Heart arrhythmias may feel like a fluttering or racing heart and may be harmless. However, some heart arrhythmias may cause bothersome — sometimes even life-threatening — signs and symptoms. However, sometimes it's normal for a person to have a fast or slow heart rate.
Talk to your doctor if you feel your heart beating too fast, too slowly or irregularly. Symptoms of an abnormal heart rhythm can include: palpitations (a feeling of your heart racing, thumping, fluttering, pounding or skipping beats) light-headedness or dizziness.
Heart palpitations -- a flutter in your chest or heartbeat that races, pounds, or flutters. Pain and pressure or tightness in your chest. Confused. Dizzy.
The most basic is a simple pulse test, where you place your index and middle fingers on your left wrist and search for a pulse. It's important to remember that you are checking for a consistent rhythm, not counting the beats-per-minute.
Your doctor can listen for fluttering while listening to your heart with a stethoscope. You may also need a test that records your heart's rhythms, like an ECG, which you have in your doctor's office, or a Holter monitor that you wear around for a day.
Your doctor may do an EKG during a stress test, which records your heart's activity when it is working hard and beating fast. Your doctor may also do other tests to diagnose arrhythmias. Blood tests measure the level of certain substances in the blood, such as potassium or other electrolytes and thyroid hormone.
The pattern or rhythm of a heart beat can also tell you what's going on: a panic attack typically brings a constant rapid heart rate, while AFib causes an erratic heart rate. If your heart seems to be skipping beats, or speeding up then slowing down and speeding up again, it's more likely that AFib is to blame.
Remember that a heart arrhythmia is different from a heart attack. Heart arrhythmias are caused by electrical problems. Sometimes, it's just a single skipped beat, but arrhythmias can last minutes, hours, days and possibly years. Occasionally, the heart's electrical signals get caught in a little short-circuit loop.
The pattern or rhythm of a heart beat can also tell you what's going on: a panic attack typically brings a constant rapid heart rate, while AFib causes an erratic heart rate. If your heart seems to be skipping beats, or speeding up then slowing down and speeding up again, it's more likely that AFib is to blame.
It is known that a person's heartbeat may speed up during times of stress (as a result of the fight or flight system), but an arrhythmia tends to be much more sudden and does not always come during times of intense anxiety.
Less commonly, heart palpitations can be a sign of a serious health problem, such as arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm). These heart palpitations may feel like they cause anxiety rather than follow it.
Heart palpitations are usually harmless and go away on their own. But they could also be a sign that you're living with anxiety. If you've ever suddenly become aware of your heartbeat, you're not alone. It's a common complaint healthcare professionals hear from their patients.
Emotional factors are known to increase ventricular arrhythmias either directly or indirectly by increasing heart rate and causing ischaemia as in coronary heart disease. In animal experiments ventricular fibrillation threshold is lowered by aversive conditions.
Distract Your Mind Remember that actively thinking about your heartbeat can trigger palpitations and/or make them worse and more pronounced.
Additionally, some manifestations of anxiety disorders can lead to abnormal ECG readings. When false positives occur for rhythm irregularities or other concerns, preexisting anxiety or even test-invoked nervousness may be factors.
Abstract. Cardiophobia is defined as an anxiety disorder of persons characterized by repeated complaints of chest pain, heart palpitations, and other somatic sensations accompanied by fears of having a heart attack and of dying.
During emotional stress there is lateralization of cerebral activity. This leads to asymmetrical stimulation of the heart, producing areas of inhomogeneous repolarization, creating electrical instability. This in turn facilitates the development of cardiac arrhythmias.
Your doctor may do an EKG during a stress test, which records your heart's activity when it is working hard and beating fast. Your doctor may also do other tests to diagnose arrhythmias. Blood tests measure the level of certain substances in the blood, such as potassium or other electrolytes and thyroid hormone.
Unfortunately, cardiac arrhythmias are often episodic in nature, coming and going without warning. In these cases, your symptoms may occur as sporadic episodes, often lasting just a few seconds, making a random 12-second ECG unlikely to reveal the arrhythmia.
The most effective way to diagnose an arrhythmia is with an electrical recording of your heart rhythm called an electrocardiogram (ECG). If the ECG doesn't find a problem, you may need further monitoring of your heart. This may involve wearing a small portable ECG recording device for 24 hours or longer.
Some types of arrhythmia are harmless and don't require treatment. Others can put you at risk for cardiac arrest. Many are in between these two extremes. A healthcare provider can tell you which type of arrhythmia you have and what kind of treatment you need, if any.