In this video, Dr Sanjay Gupta discusses all the different heart rhythms which could cause palpitations and how by being observant you can make a reasonably good diagnosis of what they could be. My website is www.yorkcardiology.co.uk
As someone with Panic Disorder, Health Anxiety especially surrounding the heart, your videos are very reassuring. You make me realize that the heart can take a lot, and that any of the palpitations I have are "normal". Thanks for helping us relax.
OMG same! I have been binge watching his videos on this and HBP All morning to ease my medical anxiety about my own palpitations and HBP (which I suspect isn't really high, it's just my anxiety and medical anxiety playing a role. Time to request that 24hr bp monitor).
Joanne Geiger yep... anytime I get it checked I’m so stressed about it being high it is high! And then the doc goes “well that’s not great” and I get even more stressed!!! Doing pretty good now, people and doctors like this are great helps!!!
I know PVCs (premature ventricular complexes) are often referred to as 'skipped beats' but I believe the beat arrives earlier than it should, hence the name. No beats are actually missed. My wife had PVCs and I could easily count them. By the way, we solved the problem by no longer drinking demineralized water (reverse osmosis) and instead switching to magnesium, calcium and manganese rich well water. We got lucky, in that we were able to figure it out.
Thank you very much Dr. You are great and simplifying the cause so will, thanks for that. Its just that I felt something you already have answered in your clips and its normal. Just wanted to say that and it was so clear.
So glad I found this channel. I've messaged you via your website to see if you think I'd benefit from an appointment, breifly describing symptoms. Your videos are so useful in so many ways! My own cardiologist tells me I'm too young aged 25 for anything to be wrong. And it's been 2 years and I'm not dead so it cant be serious 🙈 My GP said anxiety. I'm starting to get worried because it's got worse over the past month. Seeing my GP on 30th. But I'm very interested to see what your opinion is too!
You are fantastic. Better than my cardiologist. My heartbeat goes something like this: beat beat beat than beat with a extra beat then the process repeats. It is a very slow heartbeat. About 50 beats per minute. the extra beat may come after 2 normal beats or 3 beats. It varies. What would this be classified as? Sometimes it lasts for a few minutes or several hours. Thank You.
I was stressed and had a little bit of drink I woke up in the middle of night feeling anxious and then suddenly my hr gone upto 155 beats for 40secs the gradually it came to normal since that day I freaked out and now since two months am getting anxiety attacks and loss of appetite.,., When am not anxious everything goes to normal.,. What's wrong with me .,., Please ?? I was always an anxious person but this level of anxiety I have never faced .,. Anxiety nausea fatigue and body aches
Soo...are you saying that, if a person has ventricular tachycardia BUT it lasts less than 10 minutes and they don't have other symptoms, it's nothing to worry about (if their heart is otherwise healthy)? Would the person absolutely have to be put on beta blockers? Thank you for answering.
if you have ventricular tachycardia, you must get it thoroughly investigated because it can be very dangerous...but SVT is not dangerous as such and usually curable with an ablation
The best way to control anxiety and panic disorders is to obtain peace of mind. Get to know your Creator and Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Knowing that He has EVERYTHING in life under control is more than half the battle. For those that know Him, He has given us NOT a spirit of Fear but of power and of a sound mind. And the best part is is that It's free. "Come to me all who are weary and heavy Laden and I will give you rest".... God bless!
I'm 42 years old I went to mine family doctor I did an EKG it was irregular I have a appointment with a cardiologist he told me to come back within one month endear some test 10 days to go I am a little afraid is it normal to feel we 415 what is heart palpitations maybe sometimes a little nauseous every day or other thing that I feel weak
Over the past few months I noticed random extra two beats occasionally (like 2 light thumps, but where I can slightly feel it) with my normal heart beat. I notice them off and on through the day, but mainly after meals and watching tv on the couch after dinner. My resting heart rate is normal my usual 70-80 BPM. I have a fitness watch to check and blood pressure is normal. No racing issues and other symptoms. I am 39 and take basic multivitamins, d, cod liver oil, and coq10. I also tried magnesium at night to see if that would help, but I'm still noticing the palpitations. I don't notice them at all when working out or going on long walks. Any advice? Thank you!
