Palpitaions

Are you ill? Stressed? Period coming up? Did you get enough sleep? Did you have troubling dreams/night sweats?

Usually when I get that OHMIGOD DOOM heart thing, it's because I've had too much coffee.

However, if none of the above are true, and it's a recurring thing, you might want to see your doctor and have your blood pressure checked.

Also - have you been taking any medications - especially cold and flu remedies? Anything with psuedoephedrine can wreck havoc on your blood pressure.

I may be stressed but it's not at the forefront of my mind. I had trouble sleeping but only because of the palpitations.

My blood pressure is okay, I get it checked about three times a year 'cause I'm on the pill.

I get chest tightness and pain sometimes after exercise.

Maybe I should revive the hypochondriac thread.....

Most people's heart rates are normally under 100 beats per minute, depending on age, stress levels and other factors. As you'd expect, and is natural, excercise pushes the rate higher.
"Palpitations" is an umbrella term meaning a heightened awareness of the heartbeat, and can include tachycardia (fast heart over 100 beats per minute, without excercise and at rest), ectopic beats (an irregularity of the heart rate and heart rhythm involving (perceived) "extra" or "missed" heartbeats), and a range of other sensations. Palpitaions are most often COMPELETELY HARMLESS. They affect loads of people of varying ages - some experience them all they're lives, some don't even notice the sensations much or at all - and they have many different causes; stress, the body fighting infection, over-eating, excess caffeine, excess alcohol, tiredness, and even posture and breathing-in (sinus arrhythmia refers to ectopic beats experienced when breathing in (not that uncommon, actually) and it is completely benign, unless the irregularities occur very frequently withing the space of a short time for a long time). They're is a phenomenon called "holiday heart", which is where people feel palpiations following a period of indulgence - too many sauces whilst on holiday. Where stress is the cause, as it so often is, palpitations are most often felt, ironically, when you are starting to relax away from the stressful experience or period. People often report feeling fast heartbeats or ectopic when they're about to fall asleep. If your heart is fast, try not to worry because this will only cause more adrenaline to be released, making the episode needlessly last longer, leading to more anxiety and a possible spiralling into other stress-related symptoms, which whilst not dangerous, can be bewildering (hyperventilation, dizziness, aching joints, dry mouth, wobbly legs, pins and needles, phobias etc.). Try to relax, stop inspecting your heart, pull your mind out of the introspection, think about happy things, and soon these non-sinister palpiations will pass; and also remember that a healthy heart can, in the most extreme cases, tolerate a rate of over 200 bpm, without sustaining any damage.

Having said all that, it doesn't hurt to put your mind at rest by taking a trip to the doctor. He'll check your pulse, listen to your heart and chest, and ask you when and how the palpiations occur. He may send you to have a portable ECG machine (ipod size) fitted for 24 hours to rule out any of the more sinister heart arrhythmias. The main symoptom of atrial fibrillation, which affects 1 in 20 of us during our lifetime (incidence going up with age), is an *uneveness* of heart rate, coming in episodes that can last seconds or days or longer (not always detected with pulse-reading, hence ECG referral). This uneveness is caused when the heart's top chamber (where the blood first enters into after its journey round the body) starts to spasm rather like the skin of a cow as a fly lands on it. The lower chamber then has to work harder, beating faster in order to pump the blood back around the body. Whilst the heart can pump quite efficiently when in this state of AF, it does mean that blood can sometimes stagnate and pool in the upper chamber, and there's a risk (which goes up with age) of a clot forming and being sent to the brain, leading to a stroke. Whilst fastness is a symptom of AF, uneveness of rate is the main alarm bell. Tony Blair had this AF condition, and it is easily managed.
HOWEVER, the vast majority of heart palpitations are nothing serious whatsoever, and people with them live, statistically speaking, as long as anyone else. Worth adding is that most benign palpitations respond well to exercise - they actually vanish.

Wow! Are you a doctor? Or do you just plan one on the interweb?

That said, good answer.

Not a doctor. A nutritionist, and having re-read my post, I'm amazed I neglected to stress the importance of a good diet on top of everything else, with the right blend of supplements. Why not visit a local nutritionist? If your diet is lacking, as most people's are, especially vegetarians and vegans, they're likely to recommend, assuming you're not breastfeeding or pregnant or on other medication, you take a good multi, a vit c, a fish oil, the vit b's, a garlic pill, and an acidophilus. Good for the heart, and they will help with the stress too!

Very good answer! Thank you, I'm trying not to dwell on it just now in the hope that I'll complete forget and no longer notice it.

You are pregnant obv. (Pregnant women often have palpitations.)

I am very interested in this approach - I always thought it was kind of nonsense until a good calcium/magnesium/zinc supplement almost erradicated terrible menstral cramps. Plus, the more garlic I eat, the healthier I've found myself to be so I try to sneak it into everything.

I know I should take a B complex - what (vegetarian) food options can help me get more naturally?

Also... fish oils. I can't take them as I'm allergic to fish, but I take flaxseed oil and eat walnuts because I've been told that they have similar compounds. Any truth to that?

Get a juicer! You should eat at least five servings of fruits and green, leafy vegetables daily.

Not only do B-vitamins help to calm and strengthen the nervous system, but research is showing that folic acid, along with B-6, B-12, plus *zinc* (essential) are extremely important for the heart, specifically in terms of homocysteine levels.
Homocysteine levels - you heard it here first.. Homocysteine is an amino acid in the blood. Too much of it is related to a higher risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease (fatty deposits in peripheral arteries). Evidence suggests that homocysteine may promote atherosclerosis (fatty deposits in blood vessels) by damaging the inner lining of arteries and promoting blood clots. However, a causal link hasn't been established.
Average (American?) homocysteine level is 10, but doctors like it to be under 6. The research is so fresh, many GP's are not yet aware of the danger of elevated homocysteine levels, but most are happy to let you have a blood test sent off to the lab.
Taking sups is all about synergy. Taking too much of one sup can cancel out the good effects of another, so it's important to look at the body as a whole, combined with your needs, lifestyle, allergies, etc., preferably with the support of a nutritionist.

BTW, you're doing the right thing re nuts and flaxeed. They contain the essential fatty acids and thin the blood (though thinning not meant to be as good as fish oil). Lots of soya, too.

Yes, I love the soybeans, though they can be hard to come by in my neighbourhood.

I try to eat at least five servings of fresh fruit/veggies, but blech, I hate juicers. (My housemate has one and it seems like more hassle than it's worth - and it's always sitting half cleaned in the kitchen.) I'd rather crunch my way through raw veggies.

Probably I need to try a wider variety of veggies and especially fruit, though, as I tend to just stick with things I like.