Cause of erratic heart beat

[Thistledew]

Since about 2004 I have suffered from an occasional erratic heart beat. It is something that many people get occasionally - the heart misses a beat, then puts in a strong extra beat before going back to a normal rhythm. I had lots of tests done at the time, including blood tests, a 24 hr ECG and an ultrasound of my heart. It revealed that my heart is healthy and was put down to just one of those things. Since then, I seem to have had small episodes when I would get it frequently for a week or so, then it could be months before it came again.

I have got a lot fitter over the past year, and had not had any episodes for about a year, until around April/May this year, when it started again, and I have had several episodes a day.

I have just worked out what has been causing it, and the answer is the Loratadine I have been taking for my hay fever. A couple of weeks ago I ran out, and had two days when I was not taking it. During those two days I had no symptoms of an irregular heart rate. I then started taking the drug again, and the symptoms returned. I stopped taking it a couple of days ago, and again the symptoms have stopped.

I don't think that the Loratadine is the only cause as I have had the symptoms at times of year when I have not been taking this medication, but I will now be monitoring far more carefully what I am taking and eating at the times when I do get it.

Does anyone else suffer from this problem, and if so, have you managed to identify any causes? It would be good to know things to be wary of.

This is exactly what I get!! Not on a regular basis but every so often and it makes me catch my breath, feel like I need to cough and thump my chest CPR style to get it going again. Have just ignored it and put it down to being one of those things

Yes - fellow sufferer here.

With me these weird beats started while I was pregnant 16 or so years ago and have never gone away. I get something most days varying in intensity. Every now and then I'll get 2 or 3 in a row which scares the crap out of me every time.

I have noticed that I get more in the week before my period - and I definitely, definitely get more if I worry about them.

I am a heavy coffee drinker, so that may be causing them - but I ain't giving up my coffee so I can't tell if they'll stop without it.

I simply don't worry about them anymore - and when I get one I'll just cough or get up and move around and it's all OK.

Sorry, if I'm not being very coherent, it's late and I should be in bed. But just wanted to reassure you that this is extremely common and totally harmless in otherwise healthy people, a variation of normal.

Does anyone else suffer from this problem, and if so, have you managed to identify any causes?

Everyone gets them, they are called ventricular ectopic beats, or ventricular premature contraction - same thing different names.

Some people are aware of them, most people are not.

Basically heart muscle is 'excitable' - it reacts to an electrical impulse created in the heart - completely normal, but sometimes a bit of heart muscle gets excited on it's own and sets the others off.

A bit like a false start in a race, one sets off ahead, the others follow, but unlike a race there is no second starting shot and the muscle cannot 'go back'.

I have just registered to write about my experience, maybe it'll help.
I've had those symptoms for a couple of years, mainly during periods of work stress, heavy coffee drinking, lack of sleep... I had quite severe episodes during my twin pregnancy, and then an episode during the c-section, so the anesthetist transferred me to the ICU to monitor my heart.
After 4 days of monitoring, I was diagnosed with RVOT which is a type of ventricular arythmia that is not life threatening (which was a relief to know, since they initially told me I have ventricular arythmia and could go into sudden cardiac arrest!) and was prescribed beta-blockers. I still have very light symptoms, especialy after a sleepless night with the babies, but don't want to increase my dose now cause i want to breastfeed.
I have since read that RVOT mainly affects young people, especially women, and is triggered by exercise, stress, caffeine and hormonal changes.

If you've been told that the ECG and the echocardiogram were normal then they are probably PVCs - premature ventricular contractions. They are harmless in healthy people but can be made worse (or more readily perceived) by stress or stimulating substances like caffeine. So any medication which can have side effects like anxiety or jumpiness could make them worse. If your anti-histamine has pseudoephedrine in it then that is probably the cause as it is a stimulant.

Erratic heart beats can also be caused by anaemia or perimenopause. I had terrible ones not long ago which turned out to be caused by the vampire-like draining of blood from my body after several years of very heavy and frequent perimenopausal periods. Iron tablets, plus moving into the next stage of perim so that my periods are now naturally light and infrequent, has made the problem much, much better, though I still get a few when a period is due or when drinking lots of caffeine. My ECG etc was normal too.

My mother got hospitalised for something that sounds similar when she was a student - it turns out that it was caffeine in coffee (weak tea is fine for her) but now a cup of non-decaff coffee is enough to make her feel really ill for hours.