Same here. Mine starts with a weird feeling like you go down the stairs but when you'd reach the last stair step you realize it has disappeared... I hate this. Then the 2 thumps. I usually get these while sitting at a desk so I guess posture matters. I don't have other symptoms, same as you.
I'm at peace now, the first part I've watched already because recently I had a sinus arrhythmia. I've done some lab.test including ecg,cardiologist (thread mill), ultrasound in my stomach which are normal except my ecg I read the sinus arrhythmia which it make me crazy because all the time I pulse my throat everytime I lay down. I also have a hypertension, the doctor said my palpitations because of anxiety...I sincerely thank you very much for sharing your knowledge to us .. May GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS.😊
S H Hi@S H you mean I don't need be worried having a sinus arrythmia? I got crazy having a high blood pressure and I thought it's because of my HBP..Thank you..
About a month ago I had the worst episode of palpitations ive ever experienced and it was during a stressful time in my life. I had drank alcohol and went to lay down to sleep but noticed my heartbeats (normal rhythm) were a little fast at rest.This escalated my thoughts and i became anxious. Before i knew it i started to get palpitations but unlike any i have ever had before (which are normally isolated and just occur once or twice in a short period). These happened like... thump, thump, thump, thump, THUMPTHUMPTHUMP, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump THUMPTHUMPTHUMP, thump, thump, thump thump thump THUMPTHUMP....etc etc for about ten minutes or so and this was during a full-blown panic attack at this point. Was I in any danger at this point? I had no other symptoms but it was very scary. Since then I have begun to exercise and stopped drinking entirely and stress has been much lower but i still get a couple isolated palpitations when I lay almost each night. I am normally fine during exercise / during the day time.
2:54 The AVNRT dual pathway model is another unverified fabrication of cardiologists. The AV node is a bundle of cells, obviously there are multiple ‘paths’ electricity can take, through a ball of cells. Stipulating that some must be slower and this somehow results in repeat firing doesn’t stand electrical engineering scrutiny I think. First of all svt can be induced, period, by anxiety, or hypercapnia, in a healthy heart. So why do you even need this abstruse model. It’s simply a justification for surgeons for crippling the av node by burning some tissue of it that Gupta calls ‘a cure’. I don’t think svt episodes are necesssarily worrisome because it’s an indication the body is trying to adjust to say hypercapnia (women make less breathing adjustments to small hypoxic/hypercapnia stimuli than men, which may be why tachicardia episodes are more frequent) Obstructive sleep apnea-induced supraventricular tachycardia, 1996
This helped me SO MUCH! I believe I have PVC or a slight variation, my heart sounds like it pauses longer between the "lub dub" but only that and then continues as normal. I was freaking out because it was happening more and more over the past week, like every 15 or so mins while awake. It has eased up some and now only like every 2 or so hours. Still so scary.
I really enjoy Dr. Gupta’s videos. They educational and he’s very calming and reassuring. My question: is it possible for one to tell the difference between a PVC and a PAC? Do they feel different? Based on his tapping demonstration, they seem identical.
This stuff is good to know. The PVCs I feel have been symptomless so it's nice to know that I'm probably fine to carry on with life as I always do. They seem to go away when I exercise too.
Wow, this video is amazing, thanks so much for taking the time to share your knowledge. I've had 3 heart monitor and heart scan. No one has ever taken the time to explain why or how this is happening. Therefore stress and anxiety gets worse because lack of communication. They just say it's normal. Thanks so much!
The last 5 days my heart feels like it skips a beat every few seconds. On 4th day , I felt a little nausea. I also had a pain radiate in throat up to teeth. I have not felt that pain, but once today.
Very good video series on palpitations. I was diagnosed with AFIB back in 2000 and put on Sotolol to control it. When I was diagnosed, I was going through an extremely stressful situation in my life. I have worn monitors several times over the years and rarely ever catch any unusual heart activity. Recently, I wore a 48 hour monitor and it was determined that although I occasionally have very short bouts of AFIB, I primarily have PVC's which concern me. My Cardiologist has tried to take me off of Sotolol several times but the PVC's return within two days as the medication wears off. The first I heard that i was having PVC's was with this last episode after all of these years. I am now changing Cardiologists to see if another Doctor can help me.
