack of palpatatons, just felt as though my heart was rocking from side to side, its just skipped a beat now as I am typing. It felt as though it lasted ages, I felt faint and sick. Harry was so worried he called a doctor who said to call an ambulance. They came, stuck me on an ecg and took me to hospital. They did another ecg, then 3 lots of blood, chest x-ray and it all came back normal. So at 2am I was told to go home, feeling so scared and shaky. I had to get a taxi, the driver drove like a looney the 30 min trip home, drove with one finger on the wheel, I was a wreck. It also cost me £25! Now, I still feel awful, very scared its going to happen again. Is there anybody else who has been admitted because of this, can anyone recommend anything to help take away the anxiety and feeling of utter doom?

Hi there Triplets,

So sorry to hear you're going through this - sounds understandably scary. All I can say is that my best friend had a phase of similar episodes, also got taken to hospital and had ECGs and bloodwork, also all normal. She does have low blood pressure - which may account for her dizziness, feeling faint/sick. She also had palpitations. They never found a problem, and after a year or two it stopped happening.

She decided (rightly or wrongly) that it was the aftermath of a physically and emotionally scary and very stressful biopsy she'd had a few months earlier. As though her body was reacting to the invasion/experience, on many levels. But its impossible to know, really.

How long have you had these attacks, sounds like its not the first?

Hi triplets, must have been a terrifying experience for you last night.
I too have suffered for years with palpitations, so can realy understand how anxious you must be feeling right now. Palpitations can be caused by stress, anxiety, tiredness, caffiene, smoking, alcohol, just to name a few, rather than pointing to a heart condition. The missed beats you described whilst typing is very common, many people don't even realise that they're experiencing one.
It must be reassuring for you that they did so many tests last night and all came back O.K.
Just to be on the safe side though, especially as you felt faint and sick, it might be a good idea to pop down to your gp and ask if they could refer you to a cardiologist to have a holter fitted. This is very much like a small walkman device strapped to your chest to monitor your heart activity over 24 or 48 hours, this would give a better indication of what type of paplitations you suffer from, (there are many different types, some are perfectly harmless] rather than an ecg which will only capture palpitations that you would be currently experiencing at that time.

I would second macwoozy and add that you should request an echo as I kept having palpitations for years but had several normal ecg's and only when I had an echo did they find the problem I was diagnosed with.Ask for an echo to put your mind at rest

Hi,
I have been under a cardiologist for the palpatations. I have worn a monitor for three separate weeks, no palpatations happened during that time. I did an exercise ecg, easily, blood pressure is normal.I have an echo done every three years as I have a leakng mitral valve which is apparently very common, that was picked up in 1994 following the death of my son. I could understand getting the palpatations during a panic attack, but I get them out of the blue, which then causes the panic!

triplets, I am really sorry to hear about your son. (I couldn't help but look into the archives) So very tragic.

I really do understand how anxious you must be feeling with the constant fear of experiencing another episode of palpitations. I've been in the same position as you, fortunately for me they managed to pick some up on a holter, and so placed me on medication but pretty soon I started experiencing them again, very scary to say the least. Evenutally I had an Electrophysiological study [EPs] study. I wondered of you've heard of this test? It involves inserting catheters into the heart through a vein, [normally through the groin} which then records and tests the electrical activity of the heart. They can actually attempt to induce an arrythmia to see the type you might be suffering from, and of course by obtaining these results, you'll be able to recieve the necessary treatment. Of course I'm not a doctor and don't know if your cardiologist will think it necessary to do such a test but it might be worth asking about it.

triplets, just wanted to say hi and offer you my support - I'm another palpitations sufferer.

I had an attach of atrial fibrillation three years ago which was really scary - this is when the top two chambers of the heart don't beat properly, instead they kind of vibrate really fast. It started about 10 p.m. and was still happening in the early hours of the next morning, so I went to A&E and they diagnosed it as atrial fibrillation and gave me intravenous medication to stop it.

Since then, I've twice been through the whole diagnostic thing of ecg, holter monitor, cardiologist appointment etc. Both times they haven't been able to pinpoint anything actually wrong with my heart. However, although I've not had another fullblown attack of atrial fibrillation, I do get palpitations from time to time and, like you, find them very scary.

I've now worked out that the times I'm most likely to get them are when I'm tired and/or when I'm fighting off a minor infection (cold/sore throat/ chest infection type things). Too much caffeine is also a trigger. And sadly, if I'm already feeling a bit fluttery, unwinding with a bottle of wine is a VERY bad idea! Now that I can see a pattern to when I get the palpitations, I find them less frightening.

The other thing that has really helped is doing some yoga exercises specifically prescribed by my yoga teacher. Do you do yoga - it is a great help with relaxation generally and it really does help to take away the feeling of anxiety and utter doom.

Hi,
Sorry to hear you are fellow sufferers, but its always comforting to know you arent the only one. No I hadnt heard of the test you mentioned
Macwoozy, do any of you feel that stress alone can be responsible? My life is certainly full of it. I will see what my gp says on Tues, though I am expecting the usual response, tiredness and stress.

triplets, just wanted to add that the friend I mentioned also had her attacks out of the blue - not in the midst of feeling stressed or anxious, as far as she was aware. But she still felt (when no other cause was found) it was probably the result of long term stress and past trauma. One other thought, I know that palpitations are much more common during perimenopause and early menopause - have had a few mild ones myself, esp. when I was sleep deprived post DD's birth.

Good luck at GP.

