46 yo female/ smoker/ moderate alcohol consumption/ obese - 5 6 = 250 lbs / disabled (degenerative nerve / spinal) lumbar heart skips, strong beats, then light suffocating beats, pounding heartbeat,... just like your car.. all is fine when a professional looks at you, but the instant you drive away it goes wacky. I ve experienced similar symptoms as a child but told it was all in my head; however, this past fall I contracted a very nasty flu virus and coughed until I thought my lungs had been beaten with a baseball bat. Afterwards /Since then, my heart has been in recovery, the extreme coughing strained my heart, I now notice extremely unusual heart rhythm constantly. My cholesterol levels have significantly risen since my disability, frighteningly so. I am now paying much more serious attention to my diet as a result but feel that any effort at this juncture may be entirely too late. I fear doctors. I spent years in hospitals. I don t want to go back again. I don t hate them, .... I .. just... don t want to lose any more of my life laying in a bed.