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  • Heart beats hard but not fast

    I've had a sporadic issue that crops up now and again, usually only for a couple of minutes but sometimes as long as 15-20.

    My heart will beat really hard. Not fast, but seemingly with much more force than usual. There is literally no change in the rate of my pulse, but during one of these episodes, my blood flows hard enough that my vision will jump in time to my pulse. I can feel each pulse running through my body, head to toe, in a wave. Well technically head, lower arms/hands just after, lower legs/feet last. Presumably due to the distance the blood has to flow to reach each extremity. If I have my shirt off, it is also possible to count my pulse by just watching the skin of my stomach which visibly jumps.

    I have never successfully measured my blood pressure during one of these episodes. Typically, by the time I find the automated BP monitor, get it booted up, and then attached to my arm...the episode is over.

    When I say these are sporadic - sometimes as many as 6-8 per year, since I was in my late teens. More recently, only 2-3. None at all in 2017. Last night, I experienced one as I was trying to go to sleep and this was the first one I've had since October 2016.

    Given how rare they are, I don't know if it is really a problem, but no one else I know seems to have ever experienced something similar. It is also possible they occur more often, but happen in my sleep, when I would not notice.

    They do seem to happen more often when I am lying down, but I have also had them occur when seated/standing.

    My last primary care doctor told me to call him and come in while one was happening. I tried, but the episode had ended well before I finished the 10 minute drive to his office and they coudn't find anything. The last note on my file indicated he thought it was 'psychosomatic'.

    Due to a completely different issue, I've changed to a new primary care doctor, but I would like to find something - anything - I can point to that might suggest this is really happening before I bring it up.

    I'm just curious if anyone on here has ever experienced or even just heard of something similar?

  • #2
    I have HBP issues myself, but almost never anything like that. My first instinct is, of course, to say to go to the doc, but you have >_< I get dizzy spells on a daily basis as a result of the HBP and/or the pills I take for it, along with the odd near-fainting issue, but what you described is something I've only had happen maybe twice in five years o_O I hope you're able to figure something out and get it treated.
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    • #3
      The term for that is palpitations. When I get them, I have a tendency to miss beats. I have managed to take my blood pressure while they are occurring. It was in the normal range.

      What you probably need to do is get your EKG during an event. As I went into AFib again three weeks ago, I picked up a Kardia Mobile. Now I have something I can give to the Doctor without having to run to an urgent care.
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      • #4
        Sounds like Atrial Fibrillation, mainly from how it can make your eyes jump.

        get an EKG

        No seriously get an EKG the kind where they stress you out and measure our heart that way.

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        • #5
          Quoth Gerrinson View Post
          My last primary care doctor told me to call him and come in while one was happening. I tried, but the episode had ended well before I finished the 10 minute drive to his office and they coudn't find anything. The last note on my file indicated he thought it was 'psychosomatic'.
          Entering that sort of anti-diagnosis into medical records, is one of the most unprofessional and plain evil things a doctor can do to their patient. It goes beyond saying "I don't know", to tell future doctors "I think this complaint is BS, you don't need to pay attention to it".

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          • #6
            Quoth csquared View Post
            The term for that is palpitations. When I get them, I have a tendency to miss beats...What you probably need to do is get your EKG during an event.
            Quoth Daskinor View Post
            Sounds like Atrial Fibrillation, mainly from how it can make your eyes jump.

            get an EKG

            No seriously get an EKG the kind where they stress you out and measure our heart that way.
            Thank you both very much for the advice, this much more of a starting point than I got from a dedicated medical professional.

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            • #7
              Probably going to be allot of work but;

              Find a doctor who will listen. At a minimum they should do a blood draw to test your thyroid, white blood count and other risk factors. And then do an in office EKG. If anything comes back slightly unusual you will most likely get a referral for a sonogram of your heart and/or some radiological imaging.

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              • #8
                They actually did some massively comprehensive blood work on me in the last 12 months - 12 vials of blood, 6 at a time, 1 month apart. The new place, where they have been listening to my complaints and actually looked at a few websites with me to see where I was getting my info (apparently the Mayo clinic is a reliable source, who knew? ) on some other issues.

                My blood work came out fine for my thyroid and a few other things. The old doctor even did a comprehensive STD check because he was certain I was lying about cheating on my wife and that an undiagnosed STD was to blame for some issues I was experiencing. The only surprise was his, when it came back showing I have oral herpes. Which I've had since it was spread to me by grandmother when I was an infant, and is all over my medical history.

                The current doctor & her team reviewed all of my files and past several years of testing during my first meeting with them in order to get a good feel for my situation and they asked some questions about details here and there. It was actually a really nice meeting.

                However, the complaints I had initially about my heart beating hard, but not fast, were from way back and not something we touched on. I think I have to start keeping notes of things I want to discuss with them. While not looking like a hypochondriac, hopefully.

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                • #9
                  Atrial Fibrillations feel like a butterfly in my chest (to me). An atrial murmur felt like a different, smaller butterfly in my chest with a different beat to its wings.

                  Both in my case are brought on by stress, although since I got a pacemaker (for the murmur and brachycardia) I have not had the murmur.

                  I suppose the fibrillations could feel like a hard heartbeat, because I can't feel my heart beating normally. When I get fibrillations I'm already upset enough that I really don't take a lot of notice.

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                  • #10
                    Gerrinson, how often does that happen?

                    I don't know what type of health insurance you have, but you might want to consider asking your physician for a holter monitor or other type of cardiac event recorder for a few days, to see if you can catch it.

                    If it comes and goes at random, that's harder to catch. But if it's a frequent thing, you may be able to catch it.
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                    • #11
                      Quoth mjr View Post
                      Gerrinson, how often does that happen? ... If it comes and goes at random, that's harder to catch. But if it's a frequent thing, you may be able to catch it.
                      That's the problem - it is very sporadic and typically lasts only for 2 - 3 minutes, at most. My incidence rate has never exceeded 10x in a year and at worst 3x in a month. It's a weird thing.

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                      • #12
                        Zombie thread resurrect!

                        This is going to sound a little bit nuts, but have you had your kidneys checked? Sometimes BP issues can be coming from the renal arteries and not the heart.

                        Any cardiologist worth the paper their degree is printed on should order at the very least an EKG and/or holter monitor. Just because you only feel it very occasionally doesn't mean something isn't happening at other times.
                        I am no longer of capable of the emotion you humans call “compassion”. Though I can feign it in exchange for an hourly wage. (Gravekeeper)

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