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Suggest Treatment For Heart Palpitations
Question: I have been having heart palpitations. I have had a few ultrasounds in 2006 and I would say 2009, nothing major found. Lately, I have been having more of them. Like it will feel like my heart stops beating for a beat, then starts beating again. I would say within 10 minutes I will have 15 to 20 palpitations. This is NOT every day, sometimes it's just one day out of a month or so and it lasts for an hour up to 5 hours. I have been to the ER to check it out but they say there is nothing they can do, to just watch my caffeine and don't eat chocolate. Some days this happens when I have NO caffeine and NO chocolate.
Brief Answer:
I would recommed as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
Regarding your concern, I would like to explain that heart palpitations are the most frequent complains encountered not only in heart disease, but also in normal individuals.
As you have already performed several cardiac ultrasounds and they have resulted normal, it may be concluded that obvious structural heart abnormalities are excluded. And this is a very important clue.
But, for a thorough investigation of your palpitations, I would recommend a 48 hours to a week ambulatory ECG monitoring (as 24 hours may not be sufficient to cover periods of intermittent palpitations. This test will definitely clarify whether your palps feeling corresponds to any abnormal arrhythmic events or is just an exaggerated of normal rhythm perception.
If arrhythmic events are detected, then possible etiological causes should be explored (such as thyroid dysfunction, blood electrolyte imbalance, any chronic, metabolic or endocrine disorders, such as anemia, hyperparathyroidism, chronic renal, pulmonary disease, etc). Sometimes even cyclic hormonal imbalance seen in women may be responsible (premenstrual syndrome, etc).
So, I would recommend:
- complete blood count,
- thyroid and parathyroid function tests,
- blood electrolytes,
- chest X ray study,
- renal function test, etc.
But, if all the above tests result normal, then an anxiety disorder should be suspected. In such case a consultation with a therapist/psychiatrist would be advisable.
Hope to have been helpful to you!
Feel free to ask me whenever you need! Greetings! Dr. Iliri
I would recommed as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
Regarding your concern, I would like to explain that heart palpitations are the most frequent complains encountered not only in heart disease, but also in normal individuals.
As you have already performed several cardiac ultrasounds and they have resulted normal, it may be concluded that obvious structural heart abnormalities are excluded. And this is a very important clue.
But, for a thorough investigation of your palpitations, I would recommend a 48 hours to a week ambulatory ECG monitoring (as 24 hours may not be sufficient to cover periods of intermittent palpitations. This test will definitely clarify whether your palps feeling corresponds to any abnormal arrhythmic events or is just an exaggerated of normal rhythm perception.
If arrhythmic events are detected, then possible etiological causes should be explored (such as thyroid dysfunction, blood electrolyte imbalance, any chronic, metabolic or endocrine disorders, such as anemia, hyperparathyroidism, chronic renal, pulmonary disease, etc). Sometimes even cyclic hormonal imbalance seen in women may be responsible (premenstrual syndrome, etc).
So, I would recommend:
- complete blood count,
- thyroid and parathyroid function tests,
- blood electrolytes,
- chest X ray study,
- renal function test, etc.
But, if all the above tests result normal, then an anxiety disorder should be suspected. In such case a consultation with a therapist/psychiatrist would be advisable.
Hope to have been helpful to you!
Feel free to ask me whenever you need! Greetings! Dr. Iliri
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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