Heart Palpitations and Sinus Arrhythmia- normal or not?
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Hello,
I'm a 28 year-old female of a healthy weight (5'5" and around 115 pounds). I have recently been diagnosed anxiety and panic disorder. I'm not very active, but have not been diagnosed with any other health issues. I've been to an urgent care doctor twice and recently got health insurance and a primary care physician due to chest pains, palpitations, arm pains, panic attacks, etc.
I know now the chest pains were from my anxiety, but I'm still a little worried about palpitations. I also have sinus arrhythmia- when I inhale my heart rate increases and when I exhale, it decreases. The Urgent Care doctor asked if I was aware of this occurrence (he didn't give me the name, I found that on the internet) and I said yes, and he said it could just be natural variation and didn't seem concerned. I also discussed my palpitations with my primary doctor. They can occur at any time, sometimes not at all in a day, sometimes multiple times a day. It will feel like a sudden really hard beat or sometimes a fluttering feeling. I don't have to be anxious at all for them to happen, or even doing anything more than sitting at my computer. I never used to be too concerned about them, but now I keep thinking of it. Whenever it happens, I check my pulse. My doctor told me to call him if it is above 100 but that hasn't happened, it's just the weird temporary beats/rhythm.
Of course, this also got me thinking back to a time 4+ years ago when the palpitations lasted more than a couple seconds. It freaked me out, I started feeling dizzy, but then it went away. I know I've had palpitations in the past and I'm still alive, but with the health anxiety I've developed I'm concerned about every little thing.
My doctor didn't seem concerned at all about my physical health. I had a routine check up and routine blood work, and he said everything was good. He didn't want to give me cardiac tests because he didn't think it was necessary. The urgent care doctor I had seen before felt the same way (and because I didn't have insurance at the time, he didn't want me to pay for tests I didn't need).
Is all of this normal? I read that sinus arrhythmia is harmless in children but not common in adults, which is why I'm a little worried. The palpitations also scare me every time even though I usually don't have other symptoms when they occur if I'm not already having anxiety pain. Could it be from lack of sleep and/or lack of proper hydration?
I'm sorry for the long post, and it probably sounds silly I'd ask this even though I've seen a doctor, but I guess I just need a little more reassurance. I've read about heart conditions being missed and dismissed as anxiety, so I'm scared about that being the case with me.
0 likes, 2 replies
peter01729 Bethany89
Posted
Goodness, everything I read indicates Sinus Arrhythmia is a good thing and a lack of it is a bad thing, like the following for example:-
"What’s been learned with all of this high-tech monitoring is that respiratory sinus arrhythmia represents an accurate assessment of your ability to cope with both internal and external environmental changes. Decreased respiratory sinus arrhythmia—having too “fixed” a heart rate interval—is now regarded as the most accurate reflector of stress, and even a predictor of sudden cardiac death".
Bethany89 peter01729
Posted
Really? Wow. It just seems like everyone else has a fixed heart rate. I remember taking pulses back in health class in Jr. High and my partner seemed to struggle with mine. It is very noticeable when I take my own pulse and I just assumed a steady rate was normal. It's never really talked about so I'm not sure how prevalent it is or how much it varies from person to person. That's good to know though. Thank you!