I can’t believe I’ve run across you here on Utube. You have been so helpful in explaining everything. Thank you so much! I have PVCs I’ve been dealing with off and on for years. I am on a beta blocker, but it only helps some. I’m pretty much know what triggers them..stress, too much food, bloated, gas etc. What would I need besides an echocardiogram to make sure my heart is structurally OK. So far they have not impeded my life other than I’m a worrier. Thank you again.
Hi. your post sounds exactly like something I would write. For me, the PVCs came on out of nowhere about a month ago. 2 years ago, I had 2 stents put in my heart, so after 10 days of these, I went to the ER. After tests, bloodwork (Troponin level) especially, the ER Doc said it's probably stress/anxiety related and sent me home. I'm on a beta blocker also. Last week, I had an Echocardiogram and saw my Cardiologist yesterday for my 6 month follow up. He said, everything is fine, perfect Echo and not to be concerned about the skips. In October, if I'm still having them, he wants to put a Holter monitor on me for a week. Heavy meals also seem to bring them on.
Pvc..... then sinus tachycardia (probably from fear) then normal All ok if structurally normal heart..meaning no valve problems. Echocardiogram can diagnose a structural normal and abnormal heart
My cardiologist either quite or died (they wouldn’t tell us) and left all his patients hanging. Before he left he forgot to put in the order for me to have a cardiac MRI, and apparently nobody else but him is able to do that. So I had to go back to my primary to ask for, and wait for another referral. Only, she denied my request for another referral and her reason for that decision was that if the cardiologist didn’t order an MRI then he did so intentionally. Meanwhile, I completed 30 days of a halter monitor, an echo, a stress test, and a CAC, only for the cardiologist to go and disappear; leaving me to have to request my primary to interpret the results... to which she responded by stating that I would need a referral for a cardiologist to read my results. So I’ve had a lot of time on my hands to research my symptoms which are PVCs, somethings 2 sometimes 4 or 5, sudden racing at times, and a random vibration at times. ERs turn me away saying I just have anxiety, they tell me to follow up with a cardiologist... little do they know...
Thank you for posting these wonderful videos. I was diagnosed with pvc many years ago,and have had many bouts with it. I feel more assured now by the help of your videos that I will notice changes as they happen. I appreciate all you do .Wish you were my doctor.
What’s the difference between ventricular tachycardia and a panic attack? I experienced something like what you described but all tests came back normal and they gave me an Ativan. Your videos are a life saver ❤
I had a PSVT episode a month ago after getting brain freeze from a cold drink. My heart rat went back down with vagal maneuvers. However although my heart rate is normal I still feel palpitations. My normal resting Heart Rate is around 50 to 60 and that has not changed but now every 4th to 20th beat has a long pause followed by a couple quicker beats. My OMRON home blood pressure monitor showed me having an irregular heart rhythm today with normal blood pressure and normal pulse of 50 to 70. I took 100 readings today and approximately 25 to 30 showed this. Is it likely I have palpitations? My right upper eyelid ha been twitching non-stop as well. could I have a serious issue? I will be seeing my regular primary care doctor in the next 3 weeks or so for my annual and I am taking blood samples tomorrow for my own peace of mind at the grocery store.
@@Kristeninblack I was in Afib all that time. I got cardioverted and it worked fine. I have been ore or less Afib free minutes a couple short stints when I bent over or when drinking another cold drink too fast. Ask to see a cardiologist to wear a patch like I did. Yuo wont even know its there and they will be able to tell you if you have Afib or just benign ectopic beats. If it's Afib, cardioversion works fine I did the electrical due to other conditions I have but you can take a medicine that works well too. Ablation is common as well and not that bad a surgery.
you’re right, I’ve had palpitations since teenager but goes away spontaneously... and only lasts 1-3mins... but in the last 2-3 yrs though, and now I’m 42, I’d get them 2-4x/yr but now it’s getting faster up to 200! And lasts longer up to 2-3hrs. cards cleared me with EKG, echo, ex stress test. But I did have to go to ER twice, 8 mos apart recently and diagnosed with SVT. I’m still hesitant to get an ablation although now seeing EP cardiologist. He also offered meds management like Ca+ ch blockers to take everyday to “suppress” it. I don’t understand though how it can be suppressed when nobody knows what brings it up?! never happens with exertion usually just doing regular stuff or even at rest. I just don’t like the s/e of meds. any thoughts?
