Heart Palps...Not just for menopause anymore!

[malkin]

So sometimes my little heart goes pitter-pat. And then it goes back to normal after a few seconds. Lots of women have palps around menopause, I thought no big deal.

Last spring I had an event that lasted a couple hours, so I called my doc, but by the time she saw me I was all normal. She had me wear a monitor for a week (a very fashionable $3000 accessory) but my heart behaved all week, despite my attempts to trigger an event with too much coffee, wine and not enough sleep.

Yesterday we were working around the yard and I got dizzy with a whoosh and my heart was off to the races. For hours. I thought I was feeling a little better and we headed to the garden store, but I was short of breath still palpy so brewer took me to insta-care.

The good news is that they got a nice strip on the EKG to see what's going on, the not so good was that I got transported to the ER and spent the afternoon there. So my primary care doc's guess was right, I got a PSVT diagnosis and a referral to a cardiologist. They gave me a crazy push of meds to make my heart snap out of it, which worked, but was a completely bizarre experience.

Not really the weekend I had hoped for.

[OakLeaf]

Yikes. Hope you don't get any repeats!

Do investigate food allergies. That's a symptom I get that many doctors overlook (including both cardiologists and allergists). So far (i.e. for the past 40 years) they've been only very brief and mild, but I'd be a lot more strict about my diet if I had an episode that lasted as long as yours. :eek:

[Crankin]

I agree with Oak. I have some strange reactions to foods and other things; I've had occasional palps, which usually mean I'm under stress, getting sick, or taking Claritin for more than 2 days. It kind of goes along with all of the other unusual symptoms I've had for the past 30 years. I've had a couple of cardiac ultra sounds since the first time this happened. Nothing shows up, so I assume it's nothing, especially since I can always associate them with some kind of physical or emotional stress, although sometimes it's after the fact.

[redrhodie]

Oh no! Not a good way to spend the weekend, but good that they got some tests done while it was happening. I know that's tricky when symptoms come and go. Hope you're feeling okay now, and will have answers (and the easiest treatment option!) soon.

[shootingstar]

In the past 5 years, I've had the odd, short and rare incidents of racing heart while I'm just sitting around. It's happened about 3 times to me.

Half of the time, I know it's from stress.

Thank goodness for cycling: it helps me de-stress.

[missjean]

How scary! My sis-in-law had that many years back. She had a procedure done where they snaked a wire up through her artery to her heart and gave it a zap, and she has been fine since then. (That may be an extreme simplification of what was done, but it’s been a while!)

[ClockworkOrange]

Definitely better ways to spend a weekend!

Hope all the tests manage to sort out a reason why it happened, also hope it was just a one off.

Take care.

[alexis_the_tiny]

Eeek! Hope it gets sorted good and fast and no more repeats. Sometimes I get them, usually while I'm trying to fall asleep. You can imagine how interesting it makes things at night.

[Dogmama]

Can they do anything long term so it doesn't come back?

[malkin]

I have an appointment scheduled with a cardiologist.

I hope I am a candidate for this:



... procedure done where they snaked a wire up through her artery to her heart and gave it a zap, and she has been fine since then. (That may be an extreme simplification of what was done, but it’s been a while!)

That sounds exactly like what I've heard. There are a couple different ways to do the 'zap' and sometimes the patient is not even under general anesthesia. I hope I am a candidate for it, and I hope they knock me out. (My med student daughter wants me to ask if she can watch!)

(Brewer talked to her on the phone while I was in the ambulance. She told him what they'd do, and if that didn't work, she said they'd defibrillate me--and she suggested that he bring me clean undies just in case. Glad we didn't have to go there.)

[Possegal]

The procedure is called a cardiac ablation. In case you wondered. It's usually done with a catheter through the femoral vein.

Good luck with the cardiologist and hope they figure it out and you can put it all behind you. My niece has wrestled with this some and I know how upsetting it is for her.