Palpitations peri-menopausal?

[BooseysMom]

Hi,
I've been getting quite horrendous heart palpitations for months. I've been to my gp and have had an ect and other tests. It isn't my heart but they say I have to stop drinking caffeinated drinks. I only have 1 coffee and about 3 teas a day but they say that's way too much. I don't think the palps are down to caffeine as I can go days without any and still drink the same amount. I'm 46 and had hormone tests about 6 months ago and they confirmed I'm not peri-menopausal. The gp is not convinced it's hormonal but I think it is. They seem to be worse when I've got pmt or mid month when presumably I'm ovulating. Over the last two years i've had one or two occasions of night sweating and one night of feeling like ants are crawling all over me. That was horrible! The night sweating was like i'd wet the bed!! My mattress was soaked. My moods are really erratic esp a week before AF hits. Has anyone else had palpitations? have you seen a gp about it?? Thanks xx

I think palpitations/irregular heartbeat is normal?

When I did my NHS 45+ health check, the nurse actually asked me if I had them, and said it is normal at my age (46) and not to worry.

It is only ever when I go to bed. I do drink 1 coffee and 4 teas a day so may need to go decaf (I live for my hot drinks!)

I also get really hot legs now after drinking alcohol (wake up in the night with boiling hot legs, wtf is that about)

Fun fun fun

I have the opposite issue, my heart goes into shut down mode, with very low heart rate/blood pressure. Got referred to cardiologist who confirmed all was normal but did say that low heart rate and palpitations were similar in terms of management and told me to stop all caffeine and to significantly incressexwster consumption. I have done so since July and do feel the difference.

My low heart rate is linked to anxiety which is linked to the hormones fluctuation, I believe especially when progesterone drops.

My OH does suffer from heart palpitation and is a very anxious person. He's been told to stop caffeine and more importantly alcohol. His worse attacks are not soon after a boozy time but often days sometimes a week later but there is definitely a correlation.

@Babygrey7...thanks for the msg..yes they said that they're nothing to worry about. I'm 46 too. I had hormone tests in May and they were normal. Went to the gp the other day and he said I'm not in pero-menopause. I've had to reduce caffeine but tbh it hasn't made any difference. The hot legs thing I haven't heard of! I did get a night sweat last night tho.

@swingofthings...thanks for the msg. That's interesting yours is due to the heart going into shut-down..sounds scary but good that it's not life-threatening. I thought mine were due to anxiety but I get them when I feel calm so I just don't know! It does get annoying. My dad had a heart attack at 60 so thought I'd better get it checked and they said it's ok.

I thought mine were due to anxiety but I get them when I feel calm so I just don't know.
That's the thing with menopausal anxiety, it's not reactional, it hits you at random time like hot flushes and it's not anxiety as we've maybe know it before, ie.triggered by a specific stimulus.

Like you I didn't think my symptoms were anxiety related because they indeed often happened when I felt perfectly calm but I now know its definitely anxiety. It's physical anxiety rather mental anxiety as I've know it before.

I had a panic attack in the middle of a meeting two years ago when I was feeling perfectly calm. I had felt a bit stressed on the way as I was running late in traffic but nothing I hadnt experienced before. It was so bad (although managed to not let it show), I was convinced I'd had a seizure. It happened three more times thankfully not recently and each time was at time I didn't feel anxious or stressed but following days or weeks of stress.

@swingofthings... omg that sounds awful. I see what you mean by a physical rather than mental anxiety. Your body is going thru massive changes and that's bound to cause it stress. I went to the gp the other day and he said I'd had hormone tests in May and they wouldnt have changed between then and now...really?! He was a young doctor so prob doesn't know that much

Of course it can changed in 6 months. He is right about the drinks though. In an ideal world, if you suffer from palpitations, you should give up all caffeine, so no coffee, tea or fizzy drinks, and no alcohol. Not easy to do.

@swingofthings.. yes exactly, not easy at all. I don't drink coke or any other fizzy drinks but can't quite give up tea and coffee. I'm going to switch to decaff tea at work though. How are you feeling lately?

@BooseysMom, I too thought shifting to decaf tea would be unesant but to my surprise it wasn't at all and even more surpringly didn't have side effects dropping by one cup a day. I use Tetleys and found it didn't taste that different.

Consultant suggested wearing compression socks which I did for 48 hours but had a bad turn 30 mns after taking them off. Been very stressed in the last couple of days though so maybe unrelated.

This menopause malarkey is quite something isn't it!

Do you find they are worse before you're due on? Mine are and mid month too.

@swingofthings... I know, what we go through. My mum used to say next time she's coming back as a man!

@MummaPI...mine are worse before I come on and also mid month. They seem to be all time atm though