I have Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia syndrome. Took me years to find a cardiologist that knew anything about it. It was diagnosed as anxiety for years. I knew it wasn’t as my heart jumps to a tachy rhythm anytime I stand up, and my blood pressure drops. It’s ruined my life. My normal BP is 90/70, and everytime I stand up or stand or walk for even a little bit my vision goes black and I can faint. A video about Dysautonomia would be wonderful. But anyway I have terrible either PAC or PVC’s, and they always occur when my heart goes tachy, my acid reflux is bad or my anxiety is bad. Love your videos.
Ya i Have that PVC you're talking about it happens often maybe some days it doesn't and some days it does but doesn't happen more than 4 times in a day when it does. I also remember it happening twice in a row within 5 seconds when i was in school. What should my next step be? Im not the healthiest person but my doctor has done tests and says my heart looks normal but i have chest pains often. Im 25
Bed Head Gupta, looking very sexy, Doc! Now I'm having palpitations! Also very educational, reassuring, and helpful. I'll listen to this video many times so thank you for doing them, Sanjay..They are a wonderful gift!
Hi doctor, I am getting ectopics since 30 years and it all started with a anxiety spell of months, but I used to get just a jump of heart like hiccup. And I also got attack of hiccups for days but in years. Now since 2018 I am experiencing many other patterns of beats too, since a year menupausal and it has became a daily thing even sometimes during sleep. I am hell scared 😢. And my beats are not like as you demonstrate in your vidoes like pause thud. But it is like hiccup, thuds, thumps, flip-flops, flutters, etc etc. Most of the time they don't effect my breathing but sometimes it makes my breathing heavy and disturbing. Is this something to be concerned?
This doesn't line up with what my cardiologist told me. My heartbeat will sometimes go: bump...bump...bumBUMP..........bump...bump...bumBUMP Basically I'll get two beats at nearly the same time. My cardiologist told me this was either a PVC or PAC, but I don't see this kind in these videos
Thank you for your videos. I've never heard the beats explained so simplisticly. I initially saw a cardiologist because I was becoming dizzy at random points and my GP/PCP was having difficulty getting an accurate blood pressure reading due to irregular beats. An ER doc had initially thought it was just due to axiety. I had them off and on for a while. Eventually, after trying to minimize the PVCs through life changes and medications, I had an ablation. By that point, I was having more than 20,000 PVCs/day (the 48hr holter showed 48,000 PVCs- the nurse was surprised). But it explained my symptoms. And yes, while you don't have to panic over an arrythmia, you should still listen to your body- if you feel uncomfortable or have physical symptoms (dizziness, shortness of breath, etc) get it checked out.And PVCs can be extremely uncomfortable physically speaking, separate from mentally/psychologically. There were times were my chest felt extremely tight, that it hurt, or I felt as if there was a weight on my chest making it hard to breathe. (But I may have felt more uncomfortable than others, bc of the number of PVCs, and that I was having multiples in a row (bigeminy and trigeminy).
From what you‘ve described I‘m pretty sure I have channelopothies (Plus I have multiple relatives with heart arrythmias) so the only thing in the entire series which you described as lethal…fuck my life
Im gonna describe my heart palpitations i felt last night. I was at the grocery store, and i was really anxious because last time i was at this store, i got palpitations. So. Surprise surprise. I got them again. So i got in my car. I noticed a couple skips. Then it escalated. Beat pause beat pause beat pause then a few normal beats but pounding. Then i start driving cuz last time driving helped distract me and stop them. But this time they happened while i drove. So then i felt the usual beat skip beat skip beat skip then suddenly TWO fast beats. Then one slower beat then back to skipping beats. And then normal beats in between these instances. It went on for a few minutes as they always do. But they are so terrifying when they happen. I have a healthy heart. Went to a cardiologist four years ago, and i never got a call back or anything so i assumed i was fine. But ive never passed out before and inever really felt too hot. Obviously im panicking when they happen so im a little hot. But my heart rate stayed between like 80-90 BPM
I get a flutter very fast soft beat like you have a butterfly in your chest and then a thump and it ends. Usually when I'm lying down. I wore a holter monitor for 24 hours and they told me I had premature beats, nothing to worry about. I didn't have any of those flutters while wearing it. It doesn't make me feel sick at all but worried because it's my heart. I did have my Fitbit watch says I was having AFib for 4 hours while I slept. I didn't feel anything, I did feel my pulse before getting out of bed and it was irregular , I felt fine went downstairs and ten minutes later my pulse was normal . That was why I wore the holter monitor. I think I get them when I get dehydrated. I'm seeing my nurse practitioner in a couple days to follow up on this. I felt this really strange feeling in my chest last night like electrical current all around my heart, weird, felt my pulse it felt normal just stopped on it's on no thump. That's the second time that's happened in 4-6 months. I'm going to tell my nurse practitioner about it, it's it benign?
