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What Causes Irregular Heartbeats?
Question: my heart is pounding irregularly. not really fast. just irregular and harder than normal.
Brief Answer:
I would explain as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
Your symptoms seem to be related to a cardiac arrhythmia.
Diltiazem is a calcium channel blocker which helps not only reduce your heart rate but also prevent cardiac arrhythmia.
Anyway, if you are feeling shortness of breath or lightheadedness, I would recommend going to the ER for a careful physical exam and a resting ECG to determine the type of cardiac arrhythmia.
Other tests are also necessary to investigate for the possible underlying causes:
- a cardiac ultrasound to examine your heart function and structure
- a chest X ray study and pulmonary function tests to exclude a lung disorder
- complete blood count for anemia
- thyroid hormone levels for thyroid dysfunction
- blood electrolytes for possible electrolyte imbalance.
An ambulatory 24-48 hours ECG monitoring would help examine your heart rhythm trends during a prolonged time and identify the type of cardiac arrhythmia, especially if a simple resting ECG is not able to register them (when these episodes occur frequently during the day).
Hope to have been helpful!
I would be happy to review all your uploaded test reports for a more professional opinion.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
I would explain as follows:
Detailed Answer:
Hello!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
Your symptoms seem to be related to a cardiac arrhythmia.
Diltiazem is a calcium channel blocker which helps not only reduce your heart rate but also prevent cardiac arrhythmia.
Anyway, if you are feeling shortness of breath or lightheadedness, I would recommend going to the ER for a careful physical exam and a resting ECG to determine the type of cardiac arrhythmia.
Other tests are also necessary to investigate for the possible underlying causes:
- a cardiac ultrasound to examine your heart function and structure
- a chest X ray study and pulmonary function tests to exclude a lung disorder
- complete blood count for anemia
- thyroid hormone levels for thyroid dysfunction
- blood electrolytes for possible electrolyte imbalance.
An ambulatory 24-48 hours ECG monitoring would help examine your heart rhythm trends during a prolonged time and identify the type of cardiac arrhythmia, especially if a simple resting ECG is not able to register them (when these episodes occur frequently during the day).
Hope to have been helpful!
I would be happy to review all your uploaded test reports for a more professional opinion.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Kind regards,
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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