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What Causes Abnormal Heart Beats Along With Difficulty Breathing?
Question: I am 36 years old and in good health. By the way i have Try glyseroids of 285 which is high. On this wednesday i was having breatfast while talking to my wife in standing position. My kid who is 2 year old was playing and he threw small piese of wood at me. I jumped on to my right casually. Suddenly my heart started beating really really fast.I can say my heart beat was some where around 200 or more. I kind of having problem breathing. i sat on chair for 5 minutes and it went off. after that i went to doctor and explained the same problem to him. He got EKG and said that my EKG was good and he found nothing from it. and he ordered blood work to check my cardiac enzymes electrodes in heart. and the cardiac enzymes and everything are normal. after that when i went to visit doctor he said that there is nothing related to heart. there could be something problem with the nerve system which caused the heart to pump blood resulting my heart beat rise. So he prescribed metoprol 50 mg XL release and said that it was due to anxiety and problem with the nerves sending signal to heart. I went through Eco Cardiogram 2 years back and Thread mill test 2 months back and doctors confirmed both are normal. andI thought to get an expert cardiologist second opinion to make sure that there is no issue related to heart. Could you please answer my questions below?
1. May i know if this is not related to heart and my heart is OK?
2. Since my heart rate and blood pressure right now is normal and only during that 10 minutes there was sudden increase of heart rate to 200 my primary care physician prescribed me metoprol, is it safe to take such medication at this moment?
3. Since this has happened to me for the first time, am i going to face such kind of issues going forward?
4. If possible could tell me what treatment do i have to take?
Thank you
1. May i know if this is not related to heart and my heart is OK?
2. Since my heart rate and blood pressure right now is normal and only during that 10 minutes there was sudden increase of heart rate to 200 my primary care physician prescribed me metoprol, is it safe to take such medication at this moment?
3. Since this has happened to me for the first time, am i going to face such kind of issues going forward?
4. If possible could tell me what treatment do i have to take?
Thank you
Brief Answer:
Proper treatment / need follow up
Detailed Answer:
Dear friend,
Welcome to Health Care Magic
1. It is not possible to exclude heart as the cause of this
Anaemia / Anxiety / Alcohol / Tobacco (smoking) / Caffeine (too much tea, coffee, cola) / Fever / Infection / Pain / Stress / Thyroid /calcium, magnesium / Medicines like Phenylephrine used for ‘cold’ / and so on - may be responsible....At times, abnormal nerve paths in the heart (bypass tracts) or disease of the conduction system may be responsible!
Normal blood work and EKG are reassuring indeed.
Standard ECG records the electrical activity of the heart, for a few seconds. It can detect the arrhythmia occurring during that time only. If the episode occurs randomly, one needs Holter or event monitor. Holter records for days; Event Monitor for weeks… Holter records continuously; Event Monitor only at certain times. Your doctor may recommend, if the problem recurs… it is generally not done for a single episode and if you are otherwise normal.
ECHOcardiogram is necessary to see the heart valves (Mitral Valve Prolapse) / heart muscle (Cardiomyopathy) and heart function (Ejection fraction, wall motion abnormality) / clots etc. ...
2. The first line medicine is generally beta blockers, like Metoprolol – slow release (XL). The dose is up to 200 mg. It has several benefits, and will benefit anxiety, rate, pressure etc.
3. It is not possible to exclude or predict future episodes. The underlying cause is not definitely known or evaluated. But the prognosis is excellent in such situations.
4. You are in good hands and your doctor has given the appropriate prescription, indeed. No other treatment or restriction is needed.
If Metoprolol is not effective and if the problem is severe and recurrent, several other classes of drugs with good effects (and side effects too!) are available – acting by different mechanisms - the specialist will decide tailored to your needs.
Take care
Good luck
Proper treatment / need follow up
Detailed Answer:
Dear friend,
Welcome to Health Care Magic
1. It is not possible to exclude heart as the cause of this
Anaemia / Anxiety / Alcohol / Tobacco (smoking) / Caffeine (too much tea, coffee, cola) / Fever / Infection / Pain / Stress / Thyroid /calcium, magnesium / Medicines like Phenylephrine used for ‘cold’ / and so on - may be responsible....At times, abnormal nerve paths in the heart (bypass tracts) or disease of the conduction system may be responsible!
Normal blood work and EKG are reassuring indeed.
Standard ECG records the electrical activity of the heart, for a few seconds. It can detect the arrhythmia occurring during that time only. If the episode occurs randomly, one needs Holter or event monitor. Holter records for days; Event Monitor for weeks… Holter records continuously; Event Monitor only at certain times. Your doctor may recommend, if the problem recurs… it is generally not done for a single episode and if you are otherwise normal.
ECHOcardiogram is necessary to see the heart valves (Mitral Valve Prolapse) / heart muscle (Cardiomyopathy) and heart function (Ejection fraction, wall motion abnormality) / clots etc. ...
2. The first line medicine is generally beta blockers, like Metoprolol – slow release (XL). The dose is up to 200 mg. It has several benefits, and will benefit anxiety, rate, pressure etc.
3. It is not possible to exclude or predict future episodes. The underlying cause is not definitely known or evaluated. But the prognosis is excellent in such situations.
4. You are in good hands and your doctor has given the appropriate prescription, indeed. No other treatment or restriction is needed.
If Metoprolol is not effective and if the problem is severe and recurrent, several other classes of drugs with good effects (and side effects too!) are available – acting by different mechanisms - the specialist will decide tailored to your needs.
Take care
Good luck
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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