bad palpitations

Hey guys-

Every time I try and lay down to go to sleep tonight, I keep getting bad, scary palpitations.  Im scared.  Do you think I should go to the ER or just see if they go away?

Bria.. I get more of them laying down than I do standing/sitting. I think sometimes it has to do with the heart changing into "relax" mode from "busy" mode. I learned Chris's information years ago and never eat, or eat a light snack, before I lay down. They did decrease dramatically.
If you have never had these checked out then I would see a doc about them, mostly just to ease your mind.
I used to have massive panic attacks when they would start, now after testing and learning about them, I can ignore them majority of the time. I just roll to a new position and sigh.
My doc told me to cough when I felt them, for some reason it's supposed to kick in some system somewhere that tells the heart to go back to normal rhythym. (wow.. that was pretty unscientific..lol.)
Best wishes, Sarah

I get this too. I think the reason for this is pronged sort to speak. When you lay down at night, your mind tends to wander on you and you have a lot more time to think about everything so sometimes your heart will begin to go with that wandering. Another thing to consider is the placement of your head to your pillows especially in relation to your ear or arteries (throat). If your ear is placed such a way, you can hear your heart beating as if it's exploding out of your neck/chest but it really isn't, you're just hearing it really well because of the silence and because of your ear.

Think about that for a while and see what you think :)

Hey Bria, My cardiologist sent me to one but the EP didn't think I needed one. He didn't feel there was much of interest going on with me just run-of-mill PAC's, PVC's. He said if I ever have another long run of SVT to go the the ER and have them do an EKG to send him because he might be able to do an ablation on that.

Hey everyone!  I am SO frustrated with doctors today.  I went BACK to the ER again last night for the palps .  They gave me 2 xanax... and did ekg- it showed no extra beats or anything even though i was feeling the fluttering, especially laying flat.  I got discharged, and then today the nurse ( who is NOT compassionate at all) for my cardiologist called me.  He said that the EP can see me May 9th. Im like, what the H*ll am I supposed to do in the mean time! 

So then I asked him if I could continue to exercise and he said "i cant say yes, and I cant say no"...  Now im SO scared and I dont know HOW i am going to wait until may 9th. Im scared I will have to call off work or take a leave of absence because I am not going to be able to be myself...

I think one reason that they are concerned is because I used to have an arrthymia WPW. I had 2 ablations but that was over ten years ago.  Since then, I have been great until recently (december) when I started getting all these palps and episoded of pounding heartbeat. But I have had ALL the other tests besides the 24 hour urine and the EP study -- all pretty normal.  I easily slip into sinus tach, and like i said, in the er it got up to 150 but thats not bad considering what i know SVT gets up to.  Hopes, how fast have you felt your svt rate at? 

Thank you all so much. Its SO helpful to know I am not alone. take care and god bless.

Bria, I am so sorry you are having a rough time. I really understand the frustration and the FEAR. When I first started having problems, I went to my GP who said we need to catch these on a monitor or holter because while most are no problem, a few are life-threatening. I'm sure she meant to be reassuring but all I 'heard' was a death sentence. I REALLY became obsessed and TERRIFIED! At the time my little girl was only 4 and my husband worked out of town most night. I wa ALONE with a child who could not dial the phone or unlock the deadbolt on the door. I was afraid to go to sleep at night for fear of not waking up in the morning. WHAT A LOT OF WASTED ENERGY!!!!!-The only good thing to come out of it is that I think I appreciate life and family more. (You really can find a silver lining around every cloud.)

The cardiologist told you that he can't tell you to exercise or not to exercise just to cover HIMSELF whch I can understand also. However I would not take a leave of absence from work because it will just make you think about this more. I think it is better to keep your mind busy and walking around your neighborhood would probably be OK and even relaxing. You don't have to go into an all out SWEATING routine for awhile.

I recorded my highest SVT episode on a home blood pressure monitor which also records heartrate at 134. I never went to the ER. I have since learned that the home monitors will not acurately record arrhythmia heartrates because those heartrates tend to be variable and only monitor for like 20 seconds then calculate your minute beat. You have to take your pulse for a full minute and count it if you are able. During my events, it felt as if a race car was zooming in my chest. It would suddenly start and sudddenly stop and I could feel it in my chest. I could accurately tell when it just stopped!

If you went to the ER and was on a moniotr when you felt the fluttering but nothing was showing on the EKG, that is very good news. It probably means that it is not coming from the heart. I'd suspect a GI thing. I swear that sometimes I think I feel palps from my heart, now I am beginning to feel it is may be from my stomach. ????? Hang on! I am sure you will get to the bottom of it.

This is one thing I have learned over the past 5+yrs: In a structurally normal heart, even the bad arrhythmias are well tolerated. I'm not trying to be flippant. AND I worry PLENTY!! I hate and freakout when my palps are bad. So KNOWING something and being able to IGNORE those thumps and thuds are two entirely different things. I'm just hoping I can give someone else reassurance and peace of mind. Worry robs your life and I am trying SO HARD to not let it have ANYMORE of mine! God BLess! You can hang on until the 9th and if you have another episode, GO BACK to the ER! That's there job and don't be afraid to go back time and time again until you get to the bottom of this!!

I feel like i have totally exhausted my cardiologist and GP docs.....Like they don't know what else to do!  Im wondering if my hormone levels could be making my palps worse. I know that around my menstual cycle, I get them much more frequently.  David, I read up on inappropriate sinus tach---it sounds kind of like what I experience.

However, I was (until this last round of ER visits) exercising every day , and I don't tire out or get out of breath easiliy.  Acually, I usually don't feel the palps when I work out....

I see the Electrophysiologist Monday.  Im VERY nervous about what he is going to tell me.  The last time I saw an EP was when I had My 2 ablations back in 1996 .  I actually tried to call my old EP Friday but never got a return call.  Im sure he doesnt remember me since it was SO long ago. 

Thank you for all of your help ...  I am so scared that I am going to have to have an EP study and they will have to do another ablation. 

But if its just sinus tach, I doubt they would ....  Actually I think it was sinus tach (150 was highest it went) with PVC's. 

David- 

Thank you for your response! I will let you know how the doc goes tomorrow.  I hope that he's good and calms me down about this , once and for all. I have taken Inderal before, so if he wants to put me on a beta blocker Im going to see if I can use it again.  Can you exercise and stuff on a beta blocker?

Jen,

This is a very old thread and Bria has not posted since 2006. 

 

May I kindly suggest you start a new topic thread for yourself if you feel comfortable doing so, so everyone can recognize you as a new member and welcome you.

I will lock this thread down.

Thank you for your understanding.