I started suffering from PVCs out of no where just a few weeks ago and your videos are VERY helpful to have on hand when I get anxious about them. I've had every test done, ecg, stress test, echocardiograms, and a holter - basically they say my heart is structurally sound and these will eventually go away - but it seems to originate n the bottom part of my heart, that's where I feel it flutter and then skips a beat, especially when I eat or when I get nervous. Sometimes this even happens randomly or if I sit a certain way, but I'm trying everything I can to lessen them. They feel so weird sometimes and I'm worried it can get worse. I found exercise actually helps it but they still haven't gone away completely! Anyways, thanks again so much for your videos, they help the normal person understand what's possibly happening in their body better. You are so informative! I wish you were in the US I would come see you in a heartbeat! LOL.
This is what is happening to me. Everyone tells me they're harmless. But the anxiety of being so sensitized to them is interfering with my life. How are you doing now?
Same happened to me, just turned 30, all the sudden started having PVCs, skipped beats, at random times, or during stress, or during sleep, I would wake up with a crazy heart beat, or a very fast heart beat, got all the tests, they told me the same, I'm fine it's just stress....
How about beat beat beat beat thud beat beat.....i feel thud in my right side chest and i feel.my pulse pause like 1s when the thud happened.. seems my pulse is disturbed by thud.
I've been feeling many kinds of palpitations (well, sort of) since i had MILD COVID19 infection last January. But my cardiologist says im normal 😅. After another month of recovery, anxiety, mild depression I believe, coupled with bouts of VERY rapid palpitations (as if my and some breathlessness, And with an advice fron my cardiologist, I finally decided to do some cardio exercise and vitamins, and be cautious with my food. I also try to sleep at 9pm every night regularly. Know what? It really helped a lot! I may not jog for a long time but i really felt better now. Hope this helps.
This was more than useful. Currently going through a very strange period of anxiety where nothing feels real and is usually accompanied by palpitations. The problem is I can't work out which is coming first; palpitations or anxiety? ECG shows as normal, bloods are normal, yet the palpitations continue. Absolutely amazing video, I can't thank you enough.
I have the same feeling. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Most of the times I feel quite normal when the palpitations start. And THEN I get really worried and anxious about them. And then dizzy. So it’s been really hard for me to just accept what the doctors tell me about it being just anxiety.
@@debpoli85 fully understand. My palpitations have stopped now but the strange thoughts haven't. If I have a strong coffee it can set me off. "Whats happening, omg something is wrong", then I remember its the caffeine. Thats just one example anyway lol
Thank you Dr. Gupta for your wonderful series on heart palpitations. I feel across these quite by chance and very late judging by when they initially broadcast. I suffer from palpitations and after investigation I was found to have premature atrial and vent ricular contractions. I am 65 and a heavy smoker, are they dangerous. I have had these symptoms for most of my life and I take beta blockers.
Does anyone experience more frequent PVCs and PACs when having a cold? Echocardio, stress echocardio, stress test, ekg, blood tests, holter, BP all fine except holter shows PVCs and PACs.
Yes. Whenever my body gets more stressed, I experience more pvcs or pacs. Especially because when youre sick, youre heart rate is usually higher, so it makes sense you would notice more.
I have a quick question doc, does angina always presents itself with chest pain,? Let's say hypothetical ly a person does excerise but has no chest pain during any physical activity, can he or she still have angina?
Hi Dr I'm currently experiencing some rather uncomfortable sensations in my chest/heart. I'm not sure if its my heart or not but at times I'd fill a sudden stop and I'd lose my breath for a quick sec. It may be anxiety related but I'm not sure and its keeping me up a little. Any signs of what this may be?