heart palpitations

Hi folks, i have these palpitations that i feel at times. It comes and goes. ive had my pacemaker for over a year and half. the first 5 months after i recieved my PM i really never fely my heart palpitate. Until i had my first anxiety attack and from that point on i can feel these palpitations. My primary care said i have generalized anxiety and put me on 10mg of lexapro to see if that helps. It helped somewhat but i feel these palpitations and i really hate this sensation. Im seeing a new EP who put a zio patch on me that i wore for two weeks to see if there are any abnomalities. From what he sees from my heart transmission is everything is going well. I have an appointment in Feb where he will talk about the results. Im on fleccinide for now with a blood thinner which he says he might change. Could it be just anxiety causes these palpitations because they say my blood pressure is 120/80 and heart rate is 62. everytime i call for a transmission they dont find any abnomalities with my heart.IM JUST NERVOUS I GUESS.

5 Comments

Anxiety

by Persephone - 2021-01-05 19:36:07

Hi Zoe - I'm sorry that you're struggling through feelings of anxiety along with palpitations.  Do they follow any pattern that you're noticing - first thing in the morning, or after consuming caffeine, as examples?  You may want to consider keeping a log if you're not already doing so.  Your test results so far seem to be reassuring to you.  I imagine that the anticipation of another anxiety attack, as you describe it, could become quite burdensome for you over time and would encourage you to seek care from a psychologist who can help you work through the feelings of anxiety.  It's great that your primary care doc is helping you, but maybe a professional who specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy would be a good resource for your next steps.  Best wishes for you in this new year.

palpitations

by zoe123 - 2021-01-05 19:42:09

Thank you for that advice. maybe a psychologist would be beneficial.

Palpations

by AgentX86 - 2021-01-05 20:40:38

Hi Zoe,  Unless you can catch them in progress with the remote monitor, they'll see nothing. 

My bet is that these are PVCs (premature ventricular contractions).  They're quite common.  In fact everyone has them but we're lucky enough to get bunches at once. Yes, in runs or bigeminy (every other) they feel awful.  The good news is that these are almost always benign unless they comprise upwards of 30% of the heartbeats.  If they're in runs, your EP should be able to set up your pacemaker to detect them.  ...and then he won't do anything about them.  Yes, stress can make these worse.  Dehydration and lower than normal magnesium, potassium, or sodium will almost always cause these.  Nerves (therefor muscles) require these metals to operate, so the lack of any of these minerals will cause misfires.

 

palpitations

by zoe123 - 2021-01-05 21:09:56

Thank you Agent. yoiu made me feel at ease. 

Palpations

by AgentX86 - 2021-01-06 19:42:09

HI again, Zoe

 

You're welcome.  Please do follow up on these.  They may be more serious and even if I'm right, you need to know if the cause is a mineral imbalance and which one.  I found that my problem was magnesium.  I started taking Magnesium Glycinate (from Amazon).  It helped and as a side effect, completely cured my leg cramps.  If I'm off it, or use a different form of magnesium my leg cramps will come back.

Magnesium oxide is useless.  The body can only absorb about 10% of it but it does go through the digestive system.  Think: Milk of Magnesia.

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I'm 35 and got my pacemaker a little over a year ago. It definitely is not a burden to me. In fact, I have more energy (which my husband enjoys), can do more things with my kids and have weight because of having the energy.