Lately for some reason my heart s been acting really funny.. My pulse speeds up RAPIDLY, and I mean really rapidly. I m talking over 200 in under 30 seconds. And it does this for no apparent reason at all, I could be in the most relaxed state. Anyway, it goes sometimes for a few minutes, skips a beat and then goes back to a normal pulse rate, unless I put a cold ice pack on my head and lay down and sort of shock it back to normal. What s going on with me? Thanks essentiallysolo I do plan on going to a cardiologist , problem is, I can t predict when a supposed attack is going to happen. I did read up on Paroxysmal Atrial Tacchycardia though, and I do seem to have the symptoms. Reality123, I am 19 years of age, 5 3 and 130lbs. I don t really work out regularly, and I am a smoker..so I m sure that could contribute to the problem, I know it can t help. And no I have not had panic attacks before ever that I know of. This happened to me at work once, and I went to the ER and they gave me an Ativan pill to relax me and slow down my heart rate , but never diagnosed the problem.