Waking up from sound sleep with extremely fast and powerful heartbeat

Yes Debbie I've had this quite a few times. It's very frightening when it happens but I find getting up and doing something sort of helps xx

That has been happening to me since January, very scary! I wake up with heart thudding in my chest and skipping beats and have to turn over and stretch out as though I have been squashing my heart. I've had ECG and heart monitor and was told its an ectopic heartbeat and palpitations. Apparently common in menopause, yet another symptom. Anaemia can also cause this which I also suffer from. I've cut out caffeine which can make it worse and cut down on evening glass or two of wine. I sort of linked it to night sweats and only sleep with a sheet over me now its warmer. I think half the battle is accepting you aren't going too die and breathe through it. I am a litlte better whether thats because iron level is up or not who knows! I have been prescribed beta blockers to slow heart rate but not confident yet to take them as friends have said caused them leg aches and weight gain.

Hope you find some relief from this soon x

HI debbie, I use to have those until I started taking St. John's wort, which got rid of those horrible symptoms and the panic attack mode. GIve it a try if you can find it, it flies off the shelves here in the States, and I can see why it really does work.

Hi Debbie I had those for years still here,I know how scary it is pounding or racing first time I had them I call Ambulance was so scared heart was fine thank god it's normal but if your worried have it check OK.

I've had heart palpitations for 30 years! Yes, it can be very scary. Try not to eat or drink anything but water after around 7 p.m. And sit up or at least prop up on 2 pillows when it happens. And breathe normally. Also, a beta blocker is great! Don't be afraid of it. I've taken a very low dose for years and it helps a lot. I can tell when I don't take it. Only one a day but I break that tiny pill and take half in the morning and half at night.

Yes, have this too.  I have two leaky valves, so I get that feeling often, and my heart doctor told me to try this trick when this happens, to make myself cough really deep 3 times what it does is acts like a compression, and can kind of “reset” things. It doesn’t always work, but it does help that feeling that it is jumping all over my chest, or it is missing a beat!  Sure can’t hurt to try it.  I do still use this trick, and I’d say 9 out of 10 times it does help me.  I wish we didn’t have go through this crazy business!!! 

 

Yes I have that during ovulation, my period and right when I go off. It wakes me out of my sleep and pounds hard and fast. It goes down after a few minutes. It's definitely hormones and it is scary. You are not alone in this feeling.

Debbie that sounds awfully familiar to me as well. At certain times of the month, usually mid cycle and before a period I can wake up with my heart racing, like it's trying to run out of my chest!! It's really awful and very scary, probably the worst Peri symptom for me. I find around the same time this happens that I am really anxious but not like normal anxiety. It's an uncontrollable anxiety with the shakes and buzzy head feeling that will just switch off one I have gone over mid cycle or my periods start. Really weird, but thanks to this group I have found someone else who has identical symptoms so I feel a bit less like I am going mad!!!!