Hi Elibean,
Think we have chatted before! My last period was 7 years ago at the age of almost 47. After 2yrs of ivf, having my trio when I was 46, being pumped full of hormones for the first 3 months of the pregnancy, had my first period 6 months after they were born, then two months later I bled and it lasted for 10 weeks, then everything stopped! I guess I am not a normal case when you consider the last 11 years!

That makes two of us then (not normal cases)! OK, that theory out of the window then - and yes, we have chatted before, good to 'see' you again though sorry for the reason.

I had a very similar pattern post DD's birth, though still having occasional periods - accompanied by migraines, just like when I was 14. Ugh.

Is there any way you can reduce the current stressors, if thats what the gp does say, or is that just silly?!?

Hi,
Well I am working on it, but life is quite difficult to be honest. We never thought we would have triplets at our age, Harry will be 65 on Tues, I will be 54 in March, they will be 8 in two weeks. We get very tired, they are exhausting atm, they only have my mum, but at 78 she cant look after them. We have a low income as Harry took early retirement at 57 when they were born, so we live on his P&0 pension, thank goodness for the child tax credit! Its hard being together 24/7. I wish he had gone back to work when they were toddlers, it was much easier then to look after them than it is now. I think our age gap is showing, he never wants to go out in the evenings, so I dont unless I am invited to a friends, probably only go out 4 or 5 times in a year! Then on top I miss Matthew so much, it never goes away, always thinking of him. But I think that Harry is not going to change, so its up to me to make things better, and I have decided to start and do more for me, perhaps take up yoga one night a week, and I am thinking of looking for a part time job, somethings got to change. We`ll see.

Sorry, T, was so tired myself I went to bed early...
It sounds as though a lot of the tiring stuff just IS. And then again, hopefully some of it is 'tired-fed-up' which is more possible to address. Personally, I think grief is utterly exhuasting too - I know 'missing' isn't the same as being in the first shock of grief, but still. Hugs and good luck with finding the yoga, or whatever else feels nurturing to you.

We're now top of the waiting list at our clinic, and wondering whether to risk a final attempt at a second child or not...I'll be 46 in March...so I'm reading your post with an underlying agenda of my own! Though Ben is same age as me. Aargh.

When is your birthday, BTW? Sounds like a fellow fish....

xx

Hooray! Other people like me!

I suffered with palpatations for years. Quite random, seemed to happen any time, not particularly stress related. However, there were certain triggers - fizzy drinks, sudden changes in temperature, but they could also happen in the middle of the night when I was asleep.

I was told they were stress related, but never really believed it. After about 10 years (when I was 29) I got really fed up of them. They were happening every day, for up to an hour. I was short of breath and dizzy when they happened.

I was put on to Betablockers but made the decision that I didn't want to take drugs for the rest of my life. I went back to the GP and asked to be referred.

I had the same thing as Dinosaur had - eg. wire into the heart via the groin and they found out I had an extra nerve circuit which was causing my heart to bypass the natural circuit which made the "beat" get back to the top too quickly (IYSWIM!)

I had an operation under local anaesthetic where they burned the extra nerve circuit away using radio waves (radio wave ablation/oblation? can't remember which!).

I had it done about 8 years ago and have not had a palpatation since. My condition was called superventricular tachicardia (not sure about the spelling!) in case anyone wants to google it.

The whole palpatation this is really frightening and I completely understand your fears. However, there are lots of reasons for palpations and it is worth exploring them yourself and with the GP. If you are not happy with the answers from the GP (you know your own body!) then ask to be referred. I was incredibly lucky that my heart decided to "perform" while I was seeing the consultant, so he could see that I was not having a panic attack, was quite calm, but had an incredibly fast heartbeat - (used to go up to about 140 beats per minute instead of my usual 75).

Good luck.

Hi ,
Just got in from a rare night out to the pub! A friend of mine did a quiz night to raise funds for her cyle in Vietnam to raise money for a charity called Whizz Kids. Anyway another very good friend of mine was there and she told me that she has started having awful palpatations and goes this week to have a monitor fitted! She is pre-menopausal. What is happening to is all! My birthday is 22nd March Elibean, I am a true Aries!

Good for you for getting out! Interesting re your friend, hope something useful comes out of it for you too. Aries are cool too, my brother is one...

Hi,
Thought you might like to know that I went to the docs today and he is referring me back to the cardiologist, he said that even if more tests come back normal he might now decide to treat me with some form of medication, ie beta blockers, to help with the anxiety as well, so theres hope!

Only just seen this triplets.

I had the same problem and ended up seeing some God consultant in Harley street! Turns out to be my version of hot flushes. When there are hormone dumps which are common in early menopause then rather than go flushy, my heart races. The blood pressure soars as the hearts beats too fast which causes the faintness and nausea.

I'm now on atenelol (beta blockers) and have had no problems at all since I started taking them!

Glad you are getting it sorted out

Hi,
The only concern my gp had was that he felt to go onto long term medicaton was not something he would want to recommend, you will be younger than me I expect! I am 54 in March and never really had a menopause, periods just suddenly stopped 7 yrs ago after my trio were born!

My consultant seems to think that a couple of years on a relatively low dose, will be fine and the hormones will have settled down by then!

Yes, I'm 41!

Have the palpatations stopped?

Yes, thank goodness.

I had this recurring nightmare of it happening on the tube or bus and all these people fussing over me as I passed out!

The reality is in London that they'd all have ignored me - but it did really bother me