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HELP

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rich_03470
rich_03470

So, I've been dealing with 'palpitations' for the better part of 18 years, I am 42 at this point and they started when I was roughly 24.  I have been taking Atenelol since that time frame as well.  I used to get the 'extra beats' or the 'skip beats', 'flutter' or whatever you want to call it, from time to time.  I would say, 1 quick flutter for roughly 2 seconds....that would happen once a day, every month or two.  They were so far apart I rarely took notice of them.  NOW, fast forward to today.  Ever since last Saturday (7/21) I've been having them ALL DAY.  Flutters, hard beat....like 5-10 an hour all day.  I've made a call to my cardiologist and he scheduled me for a stress test and an ECHO (one is Wednesday and the other is in 2 weeks).  It's extremely alarming since it's happening so often, so much more than I have experienced before.  I have cut out caffeine, I don't drink or smoke.  I don't have any other side effects like being dizzy.  I can still complete my everyday tasks at this point, I just get concerned that these beats are happening more often and they are now associated with a headache.

I know I've read these beats can sometimes cause a stroke, I fear the pain I'm having in my head after these flutters are a symptom of that.  Even though the Dr doesn't seem to be worried, I think I would find comfort knowing someone else has had them with the same frequency, I don't even know if this is a lot in the grand scheme of things.  

I've lot about ER, I know they would do a complete workup on my blood, EKG, etc....but I don't know if that's because I'm more panicked than anything.  I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown with these extra beats.  Like the title says, HELP!!

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  • rich_03470
    rich_03470

    Posted

    Hi guys, just wanted to follow up here. Had my stress test today, Dr got my heart rate up to 200 while on the treadmill. I had NO signs of flutters/extra beats and my blood pressure was perfectly normal throughout the test. While I’m happy the Dr said I have no blockages and my heart did fine during the test, I’m still having the damn flutters. 

    I told him that I have headaches with the flutters and he simply said “that would be another test all together” so basically paid it no mind.

    I have the ECHO scheduled for 8/20 but I’m wondering if the headaches should be cause for concern. 

    • jx41870
      jx41870 rich_03470

      Posted

      Hey Rich, I guess it's good news when whatever it is even *can* clear up during a test.  That doesn't make it less scary when it happens.  That's why you wear a Holter monitor or event monitor for a day or a week.

      I can't say much about the headaches, could be a thousand different things, related or unrelated.  Or, of course, more nothing at all.

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