Understanding Chronic or Recurrent Palpitations: Causes, Symptoms, and Management

What is it?

Palpitations are the perceived abnormality of the heartbeat characterized by awareness of cardiac muscle contractions in the chest, which is further characterized by the hard, fast, or irregular beatings of the heart.
Some types of heart palpitations are harmless and resolve on their own. In other cases, heart palpitations can indicate a condition that requires medical attention, especially if they accompany other symptoms like chest pain, sweating, dizziness, or shortness of breath, or if you have known heart disease. Possible causes of heart palpitations include:
*Anxiety or panic attack
*Lifestyle triggers such as smoking, using illegal drugs, drinking large amounts of caffeine, alcohol consumption, being overweight
*Side effect of certain medications or nutritional supplements
*Hormonal changes, including pregnancy
*medical conditions such as overreactive thyroid, low blood sugar levels, anemia, blood loss, fever, dehydration
*a heart disease or arrhythmia

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Signs & symptoms

Symptoms include the feeling of an abnormally rapid, strong, or irregular beating of the heart. Palpitations are often described as a skipped or extra beat, rapid fluttering in the chest or pounding sensation in the chest. You may also feel these sensations in your throat or neck

Diagnosis

Your doctor will conduct a thorough physical exam to identify a cause. Be prepared to answer questions about your physical activity, stress levels, medication use including OTC medications and supplements, caffeine and alcohol use, your medical history and additional symptoms if present. If necessary, your doctor may refer you to a heart specialist called a cardiologist. Tests to help rule out or confirm certain diseases or heart problems include:
*blood and urine tests
*electrocardiogram, ECG
*a recording of the heart’s rhythm for 24 to 48 hours using a machine called a Holter monitor
*echocardiogram – an ultrasound of the heart
*electrophysiology study - a minimally invasive procedure using catheters introduced through a vein or artery to record electrical activity from within the heart.

Treatment

Treatment depends on the cause of your palpitations.
If your palpitations are due to lifestyle choices such as smoking or consuming too much caffeine, cutting down or eliminating those substances may be all that you need to do.
medical treatment and further evaluation might be needed in cases of an underlying medical problem.

☝️ This is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making any medical decision.

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Source of Information - We analyze big data of more than 23 million patients de-identified medical records from the following sources:

National Institution of Health ∙ World Health Organization ∙ University of Illinois hospital